With the skills shortage showing no signs of slowing down in 2023, organisations across Australia are continuing to ramp up their employee value propositions (EVPs) to compete for top talent. Areas of focus include improving the benefits package, offering genuine career development and presenting a vibrant company culture.
But as every HR manager knows, talent attraction is only half the battle. EVP benefits also serve as a pillar of employee retention strategies, with managers seeking innovative ways to keep their teams as engaged as possible.
Companies with engaged employees experience a 23% increase in profitability compared with those with disengaged employees (Gallup). Engaged employees are less likely to leave their current employer, more productive and more likely to drive innovation and improve customer satisfaction. Companies with high engagement scores have lower absenteeism and turnover rates (SHRM).
But without a key enabler – mobile applications – companies will struggle to realise the benefits of their EVPs and keep employees engaged. From flexible working to better communication and massive gains in efficiency, mobile apps are an essential tool for organisations looking to work smarter and retain essential talent.
10 ways mobile apps can improve employee engagement
Savvy employers know how to tap into the potential of mobile to increase employee engagement and enjoy the benefits that engaged workers bring to the business. Some of these ways include:
1. Better communication:
Mobile apps can facilitate real-time communication between employees, allowing them to share ideas and collaborate more easily than though traditional emailing.
For example, Cited’s OnCite app pushes in-app alerts straight to workers’ devices. Notifications through OnCite appear instantly and are responded to faster than emails without the burden of follow-up phone calls. OnCite sends its messages to your workers using their preferred method of communication and makes it easier for them to respond – which means your document-chasing days are over.
2. Recognition and rewards:
Boost engagement by recognising and rewarding employees for their hard work and contributions, often with fun-to-use mobile interfaces and gamification. This technique incorporates elements of gameplay such as points, badges, and leaderboards.
3. Onboarding, learning and development:
Mobile apps can be used to streamline the onboarding process for new employees and make it more interactive and engaging, ultimately leading to higher levels of completion of critical compliance tasks such as online safety inductions. Similarly, employees can access training and development resources from anywhere, which can help them to grow and improve in their roles.
4. Feedback and surveys:
Apps can be used to gather feedback from employees, which can help managers identify areas where engagement is low and take steps to improve it. Mobile apps are well-suited to short, fast micro-surveys that only ask one or two important questions without taking too much of your employees’ time.
5. Employee self-service:
Self-service is an essential tool for speeding up compliance monitoring and decreasing the need to constantly chase documents.
OnCite uses a self-service approach to put document control in your workers’ hands. This makes it easy for your workers to know which documents are required and makes it simple for them to upload and provide them to you – securely and correctly. That means you’ll spend less time chasing the documents you need for worker onboarding, licensing and credentials verifications, attestations, or company forms.
6. Remote access:
The work-from-anywhere revolution has opened up talent pools to include remote workers. Mobile apps can be used to provide employees with remote access to their work, increasing their flexibility and autonomy.
7. Efficiency:
Mobile apps can be designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of mobile devices such as GPS and cameras. For example, think about how much easier it is to simply snap and upload a photo of a certificate using a mobile phone rather than having to scan it through a printer. The efficiency gains can be enormous, which is why we’re excited to have partnered with Scantek to soon provide facial recognition technology and automated, intelligent document recognition through the OnCite app.
8. Task management and time tracking:
Mobile apps can be used to help employees manage their tasks more effectively and stay on top of their to-do lists. Apps can also be used to track employee hours and help managers to ensure that employees are working the hours they are supposed to.
9. Video meetings:
As long as the user is receiving a strong signal, mobile apps can be used for video conferencing. This helps employees stay connected with their colleagues and managers even when they are on the road.
10. Employee benefits:
Apps can help make your EVP really come to life by providing employees with information about their benefits and help them to make the most of them.
Learn more about Cited’s OnCite App
OnCite makes credentials management simple and easy for non-technical users. Workers simply connect through the app from any location, manage or review the live status of their credentials, and choose which documents to share with an employer.
