How to Calculate Employee Retention Rate (With Examples)
Learn how to calculate your employee retention rate with step-by-step formulas, worked examples, and benchmarks. Plus: retention vs turnover explained.
Jess DeVore
Published:
September 6, 2023
Last updated:
October 9, 2024
What we'll cover
Anytime a good employee leaves your company, you’re bound to feel sad. You may also start to get nervous.
While it’s upsetting to see them go, it’s normal: many employees leave a company each year.
But how do you differentiate a typical turnover from a severe turnover problem?
Retention rate is a ratio of the total current employees and the employees at a previous point in time in the same positions at your company. You can calculate it annually or quarterly.
It provides a snapshot of how satisfied your employees are at your company.
A high retention rate indicates your employees enjoy the work they’re doing, fit in with your culture, and receive fair pay.
Conversely, a low retention rate means that one or more of those elements are less than ideal. Since retention rate is inversely related to employee turnover rate, low retention means high turnover.
Knowing your employee retention rate’s status, you can evaluate and adjust your employee retention strategies. When your employee retention rate improves, you know your retention efforts are paying off.
Measuring employee retention rate
To find your organization’s employee retention rate, you need data on the total number of employees with your organization at the beginning of a period and the number of employees who remain at the end. From there, you can quickly calculate your retention rate.
How to calculate employee retention rate
Find how many employees left your company in a period. Subtract that number from your total headcount at the start of the period. Divide the remaining number of employees by the initial headcount. The result should be a decimal. Multiply that number by 100 to find the retention rate in percentage.
Here’s what that looks like in the employee retention formula:
For example, let’s say you want to calculate your annual retention rate.
You started the year with 56 employees and ended with 50 employees. Here’s how you can find the retention rate:
56 - 6 = 50
50/56 = 0.8928
0.89 x 100 = 89
So in this scenario, the retention rate is 89%
Employee retention rate vs. employee turnover rate
Whenever we talk about staff retention rate, it’s also common to hear staff turnover rate. We use them interchangeably because they’re two sides of the same coin.
While retention rate measures how many people stayed, turnover is the measure of how many people left.
Similarly, you might be confused about attrition rate and employee churn rate. They are just other names for turnover rate.
How to calculate employee turnover rate
You can do so by:
Sum the total employees at the beginning and end of the time interval.
Divide by two to get the average number of employees.
Divide the total number of separations for a given time by the average number of employees.
For monthly turnover, you will work with this:
Suppose a company begins the month with 32 employees. Four employees leave, and six new employees join. So the company ends the month with 34 employees.
The average number of employees is:
(32+34)/2 = 33
Next, we find the turnover:
4/33 = 0.1212
Multiplying by 100, the turnover rate is 12%.
What is a good employee retention rate?
A good employee retention rate varies from industry to industry.
Retail and restaurants tend to have lower industry average retention rates than other sectors, while government and federal sectors have the highest retention rates.
The overall market and economy also affect your retention rate. During times of high uncertainty or in a strong talent market, retention may decrease for every industry. For example, turnover in 2020 was 57.3%, making it 20% higher than the previous year.
According to Built In, average retention rates range from 70-90%.
Following this logic, a good retention rate is somewhere above 75%. But for frontline organizations that deal with restaurant and retail, a retention rate above 50% is also decent.
Final thoughts: how to find your employee retention rate
Calculating your employee retention is an important metric while running your business. It can tell you a lot about how your employees feel at your company.
The same is true for turnover rate as that lets you know where the fault lies.
Use both metrics to get a complete picture of your business and employ retention strategies to keep your top talent around.
If you’re looking for a new way to keep your employees engaged, Blink is an all-in-one employee communications app that can help you stay connected to your employees and boost retention.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good employee retention rate?
According to research, the average retention rates range from 70-90%. So anything above 90% can be considered good.
How do you measure employee retention?
You can measure employee retention by working out the percentage of employees who remain at a company for a fixed time period.
What is the formula for retention rate?
1. Find how many employees left your company in a period. 2. Take how many employees left your company in a set period. 3. Then subtract that number from your total headcount at the start of the period. 4. Divide the remaining number of employees by the initial headcount. 5. The result should be a decimal. 6. Multiply that number by 100 to find the retention rate in percentage.
Anytime a good employee leaves your company, you’re bound to feel sad. You may also start to get nervous.
While it’s upsetting to see them go, it’s normal: many employees leave a company each year.
But how do you differentiate a typical turnover from a severe turnover problem?
Retention rate is a ratio of the total current employees and the employees at a previous point in time in the same positions at your company. You can calculate it annually or quarterly.
It provides a snapshot of how satisfied your employees are at your company.
A high retention rate indicates your employees enjoy the work they’re doing, fit in with your culture, and receive fair pay.
Conversely, a low retention rate means that one or more of those elements are less than ideal. Since retention rate is inversely related to employee turnover rate, low retention means high turnover.
Knowing your employee retention rate’s status, you can evaluate and adjust your employee retention strategies. When your employee retention rate improves, you know your retention efforts are paying off.
Measuring employee retention rate
To find your organization’s employee retention rate, you need data on the total number of employees with your organization at the beginning of a period and the number of employees who remain at the end. From there, you can quickly calculate your retention rate.
How to calculate employee retention rate
Find how many employees left your company in a period. Subtract that number from your total headcount at the start of the period. Divide the remaining number of employees by the initial headcount. The result should be a decimal. Multiply that number by 100 to find the retention rate in percentage.
Here’s what that looks like in the employee retention formula:
For example, let’s say you want to calculate your annual retention rate.
You started the year with 56 employees and ended with 50 employees. Here’s how you can find the retention rate:
56 - 6 = 50
50/56 = 0.8928
0.89 x 100 = 89
So in this scenario, the retention rate is 89%
Employee retention rate vs. employee turnover rate
Whenever we talk about staff retention rate, it’s also common to hear staff turnover rate. We use them interchangeably because they’re two sides of the same coin.
While retention rate measures how many people stayed, turnover is the measure of how many people left.
Similarly, you might be confused about attrition rate and employee churn rate. They are just other names for turnover rate.
How to calculate employee turnover rate
You can do so by:
Sum the total employees at the beginning and end of the time interval.
Divide by two to get the average number of employees.
Divide the total number of separations for a given time by the average number of employees.
For monthly turnover, you will work with this:
Suppose a company begins the month with 32 employees. Four employees leave, and six new employees join. So the company ends the month with 34 employees.
The average number of employees is:
(32+34)/2 = 33
Next, we find the turnover:
4/33 = 0.1212
Multiplying by 100, the turnover rate is 12%.
What is a good employee retention rate?
A good employee retention rate varies from industry to industry.
Retail and restaurants tend to have lower industry average retention rates than other sectors, while government and federal sectors have the highest retention rates.
The overall market and economy also affect your retention rate. During times of high uncertainty or in a strong talent market, retention may decrease for every industry. For example, turnover in 2020 was 57.3%, making it 20% higher than the previous year.
According to Built In, average retention rates range from 70-90%.
Following this logic, a good retention rate is somewhere above 75%. But for frontline organizations that deal with restaurant and retail, a retention rate above 50% is also decent.
Final thoughts: how to find your employee retention rate
Calculating your employee retention is an important metric while running your business. It can tell you a lot about how your employees feel at your company.
The same is true for turnover rate as that lets you know where the fault lies.
Use both metrics to get a complete picture of your business and employ retention strategies to keep your top talent around.
If you’re looking for a new way to keep your employees engaged, Blink is an all-in-one employee communications app that can help you stay connected to your employees and boost retention.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good employee retention rate?
According to research, the average retention rates range from 70-90%. So anything above 90% can be considered good.
How do you measure employee retention?
You can measure employee retention by working out the percentage of employees who remain at a company for a fixed time period.
What is the formula for retention rate?
1. Find how many employees left your company in a period. 2. Take how many employees left your company in a set period. 3. Then subtract that number from your total headcount at the start of the period. 4. Divide the remaining number of employees by the initial headcount. 5. The result should be a decimal. 6. Multiply that number by 100 to find the retention rate in percentage.
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On May 7, Blink was named one of six ClearBox Choice award recipients — a recognition reserved for platforms that truly stand out in a strong, competitive market. ClearBox’s 2025 Intranet and Employee Experience Platforms report evaluated 20 solutions and honored Blink for its deep commitment to frontline workers and clear mobile-first design.
ClearBox’s recognition speaks volumes:
“Blink impresses us with their dedication to frontline workers. The vendor not only offers a mobile experience that clearly understands this audience’s needs, but they deliver boots-on-the-ground service that’s rare in this industry.”
Blink’s continued recognition highlights our commitment to frontline-first design and ease of use, setting us apart in a crowded field.
Blink receives top marks again from ClearBox
For the third year in a row, Blink has earned a top spot in ClearBox’s annual review of the intranet market. This prestigious report evaluates the leading modern intranet and employee experience solutions, recognizing standout platforms that excel in key areas.
Here’s what ClearBox had to say about Blink:
“Blink is a frontline-focused, mobile-first product that understands its target audience perfectly. The interface is reminiscent of social media tools (in a good way), so it’s instantly familiar and quick to adopt.”
Let’s dive into the report’s findings and see how Blink performed.
About ClearBox
ClearBox Consulting is an independent intranet consultancy that provides unbiased advice to help organizations find the right intranet solution. With a client roster that includes companies like Unilever, PlayStation, GlaxoSmithKline, and Bayer, ClearBox is a trusted name in the industry.
Each year, ClearBox evaluates 20 leading intranet vendors, assessing them across eight key criteria and providing detailed insights and recommendations.
About Blink
Every year, ClearBox compares 20 leading intranet vendors and their products, scoring them on eight criteria. It then releases a report to detail its findings. As part of the report, ClearBox highlights standout intranet vendors, giving them a ClearBox Choice Award. In 2024, Blink was among the award-winners for the second year running.
What does the report assess?
ClearBox evaluates every product against eight criteria. Criteria include user experience and visual appeal, community and engagement, publishing and communications management, and mobile and frontline support.
The organization also seeks customer opinions on the product and customer support from the vendor. It looks at information on pricing and each vendor’s development roadmap too.
Blink continues to lead the way in two crucial areas:
Mobile and frontline support
Like with the 2024 report, Blink was the only software provider to score maximum points for this criterion.
Blink is designed from the ground up with frontline workers in mind. ClearBox praises Blink’s approach, stating:
“The focus Blink places on the deskless audience is among the best we’ve seen in this report and makes a compelling choice for organizations with a frontline-heavy workforce.”
Unlike other platforms that require additional purchases for full mobile functionality, Blink provides an all-in-one mobile-first solution. Employees can easily access everything they need via a smartphone — without requiring a company email or desktop login. This ensures that frontline workers remain connected, engaged, and informed, no matter where they are.
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User experience and visual appeal
Blink once again earns top marks for its user-friendly interface and social media-inspired design. ClearBox highlights:
“Blink is a mobile-first solution that offers an easy-to-use interface on all device types. There is a good range of practical tools that complement the excellent social and communication features too.”
Blink’s platform is designed to be as intuitive as the consumer apps employees already use. The simple, visually appealing layout ensures quick adoption and ongoing engagement. Features like an interactive company news feed, multimedia content sharing, and Stories create a seamless and engaging user experience.
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Blink’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) rating
In this year’s report, ClearBox introduced an indicative “Total Cost of Ownership” (TCO) score, evaluating not just licensing costs but also set-up effort and ongoing administrative needs.
Blink stands out in two key quadrants:
Turnkey: A good value, easy-to-manage platform with minimal administrative burden.
Optimized: A comprehensive solution with robust out-of-the-box capabilities, requiring little ongoing maintenance.
This recognition confirms that Blink is both a powerful and cost-effective choice for organizations looking to improve employee experience without adding unnecessary complexity.
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Some more highlights from the ClearBox report
Here’s what else ClearBox had to say about Blink:
“Blink offers organizations alternatives to shadow technology like WhatsApp, while also offering an effective desktop experience that helps bring employees together.”
“The user experience across all device types is excellent and works particularly well for the community, social and communication focus of the platform.”
“It offers a good companion to desktop platforms too, meaning desk workers and frontline workers can be served by products that best suit their needs without clashing.”
And here’s what customers interviewed by ClearBox said about their experience with Blink:
“[Blink] really connects the workforce and helps you bring creative content to your frontline.”
“Blink has provided a reliable and dynamic communications platform with a diverse range of useful functionality backed up with outstanding customer support.”
“[Blink] are experts in what they do.”
“Our Blink partners have been fantastic and very supportive.”
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Why choose Blink?
Organizations across all industries or scopes — especially those with frontline employees — continue to turn to Blink as their employee experience platform of choice. Blink balances simplicity with robust functionality, ensuring that both frontline and desk-based employees can stay connected and engaged.
ClearBox sums it up best:
“Organizations of any size that have frontline workers or want to address community needs will find something to like about Blink.”
Internal comms teams: It’s time to start thinking like social media managers
In today’s workplace, grabbing attention and building a sense of community is more challenging than ever. As Instagram has demonstrated, there’s immense power in blending visuals, brevity, and engagement-driven features to keep audiences captivated.
By embracing an Instagram-inspired approach, internal comms teams can turn traditionally static and monotonous updates into dynamic, employee-centric experiences, ultimately boosting engagement, experience, and retention.
And when we think about the newest generation of workers, a modern employee experience isn’t just nice to have — it’s a key differentiator: 70% of Gen Z employees would leave their job for better workplace technology.
Let’s dive into how you can create an Instagram-worthy internal comms strategy that truly resonates with — and retains — employees.
#1. #PicsOrItDidntHappen: Lead with visual storytelling
You know that old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words”?
In a corporate environment, where text-heavy comms are the norm and often leave employees feeling uninspired, it might be worth even more. On Instagram, visuals do the talking. They capture attention, convey emotion, and get users to linger. Imagine applying the same idea to your internal comms.
From photos of team achievements to video messages from leadership, visually rich content invites more interaction and gives employees quick ways to engage with company updates. Incorporate more images, infographics, and videos to help distill complex messages, celebrate moments, and build a visually engaging narrative.
Try a “day in the life” photo series from different teams, or showcase milestones with celebratory visuals. This not only humanizes the workplace but also helps employees feel more connected to their colleagues across the organization.
#2. #StorySawItFirst: Share the moments that matter
Stories — on Instagram, Facebook, and beyond — have changed how we consume content by making it quick, timely, and interactive. For internal comms, a similar approach keeps messaging fresh and to the point.
Consider launching an internal Stories feature, with short-form, time-sensitive updates. Whether you use video, images, or brief text, these snippets can recap highlights, recognize employees, or celebrate accomplishments in a way that’s easy to digest.
Launch a weekly Story roundup that features key updates and celebrates wins from across the company. These updates create anticipation and encourage employees to check back regularly for new content.
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#3. #POV: Embrace user-generated content
One of the reasons Instagram is so successful is because it breaks down the barrier between creators and consumers: All users have the power to create, post, and engage with content.
Bringing this into the workplace by encouraging employee-generated content (EGC) adds authenticity and makes employees feel like co-owners of the company’s story.
Consider how your team could prioritize EGC and what makes most sense for your organization. Maybe it’s creating a designated space where employees can post daily photos from their workday, or coming up with an internal hashtag campaign where employees can share short stories that showcase daily victories or moments of pride.
We’ve seen firsthand the power of EGC on building trust on external channels: Content shared by employees receives 8x more engagement than content shared on brand channels. Imagine the impact this boost could have on your internal comms strategy.
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#4. #ForYouPage: Personalize your comms approach
If you spend enough time on social media platforms, then you’re deeply familiar with the omniscient algorithm — an underlying intelligence that recognizes which content you watch with most and, with increasing accuracy, serves it up to your news feed to create a more individualized and engaging experience.
Internal comms can take the same data-backed approach by using insights from their employee platform to segment audiences, gauging content effectiveness through metrics like engagement rates, and then tailoring content based on individual preferences
By surfacing hyper-relevant information to the right people — like recommended News Feed content based on team, or custom updates to specific departments and regions — you can make internal updates feel more targeted, help employees feel seen and understood, and prevent information overload.
Instagram is all about mobile-first, short-form content. It’s what makes the platform so easy to navigate and what keeps people coming back for more.
When it comes to modern internal comms, employees are similarly craving updates and content that are quick to access and even quicker to digest, wherever they are.
As you plan out your content strategy, ensure all internal messages are mobile-friendly, concisely written, and formatted for on-the-go reading. For example, consider formatting key announcements as brief bullet-point highlights — we’re talking 200 characters or less — with a link to read more.
By keeping updates short and to the point, complemented with visuals whenever possible, employees can stay informed without dedicating a large amount of time — helping to ensure key messages don’t get lost in the shuffle.
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#6. #Influenced: Embrace the internal influencer
Influencers drive engagement on Instagram by speaking from an authentic, relatable perspective. By empowering internal champions, you can build similar trust and encourage peer-to-peer communication within the company.
Identify influential voices within the organization who can serve as communication champions and lead the charge for two-way communications. This might be leaders, long-term employees, or team leads who can add a personal, credible touch to internal updates and culture-building efforts.
Have these champions share company updates, promote engagement, or even host takeovers of internal channels to drive excitement and reach. Their familiar faces make messages feel more personal and authentic.
On Instagram, highlights create a curated space for special moments. In internal comms, a similar approach can spotlight achievements and milestones in a meaningful way. And this small effort can have a big impact on retention: 79% of employees who quit their job cite a lack of appreciation as a key reason for leaving.
Create a virtual “highlight reel” to celebrate employee achievements, team milestones, and other noteworthy moments. This can be part of a monthly or quarterly roundup, creating a sense of shared success and recognition.
These small moments of celebration and success spotlights help employees feel valued and recognized within the larger internal community — and may even result in them staying longer at your organization.
#8. #LetsExplore: Make content easily discoverable
The Explore tab on Instagram allows users to stumble upon new and interesting content. Internal comms can take a similar approach by reimagining the outdated intranets of yore and making helpful resources easy to find and share.
Organize information in a way that allows employees to quickly discover and revisit updates, whether through tagging, keyword searches, or categories. A content hub can help employees catch up on past announcements or discover useful resources.
Create a centralized digital home for all internal updates, organized by topics like announcements, team wins, and resources. This lets employees browse based on their current needs or catch up if they missed a recent announcement.
Think beyond traditional communication channels
As employee communications move into the future, embracing creativity and interactivity — much like social media platforms we all know and use in our personal lives — can reshape the employee experience and build a more connected, motivated workforce.
By incorporating Instagram-inspired features into content strategies, internal comms teams can create a consumer-grade workplace experience that feels inherently familiar to employees, breaking down barriers for adoption and engagement.
Experiment with these tactics, prioritize authenticity, and watch as your employees become more empowered, creative, and excited to contribute to the company culture.
The desktop intranet platform continues to gather dust.
It fails to fit the needs and expectations of the modern workforce. So people avoid using it.
For many employees, especially frontline workers, a desktop intranet might as well not exist at all. Without easy computer access, they rely on paper memos, word of mouth, and unofficial messaging apps to piece together company updates.
But what if there was a way to connect and engage all employees — a place where everyone could access the information, resources, and digital tools they needed to do their jobs well?
Enter the pocket intranet. An intranet platform that meets your workforce where they already live — on their smartphones.
Why the pocket intranet has become essential (not optional)
So why do your employees hate your old intranet? And how does a pocket intranet better meet their needs?
A mobile-first workforce
Frontline employees see the leaps and bounds being made in digital employee experience. But while desk-based staff get sleek tools and streamlined workflows, frontline teams are left with a patchwork of comms channels that don’t reflect the way they actually work.
In retail, hospitality, healthcare, and logistics, people aren’t glued to a desk. Many don’t even have a corporate email address. These employees are on their feet, serving customers and driving your operations.
A pocket intranet platform meets them where they are. It puts coworker connection, crucial updates, and a searchable knowledge hub into the palm of every frontline staff member.
Instant access > buried links
A pocket intranet doesn’t just benefit your deskless workforce. It removes the friction associated with a traditional intranet. So it improves employee communication, engagement, and efficiency across your whole organization.
Imagine accessing company news, payroll, coworker chat, surveys — any workplace tool — in just a tap or two.
The best employee intranets come with an intuitive dashboard, robust search functions, and secure-but-streamlined access to everything your teams need.
Consumer UX has trained employees to expect better
Employees spend their spare time on apps like TikTok, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Consumer-grade experiences have shown employees what good UX looks like.
So that slow, clunky intranet? It feels like a lumbering dinosaur in comparison to those speedy, streamlined interactions.
Employees want scrollable feeds, social media-style content, micro-learning modules, and engaging, real-time comms. A pocket intranet is an easy way to provide all this and more.
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What a modern pocket intranet looks like
So you’ve heard why a modern employee intranet platform is necessary. But what are the essential components that will help you make a success of your smartphone hub? Let’s take a look.
A personalized feed
A personalized news feed gives employees easy access to company updates and culture, right from their smartphone screen.
Blink’s news feed feature allows you to target content by location and role, so the feed never gets too noisy. You can populate it with engaging multimedia content, like photos, videos, and GIFs.
You can also allow employees to comment, like, leave emoji reactions, and even (depending on your controls) post their own content — turning your feed into a two-way communication channel.
A mobile-friendly intranet isn’t just about scrolling. It’s about easy access to everything your team needs. Policies, handbooks, SOPs, training materials, and digital forms, all within one organized hub.
Blink’s hub keeps content accessible on the go. Employees can view pay slips, submit vacation requests, complete surveys, and access learning resources — from one dashboard with a single login.
Automated translation ensures hub content is available in each user’s preferred language, while powerful search makes finding the right resources a breeze. No more trawling through an outdated intranet or a well-worn paper manual to dig out essential info.
Embedded messaging + collaboration
When employees can reach for a dedicated messaging app, right within your pocket intranet platform, they find it easier to collaborate, share their ups and downs, and feel like part of the team.
The best intranet platforms feature a messaging tool that offers everything the big-hitters (like WhatsApp) are providing, without the security risks.
Blink’s chat tool features voice notes, chat search, voice and video calling, and the option to add multimedia content — including videos, images, and GIFs — to messages. So employees have an easy and engaging way to stay in touch.
Events
Keeping everyone on the same page when people don’t work in the same location — or even the same shifts — can be a challenge.
An employee intranet should bring everyone together. And the pocket intranet is no different. With Blink’s events feature, you can build buzz around an upcoming event.
Whether it’s training, onboarding, live Q&As, town halls, or in-person sessions, employees can RSVP, add events to their calendar, and view the latest event info — all from their smartphones.
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Real results from organizations that made the shift
Here are three organizations that switched from ineffective comms channels to a modern mobile-first intranet app.
St.Amant. After a cyberattack, St.Amant — a Manitoba-based non-profit — was forced to reassess its intranet solution. Realising that the intranet was clunky, outdated, and failing to reach frontline teams, they adopted Blink as their all-in-one intranet app. Blink is already more than a tool. It’s a part of daily culture — 86% of the organization’s 2,200+ employees are now active users.
Stagecoach. Before Blink, bus company Stagecoach had internal communications scattered across email, a SharePoint intranet, and bulletin boards. Employee satisfaction rates were low, and operational updates weren’t cutting through. Now, thanks to Blink, 86% of drivers open the app daily, and 100% would recommend it to a coworker.
Domino’s. Manager cascades weren’t working for Domino’s, a global leader in the pizza delivery industry. And the company had no central place for staff to access news, tools, or support. By partnering with Blink, Domino’s has transformed internal comms. Today, 94% of store employees have adopted the app, which provides a frontline-friendly platform for comms and connection.
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How to build a successful pocket intranet: 4 key tasks
Inspired by the examples above? Let’s get to building your pocket intranet. Once you’ve chosen your intranet partner, here’s how to build momentum and get employees checking in daily.
1. Set mobile-first content standards
Content lands differently when it’s viewed on a small smartphone screen versus a laptop. So guide your creators on what good mobile-first intranet content looks like.
Good intranet app content is:
Short — break down complex ideas into bite-sized posts, because quick, digestible info is easier to read and remember.
Visual — catch attention and convey more with images, videos, infographics, and other engaging visuals.
Interactive — you have all the tools you need to start a two-way conversation (so use them!) — pose questions and ask employees to contribute content.
A good starting point? Mirror the format of social content. And steer clear of overly corporate language, walls of text, and dreaded PDFs.
2. Use audience targeting
Your intranet is only useful if employees see content that matters to them.
A delivery driver doesn’t want news about the next office coffee morning. A retail associate isn’t interested in IT changes for head office. And a nurse on the wards won’t benefit from news about the corporate marketing team.
If employees log in and find content that isn’t relevant to their day-to-day work, they’re less likely to return tomorrow.
So segment your audience by team, location, role, and tenure — then use targeting features to deliver a personalized experience. When employees see only relevant, relatable updates, engagement goes up, and your intranet becomes a tool they actually rely on.
3. Run launch campaigns that feel social
A strong launch sets the tone for your intranet and can make or break early adoption. The goal is to make employees feel excited, curious, and motivated to explore the app from day one.
Start weeks before launch by building anticipation. Share teasers in team meetings, internal emails, and on posters in break-out areas. Give intranet ambassadors early access to the app so they can guide coworkers and spark their interest.
On launch day, go big. Make it feel like a celebration. Support employees to get signed up. Offer tutorials and incentives. Create a stream of engaging, scroll-worthy content to keep employees coming back for more.
4. Focus on measurement
From the very beginning, use intranet analytics to understand how people are using your app.
Track who’s logging in, when they’re most active, and which content is performing best. Are employees watching short videos more than they’re reading documents? Which posts generate comments, reactions, or shares?
Dig down into the data to see how your intranet performs among different segments of your workforce. And look for gaps — teams or locations that aren’t engaging, or managers who may need extra intranet guidance.
By keeping a close eye on the data, you can make informed adjustments to your content, launch strategy, and onboarding. You find it easier to achieve high adoption and engagement rates — now and into the future.
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Transform your intranet experience with Blink
Mobile-first, modern intranets are becoming the norm. But not all apps are created equal. Many providers simply shrink a desktop intranet onto a smartphone screen, sacrificing usability, features, or functionality in the process.
Blink takes a different approach. Built from the ground up as a mobile-first intranet, it delivers a seamless, consumer-grade experience across both mobile and desktop.
Employees get real-time messaging, a personalized news feed, a searchable content hub, and deep integrations — all in one intuitive platform, and all from their smartphones.
So, with Blink, your intranet becomes more than a repository of documents (that nobody actually checks). It becomes a hub for connection, collaboration, and engagement — a digital water cooler that employees return to regularly.
If you’re like most people, you’d probably prefer not to imagine what happens in a worst-case scenario, or a situational crisis.
However, imagining what could go wrong — and how you’ll react to it — is one of the most important things you can do for your business.
An effective crisis communications plan starts with your employees. With early, clear, and consistent messaging, your team can become advocates for your company during any crisis.
By following these four straightforward crisis communication best practices, your stress levels will go from 100 to 10 (hopefully).
The 4 crisis communication best practices you need to remember
Make messaging consistent
Back up statements with action
Balance timeliness and precision
Practice empathy
Let’s have a more in-depth look at each of these practices.
1. Make messaging consistent
Your internal communications during a crisis should convey the same stance and expectations to every member of your team, regardless of level.
That is more effective if you already have an easy, direct line of communication with each member of your organization.
While different roles may need to respond differently, it’s crucial t foster a sense of transparency rather than secrecy to ensure a better response across your organization.
Communicate often to make sure everyone is on the same page, even with constantly changing information.
In a 2020 Edelman study on internal communications during the COVID-19 pandemic, 63% of employees wanted daily updates, and 23% wanted communications multiple times a day.
2. Back up statements with action
It's important for your team to understand how to talk about a situation, but it's even more important for them to understand what's being done — and their role in the process.
As soon as you have a response plan, communicate it to your team. That way, what's being done to resolve an issue is at the forefront of the conversation. Share what your organization's plan is to prevent situations from arising and use as many concrete steps as you can.
Recruit those in your organization who can help with definite tasks. Perhaps the PR team needs to create an official statement, or the development team needs to redesign a product. Whatever it is, let everyone know how they can help to react to the crisis.
3. Balance timeliness and precision
The moments immediately following an event are often the most critical for your internal communications during a crisis.
You don’t want there to be a sudden vacuum of silence where others may be left to speculate. That is the time to get your initial response out quickly, to guide the narrative.
It’s alright to let your employees know there are some things you still don’t know. It’s better to be upfront about how you’re addressing uncertainties than to wait to communicate at all.
With that in mind, it’s also appropriate to take your time to craft a more thought-out response for the long term. Planning for crises means you’re prepared immediately in the event.
While it can be impossible to plan out the details of your crisis response, it's vital to create crisis response documents that lay the groundwork processes for establishing more detailed responses with your team.
4. Practice empathy
The crisis will undoubtedly affect your employees day-to-day, some certainly more than others.
It’s critical to empathize with your employee’s struggles throughout the crisis and recognize where their duties have become more difficult.
A 2020 Catalyst survey on the effects of empathy in the workplace during COVID-19 found that empathetic leaders and managers increase productivity, innovation, and engagement.
Although you don’t want to dwell on how the situation is causing setbacks or difficulties, you can still empathize with your workers while returning to the positive.
Communicate your gratitude for their continued hard work and outline plans to alleviate their stressors.
The Catalyst study states empathetic leadership entails:
Respecting life circumstances
Supporting both life and work needs
Fostering inclusion
Open lines of communication to hear their input and experiences. Solicit feedback through forms, polls, and one-on-one interviews. Let your employees know that you want to listen to their thoughts on tackling the crisis from their point of view.
Show up in more than just writing. Video messages and calls communicate more empathy than written statements.
Final thoughts: 4 crisis communication best practices
Your internal communication during a situational crisis is just as important as your public communication — and perhaps even more so.
That’s why it’s essential to lay the groundwork for a plan so you can react effectively if necessary. Your internal crisis communications should be consistent, actionable, timely, and empathetic.
All the members of your organization deserve frequent, comprehensive, and accessible updates during a crisis.
Psst – looking for crisis communication tools?
Blink’s employee communications app provides an efficient way for you to communicate with everyone in your organization. From company-wide status updates to policy changes through the intranet, the all-in-one app makes connecting with your employees simple.
Employee experience (EX) has been a trending topic across workplaces for a few years now. Originating as what seemed like a corporate buzzword quickly became a large-scale strategy for major employers across the globe.
And according to Forrester, the EX outlook for 2024 remains gloomy:
“Two key metrics dropped between 2022 and 2023 globally: Employee engagement fell from 41% to 37%, while culture energy fell from 63% to 59%[...]We predict that 2024 will see continued decline, with employee engagement dipping to 34%.”
These percentages are likely lower for frontline employees.
That’s because frontline workers often miss out on the employee engagement boosts available to their office-based counterparts. We’re talking connection and development opportunities, tech tools, and regular recognition.
The key issue now is what employers plan to do about it. Employee experience remains an important focus for any forward-thinking business. That’s because when employees are happy and engaged, your business benefits from:
So how are companies planning to engage and retain employees in 2024? And what EX patterns are already emerging? Here are the employee trends set to impact the future of employee experience over the coming year and beyond.
Top 5 EX trends to look out for in 2025
The growth of AI in the workplace
First on our list of employee experience trends is artificial intelligence (AI).
AI was a hot topic in 2023. As generative AI – like ChatGPT and Bard – marched onto the scene, lots of people got their first, hands-on experience with the technology.
Many businesses are already on board. 55% of respondents to a McKinsey survey said that their organizations were using AI in 2023. And more than two-thirds expect their organizations to increase AI investment over the next three years.
AI isn’t going anywhere. So in 2024, we predict that more companies will harness its potential for both business and employee experience transformation. Here’s how.
Streamlining workflows
AI is helping to streamline workflows. Which is good news for organizations – and for frontline employees.
Tech takes care of repetitive and monotonous tasks. It reduces frontline friction, so employees can perform tasks more easily. Workers get to spend more time on customer care and on activities that demand a higher level of expertise.
For instance, in retail, AI is predicting increased footfall. This gives shop floor staff time to prepare the store and provide a better service.
In healthcare, AI can help to reduce waiting times, which means happier patients and frontline healthcare staff.
And in manufacturing, real-time AI insight into equipment status allows workers to make repairs before machines break down entirely, making their job easier.
In 2024, more businesses will use AI to improve processes and streamline the work of their frontline teams.
Internal communications
AI is also playing an important role in internal communications. Leaders are using AI to perform tasks like these:
supporting DEI by highlighting bias in real-time, as employees type a message
identifying employees who haven’t received recognition in a while
helping employees find relevant resources on the company portal
Some organizations are also using AI chatbots to support the employee experience. Bots provide 24/7 assistance to employees, guiding them through company systems and helping them complete HR self-service tasks.
This spells satisfying experiences for employees where their queries are answered quickly – and a lighter workload for your People Team.
HR
HR teams are using AI to hone recruiting, onboarding, and training processes. They’re making these EX touchstones more effective and streamlined.
AI is helping to:
remove bias from the recruitment process
predict the needs of new hires
highlight training resources relevant to a chosen career pathway
This means People Teams get more time to focus on value-add employee experience activities. And employees feel more engaged with your organization, right from the very beginning of their journey.
But a word of warning. Getting the right AI balance will be key. Employees are happy to deal with AI for some HR functions. But AI in its current form lacks emotional intelligence. A real, human touch is still needed if you want to achieve the very best EX.
Education
As a whole, organizations are more optimistic and curious about AI than they were five years ago. But there’s a disconnect between leaders and frontline employees. According to a BCG survey:
Leaders are more optimistic than frontline employees about AI (62% vs 42%)
Leaders are more likely than frontline workers to say they’ve received training to improve skills and stay relevant (44% vs 14%)
Leaders use generative AI more regularly than frontline workers (80% vs 20%)
Regular generative AI users are more optimistic than non-users about the technology (62% vs 36%)
Frontline workers are worried about AI eroding or stealing their jobs, so we anticipate AI education being an important part of the puzzle in 2024. Leaders will have to explain the value of this tech to employees and how they plan to use it going forward.
Every digital interaction a worker has at your company forms part of their digital employee experience (DEX). But workplace tech often falls short.
It fails to mirror the seamless digital experiences people get in their lives away from work. It’s also often inaccessible to any worker who doesn’t sit behind a desk.
However, in 2024, it feels like things are changing.
Updating technology
52% of employees believe that software related to their employee experience is dated and difficult to use. And 52% of frontline employees say they would leave their jobs over poor tech tools.
Employers are taking note. In response to employee tech frustrations, companies are upgrading from old company intranets to modern, mobile-first solutions.
They’re using employee apps, like Blink, that help organizations create connected company ecosystems that include every member of the workforce.
Available via a smartphone app, Blink doesn’t rely on email addresses or a complicated login process. It’s a secure, streamlined platform that puts company comms, tools, and resources in the same accessible place.
And because mobile-first apps like Blink are similar to the digital tools employees already use at home, they’re intuitive. Any team member can pick up an app and use it instantly.
Streamlining technology
We now know that too many tools hamper the employee experience. Rather than switching between different platforms, employees prefer to use the fewest number of programs to achieve their goals.
So this year, companies are battling tech bloat and looking for tools that perform multiple functions. They’re also implementing tools that meet the needs of various departments – like HR, IT, and comms teams – bringing all EX essentials under the same roof.
This streamlined approach will reduce the need for multiple employee logins. Instead, tools will be increasingly integrated and easy to use.
Personalizing the experience
Employees are getting personalized experiences away from work. Movie recommendations on Netflix. The annual listening roundup from Spotify. A shopping list from their supermarket app.
We know that a personalized approach drives customer loyalty. So could this be the year employers apply the same logic to their employee experience?
Personalized internal comms
Good internal communication is essential to EX. It fosters trust between employees and leadership. It also makes your workforce more engaged, connected, and aligned.
The best internal comms are reliable and consistent. They’re also personalized to each employee, based on their location, department, role, or tenure.
Comms leaders are increasingly using personalization as a way to get their message heard. They’re doing this with the help of tech that allows them to segment employees more effectively.
This means employees no longer receive irrelevant memos. They don’t get distracted or overwhelmed by internal communications that don’t apply to them.
Instead, they receive tailored messages that resonate – and that encourage sustained engagement with comms going forward.
Personalized tech
As you’ve probably gathered, tech and AI are a common thread throughout these employee experience trends. They’re integral to the progress being made in the sector.
As well as using AI to segment your workforce and target internal communications more effectively, you can use tech to create personalized digital experiences.
For example, employees can reconfigure their company dashboard, prioritizing the features most relevant to their work. Some companies are using tools that go a step further, using AI to personalize portals automatically.
Personalized learning and career pathways
L&D and career advancement are still top priorities for frontline employees in 2024. But one size never fits all. So we expect more organizations to develop personalized learning and career pathways for their employees.
It’s about making learning accessible and engaging for each individual. Leaders will make micro-learning, mentorship, coaching, on-the-job learning, and online courses available to all employees.
It’s also about making learning relevant to each individual career path. Tech tools – once again – stand at the forefront of this shift. L&D leaders are using them to identify and benchmark skills related to each role. And then recommend relevant learning materials and assessments.
Employees want to be heard
Companies that only engage in top-down communication will stick out like a sore thumb in 2024. Listening and open communication are now cornerstones of good employee experience management.
Employees want to feel heard because it helps them to feel valued. And employers stand to benefit, too.
When you give employees a voice – and listen to what they have to say – you gain valuable insight into what your workforce wants. You then make better EX decisions. But this is only possible when you allow information to travel in all directions – top-down, bottom-up and peer-to-peer.
Manager training
Good company-wide communication relies on an open company culture. But it seems there’s disagreement over how well organizations are doing.
According to Leapsome’s Workforce Trends Report, 97% of HR leaders say that they have a good feedback culture. But only 13% of remote employees agree. What’s more, a third of all employees don’t feel they can talk to HR.
This is perhaps why organizations are putting greater focus on manager development. Managers help set the culture. But listening and open communication don’t always come naturally.
With training, managers can gain the active listening and empathy skills they need to encourage collaborative communication. They also learn to embrace rather than shy away from employee feedback.
Surveys & feedback
In a bid to make EX strategies more effective, we expect organizations to spend more time in 2024 gathering the opinions of employees.
They’ll be finding out what matters to their workers. And what workers think of EX as it currently stands.
Companies will develop a regular schedule of feedback requests and surveys. Annual surveys to track progress over time – and pulse surveys to get an up-to-the-minute snapshot of their organization.
Personalization comes into play here too. By personalizing surveys to different departments, teams, and employee journeys, organizations get better feedback engagement and more accurate results.
But simply filling out a survey isn’t enough to make employees feel heard. Currently, it’s a hollow exercise for a worrying proportion of organizations.
According to O.C. Tanner’s Global Culture Report, only 58% of organizations take action to improve after receiving employee feedback.
So to get the most employee satisfaction and retention benefits from your surveys, always incorporate the following actions:
Acknowledging and thanking employees for feedback
Sharing survey results
Communicating how you plan to use employee feedback to improve EX
Giving everyone a voice
When it comes to being heard, some employees seem to have a louder voice than others. Usually, it’s those closer to the heart of operations – employees based at HQ who get regular contact with managers and leaders.
However, as organizations strive to improve EX for all employees, they’re looking to include everyone in the conversation. This means frontline as well as desk-based teams.
Leaders increasingly understand the importance of spending time with frontline workers – either digitally or in person. It’s a way to grasp the realities, successes, and challenges of their roles.
We predict more of this in 2024, as well as a push for more inclusive decision-making.
With the right communication tools, accessible to everyone, head office can pose questions and present problems to all employees. They can get input from all members of the workforce and craft better, more effective solutions.
Data-driven decision-making
As we’ve seen, companies are using tech solutions to supercharge their EX. In the process, they’re gathering a ton of valuable data that they can use to inform their future efforts.
Data-driven decision-making is the last of our employee experience trends. And it seems it’s becoming par for the course. Organizations are routinely asking their employees:
Are you engaged with your team?
Are you happy with management? Leadership?
Are you satisfied with your experience at work?
Companies are using data from staff surveys to better identify employee experience issues. But they’re also getting a sense of the bigger picture by setting employee sentiment data alongside statistics on staff retention and productivity.
With the help of segmentation, they’re able to understand these figures at a granular level – by location, by department, by manager. This is allowing leaders to make more targeted and effective EX interventions.
But to harness the potential of data-driven decisions, you need the right tech tools. You need readily available, real-time data. You also need data that is well-presented and easy to digest so management can pivot EX strategies effectively.
Blink analytics lets you see positive and negative team relationships at a glance. It shows you the data associated with each individual post on the company newsfeed. And it has all of the features you need to filter and benchmark data with ease.
What’s your EX plan for 2025?
2023 was a tough year. But the future of employee experience remains bright and exciting.
In 2024, we expect to see a real internal comms culture shift. Organizations are finding ways to amplify unheard frontline voices. They’re also making real efforts to act upon what they hear – and to involve everyone in the conversation.
AI and tech are a powerful force that we can use to improve EX. They make work easier and more enjoyable for employees while helping leaders create personalized and engaging experiences at every point in the employee journey.
And finally, thanks to both employee listening initiatives and great AI and tech tools, employers are getting better access to perspective-changing data. This is allowing them to drive informed and effective EX transformation.
So what are your EX plans for 2024?
Incorporate these employee trends into your EX strategy and you’ll get ahead of the competition. You’ll develop an employee-centric approach that drives better retention, productivity, and profits.
Check out a preview of Blink here to see how our frontline employee super-app can help transform employee experience.
‘As leaders, we should be measuring engagement in everything we do’
– Simon White, VP People at Blink
Frontline leaders have long been searching for the most effective way to engage their deskless workforce. From Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and Learning & Development initiatives, to intranets and Enterprise Social Networks (ESNs), they've tried a variety of approaches with varying levels of success.
This has led to a Frontline Gap, an issue that many organizations, especially those with deskless employees, face. It is a void where initiatives fail to have their intended impact due to a lack of engagement from workers.
To bridge this gap, employers must look beyond traditional methods such as ERGs and ESNs, and instead focus on using employee engagement surveys to connect directly with the needs of their deskless staff.
Frontline workers are looking for a faster, more efficient, and more useful way to do their jobs, while leaders want to bridge the Frontline Gap and connect with their deskless staff. To be able to achieve these goals, employee engagement surveys can help employers achieve direct conversations with frontline workers and understand the needs of their employees.
By taking a proactive approach to employee engagement and using pulse surveys to directly and regularly connect with deskless employees, organizations can begin to close the Frontline Gap, identify engagement challenges and create a more productive, cohesive, and engaged workforce.
Employee engagement surveys can provide valuable insights into how employees feel about their work environment, job satisfaction, team dynamics and so much more. In this guide, we'll take a brief look at why frontline leaders should conduct employee engagement surveys as a regular practice, before diving into our step-by-step guide on how to conduct your first employee engagement survey the right way.
Why employee engagement surveys are important
The solution to bridging the Frontline Gap lies in approaching frontline engagement as something that is earned, rather than simply expecting it from employees. Instead of relying on traditional methods such as ERGs and ESNs to increase engagement, employers must focus on creating an environment where workers feel truly valued and respected.
The first step towards this lies within employee engagement surveys.
Employee engagement surveys are an important tool for frontline leaders to measure engagement and understand the feelings of their deskless employees. While ERGs and ESNs can provide a good foundation for engagement, taking proactive steps to directly connect with your team is essential in order to create a productive and cohesive environment.
As businesses today are operating in an increasingly competitive hiring market, salaries and benefits are becoming more expensive and difficult to manage. With no visibility into what is going right or wrong, employers are left in the dark as to why their staff turnover rate is on the rise and morale is low.
This lack of insight into employee engagement can lead to disengaged employees, decreased productivity, and high turnover rates, alongside a weaker Employer Value Proposition (EVP) as talent is lost.
Employee engagement surveys can help employers gain the insights they need to effectively measure and address employee satisfaction, team dynamics, and much more. Collecting and actioning this feedback is one of the key employee engagement drivers, and is considered an employee engagement best practice.
So, how exactly can employee surveys support your workforce and drive success in your goals?
Enable
By regularly understanding what they need, leaders can better enable their workforce to succeed. Engagement surveys can help identify key areas that employees are struggling in and provide valuable feedback to address these issues.
One of the main pain points for organizations, especially those with deskless employees, is the lack of resources and support needed to ensure their workforce can work effectively. Without the necessary engagement tools, communication channels and access to information needed to do their job efficiently, deskless workers are often left feeling frustrated and under-valued.
Frequent employee surveys help employers find out what their employees need to do their jobs better. It also helps the employer know if their employees feel respected and valued. The information gained helps them ensure they have the tools and resources needed for workers to do their job well, so that companies can keep a good reputation and meet their hiring targets.
Understand
It can also be hard to collect data from the frontline, as depending on the industry and environment they work in, traditional methods such as paper surveys or iPads may not be practical. For example, if they are working outdoors or in an extreme environment where digital devices cannot operate, it can be difficult to get real time feedback from them.
Additionally, it's crucial to have something that's easy to use, in every frontline worker's pocket. By giving managers what they need to measure employee engagement and continuously improve the employee experience, employee surveys can fill this gap and directly benefit the organization.
One of the most prominent pain points faced by organizations is a lack of understanding of what engaged employees need to be successful, especially in the frontline. Leaders that are out of touch with their workforce can cause real issues, including low morale, decreased productivity and high turnover rates.
To truly understand what engaged employees require, employers must conduct employee engagement surveys, aiding them in identifying key pain points and areas that need improvement.
Engage
Another key objective of employee pulse surveys is to improve and measure employee engagement. It is crucial to engage employees in order to create a positive and productive workplace. Employee engagement surveys measure levels of employee satisfaction, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of policies, programs, goals and objectives within an organization.
By understanding where leadership or productivity are weaker, employers can effectively engage their workers through real-time critical information and structured interventions tailored to improve engagement.
This is a pain leaders are facing: the frontline isn't sharing feedback because they don't want to. Gaining the engagement of the frontline by first earning their trust is key to boosting future engagement levels and increasing employee retention.
How to successfully conduct an employee engagement survey
As we have looked at above, conducting employee engagement surveys can encourage employees to speak up, give them a voice, and help employers to create a more productive environment.
If you're planning to conduct an employee engagement survey, keep this in mind.
The purpose of an employee engagement survey is not to measure employee engagement, it's to improve it.
Employee engagement surveys should not be done out of curiosity or to "check in" with your employees, they take too much time to be done this way.
Simply having an employee survey is not enough - the way in which you conduct your surveys can make all the difference between success and failure.
LeadershipIQ surveyed over 3,000 HR executives to see "how good" their employee engagement survey was, and only 22% said they were getting good results.
So how can you conduct employee surveys so they are actually meaningful? Looking at industry leaders, we see the following behaviors taking place to launch successful surveys:
1. Get rid of annual surveys
Gone are the days of the bog-standard annual engagement survey that provides little useful information, leaving employees disengaged and uninterested.
Instead of a singular survey at one point in the year, organizations should instead be taking a more agile approach to employee engagement surveys by conducting regular pulse surveys with smaller sample sizes.
If you already have an annual survey procedure in place, the first thing you should do is look at your current process and consider whether some parts of it can be scaled back or done more frequently.
2. Define a clear, attainable goal
You'll have to really think about what information you want to get out of this survey, sometimes it's not just a simple case of finding out how your frontline employees are feeling. This is an opportunity to encourage your team to share feedback on every aspect of their role, your role, and even the CEO's right at the top.
For example, if you have a low retention rate that you want to try and improve, what questions need to be asked? What data will help you put together a plan?
Your employee engagement survey questions should be strategically planned in a way that shows the leadership team genuinely cares about their frontline workers and how their careers can be developed. This should be made visible from the start to the end of your survey.
3. Plan ahead
Once you've figured out what information you wish to gain from your survey, it's time to plan ahead and get everything into place. Here are some of the main points you should consider when you're ready to plan your survey:
Have you got the right technologies in place to be able to conduct your survey?
What do you really want to find out?
Do you need to align with CIO or get buy-in?
When is the right time to conduct your survey? You'll need to give your employees an adequate amount of time to finish it.
Are you targeting all of your employees or just a specific group?
4. Let the frontline know!
Once your survey is ready to go, you need to get the message out there.
Reiterate the importance of the survey to your frontline staff and how it can positively affect their role at work and the environment in which they work. It's a way to show them they are going to be heard and listened to (you need to actually follow through as well, but more on that later).
Communications leaders should be well briefed in plenty of time and should be tasked with sending out reminders to all who are involved in taking the survey.
One way you can reiterate the importance of your employee engagement survey is to release it with a message from the CEO, or another senior leader.
5. Act and restart
Once you've received your survey results, you need to come up with a plan stating how you plan to act on your responses. This is a key aspect you can't shy away from.
This is also another chance to acknowledge employee contribution and shows that the right people have seen the results and will take action. Below is a recent example from John J. Herman, CEO of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health.
He acknowledges and thanks staff for taking the time to do the survey, reiterates their feedback is important, and lays out in clear bullet points what their next action points are. You can view the full message here.
This should be an ongoing effort and you should keep your frontline workers informed of your processes and decision making, as a way of letting them know you are serious about improving your workplace.
If you fail to truly act on the feedback they have taken the time to give you, you risk devaluing future surveys and decreasing response rates.
You should repeat your survey at regular points throughout the year, to see if the employees are satisfied with the measures you have taken and tweak different aspects of your strategies to raise levels of employee engagement.
Considerations for conducting your first employee engagement survey
Plan
As we highlighted above, surveys should not be done out of curiosity, you need a real plan.
So when you're thinking about surveying employees take the below into account:
Who's your audience?: Whether it's teams or departments, segment your stakeholders into groups.
What do you want to measure?: What do you need to find out to improve the employee experience? Set goals, and measurable KPIs.
What are you asking?: Once you know what to measure, what questions do you need to ask to get actionable insights?
What type of survey?: Once you have your audience and goals, what type of survey are you going to run? There are different types such as, benefit surveys to measure how satisfied your frontline is with their benefits and rewards or you could even run onboarding surveys for new hires to see how well they’ve been introduced to the business.
What format?: How will the survey be received? Via email, via an app? What format will the questions be? Multiple choice or free text? Take into consideration your audience and goals and use these to guide the format you choose.
Timing: When's the best time to send your survey to your audience? How long will you leave the survey open for? How many follow up emails will you send to those that don't respond?
There's a lot that goes into planning an employee survey, but you need to do this to set you up for the best chance of it being a success.
Platform
Do you have a way to easily and efficiently collect and analyze data? Depending on your organization you'll need to make sure you use a platform that meets your requirements.
Think about who you are going to survey, are they desk based or deskless? Do they work from home? Are they on the frontline? Do you need the survey to work on desktop and mobile?
For example, our employee survey feature is used by organizations whose employees are on the frontline, this puts more importance on the mobile functionality of our survey feature to allow for quick and easy responses wherever employees are.
If your employees feel disengaged from their colleagues and management team it's time to introduce a platform that can meet your team's needs whatever their job role.
Trust
Employee surveys are a great opportunity to establish trust with your employees that you will listen and understand their feedback, as well as make an effort to act on how they are feeling.
But, they also pose a risk of doing the opposite if you don't do them properly.
A recent campaign undertaken by Blink found that 50% of employees wanted to leave their current position as they didn't feel like management took their complaints seriously. One third didn’t even think their organization would act on their feedback.
This again highlights why employee surveys shouldn't be done out of curiosity. If you run the survey, get the results, and don't act. What do you think will happen to the figure above?
But, if you act and communicate changes made off the back of feedback, not only could these go a long way with improving employee engagement, but build a lot of trust with your employees.
From an employee perspective, it will also be important if the survey is anonymous. This in turn will increase trust and eagerness to take part in the survey. Anonymity is important if you want to get real honest feedback from staff, they will feel more comfortable sharing the truth if they know it won’t come back to haunt them.
Communication
Raise awareness around your survey going live! Involve your communications leader in using as many formats as possible to get the message to the frontline.
This could involve emails, printed posters, and using an employee engagement mobile app.
These communication points need to explain the importance of taking part in the survey and why employee feedback is so important to improving the work culture.
Content
When you're planning out your employee engagement questionnaire, don't be afraid to ask difficult questions. You need to ensure you're set up to get the most out of it.
For example, Facebook found that simply asking employees how long they intend to stay was more than twice as accurate at foretelling their future turnover than machine-learning forecasts.
What's even more telling is that they found when people don’t participate in their two annual surveys they are 2.6 times more likely to leave in the next six months.
The content within your survey needs to be clear, concise, and engaging. There's no need to overcomplicate your questions or try to hide behind big words. Ask the questions in a way that will get a truthful response.
How Blink employee surveys can help you meet your goals
Most employee survey tools are designed for desk-based workers, not the frontline - Blink's Employee Surveys make it easy for you and your teams to quickly and easily conduct employee surveys.
We make it easy for frontline organizations to get the data that matters.
Triple your response rate
Get your survey seen and responded to in an app designed for everyday frontline use. Instantly transition away from paper surveys to having surveys appear seamlessly on every frontline team member’s device.
This gets rid of friction caused by having to use other platforms, with different passwords and make it easier for staff to respond as everything is in one place. From paystubs to scheduling and even critical documents - your surveys are in an app that gets opened an average of seven times a day.
Launch in 90 seconds
Ask questions fast, get answers faster. Our mobile app makes creating and sending surveys easy. From selecting your audience to selecting questions you’ll be done in minutes.
Science-backed questions
We offer a set of science backed Qs which are great if leaders don't know what to ask, you also get the option to add in your own.
Get action-ready insights
Easy-to-use reports to make impactful decisions. Merge this with Frontline Intelligence - together with engagement stats and you’ll have an overall view of the health of your organization.
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