Employee engagement remains a key objective for organisations. Fostering a happier and engaged workforce has a range of  benefits that ultimately impact the bottom line: better productivity, lower employee turnover and more focused customer service are just some of the potential outcomes that flow from a  satisfied and motivated workforce. For HR and internal communications professionals, engagement is also often a core aim of what they do.

Technology can play a part in creating the digital channels which  support employee engagement. Of course, this ultimately depends on what you do with the technology, but having strong digital communications that can be delivered to all your employees is a cornerstone of many organisations’ efforts to drive a more engaged workforce. Here, a mobile employee engagement app that includes communication and engagement features is a definite plus, particularly in companies where there are a high proportion of firstline, mobile and deskless workers.

We recently covered the eight essential features that every mobile intranet app or mobile employee communication app should have.  In this post, we’re going to look in more detail at nine features in an enterprise app that help improve employee engagement, and how they are delivered. We have seen some of these features  working well in LiveTiles employee engagement app Reach, a mobile app that we work with  which is making a real difference in supporting employee engagement across organisations, especially in these challenging times.

Here’s our view of nine enterprise app features that improve employee engagement.

1 Social and collaborative features that give employees a voice

A good employee app includes social and collaboration features such as the ability to post updates, comment on news and even create blogs. For example, LiveTiles Reach enables bottom-up and peer-to-peer communication, as well as facilitating two-way communication and dialogue. The app gives all employees a voice and cuts through layers of hierarchy, meaning the CEO and the trainee shop assistant can have a direct conversation. This sends an important message that employees are trusted and their opinions matter; providing this kind of level playing field shifts an organisational culture in a way that supports strong foundations to build better engagement. It also has a striking impact where deskless workers have previously had no access to digital communications.

2 News to keep everybody informed and engaged

News updates and stories are an important part of any employee app, keeping everybody informed while also driving better engagement. These communications not only support a healthy culture of transparency, but can also prompt messaging that helps employees see how their contribution fits into the bigger picture, as well as highlight organisational purpose and values.

3 Authentic leadership communications with video

A common observation is that the pandemic has changed the way leaders communicate, supporting more authentic and personal communications and often featuring video. It has also led to more dialogue, with leaders asking for feedback and input from employees to get insights on ideas and listen to issues. This trend has many positives – engaged employees have more respect for their leaders; an employee app that delivers messages on video and allows for commenting and rating helps all staff get to know the real person behind the CEO job title.

4 Polls, surveys and other analytics

Polls and surveys are a good engagement feature of an employee app and reinforce the message that employees are being listened to. More importantly, polls allow IC and HR teams to check the pulse on employee opinion and wellbeing, as well as get a sense of any issues that are impacting them; this gives rapid insights for management so they can act quickly to support engagement. Similarly, a good engagement app  has strong analytics into user interaction with content; for example, LiveTiles Reach has robust analytics that gives IC teams insight into the performance of individual communications.

5 Learning

Personal development and growth are also an essential part of employee engagement. Opportunities to learn are key, especially when learning is placed in the hands of the employee. A good mobile enterprise engagement app should offer opportunities to learn, like providing training videos and other course content. Providing access to learning through a mobile device  allows employees to decide when they learn, such as in down time when it is more convenient and without the need to travel, again putting learning in their hands and supporting better engagement.

6 Events

Events are usually a core part of a good engagement and communication strategy; these can be everything from town halls , to  fun initiatives, to events that focus on health and wellbeing. A traditional problem with corporate events is that they  tend to be focused on knowledge workers at HQ, but a mobile app gives the potential for everybody to participate in an event, including those on the frontline. The LiveTiles Reach app has a good events capability, covering everything from registration, to information about the event, to gathering post-event feedback.

7 Shout outs

The social and collaboration tools on an employee engagement app allow for ‘shout outs’ that can celebrate the success of individuals and teams, highlight actions that demonstrate company values and provide thanks. These updates –  which can be provided both by management and peers – can be highly motivating, resulting in an engaging stream of content that reflects and celebrates what is best about a company’s culture.

8 Social communities

One of the most valuable social tools on a mobile employee app are those that support communities for employees with common interests, relating to both work and non-work. These features can play a surprisingly important role in aspects of engagement. A group that covers hobbies and interests such as sport, photography, books or recipes is a great way to drive community, connection and even add a little levity to the day. And yes, they can be used for cat videos! Community functionality calls also support Employee Resource Groups that play an important role in advancing Diversity & Inclusion in many organisations. LiveTiles Reach has strong community features that can support a range of interests and bring employees closer to each other.

9 Access for all

An underlying principle for good engagement is making sure everybody has access to information and feels connected. A good engagement app, therefore, must provide access to all your employees. For example, LiveTiles Reach can be made available on all devices, both corporate and employee-owned, iOS or Apple, and regardless of whether an employee has a corporate email address or is on the Active Directory. Engagement must be for all staff, including frontline, deskless and previously disconnected employees.

Need more information? Get in touch!

An employee mobile app can be used to help engage your employees, particularly your frontline workforce. There are a variety of features which enable engagement that we have covered in this article. If you’d like to discuss a mobile app, your employee engagement strategy or would like to arrange a demo of the LiveTiles Reach app, then get in touch!