Meet Phil Mather

What makes him awesome?

Fernando has been with Holcim since October 2022. Until earlier this year, Fernando's position was a RMX driver at the Bannock location in Denver. The summer of 2024 proved a challenge for staffing levels, and Fernando stepped in across a multitude of environments to keep the business marching forward. Fernando was task-trained, cross-trained, and utilized as an instrumental resource for operating skid steers, front end loaders, water trucks, shovels, and concrete batch plants across the Denver metro.  

Plant managers as well as plant operators have welcomed Fernando’s support from operations in Aurora, Castle Rock, Centennial, Denver, Franktown, and Littleton, comprising seven ready-mix plants and both central and dry batch facilities. While every site was different, it was Fernando's attitude and willingness to learn that strengthened our teams’ ability to have a successful year in concrete production. We thank Fernando for being such a valuable member of the Denver RMX business.

How has Blink helped in his role?

Were it not for the Blink platform, I’m not sure Fernando would have the same level of peer recognition that Blink offers. In order to appreciate the opportunities within our business, sometimes allowing others to understand what is available is as simple as sharing a story of success!

What does he want to do next?

Fernando has recently transitioned from a driver to a plant operator at the Bannock RMX plant, and continues to develop his production skills to sharpen our business’s performance within a very competitive market. I look forward to seeing his continued growth within the organization.

Nominated by: Michael Galbraith, Operations Manager

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Quick question: who does a forklift operator turn to when there’s a problem? Or to whom does a shift nurse bring her safety concerns?

In most cases, this would be the middle-level, frontline manager or supervisor. That’s how critical frontline leaders are to the day-to-day functioning of your organization and its workers.

But many of them are handling a management role for the first time. They were probably promoted because they were great at their job. So the skills and behaviors they need to manage frontline workers may not come naturally to them.

Whether you’re leading frontline workers or leading those who manage frontline workers, proper frontline leadership training is essential. And the following tips will help take your training programs to the next level. 

Frontline leadership training tips

The right frontline leadership training strategies don’t just show people how to lead frontline teams, but also help you turn junior frontline workers or those with no frontline experience into powerful frontline leaders. Let’s see what these are.

Get out in the field 

This frontline leadership training tip may look obvious on the surface. After all, how can you lead or train deskless workers just from your desk?

But it’s surprising how many leaders and supervisors become disconnected from the people they lead due to physical distance.

Their teams are out there in the factory, toiling away at the warehouse, serving customers in their rooms, or traveling to client locations, while the managers spend most of their time in their little cabin.

This doesn’t just impact frontline leadership training, but also puts you out of the loop from what’s really happening on the ground level.

So get out and see your world. Frequent places you wouldn’t normally visit. Seek out conversations with workers you don’t usually interact with. And train other frontline managers in your company to do the same.

Prioritize empathy

A hospital security guard was once working the night shift. He noticed the hospital CEO walking toward him in the hallway. Wanting to make a good impression, he acknowledged and smiled. But the CEO walked right past him, as if he was not important enough to engage. So how would the guard feel at that moment?

Understanding and empathy are essential to engaging frontline employees. And it’s important to reinforce this fact as much as possible in frontline leadership training.

As a frontline leader, you should be easily approachable. And make your workers feel comfortable in raising their concerns and suggestions.

Also, be proactive about this. Many frontline managers unintentionally project a stoic image. They accidentally come across as cold and uncaring even though they are not. So a frontline leadership training session is a good opportunity to identify and improve on these blind spots.

Empower your people

As per a 2019 employee engagement study, 33% of workers feel undervalued at work. Without the motivation and authority to take full responsibility, it’s hard for them to take pride in their work.

So another aspect of effective frontline leadership is teaching and supporting workers in taking ownership of their tasks.

As you train frontline leaders and employees, you’ll notice them wanting to step up. And this is the time to allow them to do so. Encouraging independent decision-making is the key to building a high-performance team.

One way to empower your frontline leaders and workers is to reduce the bottlenecks and red tape preventing them from experiencing autonomy at work.

Instead of micromanaging their every move, provide clear expectations about the final outcome. Your role as a frontline leader is not to micromanage every little process, but to empower your teams to handle day-to-day operations on their own.

Second, always encourage open communication. When a team member communicates with you, listen actively and respectfully to their issues and feedback. And provide candid feedback of your own when required.

Use storytelling

As humans, we are wired for stories, and they’re easy for us to remember. Not just that, stories activate more areas of the brain than just language processing. So they have a better chance of inspiring and impacting us.

When training or managing frontline employees, storytelling goes a long way in creating cohesion and showing them that their actions make a difference.

For example, a real-estate company built a set of simulation videos to demonstrate a new customer-success approach.

The videos featured the activities of the protagonist — a leasing agent — as she worked with customers to fill a unit in her locality. And each video created an opportunity for the viewer to learn how to handle a specific conflict that may arise in the process.

As a frontline leader, we bet you have a lot of stories to share from your experiences in the field. If you do, you’re sitting on a goldmine that can be invaluable when imparting frontline leadership training. So use stories to emphasize key takeaways in your training sessions and drive frontline workers to action.

When telling a story, follow the standard story arc. Start with a character your audience can relate with, build tension with a conflict, then introduce concepts and actions the character used to resolve the conflict. For more information, see our guide to employing storytelling for communication.

Invest in a continuous improvement program

Training frontline leaders and workers on improvement strategies like TWI, Lean, Kaizen, and Kata can kill two birds with one stone. They learn how to be more efficient and be a good leader.

Kaizen, for example, is the process of making tiny, incremental improvements in both strategy and operations over time. And these small improvements eventually lead to a big difference in the long run. Toyota is famous for applying this model right from the beginning, and it played a big role in the company’s success.

By introducing a continuous improvement course in your organization, you can turn frontline supervisors into real leaders, and teach them how to:

• Motivate frontline employees
• Collaborate with people in other departments
• Get workers to comply with safety measures
• Empower frontline employees to share feedback
• Build trustworthy relationships at work

Start small and see how the small changes you initiate are impacting your team. If everything goes well, you can apply the changes to the whole organization.

According to the Kaizen philosophy, the goal is not perfection, but improvement. No matter how trivial. So remember not to get your workforce bogged down with unrealistic expectations.

Frontline leadership FAQs

What is frontline leadership training?

Frontline leadership training programmes will aim to improve the skills of those currently in or looking to move into a frontline leadership role. The majority of these courses will focus on improving communication, reducing conflict, improving employee performance, and enhancing team effectiveness.

What is frontline leadership?

Frontline leadership refers to the ability of supervisors or managers on the frontline and their ability to combine practical management skills with proactive and decisive decision marketing.

What are the skills of a frontline manager?

A frontline manager will rely on a lot of skills to keep their team performing efficiently. Some of these skills include: communication, critical thinking, leadership, strategic thinking, motivation & engagement skills.

Conclusion: frontline leadership training tips

According to a Woohoo study of employees worldwide, workers say that 40% of their bad days are because of a lack of guidance and support from their manager.

Frontline managers in your organization need to listen and be responsive to their teams’ needs. And effective frontline leadership training is essential to develop the skills that make this happen.

Even if you already have a training program in place, the tips outlined above will help you make it better. So go ahead and use them to turn workers into leaders.

Another week, another Life at Blink! This week we are highlighting Ben Willder, a Senior Sales Development Representative located in our London office. This edition comes just in time to celebrate Ben’s one-year anniversary at Blink. Ben describes Blink as a proactive, collaborative and curious place to work.

Now, let's explore Ben’s path at Blink.

What is your position at Blink?

My focus is working within our Sales team as an Enterprise SDR, identifying some of the more critical employee inclusion and enablement challenges for Blink to solve across the largest organizations. 

Another area I’ve started to dig into is our Partnerships team. This is a really fast-evolving function at Blink, and I’ve spent a lot of time building relationships with core partners like Workday in Europe, as well as collaborating closely with some of the leading Meta Consultancies off the back of the news from Workplace. This has been a pretty rewarding passion project and I am excited to have the chance to dive into this more.

What initially attracted you to join Blink?

My previous company also focused on helping frontline employees. I think fundamentally I became aware of the countless challenges facing the frontline worker, and I love how tangible the positive impacts can be.

I want to sell something that I genuinely believe makes a difference. Whilst I know that’s obvious, I do think it’s hugely important, and I love the scope for impact that exists at Blink.

‍What's a project you are proud of from your time at Blink?

Apart from the incredible work myself and my colleagues have done on reinventing what’s possible with the Lavazza to froth a good coffee, I’m very proud of the Partnerships work we’re doing. 

We’ve really encapsulated the people-first approach that’s needed to differentiate ourselves in the market, and it’s set to be incredibly enabling for the company when you think of the scope for support, opportunity and collaboration it provides. More to come here, too!

What's one thing you're excited about for the future of Blink?

In my opinion it would be optimizing our partnerships with venture partners like Workday. There’s so much scope to support these partners with collaboration and co-creation, and I want to leverage this to ensure we maintain our agility in developing the product, extending our reach and getting as many frontline employees digitally enabled as possible.

Can you tell us about a recent initiative or program launched at Blink that you found particularly exciting?

It would have to be our employee intelligence. The scope for businesses to assess business problems at such a granular level through a lens that has never existed (a digitally enabled deskless workforce) is pretty exciting. 

As we conclude this edition of Life at Blink, we're inspired by Ben’s dedication to solving critical challenges for enterprise clients and forging impactful partnerships across Europe. Ben's passion for innovation, from redefining coffee experiences to pioneering initiatives like employee intelligence, reflects Blink's commitment to empowering frontline workers. When asked why he works for Blink, he responded with:

“I like selling a product that has a tangible impact that genuinely makes sense to me.”

Here's to celebrating Ben's first year with us and the exciting milestones ahead at Blink!

Join us in shaping the future of technology and impacting lives. Explore career opportunities at Blink today! https://www.joinblink.com/careers

"A good leader will always …"

How you complete that sentence could speak volumes about your leadership skills.

Good leadership in the workplace is crucial for the long-term success of your business and superb employee experience.

In fact, there's a 1674% chance of an employee having a strong perception about your leadership when you connect them to their purpose, accomplishments, or each other.

Great leaders inspire and motivate their team members. But it's easier said than done. 

Being a good leader can be challenging. It takes a lot of practice and focus. But like any other skill, you can learn to be an effective leader.

If you don't know how to be a good leader, you're in luck. We'll explore 10 qualities of a good leader to give you tips to become a strong leader at work.

What makes a good leader in the workplace?

A good leader engages in open communication, motivates their team members, leads by example, listens to feedback, and is open to new ideas in an ever-changing workplace. 

Anyone can sit in a corner office and boss people around, but there's more to effective leadership than that.

Learning the traits of a good leader will help you significantly impact your company's success.

With that in mind, here are 10 attributes of a good leader and how to use them effectively to your advantage.

1. Good leaders engage in open communication.

Employees want to be heard — whether it's an issue that needs resolving or ideas they believe would improve the business or better serve clients.

When you don’t communicate well with your team, they may feel discouraged, resulting in poor morale and lower production. Project.co shared that 35% of businesses have lost an employee due to poor communication. 

The best leaders customize their communication styles to suit each situation and team members' preferences — which means they take the time to learn which communication mode each team member prefers. 

Do your employees prefer email or phone conversations? Or maybe face-to-face? 

You can also use a straightforward mobile app like Blink to turn your employees into a close-knit group by enabling communications between them.

Effective communication decreases misunderstandings and employee errors, builds trust among team members, and improves morale. Pumble backs that up, stating that effective communication can increase a team's productivity by 25%.

As long as it's done respectfully, you should maintain a work environment that promotes honest communication.

You can also encourage open communication by:

• Promoting a judgment-free environment since your employees are likely to give their opinions more often when they don’t fear discrimination.
• Giving undivided attention to your team members when they’re speaking.
• Asking your employees for suggestions to increase their engagement. You'll aim to implement employee engagement strategies that work.
• Asking (not demanding) your employees to do stuff for you.

2. Great leaders encourage professional and personal development.

One of the most critical leadership qualities you can have is nurturing your staff by giving them personal development opportunities.

That can include anything from leadership training or teaching them a new skill to encouraging them to pursue a passion that inspires them in and out of the workplace.

In 2021, Lorman shared that 70% of employees are likely to leave their current job to work for an organization that invests in employee growth and development. 

Employees value learning opportunities, so it's no surprise that companies with successful training programs typically see a significant increase in employee retention. 

Picture a company culture where every team member receives training according to their interests. In such a case, every employee will feel you care about their goals, dreams, and overall well-being. 

When that happens, your employees will go above and beyond to help you achieve your goals and vision.

Here are four strategies you can use to encourage professional and personal development in the workplace:

• Encourage mentoring and coaching between managers and employees.
• Identify and develop soft skills such as time management, active listening, and delegation.
• Implement cross-departmental training programs to increase the efficiency of your entire company.
• Use a learning management system (LMS) to streamline employee training.

3. Successful leaders lead their employees by example.

One of the characteristics of a good leader is their ability to ‘walk the talk.’

Here’s an instance of a true leader leading by example:

Jane is a manager at a local bank with a team of seven employees (you can pretend that’s Jane and her team in the above picture). She shows up to work a few minutes early to plan her schedule. 

When her team starts to arrive, she greets them warmly and inquires about their families.

She then calls her team members into a morning meeting. And instead of leading with her plan, she gives each person a chance to voice their ideas. She appreciates their input and asks them to create proposals to bring their ideas to life.

When it’s time to start working, Jane attends to clients like the rest of the team.

As a result, Jane gets high levels of employee engagement since she demonstrates that she’s invested in her team's initiatives and business.

Leading by example means guiding your employees through actions instead of words. The saying ‘do as I say, not as I do’ has no place in today’s world.

Nowadays, employees want to see your actions match what you say. That means showing them what’s required instead of just telling them.

Here are four ways to lead by example:

• Be a role model to your employees by walking the talk.
• Give clear instructions to your staff. 
• Avail yourself to answer questions your employees might have.
• Make employees feel part of the team by letting them know why you're giving them specific instructions.
• Use respectful words like ‘please’ when giving instructions to your team members.

4. Strong leaders give constructive feedback to employees about their performance.

Employee feedback is an incredibly effective tool. Offered well, it can grow your employees, strengthen bonds between staff and managers, and improve trust levels. 

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”
— Bill Gates 

Direct, honest feedback is the best way to steer your team in the right direction.

Don’t wait for monthly or quarterly assessments to give your employees feedback. Give them right after an event has occurred. It will have the most significant impact on their performance.

Here are four tips to help you give employees effective feedback that gets the results you need:

• Give individual feedback privately.
• Avoid sandwiching corrective feedback between two positive feedbacks. It will create confusion, undermine the feedback, and decrease trust levels.
• Focus on your employees' behaviors (what they do) rather than their personality traits (what they’re like).

5. Secure leaders ask for feedback from employees about their leadership style.

The saying goes: there’s always room for improvement. That’s especially true when you're a good leader. 

Who can point out these growth opportunities better than your employees? 

After all, they work with you every day, so they know your strengths and weaknesses. 

“Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions.”
— Ken Blanchard

However, getting honest feedback isn’t always easy.

Employees may feel awkward revealing their true thoughts. They may not want to offend anyone's feelings or face future consequences for harsh criticism. That may cause them to give you fluffy feedback or avoid the request.

Use these tips to ask your employees for feedback and increase the likelihood that they give honest, actionable feedback:

• Ask your employees specific questions instead of vague questions such as, “What do you think?”
• Tell your staff not to hold back on their feedback and make them feel they’re doing you a favor by being honest.
• Give them time to think about your questions and develop helpful answers.
• Ask employees about what you can do better in the future rather than what you did wrong in the past.

6. Transformational leaders are open to change and new ideas.

Change is hard — even if the change is for the better. Successful leaders are aware of this and don't pretend otherwise. 

They also understand that embracing change with the right mindset is critical to creating an environment where change is integral to their company's DNA. 

A great leader never wants to be the smartest person in the room. They surround themselves with a team of experts with more ideas and experience without feeling threatened. 

And when these experts are led well, they can be a powerful force in driving strategy, making changes, and enhancing the company's bottom line. They’ll perform at a high level with little oversight and push you to grow continually.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
— Steve Jobs

Whether you're leading a team of two or five thousand, below are four ways to embrace new ideas and get your employees on the ‘change-wagon’ faster:

• Surround yourself with a committed team of experts.
• Understand why you need the change and clearly express the desired outcome.
• Include your employees in decision-making from the get-go to strengthen their commitment to change.
• Make sure your beliefs and behaviors support the change. Be resilient, persistent, and willing to step outside your comfort zone.

7. Effective leaders set clear employee goals and delegate work.

A good leader makes sure their employees are doing what they’ve assigned them to do to achieve the company's mission and goals. 

The instructions you give should be measurable and quantifiable. Use existing data to develop a baseline for employees to do their best work. 

Moreover, 2021 research by Bi Worldwide showed that 31% of employees said their manager set attainable goals for them, but they weren’t challenging. So be sure to have goal-setting discussions with your employees to set goals that will challenge them to grow. 

An effective leader also knows what tasks to delegate. They know they can’t accomplish everything alone, so they assign tasks to team members they’re confident will complete them. 

As a result, they empower and boost their employees’ morale. And in the process, they free up their time to focus on what will yield the highest returns and grow the business.

Here are three tips to help you delegate tasks to your team members:

• Look for opportunities to delegate tasks based on your teams' strengths and weaknesses.
• Walk your employees through the project you're delegating and clarify when you need it done.
• Give continuous feedback and be specific on what they did well and what they need to improve on.
• Aligned with implementing employee experience strategies and positive employee lifecycle

8. Great leaders are passionate about their work.

A good leader has the right motivation and passion. They’re not driven by money or prestige but genuinely want to inspire others to do their best.

Passionate leaders increase productivity and make sure workers are committed to the company's values, mission, and vision.

“A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”
— John C. Maxwell

Most successful leaders have a passion (not a job) and know how to rally others around that passion. 

In short, passionate leaders lead with heart.

Here are seven qualities that set passionate leaders apart from the crowd:

• They're open-minded and respect differing opinions.
• They have a positive attitude and superb problem-solving skills.
• They’re great communicators and listen with the intent of genuinely understanding rather than advancing their agenda.
• They're future-focused and capable of engaging others to achieve their goals.
• They look at the big picture and embrace challenges.
• They're risk-takers and put in the hard work to execute ideas. 
• They're self-aware, surround themselves with like-minded people, and sustain collaborative relationships.

Your ability to inspire, motivate, and create a magnetic vision needs commitment and perseverance. But it’s worth the effort, whether your goal is productivity, employee retention, or project management.

9. Successful leaders have a positive attitude even when things go south.

Most people tend to associate good leadership with smooth sailing. 

After all, what can go wrong if you build and nurture a great team and generate excellent ideas? 

…. a lot.

But whether it's a minor misunderstanding or a significant error, how you handle a negative situation reveals a lot about your emotional intelligence and leadership abilities.

“Great leadership usually starts with a willing heart, a positive attitude, and a desire to make a difference.”
— Mac Anderson

When things go south, your words and actions as a leader are critical. Here’s what you can do during those times:

• Take time to evaluate the situation and know what the problem is.
• Face the problem with positivity and look for solutions.
• Be flexible and adaptable and make adjustments along the way.
• Remain persistent and determined to solve the issues.

10. Good leaders are always learning.

All successful leaders have one trait in common — a hunger for learning. They enroll in relevant online courses, read great books, use the best tools, and constantly improve.

Great leaders have an innate sense of curiosity that often drives them to learn more, which helps them perform better for their businesses and provide personal fulfillment.

“Leadership is not an expertise. Leadership is a constant education.”
— Simon Sinek

Learning helps great leaders challenge their assumptions and bring clear understanding to the table. 

In contrast, failure to keep learning means you won't adapt to the ever-changing work environment. And depending on your industry's competition, this can be a significant issue that spells the death of your company.

Here are three ways to keep learning and become a better leader:

• Embrace an open mind to see things from different perspectives.
• Read relevant books, industry publications, and blogs.
• Take advantage of consultants, personal networks, industry events, and other organizations and learn from them.

How to be a good leader at work: your checklist

1. Openly communicate: Make sure your team always know what's going on and what is expected of them.
2. Develop your team: Push each team member in their personal development. Make sure you each team member has a clear and robust personal development plan.
3. Lead by example: Easier said than done, but be the example your team can learn from. Show them the type of employee you want them to be.
4. Give constructive feedback: Don't be afraid to give constructive feedback. 1-1's are normally the place for this.
5. Ask for feedback: You won't always get things right, and not everyone will agree with you. Ask for feedback from your team on your management style and how you can improve.
6. Be open to change and new ideas: If a team member has an idea or a new way of doing things, be open to it. Don't stick to the way things are just because "that's how it's always been".
7. Set goals & delegate: You can't do everything on your own, give your team responsibility and delegate tasks appropriately. This can help with point 2 as well.
8. Show your passion: If you love your job, show it. This passion can be infectious and help motivate your team.
9. Keep positive: Things won't always go to plan, but you can weather the storm. Keep positive and let your team know you have their back with whatever road bumps you hit.
10. Don't stop learning: Your development also doesn't stop. If you want to lead by example you need to make sure you are up to date with the latest techniques and strategies for your role.

Wrapping up: What makes a good leader in the workplace?

Most people aren’t born with the ability to get things done and inspire others every day. And that’s okay — you don’t have to be born with that ability to succeed.

Although it takes time to be a good leader, you can learn strong leadership skills. But like any other skill, it takes a lot of practice and focus. 

Just keep in mind it also requires you to grow and engage your team. Blink’s Employee Engagement App can help you keep employees engaged and connected. Try it out today. 

Learn the difference between internet, intranet, and extranet. And discover how to use each for your business.

Internet, intranet, extranet — the words sound similar but these terms refer to very different types of networks.

These networks have very different security implications and business uses. So before you share essential company documents on any of them, it’s important to know the difference.

Understanding how to use the internet, intranet, and extranet helps to keep your resources secure and in the right place.

What’s the difference between an intranet and the internet?

An intranet is a local, private network that only people within an organization can access. It’s a restricted network mainly used to share files and information securely within an organization. 

The internet is a global collection of computer networks known as the World Wide Web. This network is accessible to anyone.

What is the difference between the internet and intranet?

The internet and the intranet are both online networks. Their core framework is provided by internet protocol and World Wide Web standards.

The main difference between the intranet and the internet comes down to access.

The internet is a global collection of computer networks. It’s an open network, accessible to anyone with a device and an internet connection.

In contrast, the intranet is a closed, online network, only accessible to company employees. Employees use some form of login to access the company intranet. 

What’s the difference between an extranet and an intranet?

As explained above, an intranet is a local network that only the employees of an organization get to access. And the internet is an open network that anyone can access.  

Extranets fall somewhere in the middle. They allow for some connections outside of the company but, like intranets, they’re not available to the public. 

Extranets are a way to give third-parties — including vendors, suppliers, partners, and customers — access to restricted information.

Internet vs intranet vs extranet: what’s the difference?

These three network types support a range of business activities. The information you decide to put on each of these networks depends upon the level of security required.   

Information you share on the internet is suitable for public consumption. Highly confidential information is best reserved for your intranet. And less sensitive data can be shared with trusted third-parties on an extranet. 

Why do companies use an intranet?

Intranets have come a long way since the days when they lived on a server in the office. Many organizations have now moved beyond a traditional intranet. They’ve replaced clunky, outdated, desktop-based systems with a modern alternative.

Now, companies use intranets to share internal communications, support collaboration, and offer easy access to workplace resources. 

Intranets are helping to streamline the work of HR teams and improve employee engagement. They’re also helping organizations to share information securely with remote teams and frontline workers. 

For example, employees may need to access customer order details, review financial reports, or collaborate on new product development. In all these cases, an intranet supports productivity while keeping sensitive data secure.

Here’s a look at some of the ways a modern employee intranet can benefit your company:

• Streamlined knowledge management. Companies can securely store and share important documents. Everyone — including remote and frontline workers — has the information they need to get their work done.
  
  
• Network security. The best intranet software and web servers offer excellent levels of security. An internet firewall, data encryption, secure login protocols, and private servers protect intranet connections. So only approved personnel can access the network and its data.
  
  
• Effective internal communications and collaboration. With a secure intranet, you make sure all workers receive company-wide updates. You give them the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with one another, too.
  
  
• Improved employee engagement. The best intranet software supports employee engagement. It features employee feedback, recognition, analytics, and two-way communication tools.

Modern company intranet solutions, like Blink, keep employees connected. You can even track user activity and use workforce insights to measure employee engagement.

Read more: How to set up your employee intranet

Why do companies use an extranet?

An extranet is a platform via which you can share resources and collaborate with partners. So companies use extranets to give trusted customers, partners, and vendors access to sensitive information. 

For example, if you have a customer who places regular orders with your business, they could use your secure extranet to update orders, process invoices, and message your team. It’s a reliable way to streamline your interactions while keeping data secure.

Some specific use cases for an extranet platform include:

• Sharing financial data with your auditors and key stakeholders
• Providing customer support via a help desk
• Sharing access to key software with external partners
• Collaborating on product development with engineering teams

In all these cases, an extranet solution supports productivity and helps you stay aligned with your partners.

What is an internet-hosted platform used for?

Aside from the obvious day-to-day usage of the internet for browsing and email, many companies depend on the internet for vital employee functions.

For example, many businesses rely on cloud-based software to run their business and manage employees. That software often requires an internet connection.

Additionally, frontline teams may access a specific web portal to communicate with vendors and customers. They may also rely on the internet to access critical business information, such as customer databases or product manuals.

Here are some specific examples of when a company might use an internet solution:

• Providing customer support via live chat or phone calls
• Hosting virtual meetings and webinars with employees, partners, and clients
• Delivering training materials to remote teams or workers in the field
• Collaborating on projects with teammates and vendors across multiple locations

In all these cases, having reliable access to the internet can help your team stay connected and productive.

Intranets and extranets: which is right for my organization?

Intranets and extranets are part of many company workflows. But which solution is right for your organization?

If you’re looking for a platform that lets you securely share information with customers or vendors, an extranet is probably the best choice.

Extranet software allows you to collaborate with multiple external partners across different locations. And it’s ideal when you want to improve outbound or customer-facing comms.

However, if you need a way to share information internally with your workforce, an intranet is a better fit. This closed network offers the best level of security for sensitive company data.

An intranet can also support your wider organizational goals. It can act as an employee engagement tool, using comms and connection to drive employee engagement and retention. It can support workplace productivity, collaboration, and efficiency, too.

Intranets and extranets are both communication and collaboration tools. But they’re designed for very different groups of people. It may be that you need one or both of these solutions to meet your business goals.

Have you considered a mobile app?

Mobile employee apps are a kind of modern intranet, available on both desktop and mobile devices.

These apps are well-suited to frontline organizations, where workers don’t always sit behind a desk and don’t necessarily have a company email address. 

That’s because, when you use an app, frontline workers can access all modern intranet features on the go, from their personal smartphones.

They can take part in real-time communication, get critical company comms, access workplace resources, and use a variety of workplace software — all via a user-friendly interface.

Just bear in mind — some desktop intranets come with a mobile app. But unless you choose a mobile-first intranet, the mobile experience often lags behind that of the desktop version.

Mobile-first intranets offer exactly the same features and functionality on mobile devices as they do on desktops. So both frontline and office-based employees enjoy the same, great digital employee experience.

With a mobile-first employee app, you improve internal communication, employee productivity, and engagement for the whole organization, not just your employees based at HQ.  

Read more about the features and uses of Blink’s employee app.

Final thoughts: internet, intranet and extranet — what’s the difference?

You may use the internet, intranet, and extranet for company comms and operations. But think carefully about which information you put on each of these networks.

Use the internet when you want to share information with everyone. Use an extranet for collaboration with partners, customers, suppliers, and vendors.

And use an intranet as your secure digital workspace. This is a platform where employees can access resources, connect with one another, and follow company news. And where your comms and HR teams can easily and efficiently give workers all the information and resources they need.

How can Blink help?

Blink’s employee app is the ultimate employee network solution. With this cloud-based software platform, you can securely manage a range of business functions.

Communications, collaboration, HR functions, workplace resources — our super-app gives employees secure, mobile access to everything they need for their day-to-day work. 

In doing so, it helps frontline organizations improve employee productivity, retention, and engagement.

To learn more about how a modern intranet solution can support your digital workforce, explore Blink today.

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Use employee engagement software to engage your workforce every step of the way

The employee lifecycle incorporates the following stages:

• Preboarding: The time between an accepted offer and an employee’s first day
• Onboarding: Orientation, training, and support delivered over a new hire’s first months in a role
• Development: Support for learning and career growth
• Engagement: Building a workplace culture of connection and belonging
• Retention: Keeping top talent invested in your organization and their work
• Transition: Supporting change and offboarding with care

The challenge for managers and HR teams is ensuring high levels of employee engagement at every point in that journey.

We know that just 23% of employees are engaged at work. And that disengagement hurts everything from employee retention to customer loyalty to employee well-being to productivity.

So how do you maximize the employee life cycle, ensuring levels of engagement that drive business success?

It helps to have the right employee engagement software on your team. With employee engagement tools, you can create a seamless, consistent, and personalized journey for all employees — whether they’re working in the office, from home, or on the frontlines of your organization.

Let’s take a look at how you can make that happen. Here’s how to use software tools to improve engagement throughout the employee lifecycle.

How to enhance the employee lifecycle with engagement software

#1. Preboarding: Creating a great experience before day one

First impressions matter. And the preboarding phase is your opportunity to introduce a new hire to company culture and set the tone for their employee experience.

An effective preboarding process welcomes new employees to the organization. It also calms those inevitable nerves, as it gives new staff all the information they need to prepare for their first day.

You can use employee engagement software during this phase to:

• Sustain employee communication between the offer stage and an employee’s first day
• Share useful documents and get employees to sign any necessary paperwork
• Share welcome messages from managers and team members
• Provide a road map of the onboarding process, so new hires know what to expect

With Blink’s Employee Journeys, you can use start-date triggers to send tailored employee communications ahead of their first day. You can also include an employee’s line manager in the journey for a seamless and supportive experience.

#2. Onboarding: Setting the stage for success

According to Gallup, employees who get a great onboarding experience are 2.6x more likely to be “extremely satisfied” at work. They’re also more likely to stay working for you.

This is a crucial time. The first 90 days in a role are considered some of the riskiest in terms of employee retention. New hires start working for you with high hopes and expectations. If the reality is too far from what was promised during recruitment, they’re likely to jump ship.

The good news is that employee engagement software can help you maximize engagement and minimize that attrition risk during the onboarding process. 

Here are some key actions to take at this stage to boost — and maintain — employee morale:

• Personalize the onboarding journey, ensuring content is hyper-relevant at key employee milestones with customizable templates
• Provide self-serve access to resources, training, and team profiles, so employees can get to know the entire company and their co-workers
• Check in regularly with pulse surveys, offering recognition for employee efforts and seeking their real-time feedback on the onboarding process
• Train employees on how to use your employee engagement and internal communication tools, plus existing HR systems like Workday

Employee engagement software helps you deliver the right information to new employees at the right time. This prevents overwhelm and ensures a streamlined onboarding process.

You also free up a resource that is better than any bot at inspiring employee engagement — your real-life employees.

By leaving your software to take care of the nuts and bolts of the onboarding process, managers and co-workers can spend more time with your new hire. That means they experience meaningful interactions and feel part of the team more quickly.

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#3. Development: Nurturing growth and learning

In its 2025 Global Culture Report, O.C. Tanner explores why some employees are thriving, while others are only surviving. It reports that employees are 68 times more likely to thrive at work when their organization prioritizes skill-building and career development.

Nurturing employee skills and supporting them to reach their career goals is key to engagement and retention. And the right employee engagement solutions help you to achieve that.

You can use your software to:

• Integrate training modules into your employee engagement platform to deliver a seamless experience
• Craft personalized development plans that align with employee and organizational goals
• Offer gamified and micro-learning training sessions to engage busy employees and allow them to learn at their own pace
• Track progress toward personal and departmental objectives, offering regular support and recognition

With Blink’s employee intranet, seamless integration with L&D software is easy. With single sign-on technology, employees can access the latest training modules via the intuitive Blink interface — in just a few clicks. No additional login details necessary.

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#4. Engagement: Building a culture of connection and belonging

Supportive workplace relationships are a bedrock of employee engagement. So helping employees to make connections with coworkers — and to feel part of company culture — is a sure-fire way to improve the employee experience. 

If you have a remote team or lots of frontline employees, this is something you have to be very intentional about. It’s easy for people who work away from HQ to feel disconnected from the wider organization.

Luckily, this is another thing that an employee engagement app can help with. You can use your platform to:

• Share real-time company news and amplify company culture via a multimedia news feed
• Support employees to find like-minded co-workers with social features, like communities, which are based around hobbies and interests
• Encourage co-workers to collaborate and share knowledge, exchanging resources via team messaging tools
• Measure engagement with the help of employee surveys, employee sentiment analysis, and advanced analytics on platform usage

A tool like Blink is available via an intuitive employee app. So employees can get company news and interact with co-workers via their smartphones. This ensures all employees — no matter where they work — experience the sense of connection and belonging that is key to engagement.

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#5. Retention: Keeping top talent invested

Talent retention is about more than competitive pay. In fact, research shows that engaged employees look for a 31% pay increase to consider taking a job with another organization.

So what can you do to inspire this type of loyalty among your employees? Besides fostering employee development, career growth, and performance management — all while creating a culture of recognition — you can harness your employee engagement software to reduce employee turnover. 

Here’s how:

• Use platform data and employee feedback to identify disengaged employees and their pain points, staying ahead of potential issues
• Launch well-being initiatives, providing resources and programs that support physical mental, and emotional health and boost employee satisfaction
• Make social recognition an integral part of company culture, showing employees that you value their contributions

Your software allows you to track employee engagement — and discover areas of the employee experience that need improvement. These actionable insights can help you pinpoint the benefits and workplace changes that will make the biggest difference to employee retention.

Read more: How to make employee retention your competitive advantage

#6. Transition: Supporting change and offboarding with care

The employee lifecycle doesn’t end when an employee hands in their notice. How you handle transitions — whether that’s a promotion, a role change, or an exit — can impact your employer brand and the morale of remaining employees.

So treat transitions as a chance to gather useful feedback from your employees. Try to discover what they did and didn’t like about the employee experience — and seek concrete ways to improve employee engagement.

You can use your employee engagement software at this stage in the employee lifecycle to:

• Provide resources and support as an employee transitions to a new role
• Send automated exit pulse surveys to capture valuable feedback before an employee leaves
• Create a centralized content hub where employees can document workflows, processes, and critical knowledge before leaving
• Analyze employee feedback to inform future engagement strategies

End the relationship on a positive note and ex-employees are more likely to recommend your organization as a place to work. They may even “boomerang” back to you when looking for their next role.

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Maximize your employee lifecycle with the best employee engagement tools

The employee lifecycle is a series of opportunities to engage, develop, and retain talent. And good employee engagement software provides tools to optimize every stage of that journey.

With the right platform, you can improve internal communications, training, recognition, and connection. You can inspire employees to feel more invested in their work, so they’re happier and more loyal to your organization.

Pick a mobile-first engagement tool and you ensure that every member of your workforce gets access to the same great employee experience. They can access your platform via their smartphones, checking in at a time and place that works for them.

So what does all of this mean for your organization? Sustained engagement throughout the whole of the employee lifecycle across your entire organization means: 

• Improved productivity
• Reduced absenteeism
• Lower levels of attrition
• Improved employee well-being

According to Gallup, high engagement teams also experience a 23% increase in profitability, which makes employee engagement software an excellent investment for any organization.

‍Blink. And find out how an employee engagement platform can transform the employee life cycle.