10 digital workplace tools that will transform the way you work

Frontline employees don’t want to be bombarded with too many apps that’ll only slow them down; they want a centralized place where it’s easy to find the resources they need. We'll give you an overview of digital workplace tools and, most importantly, show you how you can combine your favourite tools into an all-in-one employee app that'll boost usage and productivity among your frontline workers. Ready to learn more? Let's dive in!

1. Project management

One of the most important digital workplace tools for employee productivity is project management software. Instead of the chaos of having teammates working on different apps, you can bring it all together in one place where you assign tasks to specific people, check on progress, and get a good overview of how the project is coming along.

With Flip, you can add to-do list items and assign due dates to team members for better accountability. You can also attach images and add comments to specific tasks.

Flip is best for one-off tasks and small-scale projects, such as remembering to ping your direct report about a one-on-one meeting or call the catering company for an upcoming team-building event. For larger projects, consider using our Workday integration. Workday is a more robust project management platform where you can match talent based on their skills, performance, and availability. Plus, you can check project status, spend, and revenue to ensure you're on track.

2. Calendar and scheduling

Whether you’re juggling meetings, team offsites, performance reviews, or training, having a calendar and scheduling system is a crucial digital workplace tool. Within Flip, you can create appointments, invite attendees, and attach files, such as a meeting agenda. That way, every attendee is up to speed and shows up to the meeting prepared.

3. Messaging

Centralized communication is a key component of a digital workplace. Whether your employees are in the office or out in the field, they need to be able to communicate instantly. Flip empowers frontline and desk employees to chat within the app, whether on mobile or desktop. It completely eliminates the need for email or private messenger apps. And with Flip, even when you don’t have internet access, you can still create and read messages.

4. Video conferencing

Being able to quickly put together a meeting among in-office and remote workers is crucial for collaboration, and Flip makes it possible with our Microsoft Teams integration. You and your team can host a video chat anytime—without ever leaving your employee app.

5. Time recording

Even with tech advances, many workplaces, particularly those in construction and manufacturing, are still stuck in the outdated method of paper timesheets. Sure, paper can seem simple and familiar, but it’s inefficient and prone to more errors (after all, someone still has to manually enter the paper timesheet data into the computer!).

That's why time-recording software is another essential digital workplace tool. With Flip, all a worker has to do is pull out their smartphone to clock in and out, and that data is securely stored and easily accessed by authorized users. So whether that employee is at a construction site or sitting in an office, they can accurately record time spent working.

Already have an existing time recording software, such as SAP, ADP, or Rippling? Flip integrates with those and many more!

6. Learning Management System (LMS)

McKinsey research found that a lack of career development is the number one reason frontline employees under 35 quit their jobs. That means having a Learning Management System that employees will use is a crucial digital workplace tool. 

Absorb LMS is an AI-powered enterprise platform that's built for compliance training, onboarding, and employee development. Using predictive AI and natural language recognition, Absorb LMS can pinpoint the exact content each employee will love and recommend it to them for higher engagement. And the best part? You can connect it to Flip so learning can happen in the same place where your team members are accustomed to going for communications, HR benefits, and more.

7. Employee feedback

You're missing out on a wealth of information if you aren't gathering feedback from your employees—and acting on it. Employee feedback software streamlines this process by creating survey tools and forms that make it easy to gather data and sort through it all in one place. In Flip, you can easily poll your employees and even make answers anonymous so workers feel free to speak their minds.

Not only does this help you improve your processes, but it also will help you drive retention. According to BCG, "feeling valued and appreciated" and "feeling listened to" are among the top reasons that deskless workers stay at a job.

8. Cloud storage

Cloud storage is one of those digital workplace tools that is truly enabling the workplace of the future. With the ability to upload documents and other files to the cloud, workers around the world can access the information they need to do their jobs. When looking at cloud storage options, be sure to check the security level, as your company likely handles sensitive data that shouldn’t be shared outside your organization. Flip boasts full GDPR compliance, and the app can be hosted either on an ISO 27001-certified data centre in Germany or on your own servers.

9. Benefits Administration Software

Benefits Administration software streamlines the complicated processes of enrolling employees in health care plans and helping them make the most of their benefits. Flip integrates with SAP and Ceridian to create a benefits portal that workers can access from their smartphones.

10. Shift planning

Finding out when you work shouldn’t be a hassle. Companies that are still printing out schedules and requiring employees to be onsite to see them aren’t optimizing their digital workplace. Instead, an employee app can digitise shift rotas and make it easy for employees to swap shifts or submit holiday requests. Supermarket chain EDEKA experienced a 54% faster distribution of shift rotas by switching to Flip.

How to combine all 10 digital workplace tools into one mobile app

A survey from Glean found that 81% of workers experience information overload during onboarding, and a separate survey from Monday.com found that only 26% of employees have the necessary tools to streamline their work. So, clearly, you don’t want to overwhelm your workforce by adding too many digital workplace tools. Thankfully, with the rising popularity of employee apps, you don’t have to.

Flip is an employee app built for frontline workers, and it features more than 4,000 integrations. That means that you can take your existing software (and even add on new apps!) and put it all into one employee app. That way, both your frontline and desk workers can easily access all their essential resources, whether on mobile or desktop.

We’ve already worked with customers in manufacturing, hospitality, retail, restaurants, and healthcare to improve their digital employee experience. Find out how much a disconnected frontline is costing you with our free savings calculator.