Small business owners wear a million hats and are expected to always have all the answers – from problem solving, effectively communicating with employees, boosting engagement, managing finances, creating schedules, and the list just tumbles on. As such, you’re undoubtedly searching for easy ways to increase productivity while competing with large companies but with little to no spare manpower. On top of it all, your customers demand the best and it makes no difference to them how many hats you’re wearing or how large/small your business is.
So what’s the solution? In our opinion, an employee app.
We know that in today’s world, everyone and their grandma has a smartphone, which explains why thousands of small business owners are making the digital switch. It allows for employees to get their work done from anywhere, at anytime. And it’s time you jumped on the bandwagon too.
What should an employee app offer? Firstly, it should be affordable without commitment plans. Super easy to use, and can scale with your business while having an impact on investment quickly. Plus, a superb customer service staff if you need help, is a bonus.
Still not convinced an employee app is the solution for your business? We list the five biggest reasons you need to use an employee app in 2019:
1. Easy, real-time communication
Do your employees have an updated employee directory? Are they getting all company updates via chat? Are they constantly answering phone calls? Can they send you pictures when a hazard or incident occurs? An employee app is accessible anytime, anywhere, as pretty much every single one of your employees has a mobile phone today.
You can save time by sending updates and message via the employee app as employees receive the chat within seconds. Connecteam, a leading employee app solution, found that 95% of users engaged with a push notification within the first hour, so you don’t need to wait to share important information. Plus, you can see who read your message and who didn’t, and for those who didn’t, send them a targeted push notification so you can ensure everyone is aligned.
Start a group conversation or send a private message and create a clear separation between work and private communication. With Connecteam, you can enable social functions, like comments and likes, to boost engagement and morale.
2. Digitize checklists, forms and workflows
An employee app allows you to add workflows and digital forms to structure information flow and employee needs. For example, if an employee needs to order a new uniform, they can fill out a form on the app instead of a paper one which can take months to process or they can send an email that just gets lost in the chain. Add a signature, GPS location, and pictures to the form so you can be sure you’ve got everything covered.
With an employee app, you can go paperless and don’t need millions of folders or scanners and faxes. It’s easier to improve compliance and to standardize operating procedures for all your employees.
3. A better on-boarding process
When a new employee starts their first day, you want to set the tone with a smooth, efficient and fun on-boarding process – this keeps things easy for both the manager and the employee. With an employee app, you know that you are covering all necessary steps to prepare the on-boarding process and to welcome them to the team.
An employee app like Connecteam, lets you automate the process so employees can complete the material at their own pace and pick up where they left off. With Connecteam, you can divide material into sections or chapters, plus all of the progress is visual so monitoring progress is easy to do.
Add existing documents, PDF and media files, and web-services like YouTube, Dropbox, Google Drive or your company website) Create quizzes so you can be sure your employees understand the content covered. Through Connecteam’s library feature, you can create a knowledge hub that’s always accessible so employees can simply refer to material whenever needed, like the employee handbook, company policies, incident reports, catalogs and menus, sales tips, and more.
4. Improves employee engagement
Employee engagement is when you have employees who are committed to their work AND the goals of the company. Or in other words, engaged employees clock in and are involved, not just because of their salary but because they are genuinely invested. As a result of good employee engagement, you have increased productivity, better customer satisfaction, retaining your best employees, enhancing the company culture and causes success across the board.
It’s crucial to establish engagement from the first day and with Connecteam’s all-in-one employee app, that is an absolute reality. On a regular basis, gain feedback to better understand employees’ concerns and satisfaction levels. Create your own survey, or choose from a template, to send after on-boarding, an important meeting, a company outing, and whenever else you feel is necessary. Utilize Connecteam’s suggestion box feature on any matter so employees can send in their ideas and opinions at any time.
5. Real-time data
Through the dashboard of an employee app, all data is organized and updated in real-time so you can always see how employees are engaging with the app – from reading messages to answering surveys or using the time clock, all data is actionable and easy to read. By knowing what your employees are engaging with most often and are positively responding to, you instantly know where your company stands and how your employees are feeling so that you can take action when needed.
Plus, you can ensure compliance across the board as you can see who saw what and when. For instance, did all employees read the update you sent? Or did they complete their on-boarding survey? How about the updated dress code policy? Everything is automatically tracked and measured so you can clearly see the data and take action.
Choosing an employee app allows you to comfortably wear many hats while boosting productivity, increasing employee engagement, lowering the turnover rate and so much more. The trick is choosing the right employee app, so be sure to do some research and try free trials, like Connecteam’s free 21 day trial, to ensure it’s the best for you.