5 Questions To Answer Before Launching Your Employee App

With the digital era making more of an impact on the business world and across industries, emails just aren’t cutting it! They are simply inefficient, especially when you use them as a tool for the following:

• Internal communication
• Reducing costs
• Delivering engagement
• Optimizing workflows
• Managing daily operations

Emails don’t work well enough to keep your team connected and updated with the latest news. This has become more evident due to the recent pandemic where more and more of us are working from home. In addition, with deskless workers constantly on the go and not working in a single office space, businesses have turned to employee apps as the way forward.

What is an Employee App?

An employee app is a digital briefcase that connects desk and deskless employees with all the resources they need from any location and at any time. Employee apps are an effective and secure method to transfer information to employees. 

In short, employee apps address nearly every aspect of an employee’s workday. For example, training, communication, scheduling, task management, workflows, comradery, and more. 

Even with the above information, adopting an employee app into your business can seem a little daunting. Especially if you’re still using outdated methods of communication with your team. 

What are the Benefits of an Employee App?

The list of benefits of using an employee app is endless, but below we highlight some of the most important benefits from a manager and employee perspective.

Managers Perspective:

• Fewer manual errors like with automated payroll, time tracking and job scheduling 
• Can offer two-way communication with online team chat for better employee engagement, especially when managers can track who read and engaged with material – for anyone who didn’t, just send a push notification as a reminder 
• Distribute information and content in an engaging way that employees enjoy & expect 
• Simplify employee scheduling and save time with templates and recurring shifts, plus access to employee availability allows for smoother scheduling
• Organized workflows and fewer compliance risks
• Easy to use interface for both managers and employees
• Available on your mobile device and desktop 
• Acts as a clock in and out app so employees can do so right from their phones, even while on the go

Employees Perspective: 

• Have access to all company materials like employee handbook from anywhere, at any time
• Company information is accessible from desktop or mobile devices at any location and any time
• Avoid back and forth communication by adding scheduling availability directly to the app
• Easy to use and requires very little training

Employee apps have much more to offer than you think. 

With all of the benefits in mind, you probably have some questions as you consider launching an employee app at your company. Lucky for you, we’ve covered the five most common questions prospective employers ask themselves before launching their app.

5 Questions to Consider While Launching Your App

Will the App be Able to Address All My Business Needs?

Employee apps are designed to fit your business. Now, not all employee apps offer the same features but for the most part, all are customizable for your business needs. For example, you can reflect your company colors and logo so the employee app is a natural extension of your business. 

If your business requires employee time tracking, this can be set up in a way that reflects your needs. Say you need a daily report or need to cap overtime, this can all be automated on most employee apps. 

In addition, you can choose which features to activate and which your employees have access to. Maybe only certain locations or job roles require certain features – all of this can be customized for your business needs as you set up your account and can evolve as your needs change. 

Solution: When you find the employee app that best suits your business needs, and your employees like to use it, then you can set up the functionality that is most essential. It’s important to map out all the features the app offers and how it fits every business goal. 

Additionally, make sure the app is easy for you and your employees to use and involves minimal training. Only then can the employee app really address all business needs as it works with you instead of against you. 

Are Employee Apps Only for Company Files?

Currently, if you work via the intranet, emails, or a database most of your company information is just procedures, files, and so on. You may ask, how does an employee app differ? Can it offer me more than just storage on the go?

Solution: The answer is yes! Employee apps have so much more to offer than just storage. Their main goal is to encourage engagement and to make work life easier and accessible. 

Employee apps can offer internal communication features, some have scheduling and time tracking capabilities as well. Most employee apps only offer two to three features. Whereas apps like Connecteam have a full range of features such as scheduling, task management, time clock, reporting, internal communication, HR functions, and so much more. 

What Resources Do I Need to Implement the Employee App?

Anytime you adopt a new piece of software, you usually require a technical team to get your workforce on board. Hence, you need to get all of your employees into one room at one time. That’s virtually impossible as everyone has a different schedule! 

Even if you’ve managed to train them all at the same time, you are still left wondering if they even know how to use the software. Furthermore, you may need to hold additional discussions should the technology be updated, and so on.

Solution: Employee apps are very similar to most of the social apps we are all already using, and don’t require a technical team to get on board! Knowing that means you can ditch the learning curve because that’s right, there isn’t one! No more stressful or super long training sessions and trying to coordinate schedules. Employees can onboard alone and at their own pace.

Plus, if an update is needed, it’s done in the background with one touch of a button like with any app we have downloaded on our mobile phone. 

Will My Employees Actually Use the App?

If the solution you’re using, like an intranet, is hard to use, is slow, and has an ugly or hard to navigate interface then employees aren’t going to waste their time using it. Which defeats the purpose! 

Solution: Employees have a lot to benefit from with an employee app. For starters, employees have all information on hand whenever needed, can start a one-on-one chat with their manager or co-worker to get answers, and so much more. Plus, most apps offer push notifications so employees never miss an important update. Most importantly, employee apps are easy to use and navigate, most things are learned on the fly because it isn’t a complex tool, instead, it follows the same flow as most traditional social apps. 

Managers also find it much easier to manage their teams as they can ensure information is received in real-time. This is important if you want to update your team about the latest safety measures or new policy changes. 

How Can I Gain Feedback During the Initial Rollout of the App?

With software like intranets and emails, there is no way to track who has read what. Therefore, there is no way to tell how employees really feel about the software you’re using. In theory, you could send a survey via email or hold a team meeting to talk about it. However, it’s unlikely that an email survey will drive results or that anyone will feel encouraged to share feedback during a team meeting. 

Employers want to know that the money they have invested has been worth it. They also want to be sure that employees are benefiting from the new tool. 

Solution: 

Employee apps, such as Connecteam, have a built-in poll that allows you to ask questions and gain feedback in real-time. Additionally, you can set up surveys once a week after the initial launch so that employees can let you know how they feel and what changes they’d like with the employee app. With the data collected, you can make the relevant changes in real-time. 

You can also track who has been using the app and who has been using it rarely. You could then open a group chat just for feedback from those “rare” employees so you can learn what’s holding them back.

Take the Leap to an Employee App

Today is the day that you switch into a new business reality. Your business is constantly being worked on and an employee app could help you move to the next stage. 

That’s where Connecteam comes in. Connecteam is up there as one of the best employee apps on the market, due to its multitude of adaptable features suitable for any size business. 

Along with its excellent customer service and reasonable pricing, it’s no wonder that more and more companies are choosing Connecteam to push them into the modern era.

Why Managers Turn to the Connecteam Employee App

Over 8,000 companies worldwide from all industries have chosen Connecteam as their employee management app. Why? It’s so easy to use, even the least tech-savvy doesn’t require training. All employees need to do is just download the app and get going, it’s that simple! Furthermore, it’s affordable and has all the features you require to streamline your business operations. 

For every company that is set up, the owner or specific manager can customize the app to their specific needs. For example, if you own a shop, you can choose which features to turn on and which ones to stay dormant until further notice. You might start with the checklist feature and time management feature. As time goes on, you might decide to include the reporting feature when you realize how useful the other features can be. 

So how simple is launching your Connecteam app?

Connecteam is your right-hand man. It only takes 15 minutes to set up. Just answer a few simple questions about your business, you receive an SMS and get going. It’s that easy! Onboarding is so simple, invite your employees, they then get an SMS, they join. There are video tutorials, and it’s intuitively built, like any other social media app. Most users can learn by themselves. Within a day, employees understand how to navigate through the app. To ensure everyone is on board, send a poll to all your members. In real-time, you can monitor their thoughts on the employee app.

Connecteam has all the answers, are you the next business to join the thousands who are enjoying its benefits?