To survive in 2020, we needed to learn to adapt fast. We left work one Friday afternoon in March—you know the rest of the story. Most of us haven’t been back since. To navigate this sudden, multi-continent transition to full-time working from home, we relied on bob’s remote-forward features, such as Shoutouts for communicating critical information, Kudos posts for keeping up morale, and Task Lists and personalized onboarding for easy onboarding.
2020 has been a pivotal year for the Bob platform. We’ve incorporated remote and hybrid needs into every aspect of our product because, while there are some aspects of our lives we can’t control, we can keep a handle on our company culture and people experience.
As we settle into 2021, we want to look back on the five biggest additions and upgrades we made to Bob in 2020 to make HR more rewarding, manageable, and fun during a long, tough year.
- Meet the new Bob mobile app
Grow as you go, whether you’re going from the living room to the kitchen or for a COVID-safe walk outdoors, whether you’re on an iPhone or an Android. No matter what phone they were on, all of your people were free to sign in, send Shoutouts, request PTO/sick time, and contact each other from their little screens.
The app’s design was refreshed in May to match the slick, just-a-few-clicks experience that makes our platform so easy to use.
- The new face (and capabilities) of Shoutouts
Whether you’re trying to communicate with a team, a site, or the org at large, Shoutouts are the key to getting everyone’s attention. When teams that were used to sitting together had to get used to working remotely, Shoutouts became critical to organizational communication.
To meet your remote needs, we made Shoutouts even better in 2020. Now you’re able to see multiple Shoutouts in the same feed view, for quick scrolling; attach photos and image collages to Shoutouts, even from mobile, and pin Shoutouts to the top of the feed, to keep the important information visible.
- Remote onboarding for the new world of work
Onboarding used to include hand-delivered swag, team lunches, and decorated desks. When we all started working from home, those special touches needed to be updated to meet the demands of our new normal.
We updated onboarding flows in Bob to help you acclimate to our new reality and build onboarding programs that work. New remote workflow templates helped you pivot fast to embrace remote onboarding and maintain the high standards of in-office procedures.
- A whole new world of Task Lists
“Set it and forget it” isn’t just for slow cookers anymore. In July we parted ways with To-Dos to make way for Task Lists: automated workflows incorporating to-dos on and off Bob, so you can set up complex multi-person processes (think: onboarding), press play, and move on to the next project.
- Compensation management made simple
With so much to navigate outside of work, we wanted to make something historically complex simple. That’s why we released a compensation management module: to turn a complicated, painful process into one that’s seamless and maybe even enjoyable.
While compensation management used to take months to manage, along with endless spreadsheet and some new grey hairs, Bob’s comp management module streamlines data sources, automates processes, stores documents, and removes the stress from a formerly-painful process.
Bob was built to help you, no matter where you are
This is the first pandemic most of us have experienced, and hopefully the last. As a tool for developing connection and culture within organizations, Bob was built to help you not just survive this time, but thrive. We’re looking forward to a better 2021, with more growth and development for all of us along the way.
