Today, in order to attract and retain employees, organizations have had to rethink the way they work and adopt a modern approach to productivity, communication, and engagement through mobile enablement.
After all, our smartphones and tablets have become a huge part of our lives. As Mike Brinker, global Deloitte Digital leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP shares in an article: “Smartphones now empower and dominate our personal lives. Mobile technology isn’t just a phone—it’s a supercomputer in our pocket. It connects us to family, friends, and businesses in ways few could imagine when the first smartphones emerged.”
Today, we’re sending emails, texting, shopping, booking taxis, taking photos, streaming music, ordering food, watching videos, reading news and browsing social media, all with our smartphones. With more than 5 billion people connected to mobile service, the workplace too has been changed.
Tools for the Modern Age
As a result, leading organisations are adopting a mobile-native mindset by implementing their own benefits platform that employees can access anytime, anywhere via an app on their smartphone or tablet.
Benefits platforms that can be accessed via an app have made employee experience more personalized, made communication more effective, and enabled employees to access information much easier, resulting in increased engagement and reduced administration.
Below, we share 3 reasons why your company needs an employee app in more detail:
1. Accessibility
According to a LinkedIn article, 80% of workers, globally, are not stationed behind a desk every day. This means that, as an employer, unless you’re using an employee app to reach your employees, it’s likely the majority of your workforce, are missing out on important company updates, are unable to access information concerning their employment, and, therefore, less connected to your company.
Why limit accessibility to office computers accessible only during office hours, why scatter information across multiple locations or a company intranet, and why restrict communication to email that employees can only access if they are in front of an office computer?
As an employer, by using an employee app, you can communicate with your workforce using push notifications, e-mails or in-platform messages, ensuring that your messages are reaching your people. You can also target messages to specific departments, specific countries, offices, or groups. This is especially important if you’re a company with offices in multiple countries.
Additionally, through your benefits and total rewards platform, you can announce important company updates, reinforce company values, survey your employees to measure satisfaction levels, and much more.
2. Personalization
Today, whether we’re streaming music or watching a film via an app or online, not only can we listen or watch whatever we like whenever we like, but we also get personalized recommendations based on our history and preferences.
The algorithms used to curate content for us means that every time we log in, we’re shown content that applies to us personally. And when it comes to creating engagement, personalization is key. Why? A University of Texas study found personalization helps reduce information overload. Think about it - every day we’re saturated with information. However, personalization makes information more relevant showing only information that applies to us.
The same thing applies to Benify’s market-leading benefits platform. When an employee logs in or launches the app, they see a dashboard with information applicable to them and their employment. From benefits and salary to pension and insurances, employees are presented with a unique and personalized experience.
3. One-Stop-Shop
McKinsey reported that employees spend 1.8 hours every day —9.3 hours per week, on average — searching and gathering information. The report states, “The average interaction worker spends an estimated 28% of the workweek managing e-mail and nearly 20% looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks.”
Instead of sending employees on a wild-goose chase, searching for information in multiple locations, an employee app helps consolidate and centralize information so that employees have all the information they need pertaining to their employment at their fingertips at all times. 
It’s clear that employee apps are effective tools for targeted and personalized communication. Want to learn more about the importance of effective communication? Download our whitepaper, “An Employer’s Guide to Effective Communication”.
