Your employees are on their smartphones during work. That is a fact of the workplace in the 21st century. On average 3 hours and 15 minutes are spent on mobile apps every day. Another fact of today’s workplace is that only 32% of employees are fully engaged at work. So why not turn that small screen they are checking on average once per hour from time spent playing Words with Friends to time spent engaging with their colleagues, their work, and your brand?
Why Employee Engagement Matters
First, let’s talk about why this even matters. Why should you care about employee engagement?
- Employees who are actively engaged in their work are 87 percent less likely to leave. The real cost of turnover includes the cost of hiring and training a new employee, a drop in productivity and sometimes direct sales, and a cultural impact making existing employees think “why?”. Annually, $11 billion is lost in employee turnover.
- On the other hand, by increasing employee engagement by just 10 percent, according to Talent Culture, your company can see a $2,400 improvement in profits for each worker. Engaged employees provide higher service resulting in higher customer satisfaction as well as work harder and take fewer days off resulting in increased sales and profits.
Simply put, employee engagement directly impacts employee retention and company profit. Despite of the importance of keeping employees engaged, 87% of employers list it as a challenge. It’s time to make this a priority.
7 Ways Mobile Apps Can Help Employee Engagement:
Employees want to be engaged and inspired at work, and would do so if simply given the tools. Here are seven ways mobile apps can help:
- Give employees a simple tool to provide feedback
44% of workers will provide peer recognition on an ongoing basis if offered a simple tool to do so. Provide employees with an easy-to-use mobile app that helps them recognize their peers, give feedback on company initiatives, and share inspiration.
“Associate recognition/announcements, video celebrations, and general communication reached only about 100 associates without Yapp. Now, we can confidently communicate any and all that we need to over 400 individuals with a single posting!” – Mathew Cortez, Talent Development Specialist at La Cantera Resort & Spa shares the power of their Yapp app in connecting hundreds of employees.
- Help employees stay connected with each other
51% of employees list great colleagues and peers as the top thing they love about their job. So, instead of having them connect with each other on social networks like Facebook (banned for good reason at many companies), create a private space for them to connect and communicate via a private group chat feature. Create a directory where others can meet their colleagues and learn more about them.
- Break the barriers to professional development
One of the top reasons employees say they don’t have professional development opportunities is silos within the company. Give them a place to reach out to others for advice, inspiration, or camaraderie. This will help with their professional development and hence engagement.
- Generate excitement about company goals
Whether at in-person events or virtually through the app, putting your company mission and goals in a mobile app is a great way to remind everyone why they work at your company. It’s also a great way to celebrate sales successes, set goals for the next quarter, or remind people of the values of your company.
- Onboard new employees
Are you still giving out employee handbooks at your new hire orientation? Time to throw out those old door-stoppers and get new employees engaged before they even start. Give them key HR information at the tap of a finger in your mobile app plus an open but private communication channel to your team and other employees.
“We send out a private app just for new managers before they start. It lives up to the promise of Elegant Innovation that is Cole Haan’s story. We share Day 1 basics, like our style guide and values.” – Caja Kelly, Training Manager at Cole Haan, shares the key reason they have a Yapp employee onboarding app
- Help employees get more out of training
Training new or existing employees? It’s important for employees to follow, understand and retain the information shared at trainings. Help them by providing a mobile app to access important materials, training videos, and get to know the major players at your company.
- Make it social
Don’t forget about having fun – Enhance your social outings through a mobile app. Give your employees the ability to share photos of that holiday party, team bonding trip, or volunteer day to make it memorable. Use the app to create a scavenger hunt with prizes or bragging rights to get everyone involved in the fun.
The result? Employees whose companies had these types of mobile apps were 50% higher in employee satisfaction, operational efficiency, and employee engagement.
Type of Company Apps that Increase Employee Engagement:
As an HR, Training, or another professional in charge of engaging employees, you might be asking – so what kind of apps should our company have to help with employee engagement? Here are some examples of how others have used mobile apps to create employee engagement at their companies.
How to go about creating Employee Engagement Apps:
Sounds great, but…how are you going to get this done? You may not be technically savvy, or have a big budget, IT, or Tech resources. Luckily, there are self-service app creation platforms out there that can help. Yapp is one such example. Yapp empowers HR and Training professionals to create a variety of employee engagement apps in the easiest, fastest, and most cost-effective way. Get your 14-day free trial of Yapp today.
What are some employee engagement apps, tools, and tactics that have worked for your organization?
