For organizations to achieve their set goals there is a need for effective communication between the employer and employees and among the employees.
Traditional organizations achieve internal communication through the use of emails and this has not proved effective enough. Not only is the sharing of emails distracting but also limiting the kind and volume of information that can be passed across to the employees.
Innovative organizations are switching their internal communication system to a central system capable of meeting all their communication goals. An employee communication app is a solution that innovative organizations are switching to for their internal communication needs as it embraces remote work and is compatible with mobile devices.
It’s time to switch to an employee communication app, but first, here are things you must know to ease your transition.
What is an Employee Communication App?
An employee communication app is like a mobile intranet that your employees can carry about and stay updated with the necessary company information. It solves the problem of traditional internal communications channels that are limited in the scope and nature of the kind of information that can be shared.
With an employee communication app, your employees can receive important company updates and communicate with themselves without a phone directory across various devices and at any time. It is simply a centralized system for business communication that is easily accessible on mobile devices as well as on desktops.
Why do you need an Employee Communication App?
In this era of business whereby most businesses have had to embrace remote work, an employee communication app is a smart way to share top to bottom company information crucial to the daily operation and growth of the company.
Besides, the nature of your business could be such that some of your employees are non-desk employees. They would not have the time or be in the right place to sit before a desktop to access central information instrumental to the performance of their roles.
These field employees can easily access vital company information if you have an employee communication app that is compatible with mobile devices.
Another reason you need an employee communication app is to boost employee engagement. Certain information you would like your employees to engage fails to engage them because you don’t have the right medium to share rich content and receive reactions from them.
An effective employee communication app will encourage social interactions of your employees as they can build relations through commenting, liking, and sharing relevant content. By boosting employee engagement, you’ll also achieve building a strong company culture that your employees are happy to share in.
Benefits of havingEmployee Communication App
Having a good app for employee communication would benefit your company in the following ways:
- Your employees are updated with important company news, events, and strategies easily through their mobile devices without logging in to a web portal.
- Your employees don’t have to bother about searching their phonebooks to search for their colleagues when they want to reach out to them as every employee’s contact information is contained in the app and is easily accessible.
- Urgent and important news and information can be passed across to your employees without them missing it through push notification and text messaging feature.
- Your employees have one central communication channel that they can trust as the company’s portal of truth.
- You can measure and analyze the effectiveness of your internal communication strategy through powerful inbuilt analytics.
Features to Look Out For in an Employee Communication App
When you’re selecting an employee communication app, you want an app that meets your internal communication goals. Such an employee communication app should have the following features:
1. News Feed with Rich Content Ability: The app should allow for easy sharing of announcements and news updates to either individual employees or the entire staff through rich content features like images, video, charts, and attachments.
2. Feedback System: Because you don’t run your company through an autocratic leadership system, you want your employees to share their thoughts on important company updates. Therefore, a good employee communication app should allow you to put up surveys and live polls as well as receive feedback from your employees through them. It can also have a suggestion box to encourage your employees to drop their thoughts about the company’s operations and management.
3. Chat System: There’s a need for employees to communicate in real-time with either their supervisors or colleagues to better the performance of their roles. A good employee communication app must come with this feature.
4. Rewards and Acknowledgment: Your employees feel good about the company when they are recognized and rewarded for their good performance or when they are celebrating an important event of their lives. You know it’s a good employee communication app if it can allow your employees to upload their achievements or and engage in the achievements and recognition of others.
5. Employee Directory: Employees should be able to reach out to their colleagues via phone calls, emails, or a private chat on the app by simply searching for a colleague.
6. Compatibility with various devices: The trend is getting most of your systems mobile so that employees can access them on the go. However, it is also important that the employee communication app also has a desktop version for employees who will be working with their desktops.
The Next Step
When you’ve found an employee communication app with these features, you have to then access it against the company’s communication needs, your employee’s needs, and your budget. Groupie.io’s internal communication tool is an ideal employee communication app that is cost-effective, highly customizable, functional, and easy to use.
