
(December 29, 2015) – This past year has been a big one for Bluebridge. Not only has it been our most successful year to date, but we’ve also increased in size, adding 20 new employees to our team and moving into a brand new office in downtown Fishers, IN. With a need to ensure that the Bluebridge culture scales as effectively as our teams have, I’m also excited about our recent efforts in employee engagement, using our own mobile-first strategy to engage our employees.
The idea of engaging employees where they are by using a mobile app came from an internal project launched by our grassroots culture committee, Bridgelife. To keep pace with our rapid growth, Bridgelife wanted to create one source for all things Bluebridge—and what better way to do that than with our own app platform?
I’m honored to share that Forbes Magazine recently wrote a piece covering the implementation and success we’ve seen with the Bridgelife app. Check out the highlights of my favorite results since implementing the app!
Adoption
A big concern when launching an app is ensuring that people will actually download it. For the app to be successful, employees actually have to use it. As part of our launch, we invited the company to an app-themed ice cream social and developed an in-app scavenger hunt to introduce all of the available features and functionality to the company. Everybody loved it (because who doesn’t love eating ice cream?), and the launch party led to a 100% adoption rate among our entire team with an install average of 1.6 devices (both smartphones and tablets) per employee!
Continual Feedback
As CEO, one of my favorite features of the app is the ability to receive continual feedback from employees. Using actionable push notifications, we request timely feedback in a very quick, engaging, and user-friendly way. We prioritize changes based on the feedback we gather and then close the loop by sharing what improvements we made based on the feedback.
I saw this come to life after our Q3 all-staff meeting, when we immediately sent a push notification asking employees to rate the meeting and provide suggestions for improvement. The most common theme was concern about the meeting length. After receiving this feedback, the executive team immediately restructured the agenda and implemented a much more concise and clear flow at the next all-staff. Before closing the Q4 meeting, I asked for any questions or comments, which one of our developers responded to by commenting on how much smoother the meeting ran and how he appreciated us adjusting the meeting based on the feedback we had received via the app. The team knew they were heard and recognized the changes we made based on their suggestions, making the meeting significantly more effective and engaging to employees.
Participation
Since launching the Bridgelife app, we’ve seen an increase in attendance at all Bridgelife events promoted through the app, as well as increased engagement with company-wide initiatives. This past quarter, we had a record number of submissions for our peer-to-peer recognition program with an average of more than one submission per employee. It’s been fantastic to see more employees participate in events and take initiative in the company. In fact, the app has been so warmly received by employees that we’ve had reports of several employee spouses and significant others asking for access to the app so they can have health benefits info at their fingertips and generally stay connected to the Bluebridge family. What a great testament to have an even larger network of ambassadors of our Bridgelife culture.
These are just a few highlights since launching the Bridgelife app, and we’re excited to continue leveraging our product to improve employee engagement. Be sure to check out the Forbes article for the full story and stay tuned for more updates on how our internal “Bridgelife” app continues to grow and develop.