Are you looking for an app for employees to simplify business operations and engage everyone? Check out this guide to learn about the 6 characteristics that make the best app for employees.
Let’s be honest: Zeroing in on the best app for employees can feel like choosing what to watch on Netflix on a Saturday night. The options are (near) endless; everyone has an opinion, and you’re not even sure what you’re in the mood for, right?
But here’s the thing: Unlike your Saturday movie night, it’s not quite the best bet to simply go with the flow. That’s because picking the wrong employee app can cost you big time. Conversely, when you choose the right app for employees, you can avoid messy communication, tasks falling through the cracks, and the nagging sense that no one’s entirely on the same page. But wait, how do you find the one? What does it look like?
In this blog, we’ll shine a spotlight on the characteristics of the best app for employees. Follow along to identify the perfect employee app which will help your entire workforce, including the frontline, stay organized, engaged, and efficient.
If you’re to ask what the best app for employees should offer, our short answer is quite a lot. We’ll be discussing the most vital characteristics. As you go through them, make sure you ask yourself what would work best for your specific needs. On that note, let’s dive right into what is the best app for employees:
Digitized task management apps are super important to avoid juggling (the never-ending) to-do lists, email threads, notes on our cell phones, notepads (or sometimes palms and wrists). Popular project management apps like Trello and Asana help with this, and work fine for every team that sits behind a desk. But wait, what happens everyone doesn’t? Using these desktop-focused tools when you have frontline employees who’re out there in the field, on the shop floor, or working remotely requires having them to jump through hoops. This creates a headache and doesn’t exactly help with organizing tasks every time.
The best apps for frontline task management help infuse clarity and give context to to-do's from the get-go to everyone. Employees, in the head office, or factory floor, can use it to see their tasks, deadlines and update status without logging into a desktop. These apps also support continuous feedback to stay on track. The best ones even integrate with your other employee tools to further simplify everyday operations, boost ease of use, and enhance productivity.
The best employee apps fuel effective communication, which is at the very essence of smooth collaboration and overall business success. These apps offer a bunch of comms tools to simplify sharing updates, sending quick messages (or reactions), talking in a language of choice, organizing conversations by team or project, and more.
Most importantly, the best comms tools for frontline employees are mobile-first instead of being desk-based and squeezed into a mobile interface. With that, they allow everyone (including those without an email address) to communicate efficiently and stay connected, irrespective of where they work. This is particularly vital when your workers are often on the go and don’t always have access or the luxury to login to a desktop to communicate.
Employee engagement is essential to ensure people are motivated to do their best. According to Forbes, companies with highly engaged employees demonstrate a 21% increase in profitability and a 41% reduction in absenteeism. Engagement thrives when employees feel connected, supported, valued, and empowered to do their best work. The best employee apps support engagement by catering to these employee needs for everyone in the organization, right from the C-level to those working on the shop floor.
They’re designed with features for promoting collaboration and facilitating direct feedback lines from the frontline to HQ. For example, they support this by enabling running quick polls, quizzes, and surveys to gather employee opinion about a new policy. This makes people feel their opinion matters. They also come with recognition tools to recognize and celebrate the achievements of everyone . Deploying these boosts the morale of people across the board and helps them feel like they’re a part of something bigger.
Who likes staying stuck where they are? Duh! Nobody, including your frontline employees. Universally, people want to grow, upskill, and participate in learning and development opportunities. While many companies invest in these employee development programs, they fall short. That’s because their L&D initiatives are not always accessible to everyone, especially frontline workers who are often left out amidst their daily grind.
So, the best employee apps help overcome this gap and ensure learning and growth are easy and accessible for everyone. Whether it’s leadership training, new skills, or certifications, the best employee apps are built to fold growth opportunities into the everyday workflow. For example, by supporting dissemination of bite-sized content, attaching videos and images to each step, integrating with the learning tools the organization is already using, and enabling access to L&D content on mobile. This way, they ensure all employees can access learning resources at their own pace, flexibly.
The first few days at work are a cakewalk - says nobody. Most of us (or all of us) can relate to the fact that initial days at work do get overwhelming. There’s a ton of paperwork, so much training, and a million (if not a billion) little things to figure out. Yet, getting this rightly done and smoothly is critical to efficiency and even setting the tone for a long and successful working relationship.
A great employee app simplifies onboarding end-to-end, from setting up logins to completing the first tasks, and helps new joinees feel welcome and confident. It’s well-equipped to enable managers to automate onboarding content and execute with ease. Using them, managers can check in regularly and guide their new hires step-by-step through direct messages or group chats. It also supports providing opportunities for feedback and growth. The app’s built-in secure access knowledge bases help ensure new hires access to all the necessary resources they need to help themselves and succeed.
Last but not least, the best apps for employees also offer something for ensuring safety and overall wellness of the people—not just in the context of their roles but as individuals too. Think about it, doesn’t every employee want their safety and well-being to matter to their employer? Providing this isn’t just about being the best boss ever in their eyes. Teams that feel cared for are more engaged, loyal, and perform better.
In case of any safety & compliance updates, the best apps for employees allow sending out notifications of updated regulations and safety requirements of new tools so that everyone is aware. For example, via quick push notifications. At the same time, they help facilitate well-being. For instance, by allowing tracking of workforce analytics. This helps ascertain how different groups compare, say in terms of absenteeism. Identifying signs of high absenteeism can be a signal to look into that group at a micro-level and explore what’s affecting their well being. The apps then let you gather anonymous feedback to identify any problems the people might be facing. With these features, you can intervene effectively, show your employees that their needs matter and make them feel valued.
The best app for your company depends on what your team needs the most - whether it’s better communication, simplified task management, improved engagement, or employee development and wellbeing (or all 😛)
The trick is zeroing in on an app that solves real problems and fits your team’s daily workflow without creating extra work. For you, or them. When you get that right, you’ll see the difference in how your employees connect, collaborate, and succeed. And they’ll love you for implementing it!
If you're ready to experience the best employee app (with all these functionalities) firsthand, you know where to find us.