We’ve chosen a variety of HR and training themed apps and learning tools to help HR departments boost employees’ personal development and productivity, covering a range of topics from project planning and online training to some more light-hearted gaming and quiz apps which can be used to create team building activities to stay connected when everyone is remote working.
Lockdown has meant adapting to a new way of working, with businesses and HR teams having to embrace technology like never before. While many staff are already tech savvy, many are still not, so in this constantly evolving digital era a little guidance from you might be really valued.
Health, Fitness and Wellbeing
With employee wellbeing high up on the agenda in organisations right now, you might want to encourage your staff to download an app to support their fitness goals, raise awareness of activity rates or practice relaxation techniques etc.
Outwalk
An easy to use step-tracking app that shows you how far you have walked or run. You can add your colleagues so you can track each other’s activity and see who’s creeping up the leaderboard. Many employees don’t own a Fitbit or Apple Watch so this is something everyone can use as a team. At Jaluch, we use this app for team step challenges, with prizes for the most steps in a year and hitting a million steps. It’s free to use but you can make a small one-off payment to go ad free.
Health Mate
Want to check your pulse during tricky meetings? Well you can by putting your finger on your camera if you have this app. So many ways to distract yourself from actually doing your job but we’re sure this will appeal to some!
Headspace
Mindfulness apps are becoming more widely used, but some employees still won’t be aware they exist. Headspace is a great suggestion for any employees who are struggling with stress or sleepless nights, providing a series of guided meditation sessions and mindfulness exercises. It’s designed to build resilience, which we could all do with during these tough times.
Social Side of Life
Pollunit
Photo competitions with colleagues can bring back some of the engagement and social element of work. Pollunit enables people to upload photos and then vote for their favourite. Who has the best silly pet photo? Baked the best cake? Funniest photo caption? Viewbug is another variation on a theme – join their global network of creators and share your photos. Creativity is such a great way to take our minds off what isn’t so great or that is stressing us out. Why not give it a go!
Psych!
We all need to bring back some of the humour, office banter and social connections that have mostly disappeared out of people’s lives. Psych and Kahoot are both slightly different but essentially quiz based apps, enabling people to connect and have fun during an online call. Maybe one for a Friday team meeting!
Time efficiency with your reading
Feedly. Read More, Know More.
We are all often overwhelmed with stuff to read and it can get a little out of hand. This is a great app that helps collect and organize what we want to read. You can organise by subject matter and it’s searchable. Great for doing research. It\’s also free.
Blinkist
If you want to gather information on a particular topic but are short of time, this is the app for you. Blinkist summarises key ideas from non-fiction books and podcasts. Essentially, you can gain all the key knowledge from a book without spending hours reading it. Great for research, projects or just personal general knowledge. There is a 7-day free trial available, after that packages start from £3.99 per month.
HR protecting the business brand
Glassdoor
When 96% of job seekers are influenced by employee reviews, then HR pros have to pay attention to their organisational brand. The Glassdoor app allows you to see what others are saying about your company. Check it out.
Project or task planning
Milanote
Many staff can’t work with a blank piece of paper. Lots also struggle to organise their presentations, tasks or their thinking. It allows you to create mind maps and turns your iPad, iPhone into a brainstorming, idea collection and thought structuring device, a desktop version is available too. A free version is available but you could pay for extra storage or teams versions.
SimpleMind
Writing That Book? With so many deciding that now is the time to write their murder mystery, autobiography or romance novel there is another great tool our MD has used for years called Simplemind. It\’s similar to Milanote and a brilliant way to put your ideas down in a mind map. Lay it all out chapter by chapter or topic by topic, press print and stick to your fridge or wall as a reminder of what you are looking to achieve!
Bamboo Paper – Notebook
Toss out that stack of sticky notes on your desk…now’s the time to upgrade to an app for your work to-do list instead. This is a great little app designed to help you capture your creative moments and thoughts. And its not just for words either, with this app taking notes, sketching and drawing is as straightforward and as simple as using a real notebook. You can change the paper background to be a few different varieties. Another one that’s free.
Stress busters for HR
Office Jerk
When the stress of it all just gets too much, then why not hurl a chair or computer (or up to 45 things) at the one in the office who’s irritating you the most! A bit of light hearted fun and always best to relive stress in a game rather than for real!
Word Search Puzzles
The clue is in the title for this one, just something easy and simple to download for free and pass the time when you want to switch off.
Look great, feel great
Prezi
There is nothing worse than in insipid boring PowerPoint presentation where eyes glaze over. If you want something a little different why not try using Prezi instead? Create and present beautiful presentations with Prezi for iPad. It’s free to start but there are subscriptions too if you want to keep the presentation you create private.
We hope a you’ll find a few of these apps for HR departments useful. If you would like to share any apps that you have found of value please let us know and we will include them.
Online Training
Mentimeter
As more businesses are having to look at online training, finding ways to engage online can be challenging. This website can be used for live and interactive quizzes, polls and word clouds as well as providing a mechanism for attendees to pose questions or feed back to you. A great way to add a bit of fun to a training session or team meeting.
Jamboard
Another collaborative app which can add engagement to online learning, Jamboard is a digital whiteboard which acts as a canvas to brainstorm, take part in activities or share ideas by allowing participants to collaborate in real-time to create mind maps, draw, add images, text and shapes. It also has some fun functions like adding digital sticky notes which you could use in activities.
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P.S. What does your expenses policy say about purchase of apps? Time to update your policy to ensure staff are clear about what they can and cannot claim for? Try Docs Wizard to download up-to-date policies and contracts – membership starts for £199+VAT per year. For any contract or employment policy queries please do get in touch with our HR team, click here to email or call us on 01425 479888
The information contained within this article is for general guidance only and represents our understanding of employment and associated law and employee relations issues as at the date of publication. Jaluch Limited, or any of its directors or employees, cannot be held responsible for any action or inaction taken in reliance upon the contents. Specific advice should be sought on all individuals matters.