Meet Niko Niko, an app that allows you to swipe in the direction of your feelings towards work, and provide additional feedback to maintain a constant communication loop. From the HR department’s standpoint, it may just be the best (or worst) thing to happen since sliced bread.
As the company describes it on its website, Niko Niko “makes it fun and easy to capture your mood throughout the day.” Their analytics seek to provide an “open, honest, positive environment for peak performance,” and their cheeky user interface certainly helps to sweeten the deal. Adopting the swiping system popularized by dating app Tinder, Niko Niko users are able to “log their mood moments through the iPhone app,” swiping on a smiley face icon to express their emotions, and then adding context as they see fit.
Managers are then able to “access to analytics data on the mood of the team for insights that impact performance, retention and culture,” and further information is made available through Niko Niko’s API, which allows team leads to import other business intelligence or project management tools to further substantiate the data.
This system has certainly made things more efficient for some companies, one of them being Bunny Inc., an online marketplace for voice-over actors. As cofounder and chief people officer Tania Zapata told Fast Company, “You can actually act upon things that are not going very well sort of faster than you would if you just wait for the person to say something.”
Niko Niko is just one of many companies looking to help offices create a more hospitable and pleasant work environment for both managers and their direct reports, ultimately contributing to the overall well-being of the company. While some older companies may still want to rely on workplace surveys and culture audits, new startups are looking for more modern ways to measure satisfaction and listen in on employee conversations. Because hey, what’s easier than swiping right?
