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Frequently Asked Questions
How can HR departments improve remote employee engagement?
HR departments can improve remote employee engagement by utilizing mobile apps that keep employees connected. Platforms like Buildfire make it easy to develop such apps, ensuring remote staff feel part of the company culture.
What are effective ways to communicate with remote workers?
Effective communication with remote workers can be achieved through mobile apps that provide instant access to information and facilitate direct communication. Buildfire, for instance, offers solutions that streamline communication processes.
How does poor communication impact businesses financially?
Poor communication can cost businesses billions annually due to inefficiencies and lost productivity. Implementing a mobile communication strategy can mitigate these losses.
What technology can help HR departments manage remote teams?
HR departments can manage remote teams effectively by using workforce mobile apps. Tools like Buildfire allow businesses to create customized apps that address specific HR needs.
How can mobile apps solve HR challenges?
Mobile apps can solve HR challenges by providing a centralized platform for communication, scheduling, and employee engagement. Buildfire offers customizable solutions to meet these needs.
“`-weight: 400;”>Preferred Materials case study here.
3. Training and Development
Think about your current process for training and onboarding new employees. What about your system for employee development?
In my experience, lots of businesses and HR departments have trouble in both of these areas. There is a disconnect between what’s expected by the employer, and how that information gets relayed to the staff.
That’s because training, onboarding, and development systems are outdated. New employees are usually taken through a day or a week of tra
5. Reducing Costs
At first glance, your HR department might view a mobile app as an unnecessary up-front expense. It’s common to have this mentality, and you’re not alone in those thoughts.
But in reality, inefficiencies in HR actually cost your business much more in the long run.
We just discussed the importance of hiring and retaining talent. So how much does it cost to replace an employee?
| Task | Time Spent | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| HR employee fielding calls/emails | 10 minutes per hour | 347 hours per year |
| HR department with 5 team members | 20 minutes per hour | More than two full months of work |
Depending on the position, it can cost up to 400% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them. That alone is enough of a reason to build an HR mobile app.
Even if you’re not experiencing high employee turnover right now, this will be an HR challenge moving forward if you can’t adapt to new technology trends.
But this is just one way to save money with a mobile app. An app will make your employees and HR team more productive.
Think about how long it takes your HR department to assist employees and perform basic tasks. Each time someone has to call HR or send an email, it takes away from their job-related duties. This creates a bottleneck in human resources, which is one of the biggest remote employee challenges of HR.
From an efficiency standpoint, the costs associated with HR communication are astronomical. An app can potentially save multiple employee salaries with just one function.I don’t know what’s worse; overpaying or underpaying employees. But I’ve seen both happen at nearly every business without automation and the right technology in the HR department.
| Scenario | Impact |
|---|---|
| Overpaying Employees | Financial loss for the company and potential difficulty in recovering funds. |
| Underpaying Employees | Employee dissatisfaction and potential legal issues. |
33% of employers make payroll errors every year. These errors cause compliance issues, which is why 40% of small business owners incur IRS penalties as a result of these errors.
7. Providing Employee Self-Service
If you’re not leveraging the right technology, your HR department won’t be able to offer employee self-service. The lack of employee self-service tools is one of the significant remote employee challenges of HR.
Access to payroll, benefits, training materials, and other resources can only be found if an employee contacts HR directly. As we’ve already explained, this is hugely inefficient.
For starters, if forces remote employees to contact HR during business hours. This is usually 9-5, Monday to Friday for most companies. However, field service workers don’t always work traditional 9-5 jobs. This means they won’t be able to communicate with HR on nights, weekends, or early mornings.
Rather than calling or emailing HR to ask a question about their benefits, request time off, or view a paystub, all of this can be easily accessed in an employee self-service mobile app.
More than half of employers do not offer employee self-service tools.
With that said, 73% of employees expect organizations to offer ESS tools. This relates back to one of our previous HR challenges about attracting and retaining talent.
Employees who can view this type of information on their own time will be happier and more productive. This also eliminates inefficiencies in the HR department, since your HR staff won’t be fielding as many inquiries via phone and email.
It’s a win-win scenario for everyone and helps keep your costs low.
8. Poor Accessibility
Accessibility goes beyond employee self-service. Technically, you could offer ESS tools through a web-based portal to meet that demand. However, this still creates poor accessibility challenges in HR for remote employees.
Your staff needs access to information and tools from anywhere, not just from a computer.
Smartphones are always on with them. From job sites to coffee shops, vehicles, and their living room couches, an HR mobile app can be accessed from anywhere.
Accessibility is arguably the biggest remote employee challenge of HR. Your deskless workforce can’t get import information on-site. This causes a disconnect and creates problems with tasks and performance.
How does a technician working in a customer’s home access information about the job requirements and update the work order status? How can that same employee access resources to help them better serve the client?
Without an app, everything is done manually. Then your staff is forced to update information at a later time or date from a computer or submit physical paperwork. This doubles the workload and is more susceptible to human error, as we’ve previously discussed.
Check out this case study about Ninja Zone to learn more about how a mobile app improved accessibility for their company.
The app helped gym trainers access materials in real-time while they were away from the office and unable to reach a computer.
Conclusion
In reality, human resources departments are faced with dozens of challenges on a daily basis. But these eight are the most common and relatable the majority of organizations.
This is especially the case for businesses with deskless workers and remote employees.
I’ve seen first-hand how mobile apps can eliminate the remote employee challenges of HR departments. When you’re ready to solve these problems at your company, you can get started building an app today.
At Buildfire, you’ll have the option to build an app on your own or let our experts build it for you.
Don’t wait any longer. As you’ve learned in this guide, failing to leverage mobile technology is costing you money every day. It creates efficiency and productivity issues as well, and puts your company at risk for losing high-quality talent.
FAQ
- What are the main challenges faced by HR departments? HR departments face challenges such as training and development, reducing costs, providing employee self-service, and ensuring accessibility.
- How can a mobile app help reduce HR costs? A mobile app can streamline HR processes, reduce inefficiencies, and save on costs associated with employee turnover and communication.
- Why is employee self-service important? Employee self-service tools empower employees to access information independently, improving satisfaction and productivity while reducing HR workload.
- What role does accessibility play in HR? Accessibility ensures that employees can access necessary information and tools from anywhere, which is crucial for remote and deskless workers.
- How can businesses start building an HR mobile app? Businesses can start building an HR mobile app by partnering with platforms like Buildfire, which offers options for self-building or expert assistance.