While the SYNCrew app is easy to use, it is sometimes a trick to get the workers to start using the app. Below are some best practices to help make sure your rollout is successful. Please keep in mind that each company we serve is unique and if these tips don’t make sense for you, please reach out to your account manager or support@syncrew.com as we have likely helped somebody in a similar situation and will have ideas for how to change the script for your needs!
Best process for a smooth start
This list will take you 5 minutes to read and a few more to follow, but your start with SYNCrew will be seamless if you follow this. As always, we are here to help so please
- Use it yourself: Test the app yourself to make sure the projects and settings look familiar. Getting this right will make workers feel more comfortable with the app.
- Make sure your setup is perfect: Check in with your SYNCrew account manager with any questions about how to make the app perfect for your needs. If you don’t know who you account manager is, you can email support@syncrew.com and they can direct you to them.
- Set a start date: Pick a pay period to start using SYNCrew. If your pay week ends Sunday, have them start on the following Monday so you have a clean transition from the old system to the new one. We do NOT recommend running SYNCrew and your old system together for a few weeks as this makes it confusing for the workers. It may be scary to make a hard switch, but our experience is that you will be much happier for it! Don’t forget that we are here to help you and your workers with any issues that may arise.
- Talk to your team: In the week before your start date, meet with the employees in person (or on the phone if in-person is not feasible) to do the following:
- Explain the benefits to your workers: They may be nervous about “being tracked” (see below) and understanding the benefits to the company and to them will ease this.
- Send welcome text: When you add workers to SYNCrew, they automatically get a text message welcoming them. This text also has instrutions on how to download the app and log in. We recommend you send this around the meeting and make sure that everybody knows the text message will be coming or else they will ignore as SPAM.
- Make the start date clear: The more clear you are, the better.
- Log into SYNCrew each day in the first week to check for usage. Anybody not using the app should get a text or call from their manager. If they have trouble, encourage them to contact SYNCrew support by texting 415-968-1593.
Once you have the initial group up and running, new hires are easy since they see everybody else just doing it.
Benefits to workers
Understanding the benefits to them can be a really powerful tool to get employees engaged with SYNCrew.
- No more errors on paychecks: Workers create their timesheets as they work so they never forget to fill in the timesheet. Further, the hours they enter and see on their phone are the hours that go directly into payroll so there are no chances for mistakes in their paychecks.
- Company can back them up: For the kinds of work that SYNCrew clients do, it’s often the case that the employer does not actually know when their employee arrives, how long they stay, or what work was done. A client may not see an employee and tell the employer that they did not show up. Prior to SYNCrew, owners and managers had to trust clients in the spirit that, “the customer is always right.” But with SYNCrew, now you can look at the employee’s profile and know for sure when they arrived. You can share the arrival photo with the client and know your team did the good work you know they can!
- Show their great work: SYNCrew photos and videos allow workers to show their great work even when the boss isn’t on site to see it. Faster opportunities for recognition and promotion for your best employees.
- Nobody gets a free ride: A common concern of workers is that some of their colleague are getting away with arriving late or leaving early when the boss isn’t looking. With SYNCrew, everybody’s actions are seen clearly and fairly.
Common reasons workers don’t want to use the app and useful replies
- Fear of tracking: the more tracking you enable, the more this comes up. Some clients allow employees to keep GPS off and don’t require photos and these employees are not very concerned since they can go to their phone’s settings and disable all the sensors (GPS, camera, etc). Most companies expect at least photos and usually GPS to be enabled. A few things help with these concerns:
- SYNCrew only captures data when the app is open so they can hard-close the app when not at work
- Except where constant GPS tracking is used, the only time the app sends data is when they take an action. In the case of companies using GPS tracking pings, it only sends those pings while they are clocked in, so there is no chance of being tracked outside working hours.
- Share the benefits to them (some examples listed above) and also why you chose to start using SYNCrew. If they know the real reason, workers are less likely to fear the worst.
- Cost of data: This is less a concern since most cell phone plans include unlimited data but it still comes up from time to time. The SYNCrew app is designed to use as little data as possible by compressing photos and videos where possible and minimizing all other data use. If employees are concerned, encourage them to use the app for a few days and then look at the apps data usage in their phones settings. If they don’t know how to do that, they can contact us by text at 415-968-1593 and we can advise them on how to see it. Once they see how little is used, the concern usually disappears.
- Fear of change: Some workers may be nervous about trusting technology with something as important as their paycheck. For these folks, we recommend highlighting that SYNCrew allows them to see their hours in the app, just as they could when wrote them on a piece of paper. Additionally, our support team is available to help answer their questions in English or Spanish at 415-968-1593.
- Time cheaters don’t want to get found out: This is tricky and unpleasant, but some employees cheat on their timecards. Those employees will push back on SYNCrew because they know their days of cheating are over. Their complaints are usually expressed in one of the other concerns above, but we have heard that most owners and managers know who these people are. These issues are somewhat unique but we have seen many examples are are happy to speak with you about specific concerns.