What is a workplace super app and how does it improve experience?

When WeChat and Alipay came to be touted as ‘super apps’, it was because they offered a seamless and integrated experience to their users, eliminating the need to switch between multiple apps to perform daily tasks. Apps for shopping, ordering food, making payments, scheduling transportation, checking social and so on, are all part of consumers’ daily lives. Gartner expects that by 2027, more than 50 per cent of people will be daily active users of superapps.

This multi-app conundrum also applies to the workplace. Over the years, companies have been continually expanding their workplace tech stacks to fulfil new use cases (similar to the consumer world), such as reserving a workstation, ordering food, scheduling a parking spot, collaborating with colleagues, checking company social etc.

All these use cases or capabilities point to one overarching need for enterprise companies – the need to support a hybrid workplace. As a result, app overload is at an all-time high at many organisations, and in response, employees are struggling to feel connected to their work. Workforces are demanding more flexibility, mobility and efficiency in their workdays in alignment with hybrid work settings.

Challenges of hybrid work model

As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, we’re seeing a rise in the number of SaaS point solutions that improve organisational effectiveness and efficiency. Many businesses are taking advantage of tools and platforms to improve things like flexible work schedules, employee retention, DEI initiatives, and artificial intelligence to automate experiences in the workplace.

But despite the ways these tools save time and money, the proliferation of business apps is causing issues that many researchers are calling app overload. App overload creates organisational problems that contribute to increased friction and poor workplace experience for today’s distributed workforce.

Instead of getting seamless operations and thriving cultures, companies are met with:

• Disparate, disconnected systems with disorganised protocols and policies
• People leaders struggling to build company culture across distributed teams
• Company-wide employee burnout and decreased employee engagement.

Combined with the remote nature of hybrid work, these issues make cross-functional collaboration and building relationships harder and limit business agility.

Now, this is where super apps make a jaw-dropping appearance as they disrupt markets and modernise workplaces.

How will super apps affect the workplace?

Today, many leaders understand that the ‘toggle-tax’ associated with app overload contributes negatively to work-life balance and hitting productivity targets.

In response, they must look for tools that can streamline employee experiences through a central hub. As a single-source workplace solution, super apps provide a simple answer by giving people a hassle-free way to access all work-related activities including email, calendars, meetings, social, events, collaboration, and more.

Because this model eliminates app overload by consolidating systems, super apps will have a huge impact on employee experience.

The result?

Happier employees who don’t have to worry about toggling between multiple applications and, in turn, simplification for employers because they won’t have as many systems to account for – everyone wins.

And this widespread adoption shouldn’t take long.

According to David Groombridge, Gartner’s Chief of Research,  super apps are number seven on the list of  strategic technology investments companies have on their 2023 investment radar.

What is a workplace super app?

Like super apps, but refined for interoperability across all workplace apps, a workplace ‘super app’ provides a deeper level of connectivity for hybrid teams.

Many leaders know that improving efficiencies is not just about saving time – it’s about saving energy, especially when it comes to supporting distributed teams that already make an extra effort to collaborate effectively.

CXApp, The Workplace SuperApp, is uniquely positioned to address hybrid workplace issues with over 100 of the leading workplace tools, thus qualifying it as a ‘workplace’ super app. But there’s more.

What makes CXApp a workplace super app?

We designed CXApp for the future of work. In addition to available integrations, we have 75 partners and counting to complement 150-plus native workplace mobile app features:

• From booking a deskand ordering a coffee to reserving a parking spot and joining virtual meetings, CXApp makes it all possible, in one app.
• Managing desk and room reservations for flexible work environments.

• Understanding how their work spaces and assets are being used with cross-platform workplace analytics and occupancy metrics.

The Workplace SuperApp model helps reduce the need for employees to have multiple applications open at once, ultimately creating a path to success for enterprise organisations to manage and scale a workplace experience solution across their global organisation, while simultaneously improving employee engagement by building company culture across distributed teams.

Image: Courtesy of CXApp

Along with these improvements, enterprises can build on the foundation of The Workplace SuperApp to connect different workflows and services across the workplace, so employees only need to download one app. Our growing partner ecosystem of widely used workplace tools map back to our workplace app store for consistent workplace experiences. The end result is a connected employee journey, regardless of who they are, or where they’re working from.

Why you need a super app for the workplace

A super app for the corporate workplace is a powerful tool for managing the ever-changing world of work.

It can be used to help employees navigate flexible workspaces, reduce overhead, remove the friction caused by miscommunication, and all together make things easier, especially for enterprise-level companies.

CXApp, The Workplace SuperApp, is the leader in enterprise employee experience platforms.

Our experienced team leverages innovation and technology to create an easy-to-use, powerful and intuitive app that is customised to meet your company’s needs. With a global client base of Fortune 500 companies, we are well-positioned to help you improve the way your employees engage with your brand. So, whether you’re polling for answers internally or ready to deploy a super app your employees can rely on, we are here to help guide you along the process.