Startup Companies Show Use of Technology to Improve Employee Relations

Two new companies have started operations by modernizing a noble relic of days past. Although suggestion boxes have disappeared from today’s workplaces, the idea behind them still has merit. Tapping that appeal is the purpose behind startup businesses 15Five and Happiily. Both enterprises deploy technology to enable online employee feedback mechanisms.

The Happiily system permits workers to anonymously voice opinions about their employers. The platform presents questions about comfort with job duties and the overall environment of the company. Employees respond in a forum that assures their voices are heard by management.

Any size business can use Happiily to accumulate the comments of staff about how the company is operated. The tabulated responses provide avenues for making improvements. Future results are then compiled to determine the impact of changes. By correlating survey data, employers find out the consequences of new events, such as staff additions or introduction of new products. Happiily was launched with just $500,000 of seed capital.

The 15Five platform renders weekly reports to five questions selected by the top brass at a company. Employees complete responses that are intended to require no more than fifteen minutes. Managers are expected to need only five minutes for reviewing the answers.

Employees are not anonymous using the 15Five system, but the tool removes any intimidating factors associated with face-to-face approaches. Management can send replies to employee answers. Supervisors can also flag important answers that might lead to introduction of changes at the company. Comments by managers are included in the aggregated report received by a company chief executive.

Happiily and 15Five have competition. But that only encourages them about having products with market acceptance.