Maximizing Employee Engagement and Productivity with Collaborative Applications such as Workday in Microsoft Teams
In the contemporary business environment, companies increasingly rely on collaborative apps to boost engagement and productivity at the workplace. Amid economic uncertainty, savvy business leaders have realized the potential of these apps to maximize returns by improving the overall employee experience. This dynamic has opened up new avenues for independent software vendors (ISVs) to attract and retain customers by developing feature-rich, user-friendly enterprise applications.
Workday, a leading enterprise cloud software sector player, recognized this emerging trend and developed a collaboration app for Microsoft Teams. This software is designed to blend seamlessly into the regular workflow of the users, leading to improved productivity and engagement. The user-friendly dashboards and quick-action features of Workday for Microsoft Teams simplify administrative tasks and empower the workforce, which has been greatly appreciated by customers.
This model of success can be replicated by other ISVs as well. By integrating their apps with Teams, these vendors can create a thriving platform that attracts new users, helps retain existing ones, and improves customer retention.
This article will explore three key strategies ISVs can employ to amplify productivity and engagement through collaborative apps such as Workday for Microsoft Teams.
Collaborative Apps for Teams: Enabling Smooth Communication and Teamwork
Enhancing Customer Value by Integrating with Users’ Natural Workflow
Workday has always been at the forefront of innovation. Before the explosion of hybrid work models, Workday realized the growing importance of digital workspaces and collaboration tools. The company closely engaged with its customers to understand their needs and discovered they desired fast, seamless access to HR information and routine tasks.
Keeping these requirements in mind, Workday’s mission is to embed simple, self-service experiences within Teams to support employees in their everyday tasks. The Workday for Microsoft Teams app is an integral part of Workday Everywhere, an approach that integrates Workday software across digital workspaces and browsers. This app boosts employee experience by streamlining HR and finance tasks, delivering information on demand, and fostering company culture and collaboration.
This strategy has enhanced Workday’s customers’ workplace efficiency and increased user interaction with the Workday platform. Indira Vidyaprakash, Senior Director of Workday Everywhere, states, “Workday for Microsoft Teams is user-friendly and saves time as employees can access their information within Teams without toggling between different apps. This integration has increased app usage, thus enabling more employees to fully benefit from Workday.”
To ensure that enterprises benefit from this seamless experience, Workday for Teams is made available free of charge to customers who have already subscribed to Workday’s Human Capital Management product.
Driving Usage and Renewals through Engaging, User-friendly Apps
Once Workday for Microsoft Teams has been deployed, customers are encouraged to pin it on the app bar in Teams to increase engagement. Enabling notifications can further enhance adoption and usage, prompting users to complete new tasks without leaving Teams.
The Workday in Teams home dashboard offers a comprehensive view of all the tasks employees and managers can perform, tailored to their roles. The dashboard features a menu with quick action options and an integrated HR calendar displaying time off and upcoming holidays.
The user-friendly interface also lets employees chat with the Workday Assistant to request time off or Workday learning courses. Managers can streamline the approval process within the app, and employees can collaborate on performance management tasks within Teams. With over 75 quick actions available, usage is heavily encouraged, leading to higher customer retention.
Workday has simplified the configuration and deployment process of Workday for Teams, thus promoting its adoption and organizational growth. This has resulted in high levels of customer engagement and satisfaction. Since early 2022, the number of enterprise customers using Workday Everywhere has doubled from approximately 300 to over 600.
Boosting Engagement and Retention through Analytics and New Features
Workday continually strives to improve the user experience by introducing new features and incentives. One such feature being launched is allowing users to view upcoming pay slips directly inside Teams.
A major upcoming feature is the capabilities offered by the Workday Peakon Employee Voice app for Teams, a real-time survey platform for gauging employee sentiment and well-being. Workday plans to help managers measure, analyze, and enhance employee engagement by providing insights and engagement scores on the Workday for Teams home dashboard.
Customers can also use analytics to customize their Workday for Teams experience and maximize the benefits of existing features. Enterprises that have enabled Workday Assistant can access a usage report to learn which features are performing well and configure it accordingly. This report helps customers understand the value of Workday, thus contributing to customer retention.
In the future, Workday plans to introduce more robust functionality and a more interactive dashboard in its Teams app to continue enhancing the user experience and driving productivity.
Conclusion
In the modern workplace, collaborative apps such as Workday for Microsoft Teams are pivotal in boosting employee engagement and productivity. These apps are transforming the way enterprises function by integrating into the natural workflow of users, offering user-friendly and engaging features, and continuously innovating based on analytics and customer feedback. By adopting such strategies, ISVs can also maximize the usage of their apps, thereby improving customer retention and satisfaction.
Building collaborative apps with Microsoft Teams provides an opportunity to offer customers an unforgettable experience. Resources such as the Microsoft commercial marketplace, best practices for growing your app, Microsoft’s program to accelerate ISV Success, and Microsoft AppSource can be invaluable for ISVs looking to make the most of this opportunity.
Discover more about Workday for Microsoft Teams and the Workday Peakon Employee Voice app to learn how Workday is leading the enterprise apps market for HR and finance.