The most common communication challenges in organizations from big enterprise businesses to small startups are so widespread that dealing with them can start
The most common communication challenges in organizations from big enterprise businesses to small startups are so widespread that dealing with them can start to feel normal.
It’s easy to forget that internal communications issues can have a big impact. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can safely back burner internal comms because communication challenges and barriers are so widespread.
The fact is that poor internal communications can seriously harm your business. It’s a domino effect of frustrating communication, poor morale, lower productivity, higher absenteeism leading to higher employee turnover, and finally, higher costs and smaller profits.
Of course, when you’re in the thick of things, the relationship between poor internal comms and your bottom line might not be very clear. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that communication was thought of as a nice but not necessary soft skill.
We put together this article to lay out some of the ways communication challenges and barriers can sap a company’s resources along with strategies for making your internal comms more effective (also see the best way to improve internal communications).
The deep impact of communications challenges in organizations
The idea that internal communications problems can make a business less profitable can seem overblown.
The statistics, however, show that having a weak internal comms strategy (or having no strategy at all) can have a detrimental impact on everything from employee engagement to your business's bottom line.
Here’s how communications challenges in organizations affect success.
Communication challenges and barriers lead to increased employee turnover
Studies looking into the real cost of employee turnover often show different results.
Some studies show it costs employers 33% of a worker's annual salary to hire a replacement while other research suggests that it costs three times that salary.
What all of the data has in common is that employee turnover definitely costs companies big bucks.
Relationships suffer when communication is a problem
Two heads are better than one, but whole teams of heads are necessary for long-term success.
When people can’t communicate with one another effectively because of technical barriers or, worse, can communicate but feel uncomfortable doing so because there’s not a culture of openness at a company, collaboration may slow or even stop.
That means innovation can’t happen and problems languish with no solutions. Your employees just can’t be as productive when relationships with colleagues are strained and everyone feels like they’re working in isolation.
Less productivity means less profit.
Customer service suffers when there are communication challenges
Internal communications and external communications are inexorably linked.
Employees need access to information to answer customer queries, respond to sales inquiries, or help customers get what they need.
When they can’t get that information easily, they’re apt to feel a strong sense of disengagement that can actually lead to everyone—workers and customers alike—feeling frustrated and dissatisfied during encounters.
Dissatisfied employees leave, and as we’ve shown above, that costs money. And dissatisfied customers take their business elsewhere, costing you even more.
Poor communication = stress = higher healthcare costs
This might seem like a stretch, but stress costs the United States $300 billion every year—a figure that includes costs shouldered by businesses that provide insurance to their employees.
While there’s no way to show a hard and fast causal link between frustrations caused by comms issues and increased healthcare costs, it’s worth mulling over the idea that the communications challenges in organizations that stress workers out may also be contributing to expensive physical and mental health issues in those same employees.
Healthcare is expensive, after all, and effective internal comms is cheap in comparison.
Internal communication problems can be a motivation killer
Workers who don’t feel like they have an important role to play, who don’t understand what is expected of them, and who feel like they don’t have a voice literally can’t give their all.
Time that would otherwise go toward productive (and profitable) work is instead spent trying to navigate a confusing company culture or to figure out what that company’s priorities are. There’s no passion among employees because they feel totally disengaged from their tasks and their teams.
The Gallup State of the American Workplace report put it succinctly: “Actively disengaged employees aren’t just unhappy at work—they are resentful that their needs aren’t being met and are acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers potentially undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.”
Communications challenges in organizations lead to mistakes
Workers who have access to the information they need to really contribute to a company make fewer mistakes because they feel comfortable concentrating on the work in front of them.
Employees who are focused on trying to figure out what their priorities should be or simple emotional management are more prone to error.
In a retail environment, the result of this kind of disengagement may be fewer sales. In industries like healthcare, however, mistakes can lead to hugely expensive regulatory issues or even injury and death.
Poor internal communication makes boosting employee satisfaction impossible
You can’t boost your workers’ overall satisfaction if you don’t have a clear idea of what employees like and don’t like about their day to day.
At companies with strong internal communications strategies, managers regularly touch base with employees to get a sense of what’s working and what isn’t. When comms just isn’t a priority, chances are slim to none that workers will open up about what changes could make your business better.
Absenteeism rates are higher when communications is an issue
Employees who can’t jump ship at the moment may show their communications-related dissatisfaction by simply not showing up.
A Gallup study conducted in the UK showed that disengaged workers miss 10 more working days each year compared to peers who feel a strong connection to the company vision and are clear on what’s expected of them.
The biggest challenges facing internal communications teams
The factors that have contributed to the biggest communications challenges in organizations are well documented at this point. Lack of clarity, platform. and targeted messaging.
The main problem that companies have faced has always been how to address those factors effectively and economically. Email and Dropbox alone are outdated.
Just having a clear vision doesn’t necessarily mean it is easy to share and then reinforce that vision. A company intranet portal that provides a platform for internal comms may not actually facilitate good communication. And getting the right information into the hands of the right people has always been tough.
Luckily, solving the big communications challenges in organizations has become easier with tech tools like an internal communications tool. Intranets have evolved over time from simple information repositories to a kind of mobile base of operations where business happens from anywhere.
Blink, for instance, can help you communicate administrative and benefits information, but is also a platform for collaboration, a place to store and search for data, a way to solicit feedback (including anonymous feedback), and a social hub for employees to share with one another.
It lets internal comms teams curate messaging so employees stay on the same page without getting overwhelmed by emails, meetings, memos, and Slack chatter.
Up-to-date internal comms tools like Blink’s employee app are even more important for businesses with a lot of frontline workers—especially now that nontraditional employees like remote workers and long-term contract workers make up such a large percentage of the workforce.
By automating paper-based processes, microapps like this help increase productivity overall.
How effective internal communications will change your business for the better
Curious about what effective internal communication can really do for your bottom line? Here are some statistics that might surprise you:
Companies that communicate effectively are 50% more likely to report below average turnover levels.
69% of employees say they’d work harder if their contributions were recognized and praised.
Knowing what you know now, we also want to offer you a quick list of steps you can take right away to gauge how your internal comms is currently working and to enhance your internal comms strategy.
Assess your current strategy — Assuming you have one, that is. If not, you’ll want to make one. But if you do, take the time to consider your internal communications objectives, who has ownership of comms, if the tools you are using are effective, and whether your current strategies are really getting the job done.
Poll your employees — Do they feel like they have a voice in your company? If they have an idea, can they easily share it? When they have questions, can they find answers quickly and easily? Does dealing with administrative tasks take up way too much time? Do they like your communications tech? Let workers answer anonymously and adjust your comms strategy accordingly.
Put everything in one place — Make this the year you finally commit to storing your company data in one place so tracking down a file is never again a half-day affair. When you use Blink to store the information your employees need—from HR docs to project guidelines—they can easily find it all.
Stop sending so many emails — Lengthy, reply-all type email threads are frustrating and, frankly, easy to ignore. Worse, they interrupt the flow of work and often contain irrelevant information leaving workers feeling resentful instead of informed.
Send information to the right people — Use a comms platform like Blink that lets you send information to specific employees and teams instead of the entire company. You can even label posts priority and check to make sure that your messages were received and read by recipients.
The bottom line is that employees at every level of your company will be happier, more productive, and more passionate about their work if they feel informed.
The internal communications strategy you put into place now will not only make it easier for your employees to do their jobs, but will also make your company more profitable in the long run.
Blink makes it easier to overcome the most common organizational communication tool challenges in organizations. Are you ready to tackle the challenges facing internal communications at your company?
The most common communication challenges in organizations from big enterprise businesses to small startups are so widespread that dealing with them can start to feel normal.
It’s easy to forget that internal communications issues can have a big impact. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can safely back burner internal comms because communication challenges and barriers are so widespread.
The fact is that poor internal communications can seriously harm your business. It’s a domino effect of frustrating communication, poor morale, lower productivity, higher absenteeism leading to higher employee turnover, and finally, higher costs and smaller profits.
Of course, when you’re in the thick of things, the relationship between poor internal comms and your bottom line might not be very clear. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that communication was thought of as a nice but not necessary soft skill.
We put together this article to lay out some of the ways communication challenges and barriers can sap a company’s resources along with strategies for making your internal comms more effective (also see the best way to improve internal communications).
The deep impact of communications challenges in organizations
The idea that internal communications problems can make a business less profitable can seem overblown.
The statistics, however, show that having a weak internal comms strategy (or having no strategy at all) can have a detrimental impact on everything from employee engagement to your business's bottom line.
Here’s how communications challenges in organizations affect success.
Communication challenges and barriers lead to increased employee turnover
Studies looking into the real cost of employee turnover often show different results.
Some studies show it costs employers 33% of a worker's annual salary to hire a replacement while other research suggests that it costs three times that salary.
What all of the data has in common is that employee turnover definitely costs companies big bucks.
Relationships suffer when communication is a problem
Two heads are better than one, but whole teams of heads are necessary for long-term success.
When people can’t communicate with one another effectively because of technical barriers or, worse, can communicate but feel uncomfortable doing so because there’s not a culture of openness at a company, collaboration may slow or even stop.
That means innovation can’t happen and problems languish with no solutions. Your employees just can’t be as productive when relationships with colleagues are strained and everyone feels like they’re working in isolation.
Less productivity means less profit.
Customer service suffers when there are communication challenges
Internal communications and external communications are inexorably linked.
Employees need access to information to answer customer queries, respond to sales inquiries, or help customers get what they need.
When they can’t get that information easily, they’re apt to feel a strong sense of disengagement that can actually lead to everyone—workers and customers alike—feeling frustrated and dissatisfied during encounters.
Dissatisfied employees leave, and as we’ve shown above, that costs money. And dissatisfied customers take their business elsewhere, costing you even more.
Poor communication = stress = higher healthcare costs
This might seem like a stretch, but stress costs the United States $300 billion every year—a figure that includes costs shouldered by businesses that provide insurance to their employees.
While there’s no way to show a hard and fast causal link between frustrations caused by comms issues and increased healthcare costs, it’s worth mulling over the idea that the communications challenges in organizations that stress workers out may also be contributing to expensive physical and mental health issues in those same employees.
Healthcare is expensive, after all, and effective internal comms is cheap in comparison.
Internal communication problems can be a motivation killer
Workers who don’t feel like they have an important role to play, who don’t understand what is expected of them, and who feel like they don’t have a voice literally can’t give their all.
Time that would otherwise go toward productive (and profitable) work is instead spent trying to navigate a confusing company culture or to figure out what that company’s priorities are. There’s no passion among employees because they feel totally disengaged from their tasks and their teams.
The Gallup State of the American Workplace report put it succinctly: “Actively disengaged employees aren’t just unhappy at work—they are resentful that their needs aren’t being met and are acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers potentially undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.”
Communications challenges in organizations lead to mistakes
Workers who have access to the information they need to really contribute to a company make fewer mistakes because they feel comfortable concentrating on the work in front of them.
Employees who are focused on trying to figure out what their priorities should be or simple emotional management are more prone to error.
In a retail environment, the result of this kind of disengagement may be fewer sales. In industries like healthcare, however, mistakes can lead to hugely expensive regulatory issues or even injury and death.
Poor internal communication makes boosting employee satisfaction impossible
You can’t boost your workers’ overall satisfaction if you don’t have a clear idea of what employees like and don’t like about their day to day.
At companies with strong internal communications strategies, managers regularly touch base with employees to get a sense of what’s working and what isn’t. When comms just isn’t a priority, chances are slim to none that workers will open up about what changes could make your business better.
Absenteeism rates are higher when communications is an issue
Employees who can’t jump ship at the moment may show their communications-related dissatisfaction by simply not showing up.
A Gallup study conducted in the UK showed that disengaged workers miss 10 more working days each year compared to peers who feel a strong connection to the company vision and are clear on what’s expected of them.
The biggest challenges facing internal communications teams
The factors that have contributed to the biggest communications challenges in organizations are well documented at this point. Lack of clarity, platform. and targeted messaging.
The main problem that companies have faced has always been how to address those factors effectively and economically. Email and Dropbox alone are outdated.
Just having a clear vision doesn’t necessarily mean it is easy to share and then reinforce that vision. A company intranet portal that provides a platform for internal comms may not actually facilitate good communication. And getting the right information into the hands of the right people has always been tough.
Luckily, solving the big communications challenges in organizations has become easier with tech tools like an internal communications tool. Intranets have evolved over time from simple information repositories to a kind of mobile base of operations where business happens from anywhere.
Blink, for instance, can help you communicate administrative and benefits information, but is also a platform for collaboration, a place to store and search for data, a way to solicit feedback (including anonymous feedback), and a social hub for employees to share with one another.
It lets internal comms teams curate messaging so employees stay on the same page without getting overwhelmed by emails, meetings, memos, and Slack chatter.
Up-to-date internal comms tools like Blink’s employee app are even more important for businesses with a lot of frontline workers—especially now that nontraditional employees like remote workers and long-term contract workers make up such a large percentage of the workforce.
By automating paper-based processes, microapps like this help increase productivity overall.
How effective internal communications will change your business for the better
Curious about what effective internal communication can really do for your bottom line? Here are some statistics that might surprise you:
Companies that communicate effectively are 50% more likely to report below average turnover levels.
69% of employees say they’d work harder if their contributions were recognized and praised.
Knowing what you know now, we also want to offer you a quick list of steps you can take right away to gauge how your internal comms is currently working and to enhance your internal comms strategy.
Assess your current strategy — Assuming you have one, that is. If not, you’ll want to make one. But if you do, take the time to consider your internal communications objectives, who has ownership of comms, if the tools you are using are effective, and whether your current strategies are really getting the job done.
Poll your employees — Do they feel like they have a voice in your company? If they have an idea, can they easily share it? When they have questions, can they find answers quickly and easily? Does dealing with administrative tasks take up way too much time? Do they like your communications tech? Let workers answer anonymously and adjust your comms strategy accordingly.
Put everything in one place — Make this the year you finally commit to storing your company data in one place so tracking down a file is never again a half-day affair. When you use Blink to store the information your employees need—from HR docs to project guidelines—they can easily find it all.
Stop sending so many emails — Lengthy, reply-all type email threads are frustrating and, frankly, easy to ignore. Worse, they interrupt the flow of work and often contain irrelevant information leaving workers feeling resentful instead of informed.
Send information to the right people — Use a comms platform like Blink that lets you send information to specific employees and teams instead of the entire company. You can even label posts priority and check to make sure that your messages were received and read by recipients.
The bottom line is that employees at every level of your company will be happier, more productive, and more passionate about their work if they feel informed.
The internal communications strategy you put into place now will not only make it easier for your employees to do their jobs, but will also make your company more profitable in the long run.
Blink makes it easier to overcome the most common organizational communication tool challenges in organizations. Are you ready to tackle the challenges facing internal communications at your company?
“Blink for Everyone" allows nonprofits to maintain connectivity and engagement
Boston – May 28, 2024 – Blink, the leading employee engagement super-app, today announced the formal launch of "Blink for Everyone," a program offering non-profit organizations access to its platform free of charge. This initiative builds on Blink’s commitment to support nonprofits with the essential tools they need to stay connected and engaged, especially during transitional times.
Meta’s decision to pivot away from Workplace has left many non-profits facing increased costs or a loss of critical connectivity. Blink for Everyone addresses this gap by offering a mobile-first, unified platform that enhances communication and collaboration among team members.
“Nonprofits are essential to society and our communities and we want to enhance their impact by offering access to an all-one-one people engagement platform,” said Sean Nolan, CEO and founder of Blink. “With the closure of Meta’s Workplace for Good, many organizations are searching for alternatives. Blink for Everyone is our commitment to help non-profits continue their vital work without the burden of additional costs. We believe in equality of access, where every worker, whether desk-based or deskless, has the tools they need to thrive.”
Nonprofit organizations using Blink have already reported significant improvements in their operations and employee engagement.
"Blink has significantly enhanced our organizational communication with its intuitive interface, leading to a positive shift within our workforce," said a representative from St. Amant. "Since adopting Blink, our dispersed teams have become more informed and connected, fostering a sense of unity and collaboration."
Chris Lawley, board member, Destiny Rescue remarked, “Blink has revolutionized how we connect, communicate and collaborate as an organization. As a globally dispersed team, we were struggling with keeping our teams connected in real-time. Blink's support for non-profit organizations allowed us to adopt their world-class technology without a license fee. Important information is now being shared seamlessly across continents, making our operations safer and more efficient."
Blink features and benefits
Two-way communications: augmented with an integrated activity feed and a centralized resource Hub.
Mobile-first approach: a single application for all company-focused interactions, ensuring accessibility for all employees.
Seamless experience: Facilitates smooth communication and engagement across the entire workplace.
Scalability and Configurability: Easily scales and supports organizations of all sizes, ensuring flexibility and adaptability.
Blink’s mission is "connect everyone, so everyone thrives." This initiative reflects Blink’s commitment to ensuring that all organizations, regardless of their size or budget, have access to the best tools for communication and engagement.
Nonprofits interested in Blink for Everyone can register their interest on Blink's website.
About Blink
Blink is a provider of a leading super-app designed for frontline organizations. The company aims to revolutionize employee work life by bridging the digital divide between deskless and desk-based employees, enabling effective communication and engagement in distributed organizations. Blink is used by industry-leading companies, including RATPDev, Elara Caring, and Domino’s. Each user opens the app an average of seven times a day, helping lower frontline attrition by up to 25%. Founded in 2015 and with offices in London, Boston, and Sydney, Blink is a Leader in the G2 Grid® for Best Employee Engagement Software. Visit Joinblink.com for more information.
Domino's Pizza Group is the UK’s leading pizza brand; their first UK store opened in 1985. They have over 1,000 stores across the country and more than 35,000 team members. Their vision is simple: to be the number one pizza company in the world. But their internal communication strategy was holding them back.
So, what happens when communication becomes critical in the wake of a global pandemic? And how do you reach frontline workers who are digitally and physically disconnected (see the winning types of internal communication)?
The challenge
Domino’s have a distributed workforce operating out of various sites. These include Head Office and Supply Chain Centers in Milton Keynes, Warrington, West Ashland & Naas.
Frontline processes were paper-based and manual with no practical way to reach everyone. Dominoes struggles to get key messages across, because communication relied on word of mouth, posters and consumer channels like WhatsApp.
Domino’s had no reliable channel for frontline communication. And employees needed consistent information – but paperwork posed a Covid-19 transference risk.
The internal communications strategy
The situation demanded an immediate flow of two-way communication. As a result, Domino’s launched Blink in April 2020 as a critical part of their Covid-19 response plan. The goal? Empower, equip and protect all frontline employees.
Before long, Blink integrated with benefits, payslips and holiday bookings. Domino's also began using digital forms for shift swaps and holiday bookings. The result? 85% adoption rate in less than a fortnight, and a strong long-term, communication strategy.
If you’re considering switching from Flip, you’re not alone. Flip is a well-known employee app for frontline teams — but it’s not the only solution out there. Whether you’re seeking more robust features, better support, or more flexible pricing, the right Flip alternative can help you connect, engage, and empower your entire workforce.
Below, we break down 10 of the best alternatives to Flip, starting with Blink — an award-winning employee experience platform — and covering other leading options to match a range of budgets and needs.
What to look for in a Flip alternative
Before you choose a Flip alternative, it’s important to think about what your teams really need — and how the right solution can support your daily operations. While Flip is known for its frontline focus and simple messaging, many companies need more than just a basic employee app.
Here are a few key things to look for when comparing Flip alternatives:
Entire workforce coverage: Does the platform connect your entire workforce, including desk-based, frontline, and remote employees, in one place? Some tools focus only on frontline messaging, while others unify everyone under the same app.
All-in-one functionality: Beyond chat, look for built-in features like news feeds, surveys, forms, scheduling, file sharing, and integrations with your HR, payroll, or intranet systems. This cuts down on multiple logins and boosts adoption.
Ease of use & adoption: A communication app is only useful if people actually use it. Make sure your chosen alternative is simple to roll out, easy to learn, and accessible on mobile for maximum engagement.
Compliance & security: Especially for industries with strict data rules, your solution should keep sensitive info safe and ensure that work communication stays separate from personal apps.
Analytics & insights: Advanced tools show who’s engaging with content, which helps internal comms teams measure what works — and fix what doesn’t.
Flexible pricing & support: Look for transparent pricing that fits your team size and includes customer support that scales as your needs grow.
By keeping these essentials in mind, you’ll find a Flip alternative that does more than just replace messages — it empowers your people, saves time for managers, and makes your workforce feel truly connected.
Top alternatives to Flip in 2025
#1. Blink
Blink is an all-in-one employee experience platform trusted by brands like Shake Shack and easyJet to connect frontline, desk-based, and hybrid teams in one place. Unlike Flip, which focuses primarily on frontline communications, Blink is built for your entire workforce — so everyone stays connected and engaged through the same mobile-first app. Beyond secure messaging, Blink combines a social newsfeed, surveys, forms, scheduling, file sharing, and deep integrations — everything your employees need in their daily flow of work.
This all-in-one approach drives higher adoption rates, faster compliance, and measurable productivity gains for both employees and managers. If you’re looking for a modern alternative to Flip that unites every team member — not just the frontline — Blink is a top choice.
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G2 Rating: 4.7 / 5
Pricing: available upon request
#2. Beekeeper
Beekeeper focuses on mobile-first communication for frontline employees in industries like hospitality, retail, and manufacturing. It combines secure messaging, automated workflows, and real-time announcements to help employers bridge communication gaps across shifts and locations. Many companies like Beekeeper’s built-in automation and integration options, which make it easier to onboard new staff and sync schedules with payroll tools.
Unlike Flip, Beekeeper also offers checklists and form templates to help digitize daily tasks. Some users note that advanced customizations can require technical support during setup, but once running, it’s praised for simplicity and reliability.
G2 Rating: 4.7/5
Pricing: $3–$5/user/month
#3. Staffbase
Staffbase is a leading internal communications platform used by large global enterprises to deliver news, campaigns, and resources through branded mobile apps and portals. It’s especially powerful for organizations with thousands of employees spread across multiple regions and languages. Compared to Flip, Staffbase’s strong CMS and analytics tools help internal comms teams plan, publish, and measure content more strategically.
Staffbase integrates well with Microsoft 365 and other corporate systems to keep information accessible wherever employees work. While setup can take time for more complex structures, its custom branding and security controls make it a favorite for highly regulated industries.
G2 Rating: 4.7/5
Pricing: $4–$8/user/month
#4. Speakap
Speakap is designed for companies that need a private, secure social network for their frontline teams. Its familiar feed and chat features make it easy for employees to share updates, files, or shout-outs without relying on consumer messaging apps. Speakap also supports custom branding and role-based permissions, which is ideal for multi-site or franchise operations.
While it doesn’t include built-in task or scheduling tools like some Flip alternatives, Speakap integrates with popular workforce management systems to fill those gaps. Companies in retail and hospitality appreciate its GDPR compliance and clear separation from personal channels like WhatsApp.
G2 Rating: 4.4/5
Pricing: $3–$5/user/month
#5. Connecteam
Connecteam is a mobile-first workforce management app that goes beyond chat and announcements to handle daily operations in one place. For companies that want to centralize communication, scheduling, time tracking, and task management, Connecteam can reduce the need for multiple point solutions. Its drag-and-drop scheduling and GPS time clock are especially popular with small and mid-sized businesses.
One standout feature is Connecteam’s flexible pricing — small teams can start for free, and paid plans remain affordable as you grow. Some larger companies do note that advanced reporting and integrations require higher-tier plans, but overall it’s a strong, user-friendly Flip alternative.
G2 Rating: 4.6/5
Pricing: From $29/month (for 30 users)
#6. Workjam
Workjam is a digital frontline workplace designed for industries like retail, hospitality, and healthcare. It combines communications with task management, shift swapping, training, and surveys in one mobile app. For companies that struggle with disconnected scheduling tools and separate comms channels, Workjam can be a real upgrade from Flip’s basic messaging.
Its micro-learning features and compliance tracking help companies keep frontline teams up to date on new processes or safety protocols. Workjam is best suited for larger organizations with complex workforce management needs and can require more implementation support upfront.
G2 Rating: 4.2/5
Pricing: $4–$6/user/month
#7. MangoApps
MangoApps combines an employee intranet, collaboration hub, and comms tool in one customizable platform. Unlike Flip, which is primarily a mobile messaging app, MangoApps offers knowledge libraries, team workspaces, and project management — making it a fit for hybrid organizations that need to connect deskless and desk-based workers alike.
It’s highly configurable, which appeals to companies with unique workflows, but smaller teams may find the setup more complex than plug-and-play solutions. Many users highlight its deep search functionality and document management as standout features for centralizing company knowledge.
G2 Rating: 4.2/5
Pricing: $5–$8/user/month
#8. LumApps
LumApps is a modern intranet and employee experience platform that helps companies share internal news, knowledge, and resources in a personalized way. While it’s broader than Flip’s chat-first approach, LumApps is a good fit for enterprises that need to unify internal comms across multiple departments and locations.
Its integrations with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 make it easy to keep information consistent and accessible. Many companies like LumApps for its personalization capabilities, which let employees see only the content relevant to their role or location.
G2 Rating: 4.4/5
Pricing: $8–$12/user/month
#9. Firstup
Firstup specializes in delivering targeted, personalized communications to large, distributed workforces. Its smart automation and AI tools help internal comms teams reach the right people with the right message at the best time — something Flip doesn’t offer at the same depth.
Enterprises like its measurement tools, which show exactly how content performs across channels. Firstup is a good fit for companies with mature comms strategies and bigger budgets, and its robust governance controls appeal to regulated industries.
G2 Rating: 4.2/5
Pricing: $10+/user/month
#10. Haiilo
Haiilo blends social intranet features with mobile-first employee communications and advocacy tools. It’s built to help companies share news, encourage interaction, and measure engagement all in one sleek interface. Many employers appreciate Haiilo’s flexibility to tailor features to different departments or use cases.
Its modern look and customizable modules make it a strong Flip alternative for companies that want a social, community-focused feel. Larger organizations may need more IT resources to implement Haiilo’s full stack, but it rewards teams with deeper engagement insights and branding options.
G2 Rating: 4.6/5
Pricing: $5–$7/user/month
Final Thoughts on Choosing a Flip Alternative
The best Flip alternative depends on your specific goals — whether that’s simplifying daily communications, adding workforce management, or scaling global comms. Blink remains a top choice for companies that want an intuitive, mobile-first super-app to unify news, chat, surveys, forms, and scheduling — all with industry-leading ease of use.
Ready to switch? Explore a personalized Blink demo and see how it stacks up for your teams.
The frontline industry is currently facing more challenges than most when it comes to empowering staff.
The Great Resignation, toxic leadership and the rise of “Quiet Quitting” led to a frontline feeling overworked and undervalued. Today, frontline employees need to feel more supported, confident and empowered in their roles.
And there is hope. Slowly but surely, companies are beginning to realize the importance of empowering their frontline employees. And as more organizations come to see the value of Diversity & Inclusion (DE&I), the frontline sector is starting to transform. Workers are beginning to feel appreciated again, and they are finally able to do their jobs with pride.
But only if their leaders take charge.
So, how can you better empower frontline employees? What does employee empowerment even mean, anyway? And how does this affect your frontline workers specifically?
Read on to learn everything you need to know about empowering your frontline team, from what frontline empowerment really is, to why it matters and how you can implement it. With the right tools and empowerment strategies in place, your frontline can be more engaged, productive, and empowered than ever before!
Key challenges faced by frontline employees
80% of the global workforce already performs physical or deskless work.In order to keep things running smoothly for the majority of the global workforce, those on the frontline need to be able to rely on a few things.
Unfortunately, many of them are currently facing challenges that are making their jobs more difficult than they should be.
Pay increases have not kept up with inflation: This means that those on the frontline are struggling to make ends meet, and it can be hard to keep morale high when you're not being rewarded for your hard work.
The frontline are often passed over for opportunities their desked peers are given: This can make it harder for them to advance in their careers and stay motivated or productive on the job, which has led to frustration, disillusionment, and the rise of the Great Resignation.
If treated like desk-based workers, the frontline can't succeed: Deskless employees need to be given the necessary tools and training to perform their jobs well, as well as access to technology that improves communication and collaboration. Without it, companies will continue to see a lack of productivity and engagement among their workforce.
Lack of leadership enablement: Leadership needs to let go and resist the urge to try and fix all problems themselves. They need to trust that mid-level managers have the ability to train and support the frontline. When a problem occurs, leaders need to equip managers with the right tools to overcome frontline challenges.
Lack of frontline engagement: Without two-way communications, it is more difficult for leaders to make the frontline want to engage. As such, they are struggling to build trust and confidence with their teams. The truth is, if you're good to the frontline, they'll be good to your bottom line. You need to show your frontline you care to earn their engagement.
No ambassadors: Without frontline ambassadors, there's no way to drive good will, reputation and sales. Frontline employees are the face of your company. If they love their jobs, they'll naturally want to spread the word about what you do.
Because of these industry challenges, many frontline employees have been left unhappy, unmotivated, and leaving companies faster than you can say quiet-quitting.
Today , leaders are facing a limited workforce. Because of this labor shortage, they are looking for more effective ways to reach higher levels of productivity, employee retention and ultimately, success.
What does frontline empowerment mean?
So what actually is frontline empowerment? What's the substance behind the hype?
At its core, frontline empowerment is about giving your frontline workers the freedom and authority to make decisions and take valuable action on their own. This means providing them with all the resources, information, training, and tools they need to succeed at their jobs.
Of course, empowering your frontline won't happen overnight - it takes time and effort. But by introducing the notion of 'doing more with less', using effective employee tools to drive change and productivity, and committing to ongoing communication and training, you can create a successful and sustainable culture of empowerment that will benefit everyone involved.
Why empowering the frontline is so important
Did you know that almost all (90% of) organizations say success depends on empowering frontline employees to make decisions in the moment?
With a culture of empowerment in place, those on the frontline can bridge the gap between management and the rank-and-file, allowing them to collaborate more effectively and achieve higher levels of engagement. This in turn boosts engagement across your entire workforce, creating a culture where everyone feels valued and motivated to succeed.
Additionally, there's no lack of research to back the frontline empowerment trend. A 2020 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services survey gathered the insights of 464 business executives across an array of industries.The findings were clear: organizations empowering their frontline employees are seeing an array of benefits, and those who are not are falling behind.
Here are a few reasons why frontline empowerment is vital to your corporate culture and overall company success:
1. Cultivating a sense of belonging to retain the best talent
"The vast majority of deskless workers (97%) report that they would stay in their current roles if their conditions improved. Such conditions go beyond a pay rise, meaning that HR needs to offer deskless workers the same opportunities as their deskbound counterparts."
This means prioritizing your team's mental health, giving them the right technology and resources they need to thrive and investing in their engagement and empowerment to create a true sense of belonging. In order to retain the best talent and build a strong, engaged workforce, empowering your frontline is essential.
It helps to create a collaborative culture where everyone feels like an integral part of the team. This kind of environment reduces turnover rates and builds up a strong sense of camaraderie that drives long-term success for your organization.
2. Improving frontline engagement and morale
Empowered frontline employees are engaged frontline employees. An engaged frontline workforce means better employee morale and cohesion between your frontline teams.
By empowering the frontline, you are also giving them the authority to make decisions on their own and take action in real-time - something that is vital when dealing with fast-paced, dynamic business environments. In turn, this continuous flow of engagement not only keeps everyone motivated and engaged, but it also creates more transparency and trust between management and those on the frontline.
With engagement as a natural part of your organizational culture, you can also expect to see improved productivity, performance and results from your frontline teams. On top of this, a disengaged employee costs around 34% of their annual salary, meaning that strong engagement can actually have a direct positive impact on your bottom line.
3. Satisfied staff leads to satisfied customers
Frontline workers are the first point of call between your organization and your customers, yet they remain an afterthought in many digital workplaces. This causes a lack of motivation in workers and a disconnect from the wider workforce – and their customers.
Simply put: when you empower frontline staff, you improve customer satisfaction.
Customer feedback, whether positive or negative, is extremely valuable to any business. And in order to get that feedback, you need your frontline employees, who are interacting with customers on a daily basis, to feel empowered and engaged to take action.
By giving the right tools and resources to your frontline teams, as well as giving them autonomy over how they do their jobs, you can facilitate better interactions with customers and improve overall customer satisfaction levels.
How to introduce, implement and sustain frontline empowerment
While HR trends state a range of strategies on the horizon for the frontline in 2023, including implementing mobile-first self-service enterprise software, increasing career opportunities and improving working conditions, one thing is clear. HR will drastically increase investment in its deskless workers over the coming months and years.
So how can you keep up with the trend? How can you introduce, implement and sustain frontline empowerment within your organization? Here are our eight top tips:
1. Start a frontline management flywheel to drive success
As leaders looking to empower their frontline, it's vital to define the standard you want to achieve. Defining this level of performance will help you set a standard to aspire to. A frontline management flywheel - defined by small management wins that accumulate over time to drive overall business growth - can help you map out how to start, implement and sustain successful empowerment initiatives.
Some core components of a frontline management flywheel include setting clear goals, aligning the right resources behind those goals, measuring progress and scaling success as you go.
2. Provide the right training for each level of worker
Ongoing and engaging training is key when it comes to empowering the frontline. This means making sure that your deskless workers have access to the right training programs and resources to be successful in their jobs, as well as investing in regular management training for those at the top of your organization.
For deskless workers, this means providing virtual or on-the-job training, as well as investing in coaching and mentoring programs that can help them to grow. For management-level employees, this means providing opportunities for professional development or leadership training.
3. Give them decision making abilities
In order for frontline empowerment initiatives to be successful, it's important that your frontline workers are equipped to make important decisions on the spot. Providing them with the right tools, resources and training can help them lead effectively, and empower them to make quick decisions when needed.
Equipping frontline managers to lead, make important decisions with confidence and empower their teams to do the same will help to drive better results for your organization as a whole.
One great example of this is Salutem's SELF initiatives - giving employees opportunities to be part of important decisions by empowering them with a Salutem Employee Listening Forum facilitated by theBlink employee app – an intuitive, two-way, all-in-one solution to employee communications.
4. Provide the right tools and technology
With 52% of frontline workers claiming they would leave their job over tech tools, it’s clear to see the impact that the right employee technology and digital employee experience can have on a company.
Empowering the frontline is not just about giving them more autonomy in their roles – it's also about giving them the right tools, training and resources they need to be successful in these roles.
By investing in key employee technology platforms, you can equip your frontline teams with what they need to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively, to reach better performance and results.
This might include employee scheduling software, communication and collaboration tools, or even data analytics software that can help deskless workers make more informed decisions on their own.
5. Get and give regular feedback
As with any other important initiative in your organization, empowering the frontline requires a commitment from leadership. This means that as a leader, it's important to get regular feedback on how these initiatives are going, as well as giving your frontline managers and employees the opportunity to provide their own feedback about how you can continue to grow and improve their employee experience.
By making a commitment to getting and giving regular feedback, you can stay on top of the changes and challenges that come with empowering your frontline team, and continue to make meaningful improvements along the way.
6. Have a thorough onboarding process
At Blink, we recently held a five-day hackathon where our conversations highlighted that onboarding processes are not only key to a successful retention strategy at our company but also for many of the large organizations that we work with.
Your onboarding process is where your employees get their first impression of what it's like to work at your organization. And so, it's important that this experience is a positive one, and that your deskless workers are set up for success right from the start. Unfortunately, only 12% of employees feel strongly that their organization does a great job onboarding new people.
This might include providing ongoing training and support during onboarding, or making sure that all of the necessary tools, including employee experience tools, and resources are available, accessible and set up from day one.
Blink's Hub - a centralized and secure frontline environment where digital forms, policies, safety guidelines and other relevant documents are stored - allows frontline organizations to store private and secure information that are shareable by teams. These allow frontline workers to access relevant documentation (training, e-learning materials, videos) to accelerate their onboarding process.
Blink's Directory also allows users to know who's doing what and in what team, making onboarding a whole lot smoother for leadership, too.
7. Recognize and reward hard work
To empower your frontline team and create a sense of autonomy and ownership, it's essential to recognize their hard work and reward them accordingly. You can think about offering the right mix of rewards, recognition and incentives that can motivate them.
Why? Well, 36% of employees say lack of recognition is the top reason to leave their job, while
more than 40% of employees feel that being recognized often means they put more energy into their work.
Addressing this will require regular performance reviews, incentive programs or even creative rewards such as Kudos, personalized gift cards or experiences that can motivate your frontline team to continue doing their best work.
How Blink can help you empower your frontline
Employee Surveys
WithBlink's Employee Surveys, you can regularly pulse check your frontline to get a consistent sense of what's going on for your workforce. By gathering reliable, real-time data you can ensure you're doing what's right before it's too late. By maximizing the right initiatives, HR leaders are able to encourage getting and giving regular feedback.
Feed
Create a sense of belonging using Blink's Feed. The Feed opens up multi-directional conversations allowing the frontline to share thoughts and feedback through polls, sentiment through reactions, likes and comments. With Feed, you're able to create a culture of constant improvement, and encourage your frontline to continue putting their feedback forward.
Employee Recognition
Blink's Recognition feature allows anyone in the company to recognize hard work and achievements, as well as spread positive word of mouth about their team members. By giving your frontline team the opportunity to recognize each other's work, and by providing regular recognition programs and incentives, you will empower your employees.
Blink Champions
Without team members championing your empowerment initiatives, it can be hard to get them off the ground. As such, Blink Champions are the cornerstone of a successful launch for your next frontline empowerment initiative. The role of a Blink Champions includes:
Working with other Champions to ensure the launch is a success
Raising awareness of Blink and encouraging others to use the app
Being active in the Feed
Educating teams on how to use the app
Being an advocate for Blink.
Hear from Brittany Schlacter, Communications Specialist and Blink Champion at The Rapid:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/pbi0QDbucpY
Final Thoughts
The race is on for frontline leaders to empower their workers. And fortunately, frontline leaders know this is needed and are ready to take the necessary steps to make it happen.
We've highlighted some of the ways that you can empower your frontline team, including investing in your digital transformation efforts, recognising and rewarding hard work, and using Employee Surveys to gather and act on feedback.
By implementing some of these initiatives, you can create a sense of autonomy and ownership among your employees, driving productivity and growth in your organization.
To unlock frontline empowerment to its highest potential, consider investing in the Blink employee app. With tools like Employee Recognition, Hub, Feed and a dedicated champion team, you'll be able to empower your frontline employees in no time!
During their first month, employees spend an average of 12.7 hours per week asking coworkers for help. And it doesn’t get much better after the first month. Most workers spend an average of five hours per week waiting to connect with people with the information they need.
If you want to maximize productivity, you need to make information accessible.
That's where knowledge-sharing platforms come in. They facilitate the flow of information and expertise across the board.
What is a knowledge-sharing platform?
A knowledge-sharing platform is a software that enables employees to interact with each other and exchange information. It helps subject matter experts contribute guides, policies, and documents to develop a company's internal knowledge base.
Key features knowledge-sharing tools should have
With many knowledge-sharing tools available, knowing which one to choose depends on your company's goals, budget, size and your workers' specific needs.
Here are four features to look for when choosing a knowledge management system for your organization:
Cross-platform access
Most of your employees use their smartphones even during working hours. Reviews.org shares that Americans spend an average of 2 hours 54 minutes on their phones daily. Even more important is to remember that 80% of the workforce is in frontline roles - in other words, they rarely have access to a desktop computer at all, and are entirely reliant on smartphones.
It's therefore critical that you opt for a knowledge-sharing solution that employees can access from a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or workstation. That'll help your staff perform their tasks efficiently whether they’re in the office or on the move.
Smart search
Panopto shares that 60% of employees find it difficult to get the information they need. To ensure that a knowledge-sharing solution truly solves this, you need a platform that provides intelligent search options.
The platform should enable your employees to organize the shared content by labels and tags, so both your remote and deskless employees can find the relevant information quickly.
Integrations
The right knowledge-sharing tool allows you to deliver access to information without having to uproot your existing systems. Most businesses already have their critical documents housed in multiple areas - a good knowledge management tool will allow you to integrate with those systems to draw those documents through rather than having to move them.
Equally important to consider is how user access is controlled - creating another set of sign-ons for users to have to remember (and invariably, request support and resets for) can potentially be more trouble than it's worth. Explore solutions with Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities, integrating seamlessly with your existing stack.
Reports and analytics
To know that adoption is going well and that your investment in your new tool was worthwhile, you need ways to measure engagement. That’s even more true if you’ve got deskless and remote workers.
Your knowledge-sharing tool should have reporting features to track how much information is being shared, which content is more popular, and which employees contribute the most. All this data can help you identify knowledge gaps and create strategies to mitigate those gaps.
Best knowledge-sharing platforms
1. Blink
2. Notion
3. Bloomfire
4. Microsoft SharePoint
5. Nuclino
6. Confluence
7. Helpjuice
Here are the six best knowledge-sharing tools to facilitate the flow of information and expertise in your organization:
1. Blink
Blink is an employee experience app that gives frontline and remote workers access to the people, communications, and applications they need to do their job on their personal phone.
You benefit from increased productivity, employee retention, and two-way conversations that bridge the gap between executives, management, and employees.
Blink is ideal for executive teams committed to giving more to their frontline workers. It is flexible, feels like the apps employees use daily, and can be launched in days or weeks.
Key Features:
Powerful Hub dashboard with quick access to policies, rosters, payslips, and apps
Secure group, team, or one-to-one chats for real-time two-way communication
Newsfeed with a personalized stream of bottom-up and top-down multimedia content including news, videos, and pictures
Seamless integration with the apps you already love such as Microsoft 365, Workday, and ADP.
Single Sign On (SSO) — log in to any app without your password
Frontline intelligence — gain powerful insight into what makes your organization tick, from turnover to engagement and sentiment, to stop problems before they start and create a close-knit community.
Micro-apps — get powerful branded apps personalized for your company
Best for:Companies with a large distributed frontline or remote workforce.
Pricing: Starts at $3.40 per person per month (when billed annually).
2. Notion
Notion is a knowledge-sharing platform that combines your internal wiki, projects, and notes in one tool. You can create pages, lists, databases, and tables and interlink them to help your colleagues understand the company-wide web of information.
Many teams and companies globally use Notion to keep their staff informed and collaborate in one place.
Notion creates transparency by centralizing all knowledge and work and making it highly customizable. As a result, it saves time and increases productivity for teams of all sizes.
Key Features:
Content blocks — present information as you want it
Clean, custom, and easy-to-use text editor
Easy linking between documents and pages
Support for multimedia — make your knowledge pages as detailed as possible
Best for:Small technology businesses that manage many documents and projects and want to collaborate easily.
Pricing:Free with limited features. Premium plans start at $8 per user per month (when billed annually).
3. Bloomfire
Bloomfire connects individuals and teams with the information they need to excel at work. It stores relevant information and makes it easily searchable.
This platform powers all departments — from customer support to sales and marketing — with the right information. Your employees can always find the desired information at the right time to make informed decisions that propel them to success.
Bloomfire also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to spark engagement and help your team grow collective intelligence efficiently.
Key Features:
AI-driven search for quick access to information
Flexible user roles and permissions
Custom integrations with open API
Best for:Mid-sized teams, departments, and organizations looking to share knowledge in a meaningful and collaborative way.
Pricing:Premium plans start at $25 per user per month.
4. Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint is a knowledge-sharing platform designed around a traditional intranet structure. It helps teams collaborate effectively by letting them share content, applications, and knowledge.
You can use blocks — including text, videos, forms, and images — to customize page layouts without complex coding. You can also add announcement feeds and news to knowledge pages to ensure they're constantly updated with current information.
Since it’s a Microsoft platform, SharePoint integrates best with other Microsoft tools.
Key Features:
Code-free content customization
News and announcement feeds
Solid integrations with other Microsoft tools
AI-powered content suggestions
Best for:Office-focused companies integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem.
Pricing: Starts at $5 per user per month.
5. Nuclino
Nuclino is a user-friendly, lightweight knowledge management software that empowers teams to collaborate without the chaos of context switching, files and folders, or silos. You can use its simple editor to create rich wiki pages — with text, videos, and images.
You can opt to view data as graphs, lists, or boards to ensure you understand how everything works together. You can also collaborate on every page with team members in real-time, with comments letting you exchange feedback on the spot.
Key Features:
User-friendly interface
Minimal setup time
Real-time content collaboration
Fast and reliable search
Best for:Startups and small teams looking for a lightweight wiki solution.
Pricing:Free with limited features. Premium plans start at $5 per user per month.
6. Confluence
Confluence is a knowledge-sharing solution and intranet owned by Atlassian. The platform lets users create and manage workflows efficiently.
You can use Confluence to capture, organize, and preserve your most valuable assets — project plans, company updates, or other vital information.
The platform’s page tree view and powerful search function make it easy to find the exact file you're looking for.
Key Features
Multiple integrations
Customizable templates for all business needs
Real-time collaborative editing
Real-time notifications and comments
Best for:Mid-size technology companies looking to improve information exchange in functional departments such as project management groups, technical teams, marketing, finance, HR, and legal.
Pricing: Free with limited features. Premium plans start at $5.50 per user per month.
7. Helpjuice
Helpjuice knowledge base software streamlines the process of knowledge sharing for both your team and your customers. The platform is easy to use, with an editor that's straightforward making content creation fast and simple. Their intelligent search feature is designed to allow your customers and team to find the information they need, when they need it.
One notable feature is their decision tree logic which allows you to build step-by-step guides that help direct users to the information or solutions they need, based on their specific circumstances. This can improve the user experience and reduce time spent searching for relevant content.
Helpjuice's platform is also designed to be flexible. You can customize the look of your knowledge base to reflect your brand, making it easy for customers and team members to navigate. The goal is to provide a platform where information is readily accessible, promoting better customer service and efficient internal knowledge sharing.
Key Features:
Intelligent, Google-like instant search
Real-time collaboration features
Easy-to-use editor with multi-language support and decision-tree logic
Fully customizable
Best for: Companies that want an easy-to-use, yet comprehensive knowledge base software solution that’s fully customizable, and capable of fostering effective internal knowledge sharing as well as providing comprehensive external customer support resources.Pricing: Pricing begins at $120 per month, which includes all features and supports up to 4 users.
Once upon a time, a company intranet that worked off a server in your office was enough to keep internal communication on track. But today, company needs have changed. And so have employee expectations.
We’ve entered the era of the digital workplace. Employees use a variety of different devices. Teams work remotely, across multiple locations. And beyond the world of work, everyone is now accustomed to intuitive, convenient, and personalized digital experiences.
Digital change has come quickly. And workplace software — like the intranet — hasn’t always kept pace. Traditional intranets feel old and clunky today. They’re affecting employee experience (EX) - and they could be doing more harm than good.
Thankfully, a new breed of intranet is now emerging. It’s fresher and more relevant to today’s workforce. It’s also built with digital workplace challenges front of mind.
A modern intranet holds the key to two-way communication and collaboration, better employee engagement, and an enhanced digital employee experience (DEX). And it could be a game changer for your organization.
Here, we’re going to take a look at the changing face of the company intranet and examine the features and benefits of a new and improved modern intranet.
Contents
Intranets: then and now
Why you need a modern intranet
Features of a modern intranet
How modern intranets impact the digital employee experience
Choosing the right modern intranet
Conclusion
Intranets: then and now
The company intranet has come a long way since it was first introduced back in the 1990s. Adapting to advances in technology and changing workplace trends, it’s taken on a variety of different forms over the years.
When talking about the modern intranet, it’s useful to compare the most cutting-edge intranet software to what has come before. So let’s step back in time and revisit each stage of intranet evolution.
Early intranets
Closed private networks were the first intranets to hit the office. They used local servers to host static web pages, meaning only computers based within the same geographical location could access them.
These early intranets provided limited interactivity and functionality. They were a place to share company directories, policies, and other documents. But because the setup and maintenance of early intranets required a lot of technical expertise, information was often outdated and badly organized.
Web-based intranets
As the internet went mainstream, web-based intranets made their way onto the market. These intranets were accessible via standard web browsers and had basic search functions, which helped users find what they were looking for. But these new intranets still had their drawbacks.
Internal communication remained one-way, with information traveling from the top of an organization down. Content was often poorly maintained because updates were complex. And there was very little opportunity for companies to provide personalized employee experiences.
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Social intranets
Social intranets were the first intranets to go mobile. Remote servers meant geography mattered less — and everyone within an organization, regardless of their location, could access the same information.
Inspired by social media platforms, social intranets prioritized communication, with features like user profiles and user-generated content. They were also designed to support team collaboration and productivity, with personnel services and project management tools built in.
Modern intranets
Modern intranets take the social intranet concept to the next level. They are a mobile-first solution with a focus on user experience (UX), designed to meet the expectations of today’s digital workforce.
Content creation is democratized in modern intranets. All members of an organization can access information and tools easily. And team leaders get the analytics and data-driven insights they need to improve employee engagement.
Interested in seeing a modern intranet in action? Preview Blink today with a short 2-minute video.
Why your frontline organization needs a modern intranet
So why should your frontline organization ditch its traditional intranet and adopt a modern software solution instead? There are several very good reasons.
Older intranet software can cause friction and frustration. Perhaps your intranet has become a dumping ground for outdated information. Or it simply fails to provide the intuitive, user-friendly, productivity-boosting features we’ve all come to expect.
We know that traditional intranets fail to live up to employee expectations. 67% of workers say that digital experiences in their personal lives are better than the digital experiences they get at work.
Many traditional intranets are built around the needs of desk-based teams, so they do your frontline workers a disservice. Frontline workers miss out on the communication and resources available to their desk-based peers.
A modern intranet, in contrast, helps you meet all of the following challenges head-on.
1. Employee engagement
According to Gallup’s State of the Workplace Report for 2023, just 23% of employees are engaged at work. But organizations should try to do better. That’s because high levels of employee engagement lead to happier employees, improved productivity, and lower rates of attrition.
Employee engagement is always a challenge. But engaging employees in a frontline organization can be particularly tricky. When your workers are deskless, how do you give them the connection, coaching, and support they need to thrive within your organization?
A modern intranet gives you all of the tools you need to engage your employees, regardless of where they work. You can count on a social feed, a content hub, employee recognition tools, surveys, and more.
With analytics too, you can see what is engaging your employees — and what isn’t — so you can improve your efforts going forward.
2. Communication
Open communication within a workplace is vital. It helps you inform, motivate, and engage your employees, while fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment. It involves top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer communication, so everyone has a voice.
For frontline teams, maintaining open channels of communication within teams who don’t work face-to-face requires tailored solutions.
A modern intranet helps you build internal communication links between every member of your workforce — whether they’re based in the office, on the shop floor, or out in the field.
You don’t need to rely on emails or a company noticeboard. Instead, all types of internal communication are supported via your intranet app.
With better communication, you bring your teams together and you may find it easier to grow your company too. A Forbes study found that companies who involve 75% of their frontline in internal comms, achieved more than 20% growth over a year.
3. Digital access
Older intranet software is built around an outdated version of the workplace. It doesn’t prioritize the mobile experience and instead works best for employees who sit at a desk on a computer for the majority of each working day.
Newer intranets understand that the world of work has changed. Digital tools are a workplace essential. And frontline, hybrid, and remote teams should have equal access to the information and interaction that these tools provide.
That’s why the best modern intranets have a mobile-first design. Employees can access them as easily on a small smartphone screen as on a desktop computer. All workers across an organization are engaged and empowered, so no one misses out.
4. Collaboration
Traditional intranets are known for being slow and difficult to use, with low rates of user adoption. In fact, 57% of employees say they see no purpose in their company intranet.
This impacts collaboration. When employees avoid your intranet — because it isn’t intuitive to use or data is hard to find — knowledge sharing suffers and you risk creating organizational silos.
For frontline teams, this exacerbates an existing risk. Frontline workers spend time away from HQ, working different shift patterns, and managing a high workload. These factors already get in the way of team collaboration.
Luckily, this is another frontline challenge that a modern intranet can solve. The intranet allows people across your organization to share ideas and objectives via an easy-to-use interface.
Everyone can contribute, even those who work remotely, making your organization more productive, more innovative, and better able to solve problems.
Features of a modern intranet
We’ve touched on what makes a modern intranet different from the other intranet software available. But now we’re going to delve into the details. Here are features you can expect from the newest intranets and how they stand to benefit your business.
A central hub
A modern intranet acts as the gateway to your business. It’s the go-to location for company communication and knowledge sharing.
With a single, searchable hub, it’s easy for employees to find what they’re looking for, whether that’s essential documents, a directory of co-workers, or a list of the latest company events.
Importantly, information is stored logically and consistently. And the advanced search functionality of a modern intranet — thanks to keyword suggestions and content tagging — means it’s always clear what information is and isn’t available.
User friendly interfaces
Modern intranets are familiar to their users. That’s partly because they can be customized with employer branding. But it’s also because they have an intuitive, user friendly interface that mirrors many of the digital tools employees already feel comfortable using.
Employees don’t need a company email address to sign in. They can get notifications whenever important information is posted. And it’s easy to download intranet apps from the App Store. This means very little training is required.
Personalized experiences
Personalization makes the modern intranet even more engaging for users. Employees can personalize their dashboard and see content tailored to their role and department.
You can also program your intranet so it presents different information depending on where an employee is at in their career and how much time they’ve spent with the company. Someone who started working for you last week will get different intranet content to someone who has been working for you for years.
Communication tools
Managers can share important news and announcements. Teams can share ideas. An employee can wish a coworker a happy birthday. With a variety of communication tools based within the same intranet software, meaningful communication becomes second nature.
Employees don’t have to switch between different platforms for informal co-worker chat, essential C-suite comms, and knowledge sharing resources. They can easily find communications, and contribute to them too, all within the same interface.
It’s also easy for managers to highlight need-to-know information.Push notifications and mandatory reads ensure essential information never goes unread.
Real-time communication
Asynchronous communication is important for teams who work across different time zones or shift patterns. But real-time communication is also crucial for your organization. It allows employees to communicate as if they were in the same physical location — even when they’re not.
This allows for faster decision-making, improved problem-solving, and better collaboration. It also helps employees to feel more connected to one another — because real-time communication mirrors face-to-face communication in a way that an email thread just can’t.
Employee recognition
Employee recognition isn’t always easy when employees work disparately. Managers have to be intentional about praise and recognition because they get few informal opportunities to show their appreciation.
With built-in employee recognition features, a modern intranet makes it easy for you to motivate and incentivize your team.
Managers are prompted to recognize employee anniversaries and milestones. Peers can celebrate coworker wins. And some intranet software even provides recognition leaderboards and real-life rewards as further incentive for hard work.
Collaboration tools
The modern intranet makes collaboration a priority. It provides features that support collaboration for teams who don’t necessarily work in the same office.
From shared calendars to real-time chat, document sharing to task allocation, a modern intranet helps teams work together, even when they’re physically apart.
Mobile compatibility
Workers no longer have to be chained to their desktop computers in order to get the most from the intranet experience. Modern intranets are mobile responsive. They offer the same user experience and the same great features whichever device employees have access to during their workday.
This means frontline, remote, and hybrid workers enjoy the same intranet experience as their desk-based peers. And you create a joined-up organization in which all workers are treated equally.
Integration capabilities
Modern intranet software integrates with the digital tools and data sources you already use within your organization. It creates a seamless experience for employees.
They don’t need to log in to multiple platforms and deal with repetitive or conflicting information. Everything is available via the same intranet hub.
For your management team, integration makes everything more efficient. You don’t need to duplicate work over different tools, which means you improve data accuracy too.
Feedback functions
Good internal communication goes both ways. And with modern intranet feedback functions, it’s easy to find out what your employees are thinking and feeling at any given moment.
Surveys and forms are delivered in a user friendly format so a higher proportion of your employees is likely to respond. And with accurate insight into employee sentiment, you can create better employee experiences, making informed decisions based on what your workforce really wants and needs.
Security
When you opt for a modern intranet, security comes as standard. The best providers work by recognized cybersecurity guidelines.
They provide data encryption and data backup. Regular penetration testing ensures the system always provides a strong defense against cyber-attack. And access controls mean admin teams can choose with members of your organization can see sensitive information.
Analytics to optimize and measure
The best modern intranets offer analytics too, meaning you get real-time data on employee engagement and the employee experience.
You can track a variety of metrics — things like user activity, co-worker interactions, likes, searches, and downloads. And then you can view these results in a visual, easy-to-digest format.
Along with surveys and feedback forms, intranet analytics gives insight into how employees use the software and how it impacts their overall experience of the workplace. This empowers you to make data-driven improvements.
How modern intranets impact the digital employee experience
The digital employee experience (DEX) is how employees feel about the digital tools they use within the workplace. For optimal DEX, you need digital tools that support and streamline every employee workflow, without creating points of friction.
DEX comes under the umbrella of employee experience (EX). But we’d argue that, in a digital workplace, DEX isn’t just part of the EX picture. It’s integral to it. In fact, we can relate DEX to nearly all of the nine EX elements identified by McKinsey.
an employee’s sense of growth, purpose, and motivation
how employees feel about their productivity and efficiency
The company intranet is inevitably a big part of employees’ digital experience. And when you replace a traditional intranet with modern software, designed to meet the expectations and needs of today’s employees, you impact DEX in all of the following ways.
Enhanced communication
These days, we rely on digital communication tools to connect frontline, hybrid, and remote working teams. It’s important to EX that teams get the same level of connection and knowledge sharing, and the same sense of belonging, that they’d get working face-to-face.
Modern intranet software is built with team communication at its core. It understands that, in a digital workplace, informal water cooler chats aren’t always possible.
So it provides teams with communication tools that create a sense of physical togetherness, even when teams work disparately.
With Blink Chat, for example, employees can message each other in real-time. They can chat one-on-one or set up Group Chats for multiple team members. Within chats, employees can send messages, send documents, and even start online voice or video meetings, straight from the app.
But the modern intranet doesn’t just facilitate peer-to-peer communication. It also gives managers the communication tools they need to enhance the employee experience.
This is where the Blink Feed comes in. Via a familiar, social media-style feed, leadership can post company-wide communications. They can guide company culture and broadcast important news, motivating and informing employees in the process.
Employee techquity
Employee techquity is achieved when frontline workers have equal access to the digital tools, resources, and people they need to succeed. Older intranet systems tend to leave frontline and remote workers behind. They fail to address many of the key challenges faced by frontline teams.
This means frontline and remote employees miss out on the opportunities afforded to desk-based staff. They find it harder to advance in their careers, they don’t always have access to the same tools, tech, and training, and they can end up feeling disconnected from company HQ.
A modern, mobile-first intranet helps to create a fairer working environment. All employees get to use exactly the same functions and features, whether they access the platform via a desktop computer or a smartphone device.
A modern intranet is easy to use, so frontline workers can dip into internal comms during a busy work day. It also acknowledges the fact that many frontline workers don’t have a company email address, so provides alternative login methods.
By providing an equal digital experience for all workers within your organization, everyone gets the tools they need to do their job — and everyone enjoys a sense of connection and belonging.
Employees enjoy a better workplace experience when they feel they’re working to the best of their ability.
In a digital workplace, this means having the right information, along with the right collaboration and productivity tools. And this is another area of DEX that a modern intranet can help with.
A modern intranet acts as a content hub for your organization. But unlike old intranet software, this new style of content management system is well-organized and user friendly. It’s easy to find and read policy documents and to collaborate on files with co-workers.
Just take a look at the Blink Hub. It’s a content management system that puts policies, training materials, and manuals in one convenient, easy-to-access location.
A drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to add content. And because the Blink Hub is available via desktop and mobile apps, every member of your organization can access it.
A modern intranet can also provide self-service functions, another big plus for the digital employee experience.
When employees can book shifts, request annual leave, register for a training course, and access pay stubs all from the same platform, work admin becomes much less of a headache.
Employee engagement
Engaged workers feel emotionally connected to their work and co-workers. They feel aligned with company values and empowered to work productively.
A poor digital employee experience gets in the way of engagement. But there are lots of ways that a positive DEX — supported by a modern intranet — can enhance it.
The social features of a cutting-edge intranet — like social feeds, discussion forums, and employee profiles — help employees build meaningful connections with people at all levels of your organization.
Employee recognition and reward functions within the intranet also boost engagement. Employees understand their goals and how these goals relate to the overarching company mission. A culture of recognition and rewards — made easy with intranet tools — then incentivizes them to meet their objectives.
Another way that your intranet can improve employee engagement is with employee personalization.
Workers get to personalize the platform dashboard to make it more relevant and engaging. Admins can adapt content too, tailoring it to the needs of workers at each stage in the employee lifecycle.
Analytics and feedback
Modern intranets make it easy for you to gather information on the digital employee experience. You can launch surveys, send out forms, and dive into the analytics provided by your platform.
This is a huge bonus to your DEX strategy. Because you don’t need to stab in the dark. You have all the data you need to make targeted EX improvements.
View data on employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. See what content performs best to improve your content management strategy. Understand how your teams interact, identifying co-worker relationships that need a little TLC.
A tool like Blink Analytics allows you to really drill down into the data. You can segment it based on team or location. So you understand exactly how your digital workplace is working for each member of your organization.
Simplicity
Some organizations have approached the challenge of digital transformation by acquiring tech tools for every business function. But this isn’t an effective way of doing things.
Gartner research shows that application sprawl (when workers are expected to use multiple digital tools) turns up the volume without improving communication.
Simplifying and streamlining the technology you use can therefore have a huge impact on the digital employee experience.
When workers have a single, go-to platform, there’s less friction. Employees aren’t constantly pinged with notifications from multiple apps. They don’t have to familiarize themselves with different interfaces. And it’s easy to find the information and tools they need.
Choosing the right modern intranet
We’ve covered all of the reasons that a modern intranet might benefit your organization. But with numerous intranet options out there, how do you choose the right one for your business?
Let’s take a look at a couple of questions you can ask when looking for intranet software that meets the needs of your organization and employees.
Is the software built to scale?
An intranet is a big investment of time and money. It also quickly becomes a central part of your company operations. So you don’t want to be changing it in a hurry.
When choosing an intranet, look for a solution that can grow with your business. Consider whether an intranet contender will continue to meet your needs if you experience a period of rapid growth and need to take on lots more staff.
Scalable intranets offer bespoke pricing for enterprise clients (per-user pricing can become unaffordable as your team grows). They’re also cloud-based, so you don’t have to rely on on-premise infrastructure when you need to expand capability.
Some other considerations to bear in mind? You need access controls suited to large teams, the option to create communication channels for each team or department, and the right level of security and support for a bigger organization.
Is mobile access a priority?
If you have any workers who don’t spend their workday sitting behind a desk, then a mobile-first intranet is the only logical choice.
On-premise solutions aren’t always accessible via mobile devices. You may even find that remote desk workers, using a laptop or desktop computer, have to jump through VPN hoops to access intranet content.
A mobile-first intranet is designed to work well — and provide the same features — over any device and from any location. So it’s particularly useful for frontline teams who need to access internal info on the go, using their smartphone.
Does the solution provide analytics?
The best intranet solutions give you the analytics and reporting features you need to measure the success of your new platform.
They provide data on employee engagement, content performance, user behavior, employee retention, and employee satisfaction. With real insight, you can identify areas for improvement and make targeted changes.
Only shortlist solutions that offer robust analytics functions. They should be able to provide data on a wide range of metrics, allow you to segment data by a variety of user groups, and provide real-time data. They should also present all data in a visual, easy to understand way.
Does the intranet integrate with your existing technology?
One of the key benefits of a modern intranet is its simplicity. It brings all of the communication and collaboration tools your digital workplace needs into the same platform.
The ideal intranet will meet your business needs in terms of two-way communication, content management, and collaboration. But it should also integrate with any of the tech tools you already use.
You need to know that any payroll, project management, or customer service software can integrate seamlessly with your intranet. And that these tools will continue to work just as well as before.
A new intranet shouldn’t negatively impact the adoption of your current tools. Instead, streamlining your digital tools should actually improve uptake.
Is the intranet user friendly?
An intranet only benefits your company (in all of the ways listed above) if your employees actually use it. So you need a solution that is intuitive and easy to learn, even if your team isn’t super tech-savvy.
Look for an intranet with a user friendly interface. It should feel familiar even if you’ve never used it before. Also, ensure it includes all of the self-service and search functions that make life easy for your teams.
User friendliness is particularly important for frontline teams. Working away from a desk, often with limited time for company comms, your intranet needs to be so easy and engaging that these remote, time-poor workers choose to open the app and check in.
When conducting your software search, it can be helpful to look at adoption and intranet usage stats. If other organizations, with a similar structure to yours, have managed to persuade their workers to use a particular intranet solution, then the platform will probably work well for you too.
Ever since its introduction in the 1990s, the intranet has been an integral part of company operations. But today, organizations are moving away from older intranet versions to embrace a newer, slicker, more effective modern intranet.
A modern intranet supports the creation of a truly digital workplace. It gives frontline, remote, and office-based teams everything they need to work happily and productively. Because it provides a beautiful interface, designed to meet the needs of digital workers, employees actually enjoy using it too.
Choose the right modern intranet and you’ll improve the way your teams communicate and collaborate. You’ll improve DEX and employee engagement, so employee retention gets easier.
You’ll also avoid some of the pitfalls of digital transformation, preventing application sprawl by making all tech tools available via the same user friendly dashboard.
For frontline organizations, the modern intranet really comes into its own. Mobile-first, intuitive design with a real-time communication focus, ensures everyone – whether they work on the frontline or in an office – has access to the tools and information they need.
If you’re ready to benefit your employees and your organization by adopting a cutting-edge intranet solution, take a look at Blink —– a platform designed specifically for frontline teams. Blink does everything a modern intranet does, and more.
Employees get a social feed and a content hub. They can access self-service functions, make their voice heard via company-wide surveys, and receive recognition for a job well done.
As an organization, you can count on analytics and top-notch security. Blink also integrates with many of the most popular workplace apps out there, so it fits seamlessly into your workflow.
Blink has all the tools you need to make your frontline organization more connected, collaborative, and successful. So why not book a demo to see Blink in action?
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