Employee benefits mobile apps have been a hot topic for a few years now, but many companies are still hesitating … but why?
We know mobile devices are the best way to reach employees. The Pew Center estimates 90 percent of American adults have a mobile phone – and these are just millennials but baby boomers too.
And employees are speaking up too. MetLife’s 13th annual US Employee Benefit Trends Survey, which included 2,595 interviews with benefits decisions makers and 2,463 interview with full-time employees, shows that 50 percent of Gen Y and 29 percent of Gen X would love to use a mobile app to quickly access employee benefits information.
So what’s the hold up?
Cost and administrative hurdles are clear obstacles. Or maybe adding yet another employee benefits communication tool just seems way too overwhelming.
We get it.
Maybe it’ll help if we do your homework for you? Shh, don’t tell anyone! Here we’ve compiled a list of the more popular and vetted mobile apps out there, along with each company’s so-called “elevator pitch.” We hope you find it helpful!
- theEMPLOYEEapp® by APPrise Mobile: While this isn’t your traditional employee benefits app, it IS geared to internal communications … also important for most of us employee benefits communicators. theEMPLOYEEapp is more of a content management system (CMS) that integrates with a company’s active employee directory or other HR information system (HRIS) and allows the organization to securely and directly communicate with its employees through their mobile device
The pitch: “At its essence, theEMPLOYEEapp provides employers with a means to connect, share and engage directly with their employees.”
- Mobile Health Consumer: Like the others, Mobile Health Consumer works with Apple and Android devices and allows for mobile push notifications. The app also features a way for users to interact with family and colleagues for support and provides interactive dashboards with real-time analytics.
The pitch: “MyHealthApp is your Personal Health Advocate. By consolidating and personalizing health information, MyHealthApp is able to analyze data from leading clinical research studies, thereby educating you about your health. Education about your health can result in more productive conversations with your doctor.”
- Personal Excellence: With this app by HR.com, users receive three to five minutes per day of personal development to reinforce training and initiatives, along with a personalized coaching experience. Personal Experience offers articles, videos, quotes and surveys for users to share information.
The pitch: “The Personal Excellence App is a development tool that gives organizations a platform to engage, communicate, and train employees on a daily basis to achieve long-term positive changes, while providing individuals with a tool to help them build on their personal and professional development.”
- Engage Mobile: These custom app builders boast the ability to increase revenue, decrease cost and manage risk.
The pitch: “We are not a couple of 19 year olds building apps in our parents’ house – our leadership team has over 40 years’ experience driving business success. We have worked with brands from Ferrari to Cerner to H&R Block to Diageo and have utilized dozens of business models to drive success for our clients. We leverage technology to get results. We don’t just build apps – we help you drive your business.”
- Lockton BenefitLink: Yeah, yeah, we know it’s our product. But if you’re a client of ours, why not? BenefitLink works with Apple and Android devices and runs off of employer-specific information from a Lockton-provided database. Employees can access all of their healthcare benefits info and call a provider’s customer service line, nurse line or visit the website – in just two clicks. The app also has the ability to capture and centralize benefits information like ID cards, group numbers and/or doctor names.
Have you worked with other mobile app vendors to improve your employee communications efforts? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Comment here or send us an email, and we’ll continue to update our list.