Could the key to a happy and stable workforce lie at the touch of a smartphone button? The XM Gravity Happiness App has been designed to pump up the happiness quotient and turn down the turnover. And if that isn’t good enough news for HR the app has boosted attractiveness ratings of its developer company for want-to-be employees too.
A unique, in-house mobile application has been developed to promote staff happiness. It stems from Indonesia—one of the world’s hottest social media markets—boasting the 4th largest Facebook nation and Jakarta as the most actively twittering city in the world. Aiming to leverage this phenomenon to achieve company goals, XM Gravity have developed the XM Gravity Happiness App and have begun testing on their very own employee base.
The company has already proven the enormous power of social media when it comes to promotion in the online sphere—XM Gravity’s Harlem Shake video garnered more than 150,000 views within two weeks and drove 300 people to apply for jobs on the company’s website. Kevin Mintaraga, XM Gravity’s CEO commented, “All it took was everyone in the office tweeting the link to our Harlem Shake video.”
To encourage usage of the app in client companies, the incentive for active users would be points as rewards with chances to win coveted prizes every month. It operates on three different platforms: iOS, Android, and BlackBerry OS and utilises four main features each with a particular functionality as shown:
Mood
The mood part allows users to express their feelings each day by choosing from the wide range of mood selections provided.
News & Announcements
This section brings the company’s news, updates and announcements right into the palms of users’ hands.
Tasks
This feature is dedicated to assisting clients by supporting their on-going campaigns. Users would be able to re-tweet, ‘Like’, or share key posts on the brands’ social media pages with the objective of becoming viral.
Contact
A contact page contains the list of each person’s phone number and e-mail address, and in recognition of the prevailing dominance of existing social media the app provides links to employees’ Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Since establishing XM Gravity one of Mintaraga’s primary goals has been to promote a family culture among staff. “Family means everybody is heard and everybody is taken care of. That way, they would be happy, which would eventually lead to a great performance in their work,” he elucidated.
The mood function in particular is directly linked to levels of happiness and thus the chances of retaining staff and removing any avoidable issues serves as a type of hard check -up on everyone in the company. Employees who consistently log in with negative emotions would be approached for a heart-to-heart with their supervisors aimed at resolving whatever issue is weighing them down.
The other features of the app, although serving their own specific purpose, also share the value of happiness through promotion of family culture as the ultimate goal. Mintaraga pointed out that the content of the news and announcements section would largely be about matters related to individuals in the company; from professionally-based updates— such as who has been promoted to more personal news— such as who is getting married. He believes that being able to know what is going on in the lives of others is not only what makes reading the news section appealing to employees, but also what keeps the family bond together. Mintaraga reasoned, “Happy staff who feel connected, and cared for, are committed staff who give their best.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
