HR teams are increasingly having to innovate in order to deal with the challenges of maintaining employee engagement. With mobile applications gradually being accepted as standard operating procedure, more options pop up for HR tasks beyond simply sourcing job candidates. These range from signing off on time sheets to helping employees file health benefits claims and staying fit.
The HR technology industry received more than $2 billion in investment capital in 2015 (according to CB Insights research), fuelling a growing ecosystem of new tools for recruitment, performance management, learning, wellness, feedback and employee engagement. All this technology will change the way we manage people, forcing HR to stay vigilant of new ways to get work done.
Recruiters and HR professionals who use mobile apps in their work remain a small minority, but this is changing constantly. Today, companies use mobile apps for recruiting more than any other HR activity. One of the many ways in which HR teams are approaching innovation is by adopting internal mobile apps and incorporating them into their daily tasks. These apps are bringing HR teams many benefits, such as flexibility and more efficient work processes.
Mobile applications can provide this necessary level of access, freeing HR professionals and employees to function more effectively in their relative field. HR apps offer the following benefits:
- Learning – Mobile learning applications for tablets and mobile will have the greatest impact and benefit for workers. Organisations would provide highly interactive searchable content, videos, surveys, multiple-choice test and the ability for other workers to comment on or share material with others on topics such as product releases, latest marketing campaigns, targeted profiles, etc. Plus all of this can be gamified to make it even more engaging.
- Worker Directory – This will have organisational charts, full worker profiles, social networking, and the ability to complete simple employee actions such as small job changes, updating of a goal, etc. And in today’s hot-desking environment an app can tell you where your colleague is today.
- Workforce Communications –For workers who are always on the road, publishing important workforce communications through a mobile may get them to notice that an acquisition happened or that the employee stock purchase program is about to start.
- Recruiting – Whether candidates are new college grads or seasoned pros, a recruiting mobile application is a great way to keep them engaged while making it through the tedious hiring process.
- Greater flexibility- Apps allow HR teams to save time by getting work done in their own time wherever they are, whether it is at the office or on a train. At the same time, they can also make training more efficient for employees by allowing them to complete it at their own convenience.
- More efficient candidate evaluation – The ability to complete work whenever convenient makes the candidate evaluation process much faster and efficient, giving HR teams the chance to look through CVs in more detail and ensuring that no good candidates are left out because of time shortages.
- Increased engagement – HR apps such as training apps can significantly increase employee’s engagement by offering them more interactive content such as videos, podcasts, embedded documents and gamification. Not only does this make training more appealing, but it also aids ease of learning.
- Improved data collection – Software such a Google Analytics can offer employees rich data for analysis about app usage, for instance about how the app is performing in encouraging employees to complete training. Data can also be used by employees themselves to track their own progress and set themselves new goals.
Mobile apps can bring many new opportunities to HR teams, make recruitment and training more efficient and help save time and increase productivity. And the benefits don’t end there, as apps offer HR teams the possibility of coming up with new, exciting and innovative use cases. Ultimately, the advantages of mobile HR applications include convenience, greater accuracy, an aid to real-time decision-making, increased productivity, and the intangible benefits of improved employee engagement and satisfaction.
Here at Pocket App we produced multiple sector specific mobile applications and if you are interested in finding out more about how we can help your organisation, don’t hesitate to contact me on 0207 183 4388.
– Paul Swaddle, Chairman
