How SPIE Netherlands increased its employee engagement with our Custom Enterprise App

"SPIE Netherlands strengthened its internal communication with more than just a functional enterprise app."

SPIE Netherlands

SPIE Netherlands is a subsidiary of the SPIE Group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the fields of energy and communication. SPIE Netherlands assists its customers in the design, implementation, operation and maintenance of network systems and energy, infrastructure, industrial and building installations. SPIE Netherlands is one of the top 3 technical service providers in the Netherlands.

With more than 46,500 employees and a strong local presence, the SPIE Group generates sales of € 6.9 billion and EBITA of € 416 million in 2019.

The challenge

With more than 2,600 employees in the Netherlands, strong internal communication is extra important to SPIE. For SPIE Netherlands, growing along certainly meant in this case: Benefiting from new and innovative technology. A smartphone is different from a desktop or laptop. Fast, effective and always at hand. More interaction with employees via a large-scale company app was therefore the challenge.

During the app development process, the following criteria needed to be meet:

• News updates: Previously SPIE sent a magazine to all employees. This meant a lot of work and a lot of printing costs, not sustainable. The demand was therefore high to be able to send a news update to the employees.

• Security: Data processing and security system, reporting situations that do not comply with the safety standards. There was a high focus on improving safety. This was improved by incorporating certain things into the app. For example, a special checklist was developed to point out safety to employees.
• Keep it internally on the network: There was a great need to keep the new app on the internal network of SPIE Nederland. Close collaboration with SPIE Nederland was necessary to achieve this.

The custom enterprise app that we developed for SPIE Netherlands has a user friendly interface and content management system. Developing an app like this involved overcoming numerous obstacles, such as:

• Meeting all the wishes and requirements of our client, specifically having a personal profile for all the employees and a user-friendly CMS
• Displaying news in a logical order and improving internal communication
• Integrating an address book containing contact and location information of all SPIE employees in order to be able to quickly find anyone working for the company
• Integrating company promotions with all the information, such as the company values, mission statement, videos, internal vacancies and other company information in one single package.

The process

We discussed about what should be included in the app together with the SPIE Netherlands communication department. It was clear that our custom mobile app must improve internal communication and therefore must be flexible and scalable. Keeping in mind all the specifications and wishes of our client, we started to work on the wireframes and design of the app. Our next step was to design a prototype. After a successful pitch, where SPIE Nederlands was satisfied with the prototype, we started developing the actual app.

After the development process was completed, we were proudly unveiled the IN SPIE app. The latest digital communication tool for all SPIE Netherlands employees. The app is available on all three major mobile platforms: Android, iOS & Windows Mobile (which was still available then). It was very important for us to make the IN SPIE app work on Windows Mobile in addition to the former two major mobile platforms, because SPIE Netherlands was providing its staff with Windows phones at the time. In additions, we made sure that the our custom mobile app meets all requirements in terms of user-friendliness, privacy and security.

The IN SPIE app is developed using react-native & win.js and works just like any other app developed using native code, since it is running natively on the three mobile platforms. Furthermore, using the react-native framework gave us an opportunity to implement advanced features and to make sure that our app is compliant with our client's specifications.

The app is not only intended to be functional, but is also designed to meet the highest security standards as it connects to SPIE's Active Directory, where all data is securely managed and stored. We could easily add another server and expand its capacity by using our proven technology. Everything is seamlessly integrated, and users can use their existing user data to log in to the app.

The IN SPIE app lets the employees put in their working hours, report sick, make a focus report, read the latest news, receive personalized reports and find contact details of the employees and other branches. The IN SPIE app also lets you play a company movie and read all the current information. The custom mobile app that we built for IN SPIE is also built with scalability in mind and can be expanded and extended to keep pace with the growth of the company.

The result

We love to create smart and creative software solutions for the complex business market. SPIE allowed us to demonstrate this by developing a mobile communication app for their company. The app was launched for the annual roadshow where the campaign delegation visits many SPIE locations for an annual update. This was a huge success resulting in more than 1,000 downloads of the app within a week of its launch.

By providing their employees with actionable information in the areas of security, HR, sales and communication, our app has quickly become the most important tool for internal communication! Our client can share their messages with the entire company via news, push notifications, polls, security alerts, general messages, feedback and more.

The custom mobile app that we built for IN SPIE essentially a multifunctional platform and saves SPIE Nederlands a lot of time and unnecessary costs. Most importantly, the IN SPIE app has resulted in higher employee satisfaction. In shore, our collaboration with SPIE was a huge success:

"SPIE Nederland believes it is very important to invest in good communication between the company and the employees. Our goals were to involve employees more in what is happening within our company, to strengthen the ambassadorship of our employees and to digitize and simplify certain actions, such as reporting an unsafe situation. To achieve our goals, we needed a new internal communication tool that supported the "Digital Transformation" of our parent company, the SPIE Group. Building an app was our solution. In a very short time, Future Forward created the IN SPIE app: within the timeframe that we had discussed and exceeded expectations when it came to layout and service."
Bianca Bernard Communication manager SPIE Netherlands

The IN SPIE App

 

Looking for a custom enterprise app? We are happy to help!

A custom enterprise app for your company streamlines processes, increases productivity increases flexibility and ensures more safety in the workplace. All these benefits make your organization more competitive, keep your staff happy and help you stay ahead of the competition. 

With over 20 years of professional experience in software development, Future Forward provides outsourcing services through its branches in Serbia and The Netherlands. We have a pool of highly trained programmers and developers, who are selected based on their skills and professional competence in order to ensure that we have the right solution for your needs.

Would you like to know more? For more information, please contact us or visit the InCompany App website.