Product Update: Employee Engagement Functionality

At theEMPLOYEEapp, our development has always been driven by our clients’ needs. In the beginning, our employee app focused on improving top-down communication with frontline workers so companies would finally have a direct way of reaching non-wired workers who didn’t have email addresses or Intranet access. But the way we communicate internally is constantly evolving. Improving our app’s employee engagement functionality became critical.

Over the past few years, our clients’ strategies have expanded to include more middle-out, manager comms and more bottom-up and two-way communication. That’s why we are so excited about our latest version of our app that includes:

• Thread Commenting
• @Mentions
• Hashtags

Employee Engagement Employee App Functionality

Thread Commenting gives users and administrators the ability to respond to an individual comment. You see this on apps like Instagram, Twitter, or Slack as a “reply.” This helps users more easily have conversations using comments rather than all comments just compiling in a long list.

@Mentions work just like they do on social media. Users now have the ability to @mention users in a post caption or comment, which sends the tagged user a notification. 

Hashtags give any content creator the ability to add a hashtag to the post caption or comments. These hashtags are then stored in our Content Management System (CMS) to be reused. They are also searchable, making it even easier for end users to find content. This feature will also give administrators the ability to track their campaigns and gauge success.

Why Focus on Engagement Features?

Our decision to enhance our employee engagement functionality came down to a few things. We wanted to: 

1. Give employees better ways to interact with each other. But peer-to-peer chat is full of legal risks. Because you don’t have oversight over chats or the ability to moderate chat, chat can open the door for serious liability. That’s why we focused on thread commenting and @mentions so employees can still talk and reply to one another, but it remains completely visible and trackable.
2. Amplify the power of employee recognition campaigns. @Mentions now allow users to receive a notification when they are tagged in a post. Before, an employee might not realize they were getting a shoutout until they opened their app. But now, they get that notification in real-time and can be acknowledged by their peers more easily as well. In the current environment, where companies need to focus on retention strategies, this is a huge win for our clients. 
3. Give administrators better insights into campaigns. Measurement is a must for HR and Internal Comms teams these days. Creating hashtags is helpful for end-users looking for specific content, but they are also invaluable to app admins who want to track campaigns and results by topic.

We believe that companies should focus on the employee experience and not simply engagement. But our latest features can build towards that when used strategically. 

@Mentions don’t just help managers stay in touch with their teams, they also boost recognition. 

Hashtags make employees’ lives easier when searching for content on-the-job. 

Thread commenting helps employees talk with other employees they might not get the chance to meet and can help foster culture and understanding across your company. 

Want to See it in Action?

If you’re interested in seeing our new and improved employee app, please request a demo today.

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