How would you like to be the hero of your office? Well, pull up a chair. Technology is such a vital part of the modern HR department. Larger companies often have custom designed solutions for a lot of their processes, but smaller and medium-sized companies have to work a little harder to automate processes and work efficiently. Fortunately, there are plenty of business tools for SMBs.
If your office isn’t already using Slack, you should know that it can transform the way you work. Slack is an internet app that allows you to communicate with your team. Some of it’s benefits include:
- Never lose an email in a sea of correspondences again.
- Have designated channels for each HR function such as recruiting, onboarding, benefits administration, etc.
- Communicate with the immediacy of instant messaging and the one-to-one communication of email.
The best part about slack and the part that elevates it so far above email for team communication is the fact that you can integrate it with other apps.
Here are the best ways to elevate your team using Slack:
- Birthday Bot: Never forget a team member’s birthday again with the Birthday Bot integration: We all know the panic you feel when you get to the office only to realize that you forgot a team member’s birthday. When this happens, maybe you keep a few spare birthday cards in the bottom drawer of your desk (we won’t tell) or you run to the store to grab a gift card, but this first integration solves this problem entirely. Birthday Bot will remind you of every birthday before it happens so your team can plan accordingly.
- Hey Taco: The best thing you can do as a leader is to make your employees feel appreciated for their hard work. HeyTaco is an integration that allows team members to give “tacos”, which are essentially kudos to other teammates. This app can improve workplace culture and harmony.
- Tettra: Have tons of important documents, SOPs and content that your team needs access to on a daily basis? Try Tettra. Just like a database of content, Tettra is a wiki that can store all of your team’s content. The best part is that you can access and search through the documents without leaving the Slack application. It provides a centralized home for all of your team’s resources, and team members can suggest and make edits to current documents.
- Vacation Tracker: Vacation Tracker keeps track of time off requests and attendance for employees. Managers can set time off parameters and approve or deny requests from the Slack application.
- Lattice: Simplify and automate the performance review process from beginning to end with Lattice. Create review surveys, then disseminate and analyze the data, all in Slack. Another great feature of this integration is the opportunity to make peer feedback anonymous before publicizing and sharing the feedback with the appropriate parties, as well as coordinate 360° reviews. With Lattice, you can create a culture that promotes feedback outside of formal review times.
While there are hundreds of Slack applications, these are the five that I think can transform your team dynamics and provide the proverbial cape for your new hero status.
Article written by Bryana Wall
