Whether you are a salaried white-collar desk worker or an hourly blue-collar laborer, innovative companies that offer HR benefits, policies, and tech are changing the ways we work. While AI is already impacting some key HR functions such as hiring, a pervasive trend has transformed all aspects of HR: the ubiquitous use of mobile applications. 

Kimberly McNeil, an HR knowledge adviser for the Society for Human Resource Management, describes AI as the “elephant in the room” and the “new kid on the block.” However, she says every element of HR—from how employees enlist in benefits to how they schedule their shifts and advance their careers—can now be done on a mobile device. 

“Most employees feel more comfortable on their phones,” says McNeil. “It’s just where we are as a society. Even in my own personal life, I very seldom fire up a computer. Everything happens on either a phone or a tablet.”

Alice, Carrot, and Cleo—all winners on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list in the human resources category—have mobile apps. If an employee benefit company doesn’t offer an application, it’s “almost dead in the water,” says McNeil. “If employees need quick access to benefit information when emergencies arise, a [mobile app] is going to be the number one way they get it.”