Employee app: Why HR departments cannot get around mobile communication

Published December 2, 2020

Wilke Strube People and Culture Manager d.velop

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Supporting companies and organisations to develop their full potential, connecting people and simplifying work processes – this has been our credo for years. This is what drives us daily to shape digital change together with our customers. In doing so, we not only question the processes and procedures of our customers, no! We also take a look at our own nose. We regularly rethink our own processes and retrospectively illuminate our motives.

Flexibility is most important in constant change

We give our more than 650 colleagues the freedom to work not only from our headquarters in Gescher, but also offer the possibility of using several office spaces throughout Germany or the home office as a workplace.
Such flexibility brings both advantages and challenges with it: On the one hand, it enables and supports the agility and self-organisation of our employees and is thus an integral part of our d.velop culture and strategy. On the other hand, it is already a small challenge to take all d.velopers with you when it comes to personnel-relevant topics and to make sure that everyone feels heard and picked up. The permanent physical distance through office spaces, home office and project work makes it almost impossible to maintain a continuous communication with and among each other.

These were the challenges with the d.velop community connect app:

Against this background, we have questioned our own processes and identified the following six challenges:

SPEED – The speed at which information flows through our company decreases the further away colleagues are from the place where the message was created.

CONNECTION – Maintaining a long-distance relationship has always been a challenge in its own right – especially in a professional context.

IDENTITY – The less contact there is between employer and employee, the less employees will identify with the values and beliefs of the employer.

SCOPE – The company’s own intranet, the employee newspaper or the classic bulletin board are all well and good. However, these channels are losing more and more reach in the digital change – thanks to office spaces and home offices.

COMMUNICATION – “Information is not retrievable? Then I’ll just ask the others!” – who does not know it? Information is carried from colleague to colleague, just like at school, in “silent post style”.

ONE-WAY STREET – Information knows, if at all, only one way – from employer to employee. An exchange over greater distances is not possible due to the lack of digital alternatives.

Why do you need the d.velop community connect app?

No sooner had the challenges been visualized than the answer to our situation was quickly found: We need our own d.velop community connect app! This app should firstly pay tribute to our culture of agile cooperation, secondly to the desire to provide all colleagues equally with all necessary information and thirdly to offer them a means of mutual communication.

The goal was thus clearly formulated. The way to the realization of the d.velop community connect app as well as the deeper sense/the why of this project was still open. True to our motto to leave well-trodden paths in order to discover potentials and to become better and better, we decided to take the development of this app into our own hands in order to create a solution that meets our high technical and creative demands. And why all this? What added value do we create for ourselves?

The new d.velop community connect app pursues the goal of eliminating the above mentioned challenges by …

BINDING EMPLOYEES – To give employees the feeling of being a part of d.velop – no matter where they are – is the best tool to bind specialists.

EXCITING EMPLOYEES – Think less, do more! Employees should use digital services for themselves and directly experience the inspiring possibilities that the digital change offers for both sides.

PROVIDING A CENTRAL SOURCE OF INFORMATION – One side for all – no matter when, no matter where.

PROVIDING SELF-SERVICE – Change the address during the move, adjust the bank details immediately after opening an account, apply for a holiday in the car or leave a sick note after a visit to the doctor. Everything is possible with just one click!

ENABLING EXCHANGE – Feedback and exchange are important components of a corporate culture. We not only want to provide employees with information, but also give them the opportunity to give feedback themselves.

Surprised how this is possible with all the flexibility, digital change and challenges? It was all there – because we can do it! I am convinced of this not only as d.veloper, but also as first customer. And why? It simply lies in our d.velop-DNA to connect people, companies and processes with each other and to develop potentials.

Do you want to know more about the d.velop community connect app?

Get to know how an app simplifies access to information in your company, communicate in a personalized way, avoid media breaks and digitalize processes throughout.

Your company. Your app.

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