Thinking About An Employee Experience App? Read This First

As more companies add an employee experience app to their technology solution stack, more variations are being introduced to the marketplace.

The term has become so broad it can mean almost anything, and it’s not always clear what it means.

Yet 59 percent of workplace leaders say they plan to add mobile apps that help employees better navigate the workplace and collaborate with each other.

If you’re among them, here’s what you need to know.

An employee experience app isn’t just a productivity app

Workplace leaders seem to know what they’re looking for—but they might not know what to call it just yet.

The marketplace is still trying to figure that out, too. TechRepublic’s recent roundup of the 10 most popular workplace apps includes everything from communication tools like Slack and Google apps to project management apps like Asana—even marketing automation software like HubSpot.

There’s no doubt those apps enhance employee productivity and collaboration. We use many of them ourselves.

But the fact is, they’re not meant to help employees navigate the workplace or help them find and collaborate with colleagues. And that’s exactly what workplace leaders are looking for.

Employee app overload is real

Each new workplace app promises to enhance productivity, but the proliferation of all these apps can actually do the opposite, as technology reporter Simone Stolzoff wrote.

These statistics from communication and video conferencing platform RingCentral show just how much apps can hinder productivity:

• The average employee toggles between apps 10 times every hour
• That adds up to 1 hour a day and 32 days a year!
• Thirty-one percent of employees have lost their train of thought while navigating between apps
• It takes them 23 minutes to refocus on a task after being distracted
• Seventy percent of employees find it challenging to manage the volume of communications from apps
• Sixty-six percent want a single platform for all workplace communications

These days, minimizing workplace distractions is the fastest way to increase productivity. And the more you can streamline platforms and simplify communication, the better it is for everyone. That includes sharing important messages with employees, allowing them to connect with colleagues and giving them to access the resources they need.

What to look for in an employee experience app

An employee experience app eliminates common hassles from employees’ day, such as reserving rooms and addressing maintenance issues.

To ensure you’re investing in the right one, look for an employee experience app with these features:

• Integration with your employee directory and HR software (to allow employees to find colleagues and assist new employees with onboarding)
• Integration with your workplace management software (IWMS)
• Integration with your facility maintenance software (so employees can easily make service requests)
• Integration with room reservation software (so employees can easily book rooms)
• Integration with mail management software (so they can be instantly notified of packages)
• Integration with visitor management software
• Ability to share important announcements (such as events, menu items and weather alerts)
• Ability to remember user preferences
• Ability to integrate with Slack (because who needs yet another notification to check?)
• Integration with IoT sensors if you use them in your workplace (or plan to)
• Integration with wayfinding and digital signage

Employees have clearly stated they’re looking for something that simplifies workplace communications and tasks, rather than adding to the chatter.

Before you invest in something that turns out to be just another distraction, make sure you know what challenges it will solve and how it will work with what you have already.

How iOFFICE Hummingbird compares to other employee experience apps 

iOFFICE Hummingbird is a mobile app that makes it easy for employees to navigate the workplace.  They can find people and places, reserve desks or rooms, request service, and receive mail, visitors, or important announcements right from their smartphone. 

Watch this video to learn more about how it works. 

Its mobile capabilities give employees a unique advantage in today’s hybrid workplace, and its workplace analytics make it easier for business leaders to plan ahead. 

For instance, you can see which workspaces employees reserve in a typical week, making it easier to plan ahead. You can also identify which types of rooms are booked most often, which types of services employees request more frequently, how many visitors each office has on average, and how many packages are delivered to your offices each week. 

Based on this information, you might decide to reconfigure your office design, add a visitor kiosk to your front desk, or add more employees to your mailroom. 

According to an analysis by independent research and consulting firm Verdantix, these features and others make the Hummingbird employee experience app ideal for: 

Companies implementing flexible workplaces

The agile workplace had been a growing trend for several years as a way to give employees more flexibility while reducing costs, and the pandemic only accelerated it. Today, 67% of employees want to split their time between home and the office, according to CBRE’s Future of the Office survey.  That means assigned seats no longer make sense for many workplaces.

However, one of the most popular alternatives — hot desking, which allows employees to choose any available desk — has clear drawbacks. In a busy workplace, it can take employees a long time to find an available desk and get set up for the day.  Employees choose seats on a first-come, first-served basis, which isn’t always fair to people who work later shifts. There’s also no way to keep track of which desks employees have used during a given day or week, which is helpful if you’re trying to clean more efficiently and plan ahead. 

Hummingbird makes desks and rooms reservable so employees aren’t left fighting over the best workspaces. It also makes it easier for your team to know how many people to expect in the office. 

Landlords who want to enhance the tenant experience

In a Verdantix survey of corporate real estate leaders, 30% said improving the comfort and wellbeing of building occupants was their No. 1 priority, above reducing real estate costs or operating costs. 

Hummingbird gives tenants quick access to the resources they need to stay productive and comfortable. They can easily find and reserve space, request service, and receive important announcements. 

Landlords can also use Hummingbird to better manage buildings, especially if they have multiple tenants occupying the same space. Keeping track of which companies reserved parking spaces, rooms, and equipment makes it easier to manage chargebacks. 

Companies that want to maximize their investment in workplace management software 

Many integrated workplace management systems were designed for facilities managers and other business leaders, not employees. This means employees can’t directly access resources when they need them. They need to contact an administrator to reserve a room, check in a visitor, and request to fix something that isn’t working properly. 

Hummingbird integrates easily with workplace management systems while giving employees a more intuitive interface to use. 

This helps companies improve the employee experience without having to completely replace existing systems. 

Any company that is serious about attracting and retaining new talent can benefit from the Hummingbird employee experience app,  according to the Verdantix analysis. While there are other workplace apps that focus on specific solutions, such as improving productivity or collaboration, Hummingbird brings all these essential functions into one easy-to-use interface. This means it fits nicely into broader initiatives focused on improving the overall employee experience. 

Ready to see the Hummingbird EX app in action? Request a live demo today.