It's becoming clear that a hybrid work model will be a reality for most organizations. It's yet another adjustment for businesses, one that brings both good and not so good news with it.

On one hand, employees who have the tools they need to work effectively wherever and whenever it's convenient for them are shown to be more productive than their peers who are office-based.

(Sources: Does Working From Home Work? Evidence from A Chinese Experiment; Study: Teleworkers More Productive—Even When Sick)

On the other hand, however, organizations aren't necessarily ready to deliver the types of modern, intelligent experiences employees need to feel engaged, valued, and effective in a hybrid work environment.

Like everything else, we can blame it all on the pandemic. While the array of purpose-built applications that have been delivered throughout the past year and a half were helpful for meeting the demands of a sudden shift to remote work, they unintentionally created a fragmented user experience. Employees are dealing with more digital friction than ever before and their attention management and focus is suffering.

Thankfully, we've all learned a lot from this experience. Most importantly, that it isn't enough to just digitize paper-based processes or offer apps to support each work function.

Recent studies indicate that 65% of employees want to continue to work remotely.

Instead, we need to think about work differently. Success is not longer measured by the number of tools we give to employees to complete tasks. It's about empowering workers to be successful in both their personal and professional lives by providing them with seamless, personalized digital experiences they need to be effective wherever they are and whenever it's convenient for them.

So how do we do that? An employee communication app is a great first step.

Being able to communication effectively with all employees across your organization is a foundational requirement for business success. Not only do more informed employees outperform their peers by 77%, more than 80% of Americans say employee communication is key to development trust with their employers.

Employee communication apps can accomplish that and more, solving the top three roadblocks organization face when preparing for a hybrid work model.

1. Improve communication and engagement

Help employees feel connected and engaged by sending them personalized, contextual and proactive communications that keep them informed on issues that impact them. Use existing data, such as office location, job function, etc. to target workers with relevant information about office closures, benefits updates, training and upskilling opportunities and more.

No more chaos of easily overlooked emails or the need for managers to be the single source of truth - just timely, relevant information so employees can get back to work more quickly.

2. Provide anytime, anywhere access to critical information and self-service tasks

Make it easy for your entire workforce to access information and complete administrative tasks remotely.

Ideally, employee communication apps should give employees the power to complete basic processes, such as submitting help desk requests, remotely. They should also make it easier to find relevant business information, such as pricing information, sales reporting and product information - supercharging employees' productivity, no matter where they are.

3. Streamline access to core enterprise systems

Simplify the work day by giving employees streamlined access to key enterprise systems from any mobile device.

Many employee communication apps integrate with back-end systems, such as HR, IT or Finance, abstracting the important tasks, notifications and information workers need. Payslip details, time management updates, business insights, learning management, compliance training, job postings and more are all available remotely, so every employee can find information and complete tasks without having to log into the underlying enterprise system.

4. Simplify task management

Help employees stay on track and manage their workload effectively by making the hard work of managing tasks much easier.

Many employee communication apps aggregate tasks from core enterprise systems and helps teams effectively share and assign them. This makes it easy for managers to keep track of tasks, such as a new safety or compliance training, that their employees need to complete. It also puts everything that needs to be done in a central location, easily accessible by the people who need it, right from any mobile device.

Want to learn more about how Workgrid can help your organization be prepared for a hybrid work model? Request a demo with a Workgrid specialist!