Blink, the “smart employee” app, has been launched officially in an effort to ensure the health and safety of frontline workers during the pandemic.
The app provides frontline workers with access to all important information and systems and keeps them connected with their colleagues.
Blink has already raised £8.2 million from a number of angel investors.
Throughout the crisis period, Blink has partnered with frontline organizations to help solve real-life problems for the workers. It was first rolled out at the beginning of 2019 and was used by 22,000 employees who worked at Stagecoach, the transport company. It ensured employees access to rosters and the ability to complete digital forms which were needed for leave, absence and accidents as well as access to digital payslips and feedback to real-time managers through which they can express their concerns.
Since its initial rollout, Blink claims that the app has been used in 100 organizations in 14 countries some of which include the UK’s Prison Service and NHS. It has been reported that the app has now been accessed by about 25 million times by frontline workers during the lockdown.
Blink CEO, Sean Nolan, said, “The COVID-19 crisis has underlined the critical role that frontline and key workers play in our society. The whole deskless workforce has been starved of investment. Now more than ever they need empowering with better tools so they can effectively perform their essential roles.”
“Every worker needs instant access to the latest information around staying safe, a voice for feeding back to management, and the capacity to support their peers on the frontline,” added Nolan.
Companies can broadcast important information to their employees’ personal phones through the app.
“We started Blink to make it easy to empower workers wherever they are; with information at their fingertips but also have a voice in improving day-to-day operations. We believe if you empower and equip those on the frontline, they are best positioned to make a difference. The organizations that will survive and thrive in the next decade will be those [which] put their frontline first,” Nolan concluded.