The No-Nonsense Guide to Buying Employee Engagement Software

Life is too short for bad software. If you’re considering purchasing employee engagement software for your team, you’ll want to make sure that it’s checking all the right boxes for both management and frontline employees.

Considering adopting employee engagement software for your workforce? Check out our white paper “How to Choose the Best Team Collaboration Software” to help you assess the right tools for your business.

Purchasing the wrong software can be a costly mistake. But with a little planning and preparation, you can avoid some of the most common pitfalls associated with buying software for your company.

So without further ado, let’s dive right in.

What Is Employee Engagement Software?

First thing’s first. What is employee engagement software?

Employee engagement software is a centralized platform where employees can access important information they need to connect with their organization.

Employee engagement platforms are usually a mobile and/or desktop app. 

Employee engagement apps equip employees with:

• Instant company news and alerts
• Secure two-way messaging to communicate with their manager and colleagues
• Easy, on-the-go access to important documents
• Instant access to other workplace technology through integrations

Employee engagement mobile apps are now a must-have, especially for distributed workforces, as the frontline digital revolution takes over the workplace.

Need to see it to believe it? Check out how Beekeeper’s operational communication platform improves associate engagement and positively impacts business performance.

Stats That Stress the Importance of Employee Engagement Software

Before adopting employee engagement software, it’s important to understand why it is important.

Take a look at these startling workplace statistics.

• Only 30% of employees are actively engaged in their workplaces
• The average frontline worker spends on average three hours per week looking for information
• Managers spend 60% of their time in meetings communicating information to employees
• 53% of frontline workers use non-secure messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, up to six times a day for work-related reasons

Associate engagement technology gives employees an open channel to connect and engage with the company, their manager, and their peers. All in one place.

Here are just a few of the business benefits when employees that are more engaged at work:

• More meaningful and informative customer interactions
• Decreased turnover
• Motivated to go the extra mile
• Improved productivity and output
• Positively influence business performance

10 Must-Have Features For Your Employee Engagement App

Navigating the world of employee engagement technology can be overwhelming – but it doesn’t have to be.

When selecting your employee engagement mobile app, remember to look for features that:

• Distribute information when and where employees need it
• Automate processes
• Boost employee productivity
• Make employee management easier
• Are customizable to fit your company and brand

With the Beekeeper mobile app, businesses are giving all frontline employees access to the digital toolbox they need to do their jobs effectively.

Here are the top must-have Beekeeper product features for your workforce.

1.   Real-Time Communication Capabilities

When you’re on the shop floor, working directly with customers, or in a time of crisis, you need information now – not later.

Real-time communication features like instant chat campaigns, file sharing, and 1:1 and group chats help you get information when and where you need it.

2.   Inline Translations

Modern-day workforces are more culturally diverse than ever. But, some companies still struggle to reach all their employees in their preferred languages.

With inline translations, companies can communicate with employees in their preferred languages.

Here are four ways your business will benefit from inline translation technology:

1. Creates an inclusive, diverse workplace by celebrating the different ethnicities, cultures, and languages that make up a global workforce.
2. Improves workplace safety by making sure employees receive critical safety communications in their preferred languages.
3. Promotes faster information sharing and ensures everyone has the opportunity to be part of meaningful conversations.
4. Allows for expansion because everyone is now on the same page when it comes to communicating company goals.

3.   Out-of-the-box Integrations

Frontline employees need a centralized location to find all the tools they use on a daily basis.

Enter: time-saving integrations.

Here are some integrations to streamline and automate your digital workflows:

• SharePoint: Sync files from SharePoint to Beekeeper’s Document Library
• UKG Dimensions (Ultimate Kronos Group): Sync shifts from UKG to Beekeeper’s Shift Schedules
• New user sync integrations and partnerships with popular HRIS platforms like Ceridian Dayforce
• Innovation partnership and integration
• Operational checklists and workflows with Checkproof
• Mobile-first microlearning and training with MobieTrain and Coursepath
• Employee engagement and surveys with Betterworks Engage and Butterfly.ai

And that’s just the start. Check out many more out-of-the-box integrations in the Beekeeper Marketplace.

4.   Document Library

Beekeeper 2.0 includes a built-in Document Library, which is a single access point to the latest and most relevant documents frontline workers need.

Having a centralized location to find necessary materials saves valuable time in a busy workday. In fact, it could save frontline workers up to three hours per day.

Employers can store important documents such as:

• Employee handbooks
• Instruction manuals
• SOPs
• Health and safety procedures
• Equipment performance history
• Site plans
• Menus
• Checklists

Digital access to Beekeeper shift schedules for workforce management allows employees to easily view their shift schedules right from their mobile phones.

Administrators can easily upload the latest shift schedule as an excel file. Employees will receive push notifications as soon as their new shifts have been assigned.

Other benefits of digital access to shift schedules include:

• Reduced miscommunication
• Reduced absenteeism
• Improved workforce productivity by making sure every shift is covered

6.   Data and Analytics

Once you’ve committed to an employee engagement platform, you’ll want to capture your ROI.

An easy way to do this is to measure the impact of your employee engagement and communications with an analytics dashboard.

Here are a few ways to measure employee engagement:

• Create surveys to collect proof points on employee experiences, opinions, and satisfaction
• Track read receipts with confirmation campaigns
• Send campaigns with confirmation features built-in, so you are notified when someone opens and confirms they’ve received your message
• Track responses to determine what type of content gets the most feedback

7.   Employee Surveys

Employee feedback is necessary for the long-term success of your employee engagement app. 

Use employee surveys to track:

• Employee engagement with the app
• Features that are most useful (or least useful)
• Challenges employees have encountered when using the app

8.   Security

The number one priority for any digital workplace must be security. That goes for your employee engagement platform as well.

With Beekeeper’s mobile app, companies can ensure that banking-standard security is in place to keep your internal communication private and your employee information secure.

That level of security includes:

• Virtual private cloud hosted in ISO 27001 certified data centers
• Full encryption using AES 256 and TLS 1.2 encryption
• Regulatory compliance with the Swiss Data Protection Act and GDPR
• Admin-controlled access
• Advanced firewall protection

9.   Forms

Digital forms can help companies transition from paper-based processes to more automated, digitized workflows. They support common recurring business processes such as:

•  PTO requests
• Training attendance
• Near miss reporting
• Improvement suggestions

10. FAQ Chatbots

Custom FAQ chatbots help team members find answers to their questions on demand, on mobile, in any language.

Here are some common chatbot uses that save companies time and resources:

• Assigning tasks to your workforce
• Reporting issues
• Delivering enterprise-wide FAQs
• Distributing onboarding materials and training
• Managing shift and schedule requests
• Reviewing PTO balance

Best Practices When Adopting An Employee Engagement Platform 

Ready to get started?

Here are some of our best practices to consider when shopping for employee engagement software for your team.

Assess Your Needs

Before you rush into setting up demos all over town and haggling over the price per users, slow down and take the time to really assess your company’s needs and goals for employee engagement software.

Here are two must-have capabilities to fit the needs of your frontline employees:

Mobile Accessibility for an On-the-Go Workforce

If your workforce consists largely of frontline employees who don’t work behind a desk, then you’ll want to make sure you have a mobile-first platform that employees can easily access right from their personal devices.

Friendly, Easy-to-Use Interface

Not everyone sleeps with their smartphone glued to their hand. Some may still be skeptical of introducing new technology into their daily work lives.

Make sure your employee engagement software is extremely user-friendly and super simple to use so workers won’t feel intimidated by a platform that’s too complex.

If your workforce doesn’t want to actually engage with their digital workplace, then your entire program could be at risk before it even gets off the ground.

In order to gauge what exactly you’re looking for in an employee engagement platform, ask yourself the following questions,

• What will crisis communication look like?
• How robust should the analytics dashboard be?
• Which engagement metrics will I measure?
• Do I need a built-in task management system?
• How can this help with compliance training?
• Will we use this for onboarding training?
• How can this improve employee benefits?
• What are my communication goals?

Taking the time to answer these basic questions around goals, use cases, and overall internal communication strategy will save you time later on when you’re comparing services and vendors.

Consider the Level of Customer Support

Not all customer support teams are created equal. Unfortunately, customer support is often overlooked during the software buying process. All too often, customer service for SaaS products is overshadowed by attractive introductory pricing structures, bells and whistles customers will never actually use, and the charisma of slick salespeople.

Word to the wise — do not discount the level of customer support in your employee engagement software. You aren’t just purchasing a platform. You’re building a partnership to ultimately transform your company culture.

Don’t invest in employee engagement software for your team only to be instructed to “submit a ticket” when something goes wrong a week later. If there’s no option to speak to a real human being when you need help, you’re not getting the customer support you deserve from an enterprise-level SaaS platform.

Safeguard Security

All too often we hear floor managers lament that their frontline employees are talking business on unsecure, consumer-grade chat apps like WhatsApp. These open chat groups are often used to discuss confidential customer information, proprietary business details, and even share sensitive business data.

Frontline employees frequently turn to these types of communication channels simply because they are not provided with the tools they need for 1:1 and group communication.

Employee Engagement Software Security Must-Haves

• ISO 27001:2013 certification
• GDPR compliance
• Data encryption while at rest and in transit

Make security a top priority when shopping for employee engagement software. With regulations around data privacy becoming increasingly strict, and violation penalties more expensive, it’s paramount that security is top of mind when choosing a software platform for your team.

Evaluate Integration Capabilities

A disjointed internal tech stack can result in low engagement if your company’s SaaS platforms are clunky and don’t work together very well.

Ask yourself which platforms you use most often, and look for employee engagement software that will integrate well with them. For instance, if your team already uses ADP, look for a team collaboration app that will integrate with it to create a digital workplace that can serve as one central information hub for your team.

Make sure your employee engagement software has a robust Marketplace with integrations you can leverage to assist with user management, measuring employee satisfaction, and managing payroll.

Want to learn more? Download our comprehensive guide “How to Choose the Best Team Collaboration Software” to get even more tips on how to buy employee engagement software your team will love.

About the author

Beekeeper

We make frontline lives easier, work safer, and teams more connected so businesses can reach new heights. At Beekeeper, we’re dedicated to making frontline lives easier by connecting workers with the tools, support, and information they need to feel valued, do their best work, and drive the business forward.