Solving the digital divide in a deskless organization
A recap of our recent webinar on how a frontline organization solved its digital divide with the help of an employee app.
Jess DeVore
Published:
April 24, 2024
Last updated:
April 25, 2024
What we'll cover
The Capital District Transport Authority (CDTA) runs the public transit system in Albany, New York. They employ around 800 people.
Most of these employees are drivers and maintenance workers and CDTA was having a tough time staying in touch with them. An intranet. Seat drops. Posters. Digital screens. They tried everything. And it just wasn’t working.
For this webinar, our team sat down with CDTA’s Head of Communication, Jaime Kazlo, and Communications Manager, Emily De Vito.
Two years after launching Blink, they talked about how they went from an ineffective internal communication strategy causing a huge digital divide to an employee app that supports digital inclusion.
They had a high proportion of frontline workers who didn’t sit behind a desk and didn’t have company-issued emails or devices. So it wasn’t easy to share company messages with them.
To communicate with office-based employees, the company was relying on an outdated intranet. For frontline employees, the main methods of communication were:
Noticeboards and digital screens
Emergency SMS
Word of mouth
Seat drop, where posters were left on a bus operator’s seat in time for their shift
But these comms were ineffective. As Jaime pointed out, “A lot of the folks that work at CDTA don’t necessarily come into the office every single day. They may get their bus out on the road. And if they do come into the office, they’re coming in and getting their work at the dispatch window and then immediately leaving”.
So employees weren’t reliably seeing posters and digital screens. They weren’t getting an awful lot of co-worker contact. And teams ended up relying on one-on-one communication, which put a lot of pressure on supervisors.
Focus group feedback made it clear to the CDTA leadership that their comms weren’t cutting through. Frontline employees were missing out on important communications. They were missing out on the fun stuff too, like competitions and giveaways.
This was creating a disconnect between employees and the organization. And it was harming the employee experience. So in 2021, CDTA decided to make a change.
They wanted to overhaul the way they did internal communications. And they needed a way to meet frontline employees where they were at.
Their CEO, says Jaime, is a champion of open communication and certainly didn’t want more than half of the organization missing out on comms. So with his support, they set out to find a solution.
"I know we’re not unique. A lot of organizations struggle with internal communication. It’s just whether or not you’re going to take that next step to really get to the employees, listen to their feedback, and give them what they need so they can also feel that they’re an integral part of the organization.” — Jaime Kazlo, Head of Communication, CDTA
Deciding on a solution
CDTA already had a SharePoint intranet, which they’d tried to revamp. This was a tool that they’d been using for several years. But it was old, outdated, and poorly maintained.
While a handful of employees chose to use the intranet, many stayed away. In fact, it had gotten to the point where comms and HR teams wouldn’t even tell staff about the intranet because they didn’t want them using it.
The intranet didn’t provide relevant information and wasn’t a good representation of the company. Crucially, it was hard for frontline employees to access.
Having gone ahead with a new and improved intranet, the team had some last-minute doubts. As the launch approached, they questioned whether they wanted to roll this tool out to the workforce.
Jaime says that, having taken the intranet as far as it could go, they were still wondering if there wasn’t something better. A tool that would improve employee communication for the whole organization.
So they took the bold decision to shelve the intranet. And started talking seriously about other options. Here’s how they decided that a modern intranet, in the form of an employee app, was the frontline-first solution they were looking for:
They got buy-in from the IT team. The IT team was integral to the process. They made sure the chosen solution was secure, sustainable, and wouldn’t compromise the company network.
They got buy-in from the union. The team worked to ensure the union president and employees would get on board with their chosen solution.
They took a cross-functional approach. The comms team collaborated across different departments. They had conversations with everyone who had a big stake in the solution, including HR, IT, and operations. They gathered co-worker questions, found answers, and learned what each department needed from the company comms tool.
They got buy-in from the CEO. Finally, having decided that an employee app was the best solution, they made their case to the CEO, who gave the go-ahead.
“For our workforce — and the way people consume information in this day and age — it seemed archaic to stick with that intranet tool. So we decided to go to something a little bit more user-friendly and something that is pretty much in the palm of everybody’s hand every day.” — Jaime Kazlo, Head of Communication, CDTA
The comms team started by, again, looping in different departments to find out what modern intranet features they needed.
They asked marketing leaders about their branding requirements. They asked HR how they’d like to use employee information within an app. They spoke to maintenance and transportation teams about the needs of their frontline workers.
This part of the process, says Jaime, was easy. Everyone was on board. Because everyone agreed that internal communications at CDTA needed to change. And because everyone wanted largely the same things:
a product that was user-friendly and easy to use
a product that was easy to download
a product that allowed us to communicate daily company news
a product that made it easy for employees to receive emergency messages
Once internal discussions had taken place, it was time to vet solutions and choose the best software for the job.
This part of the process was led by the IT and communications teams. The IT team knew what CDTA was looking for technically — and in terms of app security. The comms team knew what tools they needed to communicate effectively with the organization.
After speaking with several vendors and viewing app demonstrations, they decided on Blink. It was a speedy process. The team started looking for a solution in January 2022 and launched Blink in June of that year.
They were able to turn this process around in just six months, says Jaime, because the team got clear on their priorities first. By getting their ducks in a row — and knowing exactly what they were looking for in an employee app —finding the right app was quick and easy.
Ensuring success
Finding the right employee app is the first part of the battle. The next? Ensuring success — in the form of employee adoption and engagement — once that app goes live.
So how did the CDTA team tackle this particular challenge? In the webinar, Emily explains what the team did before and after the launch of Blink to maximize its success.
Pre-launch
The CDTA comms team started their pre-launch activities with a group of company leaders. They wanted to establish these people as app ambassadors. So they made sure they understood exactly what the app was for, what it could do, and how they should use it to interact with employees.
The comms team — along with the company’s new app ambassadors — started promoting the app to the wider organization about a month before it launched. They sent letters, put up posters, and advertised the app on digital screens.
Emily emphasizes the importance of speaking to people face to face, too. She and her team hosted information sessions. They also visited staff in break-out rooms, at every company location, to promote the app and field employee questions.
“[We were] letting them know — “Hey, this app is for you, it’s so you know what’s going on in our company and so you’re the first to know what’s going on in our company”.
Contests and giveaways also helped to incentivize employees to download and use the app, both pre-launch and for about a month after. For example, the team launched the app on the first day of summer. So they had an ice cream truck come to each division and people who signed up to Blink got a free cone.
Post-launch
Launch done and dusted, the comms team turned their attention to sustaining app engagement levels. And encouraging late app sign-ups, too.
To achieve high levels of engagement, CDTA has focused on:
Being responsive to employee comments and questions
Using pictures and graphics to grab employee attention
Balancing serious content with fun content
Emily says managing the app and its content doesn’t take up her whole day. And you don’t need someone to do it 24/7.
Her role now involves asking team leaders to send her regular content. She launches surveys. And she posts at least a couple of informal, fun posts each month. That might mean highlighting a member of staff who got a promotion. Or — as CDTA did recently — posting pictures from an Exemplary Attendance Luncheon.
Employees like being able to see pictures of themselves or their teammates, says Emily. They like being recognized for their hard work. And they like being able to comment — congratulating others.
While they see better levels of engagement for fun posts, she says employees like to engage with serious content, too.
For example, CDTA recently did a safety post about cell phone usage on the road. Employees appreciated seeing it on the feed. They like being able to comment and contribute their thoughts. And these posts are a great way to get instant feedback on company policy.
Responding to resistance
CDTA doesn’t require employees to download the Blink app. So it’s up to each individual whether they choose to use it.
Emily acknowledges that some resistance is inevitable. Some employees told her that they didn’t want to see work content on their personal phones. Some simply didn’t see how Blink would benefit them.
But, says Emily, many of these employees have changed their perspectives. “Those people have now come back to me a year later, “Can you send me the invite to Blink again, I wanna download it.””
Part of CDTA’s success in getting employees to come around has been illustrating the personal benefit Blink brings to employees.
Comms team members get in the room with other employees to show them — here’s where you get your tax form, here’s where you see your pay stubs, here’s where you book vacation time.
They’ve also been using Blink’s analytics functions to see which content is working best. By seeing when and where employees are interacting, the team can hone content to make it even more relevant and engaging.
A majority of employees, says Emily, have seen the value of being able to do so much from their smartphones. And now — two years after the launch — adoption is at 80%, just shy of the company’s 85% target, which they hope to meet soon.
Q&A
The webinar ended with a Q&A session. Jaime and Emily provided answers to viewer questions. Here’s a summary of what they discussed.
Do you allow employee comments on the app? And, if so, how do you manage them?
Allowing comments, says Emily, is essential for two-way communication. And the comments they get on the CDTA feed are mostly positive and primarily question-based.
Negative comments, when they do occur, are seen as a jumping-off point.
When the conversation feels constructive, leaders and managers can respond in the app. Alternatively, they go into Blink’s chat feature to say they’re happy to discuss an employee issue in person — and then set up a meeting.
While the admin team can delete comments, Emily says they would only do this if a comment contained profanity or something vulgar. And, thankfully, in two years of using the app, this is a problem they’ve yet to encounter.
It helps that openness is part of CDTA culture. And that company leaders understand that it solves more problems than it creates.
“We have a CEO who is very transparent. He wants to know what the workforce is thinking. He wants them to know what he’s thinking[…]If you’re not transparent it brings up more questions and it creates more angst within your company because people are saying “Why aren’t they answering me” “Why are they being secretive?”.” — Emily De Vito, Communications Manager, CDTA
How do you work alongside your union when rolling out an employee app?
CDTA has a unionized workforce. So it was important for them to work in lockstep with the union president during the whole process — from solution scoping to app launch and beyond.
The comms team made a real effort, says Jaime, to explain to the union why they were implementing the app and to help them understand where they were coming from.
There were some employee concerns about how an app might invade their privacy. But we made it clear that the one and only purpose of the app was to make all employees feel included within the organization.
Now that the app is up and running, Emily highlights the importance of the union president having a profile and using the app. And knowing they can get in touch with the communications team when they want to send a union-related message out to the workforce.
How do you enforce a cell phone policy when you have an employee app?
So you’re promoting a cell phone app. But you have a cell phone policy that means employees shouldn’t be looking at their phones during certain workday hours. What do you do?
For Jaime and Emily, it’s all about education and helping employees understand app features, like Blink’s snooze function.
Employees can set a do-not-disturb function to run automatically during particular times. This means they can pause notifications during work or driving hours. They can then pull out their cell phone during a break or when they’re back at home.
How does an employee app work for team members without a smartphone?
There are very few employees at CDTA, says Jaime, who don’t have a smartphone. These tend to be older employees who aren’t necessarily very tech-savvy.
For these employees, the company has computers in break rooms. These computers are equipped with Blink’s desktop version. And they’re a way for employees who don’t have a phone — or who don’t want to download the app — to check in with their account and company news.
Does each employee have a profile? How do you manage those?
Every employee has their own app profile. They can upload a picture to this profile. But employees don’t have admin capabilities and they can’t edit anything else.
When it comes to creating profiles, the CDTA comms team worked with the HR team to import employee data. The app integrates with most HR software, so profiles can be added and removed automatically.
You can set up a profile with very basic information, including name, location, and job title. You also need an email address or a phone number so the employee can receive an invite to download Blink.
But you have the potential to refine these profiles. Emily is currently working with the CDTA on segmenting employees. She’s working out which employees should be grouped together so they can send the most relevant comms to each individual.
So there you have it. A summary of our webinar — and of CDTA’s journey from a clunky old intranet to a modern employee app.
The Capital District Transport Authority (CDTA) runs the public transit system in Albany, New York. They employ around 800 people.
Most of these employees are drivers and maintenance workers and CDTA was having a tough time staying in touch with them. An intranet. Seat drops. Posters. Digital screens. They tried everything. And it just wasn’t working.
For this webinar, our team sat down with CDTA’s Head of Communication, Jaime Kazlo, and Communications Manager, Emily De Vito.
Two years after launching Blink, they talked about how they went from an ineffective internal communication strategy causing a huge digital divide to an employee app that supports digital inclusion.
They had a high proportion of frontline workers who didn’t sit behind a desk and didn’t have company-issued emails or devices. So it wasn’t easy to share company messages with them.
To communicate with office-based employees, the company was relying on an outdated intranet. For frontline employees, the main methods of communication were:
Noticeboards and digital screens
Emergency SMS
Word of mouth
Seat drop, where posters were left on a bus operator’s seat in time for their shift
But these comms were ineffective. As Jaime pointed out, “A lot of the folks that work at CDTA don’t necessarily come into the office every single day. They may get their bus out on the road. And if they do come into the office, they’re coming in and getting their work at the dispatch window and then immediately leaving”.
So employees weren’t reliably seeing posters and digital screens. They weren’t getting an awful lot of co-worker contact. And teams ended up relying on one-on-one communication, which put a lot of pressure on supervisors.
Focus group feedback made it clear to the CDTA leadership that their comms weren’t cutting through. Frontline employees were missing out on important communications. They were missing out on the fun stuff too, like competitions and giveaways.
This was creating a disconnect between employees and the organization. And it was harming the employee experience. So in 2021, CDTA decided to make a change.
They wanted to overhaul the way they did internal communications. And they needed a way to meet frontline employees where they were at.
Their CEO, says Jaime, is a champion of open communication and certainly didn’t want more than half of the organization missing out on comms. So with his support, they set out to find a solution.
"I know we’re not unique. A lot of organizations struggle with internal communication. It’s just whether or not you’re going to take that next step to really get to the employees, listen to their feedback, and give them what they need so they can also feel that they’re an integral part of the organization.” — Jaime Kazlo, Head of Communication, CDTA
Deciding on a solution
CDTA already had a SharePoint intranet, which they’d tried to revamp. This was a tool that they’d been using for several years. But it was old, outdated, and poorly maintained.
While a handful of employees chose to use the intranet, many stayed away. In fact, it had gotten to the point where comms and HR teams wouldn’t even tell staff about the intranet because they didn’t want them using it.
The intranet didn’t provide relevant information and wasn’t a good representation of the company. Crucially, it was hard for frontline employees to access.
Having gone ahead with a new and improved intranet, the team had some last-minute doubts. As the launch approached, they questioned whether they wanted to roll this tool out to the workforce.
Jaime says that, having taken the intranet as far as it could go, they were still wondering if there wasn’t something better. A tool that would improve employee communication for the whole organization.
So they took the bold decision to shelve the intranet. And started talking seriously about other options. Here’s how they decided that a modern intranet, in the form of an employee app, was the frontline-first solution they were looking for:
They got buy-in from the IT team. The IT team was integral to the process. They made sure the chosen solution was secure, sustainable, and wouldn’t compromise the company network.
They got buy-in from the union. The team worked to ensure the union president and employees would get on board with their chosen solution.
They took a cross-functional approach. The comms team collaborated across different departments. They had conversations with everyone who had a big stake in the solution, including HR, IT, and operations. They gathered co-worker questions, found answers, and learned what each department needed from the company comms tool.
They got buy-in from the CEO. Finally, having decided that an employee app was the best solution, they made their case to the CEO, who gave the go-ahead.
“For our workforce — and the way people consume information in this day and age — it seemed archaic to stick with that intranet tool. So we decided to go to something a little bit more user-friendly and something that is pretty much in the palm of everybody’s hand every day.” — Jaime Kazlo, Head of Communication, CDTA
The comms team started by, again, looping in different departments to find out what modern intranet features they needed.
They asked marketing leaders about their branding requirements. They asked HR how they’d like to use employee information within an app. They spoke to maintenance and transportation teams about the needs of their frontline workers.
This part of the process, says Jaime, was easy. Everyone was on board. Because everyone agreed that internal communications at CDTA needed to change. And because everyone wanted largely the same things:
a product that was user-friendly and easy to use
a product that was easy to download
a product that allowed us to communicate daily company news
a product that made it easy for employees to receive emergency messages
Once internal discussions had taken place, it was time to vet solutions and choose the best software for the job.
This part of the process was led by the IT and communications teams. The IT team knew what CDTA was looking for technically — and in terms of app security. The comms team knew what tools they needed to communicate effectively with the organization.
After speaking with several vendors and viewing app demonstrations, they decided on Blink. It was a speedy process. The team started looking for a solution in January 2022 and launched Blink in June of that year.
They were able to turn this process around in just six months, says Jaime, because the team got clear on their priorities first. By getting their ducks in a row — and knowing exactly what they were looking for in an employee app —finding the right app was quick and easy.
Ensuring success
Finding the right employee app is the first part of the battle. The next? Ensuring success — in the form of employee adoption and engagement — once that app goes live.
So how did the CDTA team tackle this particular challenge? In the webinar, Emily explains what the team did before and after the launch of Blink to maximize its success.
Pre-launch
The CDTA comms team started their pre-launch activities with a group of company leaders. They wanted to establish these people as app ambassadors. So they made sure they understood exactly what the app was for, what it could do, and how they should use it to interact with employees.
The comms team — along with the company’s new app ambassadors — started promoting the app to the wider organization about a month before it launched. They sent letters, put up posters, and advertised the app on digital screens.
Emily emphasizes the importance of speaking to people face to face, too. She and her team hosted information sessions. They also visited staff in break-out rooms, at every company location, to promote the app and field employee questions.
“[We were] letting them know — “Hey, this app is for you, it’s so you know what’s going on in our company and so you’re the first to know what’s going on in our company”.
Contests and giveaways also helped to incentivize employees to download and use the app, both pre-launch and for about a month after. For example, the team launched the app on the first day of summer. So they had an ice cream truck come to each division and people who signed up to Blink got a free cone.
Post-launch
Launch done and dusted, the comms team turned their attention to sustaining app engagement levels. And encouraging late app sign-ups, too.
To achieve high levels of engagement, CDTA has focused on:
Being responsive to employee comments and questions
Using pictures and graphics to grab employee attention
Balancing serious content with fun content
Emily says managing the app and its content doesn’t take up her whole day. And you don’t need someone to do it 24/7.
Her role now involves asking team leaders to send her regular content. She launches surveys. And she posts at least a couple of informal, fun posts each month. That might mean highlighting a member of staff who got a promotion. Or — as CDTA did recently — posting pictures from an Exemplary Attendance Luncheon.
Employees like being able to see pictures of themselves or their teammates, says Emily. They like being recognized for their hard work. And they like being able to comment — congratulating others.
While they see better levels of engagement for fun posts, she says employees like to engage with serious content, too.
For example, CDTA recently did a safety post about cell phone usage on the road. Employees appreciated seeing it on the feed. They like being able to comment and contribute their thoughts. And these posts are a great way to get instant feedback on company policy.
Responding to resistance
CDTA doesn’t require employees to download the Blink app. So it’s up to each individual whether they choose to use it.
Emily acknowledges that some resistance is inevitable. Some employees told her that they didn’t want to see work content on their personal phones. Some simply didn’t see how Blink would benefit them.
But, says Emily, many of these employees have changed their perspectives. “Those people have now come back to me a year later, “Can you send me the invite to Blink again, I wanna download it.””
Part of CDTA’s success in getting employees to come around has been illustrating the personal benefit Blink brings to employees.
Comms team members get in the room with other employees to show them — here’s where you get your tax form, here’s where you see your pay stubs, here’s where you book vacation time.
They’ve also been using Blink’s analytics functions to see which content is working best. By seeing when and where employees are interacting, the team can hone content to make it even more relevant and engaging.
A majority of employees, says Emily, have seen the value of being able to do so much from their smartphones. And now — two years after the launch — adoption is at 80%, just shy of the company’s 85% target, which they hope to meet soon.
Q&A
The webinar ended with a Q&A session. Jaime and Emily provided answers to viewer questions. Here’s a summary of what they discussed.
Do you allow employee comments on the app? And, if so, how do you manage them?
Allowing comments, says Emily, is essential for two-way communication. And the comments they get on the CDTA feed are mostly positive and primarily question-based.
Negative comments, when they do occur, are seen as a jumping-off point.
When the conversation feels constructive, leaders and managers can respond in the app. Alternatively, they go into Blink’s chat feature to say they’re happy to discuss an employee issue in person — and then set up a meeting.
While the admin team can delete comments, Emily says they would only do this if a comment contained profanity or something vulgar. And, thankfully, in two years of using the app, this is a problem they’ve yet to encounter.
It helps that openness is part of CDTA culture. And that company leaders understand that it solves more problems than it creates.
“We have a CEO who is very transparent. He wants to know what the workforce is thinking. He wants them to know what he’s thinking[…]If you’re not transparent it brings up more questions and it creates more angst within your company because people are saying “Why aren’t they answering me” “Why are they being secretive?”.” — Emily De Vito, Communications Manager, CDTA
How do you work alongside your union when rolling out an employee app?
CDTA has a unionized workforce. So it was important for them to work in lockstep with the union president during the whole process — from solution scoping to app launch and beyond.
The comms team made a real effort, says Jaime, to explain to the union why they were implementing the app and to help them understand where they were coming from.
There were some employee concerns about how an app might invade their privacy. But we made it clear that the one and only purpose of the app was to make all employees feel included within the organization.
Now that the app is up and running, Emily highlights the importance of the union president having a profile and using the app. And knowing they can get in touch with the communications team when they want to send a union-related message out to the workforce.
How do you enforce a cell phone policy when you have an employee app?
So you’re promoting a cell phone app. But you have a cell phone policy that means employees shouldn’t be looking at their phones during certain workday hours. What do you do?
For Jaime and Emily, it’s all about education and helping employees understand app features, like Blink’s snooze function.
Employees can set a do-not-disturb function to run automatically during particular times. This means they can pause notifications during work or driving hours. They can then pull out their cell phone during a break or when they’re back at home.
How does an employee app work for team members without a smartphone?
There are very few employees at CDTA, says Jaime, who don’t have a smartphone. These tend to be older employees who aren’t necessarily very tech-savvy.
For these employees, the company has computers in break rooms. These computers are equipped with Blink’s desktop version. And they’re a way for employees who don’t have a phone — or who don’t want to download the app — to check in with their account and company news.
Does each employee have a profile? How do you manage those?
Every employee has their own app profile. They can upload a picture to this profile. But employees don’t have admin capabilities and they can’t edit anything else.
When it comes to creating profiles, the CDTA comms team worked with the HR team to import employee data. The app integrates with most HR software, so profiles can be added and removed automatically.
You can set up a profile with very basic information, including name, location, and job title. You also need an email address or a phone number so the employee can receive an invite to download Blink.
But you have the potential to refine these profiles. Emily is currently working with the CDTA on segmenting employees. She’s working out which employees should be grouped together so they can send the most relevant comms to each individual.
So there you have it. A summary of our webinar — and of CDTA’s journey from a clunky old intranet to a modern employee app.
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Keith has been with Metroline since 1997 and is currently based at the Willesden Junction Garage in London. Starting first as a bus driver, he transitioned to the role of Driving Instructor in 2001 and is now a skilled PCV Driving Examiner.
Keith is passionate about delivering a high-class, professional service whether training others or conducting tests on behalf of the DVSA. New drivers appreciate his empathy, experience, and great sense of humor. Keith is also incredibly supportive of new members in the department, including the very person who nominated him: Andrew Price.
While he loves the transport industry, his other great love in life is Ipswich Town FC Football Club. When he’s not training new drivers, he’s at Portman Road Stadium cheering on the Tractor Boys in the Premier League.
What does he want to do next?
Continue to improve the standards at which we conduct training to produce the best in class drivers and improve their experience along the way.
Nominated by: Andrew Price, Senior Driver Trainer and Delegate Driving Examiner
Amelia has spent the last two years bringing energy, creativity, and a spark of marketing magic to Blink’s Boston office. As a Senior Marketing Associate, she’s helped shape our presence at events across the US, from high-profile conferences to intimate dinners — and even found time to turn our beloved mascot, Blinkie, into plush toys and Legos.
We sat down with Amelia to talk about what brought her to Blink, the milestones she’s proud of, and what makes the culture in Boston so special.
1. What is your role at Blink?
I am the Senior Marketing Associate at Blink and am based out of the Boston office. I have been here a little over two years.
2. What initially attracted you to join Blink?
I’ve always been drawn to the fast-paced, creative energy of tech startups, and when my former colleague Courtney Hayes joined Blink, she couldn’t stop talking about the mission, the buzz around the product, and how great the team was. That instantly piqued my interest.
At the time, I was still early in my career and looking for a place where I could grow — and Blink offered that in a really exciting way. It felt like a no-brainer. Once I learned more about the technology and how it was solving real problems for frontline teams, I knew I wanted to be part of it.
3. What's a project you are proud of during your time at Blink?
Because I run our events in the US, no two days ever look the same. Every event — whether it’s a major conference, a global webinar, or an intimate dinner — comes with its own unique set of challenges and rewards, so it’s hard to pick just one project. But I’m incredibly proud of how we’ve grown our event presence over the last couple of years. People now expect to see Blink at major industry shows, and they expect us to bring a level of excitement and creativity — and we’ve been delivering on that. From how we look to the quality of conversations we’re having, it’s been a huge leap forward.
On another note, I also somehow became a toy manufacturer on the side! Over the past year, I’ve worked with third-party partners to bring our mascot Blinkie to life as both plush toys and Legos. It’s been a long but fun process, from design to production, and now that they’re in our hands, it’s incredibly rewarding. They’re playful and memorable, and they bring so much joy to our customers, prospects, and the whole Blink team.
4. How would you describe the company culture at Blink in three words?
Supportive, upbeat, and collaborative.
The Boston office has such a special vibe. Everyone genuinely supports one another, no matter their title or role. We help each other grow, hold one another to high standards, and always find ways to bring energy and fun into the day. That kind of culture makes it easy to stay motivated and feel confident in the work you’re doing.
5. What's one thing you're excited about for the future of Blink?
Definitely our global growth. It’s exciting to see new customers coming on board — whether they’re small teams or massive enterprises. Even in just the few years we’ve been in the US market, we’ve seen incredible momentum. Every new logo is a reminder that there’s a real need for what we’re building.
I’m especially excited to see where we go in industries like EMS and retail. We’ve already made an impact, and I think there’s still so much opportunity. Some of the brands we’ve signed recently weren’t even on my radar when I first joined — and now they’re some of our biggest wins. It makes the next few years feel full of possibility.
6. Can you tell us about a recent initiative or program launched at Blink that you found particularly exciting?
I’m really excited about the new voice and video feature we launched. I’m someone who sends voice notes all the time and prefers face-to-face conversations, so this update felt like it was made for people like me. It’s not just convenient, it adds a whole new dimension to how people communicate on Blink. Sometimes a message just doesn’t capture tone or emotion the right way, and this makes interactions feel more human and real. I think it’s going to be a game-changer for our customers.
7. Why do you work for Blink?
The product, the mission, and the people. Blink is solving a real need connecting frontline workers who have been left out of digital transformation. That in itself is meaningful work. But what makes it special is the people behind it. Everyone here is passionate about the mission and genuinely wants to make a difference.
There was actually a moment early on in my first year, during an all-hands meeting. Sean gave a really inspiring update about our progress, and I remember looking around the Boston office and seeing how proud people were. That was when it really hit me that I was part of something important.
76% of workers say they enjoy working collaboratively. But workplace collaboration isn’t just good for team members. It’s also good for your organization.
That’s because, when your teams are pulling in the same direction, there’s less wasted effort, greater productivity, and better business results.
These days, collaboration is a little more complicated than it used to be. Many employees work remotely or on a hybrid schedule. There are also hard-to-reach frontline employees to consider.
In 2024, organizations are having to be more intentional about employee collaboration — and they’re turning to tech tools to bring dispersed teams together.
Collaboration in the workplace may be changing. But it’s still as important as ever. Here, we take a look at the benefits of workplace collaboration, along with the role tech can play in creating a collaborative ecosystem.
What does collaboration look like in the workplace?
Workplace collaboration involves team members working together to achieve a common goal. It relies on empathy, active listening, conflict resolution, and accountability.
But it’s not just about team members working together on a big project. Or giving the standard monthly update on company developments. Collaboration is much, much more than that.
The most collaborative organizations make collaboration part of their company culture. It’s a mindset of openness and transparency. A place where all employees engage in effective communication and are ready and willing to help one another.
Employee collaboration might mean liaising with engineering, marketing, and sales teams to launch a ground-breaking new product. Or simply helping your co-worker get the photocopier working again.
In any form, collaboration is about sharing information and knowledge. About willingly offering support. And about combining employee strengths to get the best results each and every day.
Nowadays, there’s another key element to collaboration in the workplace — technology. In the wake of remote working and higher employee expectations with regard to tech, collaboration has gone digital.
Organizations use digital tools to facilitate employee collaboration even when teams don’t work face-to-face. They use tech, like project management software, employee apps, and real-time communication tools.
This is helping to maintain collaboration among desk-based teams, at home and in the office. It’s also supporting dispersed frontline workers to collaborate at work, too.
Collaboration is good for business. It ensures that your employees, like cogs in a well-oiled machine, are all working together. There’s more momentum and less friction. So you find it easier to achieve organizational goals.
Collaboration within teams helps those teams to function more effectively. Cross-functional collaboration is important too. Team-working across different departments helps to remove workplace silos and get all teams on the same page.
Workplace collaboration is also good for employee motivation and morale.
With easy and effective communication, the workplace becomes a happier place to be. And when employees operate as a team, helping each other to achieve tasks, the workplace becomes more caring and supportive.
Collaboration clearly makes a difference to employees. A 2022 Corel report into team-working revealed that:
41% of employees have left their job or would consider leaving their job due to poor collaboration at work
64% of employees say that poor collaboration costs them at least three hours per week in productivity
78% of employees say that leadership could be doing more to promote collaboration within the organization
Collaboration ties in with employee engagement, the employee experience, productivity, and employee retention, making it a really crucial component of any workplace.
8 benefits of collaboration in the workplace
Let’s take a closer look at what workplace collaboration can do for your employees and organization. Here’s what you can expect when your employees routinely collaborate with one another.
Improved employee engagement
Employees who feel they belong within an organization are 5.3 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work. And employees who get enough information to do their job well are 2.8 times more likely to be engaged.
Workplace collaboration brings employees together. It gives them need-to-know information, and aligns everyone behind company goals.
This creates a sense of community and purpose, which fuels employee engagement. Collaboration leads employees to feel more satisfied in their work and more loyal to your company.
Increased efficiency
When teams collaborate, they share information. Teams pool resources and people power. Employees who work together closely can share workloads and responsibilities.This enables teams to complete tasks more quickly. It also reduces the chance of duplicated work.
This efficiency frees up time in the workday. It helps managers to make workloads more manageable, while creating the time and employee headspace for even more creativity and collaboration.
Knowledge sharing
Imagine a company that fails to share its collective knowledge effectively.
Teams spend their time researching topics that other teams understand in depth. Employees repeat the same mistakes because there’s no one sharing their hard-earned insights. You fail to establish best practices. And employees are in a constant state of catch-up.
Now imagine the opposite. A company where knowledge is shared seamlessly between co-workers, teams, and departments. There’s no gatekeeper and collective knowledge is easy for everyone to access.
The latter scenario makes for a more successful organization. It helps you build a more knowledgeable workforce. And it saves a heap of time — because your people aren’t separately pursuing the same lines of research.
Stronger relationships
Good employee collaboration relies on strong workplace relationships. And it helps to develop them, too.
When teams collaborate, they communicate regularly. They work together towards a shared goal. They also develop trust and mutual respect as they share ideas and rely on each other’s support.
By developing these strong relationships, your organization gets better at collaboration going forward. You create a culture of psychological safety, where people feel comfortable speaking up about their ideas, mistakes, and concerns.
Strong workplace connections also improve the employee experience. With Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2024 report revealing that 20% of employees experience a lot of loneliness at work, nurturing workplace relationships has never been more important.
Better decision-making
When you make decisions as part of a team, you leverage the knowledge, perspective, and experience of each team member. You involve the people who are directly affected by the decision — and those who are responsible for implementing it.
Making decisions as part of a team means assumptions are challenged and everyone has a sense of buy-in. You make informed and balanced decisions that are more likely to garner company-wide support.
For example, in a recent webinar, we heard from the team at the Capital District Transport Authority (CDTA) in New York. They realized they needed new tech to improve internal communication at the organization.
When deciding on the right tech solution, they took a cross-functional approach. They involved communications, IT, and HR teams, along with leadership. They also consulted the workers who’d be using the new tech.
By collaborating in this way, the CDTA was able to choose a modern intranet that met everyone’s needs and enjoyed excellent levels of adoption.
Enhanced problem-solving
We all know the proverb. “Two heads are better than one.” And when it comes to problem-solving, you’re much more likely to come up with creative and effective solutions when working as part of a team.
Collaboration brings people with different viewpoints together. This diversity helps teams to approach a problem from multiple angles — and come up with a variety of potential solutions.
It also minimizes blind spots. Because there are people with lots of different perspectives involved, it’s less likely that some element of the problem or its solution is overlooked.
Stronger employee development
The practice of collaboration helps to develop employee soft skills, like decision-making, problem-solving, communication, conflict resolution, and creative thinking
When you have a culture of knowledge sharing, co-workers can also learn from one another. They can pick up new skills and information from the people they work with. Employees are organically coached by more experienced members of the team.
This informal learning can take place within teams and across departments. Successful cross-departmental collaboration enables workers to get a better understanding of different areas of the business.
Boosted productivity
As we’ve already seen, good teamwork is linked to:
All of these things support workplace productivity. Employees have access to the resources, skills, knowledge, and relationships that help them perform at their best.
Collaboration also improves accountability. When employees are involved in planning, decision-making, and problem-solving, they’re more motivated to work hard and make a success of the initiative or project.
The role of technology in workplace collaboration
It used to be that collaboration could take place informally in the office.
Co-workers could share ideas as they made coffee in the break room. Or as they walked to the elevator together. There were plenty of face-to-face meetings where people could work together to solve problems and make decisions.
But things have changed. In recent years, technology has played a much bigger role in team working.
Firstly, thanks to the pandemic, remote working became much more widespread. While some organizations are encouraging people back to the office, a sizable proportion of employees still spend part of their working week working remotely.
In the UK, figures for 2024 show that 40% of workers spend at least some time working from home. In the US, 41% of employees whose jobs can be done remotely work a hybrid schedule.
Secondly, employee expectations around workplace tech have increased. With intuitive tech at home making life easier and more convenient, employees now expect the same digital experiences in the workplace. This goes for frontline employees, too.
Frontline employees — working shifts, in isolation, or on a busy shop floor — haven’t always had the same opportunities for teamwork as their desk-based peers. But with organizations now focusing on frontline employee engagement and retention, this is something that employers are looking to rectify.
To involve all employees in workplace collaboration — no matter their location or schedules — we have to be intentional. We also have to use the right technology.
Here are a few tools that support collaboration in the modern, digital workplace.
Real-time communication tools
When teams are working away from the office, real-time communication tools are an employee collaboration essential. You need a way for co-workers to communicate seamlessly, sharing information as if face to face.
We know that many deskless workers conduct conversations on personal apps. But this type of shadow IT poses security risks. It also fails to enhance collaboration and employee engagement as successfully as a dedicated communication tool, run with the oversight of your managers.
So providing employees with messaging and video conferencing tools is a must. You need software that facilitates 1:1, group, and company-wide chat.
Project management software
Projects have lots of moving parts. And — particularly for non-office-based teams — it can be hard to visualize project tasks and progress without project management software.
This type of software acts as a centralized platform for planning and executing projects. It keeps all files, discussions, and tasks in the same place, ensuring nothing gets lost and everyone is aware of their responsibilities.
Project management software is particularly useful for remote and hybrid teams. But it can still come in useful for purely office-based teams.
Streamlined communication, workflow automation features, file organization, task visibility, and real-time updates are useful for teams wherever they may be working.
Employee apps
For employees who don’t spend their day at a desk, an employee app is another vital workplace collaboration tool.
As Ian Gordon of Elara Caring said to us in an interview:
“Being a frontline worker can feel like you're on an island by yourself, and the solutions that you need must be quicker and more succinct. You can't spend a lot of time signing in and navigating. You need to get to your answer now.”
Apps, like Blink, fit Gordon’s description. They’re intuitive to use and available on employee smartphones. They also make it quick and easy for employees to complete tasks, whether that’s sending a message to a co-worker, checking the latest policy documents, or filling in a safety report.
Employee apps support collaboration for time-poor frontline workers. They help them build connections with co-workers, share their frontline insights, and keep up to date with company news, improving the employee experience in the process.
A resource hub
Whether it’s on your company intranet or an employee app, a digital resource hub is another useful tech tool for employee collaboration.
A resource hub allows co-workers to share files and work together on them. It also acts as an internal knowledge base.
Here, employees can find best practices, company policies, and FAQs. If they have the appropriate permissions, they can also add their own insights to the hub, tagging documents so employees can find them easily.
AI and automation
AI and automation tools are also playing a role in employee collaboration. They’re providing time savings that give team members more opportunities for collaboration. And they’re supporting collaboration in other ways, too.
Companies are using this tech to automatically tag resource hub documents so users can find what they’re looking for more easily. AI is producing better resource hub search results.
AI is also supporting employees in their use of data. With automated data analysis and predictive analysis, AI is giving employees a sound basis for their collaborative problem-solving and decision-making efforts.
Some organizations are also using AI to facilitate communication between different departments. For example, technical teams are using it to translate complicated documents for non-technical co-workers.
This is helping to close the communication gap between departments and ensure that everyone has the information they need to collaborate effectively.
In summary
Workplace collaboration has changed dramatically over the past decade. But it’s still a key indicator of business success.
Collaboration supports workplace productivity, communication, and business results. It leads to better problem-solving and decision-making.
It also supports your employee retention and engagement efforts by making your workplace an open and supportive place to be, improving the employee experience.
Face-to-face collaboration is trickier than it used to be. But with the right tech solutions, you can champion collaboration in your organization, no matter where your employees spend their work days.
Blink has everything you need to bring collaboration to your desk-based, remote-working, and frontline employees. Our mobile-first employee app provides:
Real-time communication via 1:1 and group chats, plus the company news feed
A resource hub, where employees can access company documents and forms
Deep integrations with the project management tools you already use
AI support that supports better workplace communication
Good internal communication is the glue that holds organizations together. It keeps everyone informed, aligned, and connected — helping employees understand company priorities and feel part of a shared purpose.
In 2026, internal communication involves more than noticeboards and scattered email threads. Organizations with hybrid or frontline teams need modern internal communication platforms like Blink to connect employees, simplify updates, and enable easy collaboration.
A successful internal communication strategy includes all communication types: top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer. These channels work together to connect employees and ensure information flows throughout your organization.
For larger or dispersed teams, achieving this can feel like a tall order. But with the right internal communication software, even global workforces can stay connected and engaged.
Luckily, many new tools and platforms can help your company improve communication.
Types of internal communication tools and platforms
Before diving into specific providers, it helps to understand the main types of internal communication software shaping the modern workplace in 2026.
The most effective organizations use a combination of these tools — or a single employee experience platform like Blink, which combines many of these functions into a single mobile-first solution.
Instant messaging tools
Internal communication isn’t just top-down. Co-worker collaboration tools keep conversations flowing across teams and locations by enabling quick information sharing, file exchange, and informal social connections.
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Advantages:
A communication tool that allows employees to chat and share information (along with emojis and GIFs)
Most instant messaging tools are available on both desktop and mobile
Messaging tools can be used for communication between co-workers, but also for information-sharing between leadership and employees
Best tools: Blink, Slack, Jive, Workvivo
Emails and newsletters
Digital newsletters have always been great for sharing essential company updates. Modern tools enhance this channel with templates, analytics, and branded content delivery.
Best tools: ContactMonkey, Axero, Poppulo, Staffbase
Audio and video conferencing tools
Rewind a decade and video conferencing probably wouldn’t be one of the top staff communication tools on your list. Today, however, in a world of remote and hybrid teams, video conferencing tools are a workplace essential. They allow employees to talk face-to-face, even when they’re not based in the same office.Now a workplace essential, these tools make remote and hybrid meetings seamless — from one-to-one calls to company-wide events.
Best tools: Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams
Employee recognition center
Recognition platforms reward effort and build engagement by blending social recognition with tangible rewards to boost morale and employee retention.
Best tools: Blink, Bonusly, Unily
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Employee engagement and surveys
Engage your employees and you experience countless benefits, including improved productivity, customer loyalty, and profitability. But if you really want to improve employee engagement, you need to measure it.
Employee surveys and feedback forms are an essential part of any internal communication toolkit. They support bottom-up communication and give you valuable insight into how employees really feel about working for your firm.
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Best tools: Blink, SurveyMonkey, Bonusly, Qualtrics
Company news feed
A private, social-style feed alerts employees to company updates and important cultural moments.
Best tools: Blink, Workvivo, Staffbase, Happeo
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Project management
Project management platforms keep work visible, accountable, and collaborative.
Best tools: Asana, monday.com
Intranet
Evolving beyond traditional intranets, these tools now enable engagement, two-way communication, and document collaboration.
Mobile-first employee communication apps centralize updates, messaging, and engagement features — ideal for hybrid and frontline teams.
Best tools: Blink, Workvivo
Employee experience platform
These top-tier employee experience platforms offer a user-friendly way to access messaging, news, surveys, recognition programs, and HR functions.
These platforms go beyond communication — supporting onboarding, engagement, and culture-building.
Best tools: Blink, Workvivo, Staffbase
The takeaway:
Modern internal communication relies on an integrated ecosystem or a unified platform like Blink, which simplifies your tech stack and enhances workforce connection.
Blink serves as a mobile-first communication app, a modern intranet, a recognition tool, and a complete employee experience platform.That agility makes it ideal for companies looking to streamline their technology and boost employee engagement.
20 best internal communication tools
Ready to find the right comms solution for your organization? Take a look at our round-up of the best internal communication tools for 2025.
Blink is a modern internal communication tool and employee experience platform that brings together messaging, news, surveys, recognition, and analytics into a single mobile-first solution. It’s designed for organizations that want to improve communication, engagement, and access to information across both desk-based and frontline teams.
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As a mobile-first internal communication platform, Blink’s unified interface lets teams share updates, message peers, and access essential workplace applications in real time, without a corporate email address — no matter their location.
Unlike single-purpose messaging apps, Blink functions as an all-in-one internal communication software, combining collaboration and employee engagement tools in one place.
Features like pulse surveys, recognition, and content personalization enable two-way communication and make company-wide updates more meaningful.
Blink also includes social-style communication features — such as Stories, Communities, and a personalized news feed — that make information sharing intuitive and engaging. Built-in analytics help leaders understand message reach, engagement trends, and content effectiveness.
Pros
Unified internal communication toolset: Blink combines chat, news, surveys, recognition, and analytics.
Mobile-first accessibility: It works on smartphones and desktops, and doesn`t require a company email.
Seamless integrations: Connects with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, HRIS, and scheduling tools.
Data-driven insights: The analytics dashboards measure communication performance and engagement.
Cons
The search functionality could benefit from more advanced filtering and refinement options.
Pricing
Pricing is available on request
Use Cases
Strengthening culture and alignment through data-informed communication strategies
Connecting hybrid and frontline teams with one internal communication platform
Centralizing all company messages, tools, and resources in a single hub
Improving engagement through interactive multimedia content
2. Asana
Asana is a well-known project management tool and, if you use it, you’re in good company. Around 85% of Fortune 100 companies say they use Asana.
With this workplace communication platform, you can create, prioritize, and allocate tasks. You can view tasks in timeline, board, and list formats — and track your progress toward milestones.
The visual format makes it easy to see which tasks your team needs to complete first. And the process of identifying and remedying project bottlenecks becomes much easier too.
Pros
A free version that supports 10 members and comes with unlimited storage, tasks, and messages
A clean, intuitive interface and a comprehensive selection of project and task management tools
Comes with a mobile app so employees can keep of track of projects on the go
Good integration with third-party tools
Cons
A high volume of email notifications can be frustrating for users
One of the more expensive project management solutions available
The mobile experience pales in comparison to the desktop experience
Collaboration tools aren’t as extensive and effective as those of other project management tools on the market
Pricing
Monthly pricing for Asana starts at a basic free plan. A business plan costs $24.99 per user per month when billed annually.
Use cases
Giving remote teams the tools they need to manage projects effectively
Cross-team collaboration
Status updates and reporting — leaders can view dashboards and reports to stay informed of project progress.
3. Jive
Jive is a community-building communication tool that you can use for top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer connection. Team members can share photos, videos, documents, status updates, and blog posts. They can also decide whether their post gets seen by one team member, a specific group, or the whole organization.
Another great feature of Jive is its People Directory. Here, employees can search for co-workers they want to connect with, based on their skills, endorsements, and favorite activities.
Pros
Jive is an all-purpose business communication tool
Supports personalized news updates
Provides a single inbox so employees can manage all company communications and conversations in one place
Cons
Jive has a complicated interface and a cluttered layout that can be difficult for users to understand and navigate
Limited integrations with the other workplace tools you use
Some users say the Jive mobile app is slow and clunky with lackluster features
Pricing
Pricing is available on request.
Use cases
Creating a centralized hub for updates and document sharing
Personalizing company updates to make them more relevant and engaging
Giving employees the tools they need to interact with leadership, managers, and coworkers
4. Zoom
Zoom is often listed as one of the most reliable video conferencing platforms. It offers excellent audio and visual quality, even when internet connection is patchy, and it’s really easy to use.
You can record meetings, direct meeting participants to breakout rooms, and make use of a meeting annotation function. Zoom offers a range of other useful features too, including an online whiteboard and virtual working spaces (known as Zoom Huddles).
Pros
User-friendly interface
Can run small one-to-one meetings, large conferences, and anything in between
Advanced features include breakout rooms and webinar hosting
Cons
Zoom can be expensive for larger teams, with add-ons needed for meetings of more than 500 participants
Pricing
A Pro plan, for up to 99 users, costs $15.99 per user per month. A Business Plan, for up to 250 users and with a greater range of features, costs $21.99 per user per month.
Use cases
Running live meetings and webinars
Supporting video and audio communication for hybrid and remote teams
5. Bonusly
Bonusly gives you all the tools you need to run a successful recognition program. Via an intuitive platform, employees can tag peers and congratulate them on their accomplishments. Congratulated employees earn points, which they can then use to claim their preferred reward — a gift card, cash, or a charitable donation.
Reporting tools give leaders insight into team dynamics and patterns of recognition. It helps you to discover top performers and identify people who haven’t had any recognition in a while.
Pros
A user-friendly interface and next to no learning curve
The option to tailor recognition programs to fit your culture and values
Out-of-the-box integrations with other workplace tools including Workday, Asana, and Slack
Cons
Limited analytics — so it can be hard for companies to understand employee engagement and recognition patterns
Pricing
Monthly pricing options for Bonusly starts at $2 per user.
Use cases
Strengthening company culture and employee morale with regular recognition, even when employees are working remotely
Creating a culture of peer-to-peer recognition — employees can award points and praise to their co-workers
6. Axero
Axero is an internal comms platform designed to unify teams, increase productivity, and improve workplace culture. It features mass email tools, an activity stream, a blogging platform, and instant messaging.
Using Axero, you can create a central hub for files, communications, and company updates. Collaboration features also come in handy, with space for team discussions and the option to co-edit documents.
Pros
Axero’s customer service is responsive and helpful
Good customization and integration options
A comprehensive employee directory that makes it easy for staff to find and connect with co-workers
Cons
A steep learning curve — users say that Axero can be overwhelming for beginners
Some users say that Axero functionality lags behind that of other intranet competitors
Limited features on the mobile version
Pricing
Pricing is available on request.
Use cases
Creating a single hub for news, updates, and resources
Supporting collaboration across your company, with file sharing and team discussions
Building a personalized employee experience, with custom dashboards tailored to the roles and departments of employees
7. ContactMonkey
ContactMonkey is one of the best newsletter platforms available. Unlike some of its competitors, ContactMonkey integrates with both Outlook and Gmail so you can send emails from and receive replies to your usual inbox.
The platform provides an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop email builder. Multiple team members can collaborate on the same email. And analytics tools help you judge which newsletter content is best engaging your workforce, so you can create more of the same.
Pros
Employee survey tools so you can email your surveys to the workforce with ease
Integration with Outlook and Gmail
SMS integration that allows you to reach employees with urgent updates
Real-time tracking and analytics — so you get insight into email open rates and click-throughs
Cons
You can only use ContactMonkey for internal emails, not external marketing emails
Only supports communication over email, which may not be particularly engaging or appropriate for all organizations
Unlikely to fulfill all your internal communication needs
Pricing
Prices start from $600 per month for 500 employees. Prices for more extensive plans are available on request.
Use cases
Engaging email and newsletter communication for employees
Launching employee surveys to help you acquire useful feedback
8. Slack
Slack is an instant messaging tool that supports asynchronous communication. Slack works well for desk-based employees who have access to other platforms, like Google Drive. Slack doesn’t work as well for on-the-go, field-based employees, who don’t have such easy access to separate cloud storage.
People within your organization can launch chat threads, including as many or as few team members as they like. They can create threads for different projects, departments, and topics. Teams also get access to little extras, like file sharing, message search, and a task reminder function.
Pros
User-friendly interface
Integration with a wide range of other workplace software
Customizable notifications
Cons
Doesn’t work well for teams who are on the go — Slack is most suited to desk-based teams
Can be hard to find what you’re looking for across multiple chats and channels
Pricing
Slack offers a limited free plan. Paid plans start from $8.75 per user per month.
Use cases
Ensuring real-time communication between dispersed team members
Providing a variety of internal communication channels — including direct messages, group chats, and channels
SurveyMonkey has made it to our employee survey top spot for its ease of use. This employee communications platform has lots of survey templates to choose from and, if speed is your priority, lots of features that help you get employee feedback fast.
You can choose from hundreds of expert-written questions or write your own. And with the help of custom templates, you can find or create surveys for any situation, whether you want to conduct 360 reviews, find out your Net Promoter score, or seek feedback on your employee engagement efforts.
Pros
Ease of use — SurveyMonkey has a clean, uncluttered interface that employees will enjoy using
Using the Genius Assistant and the “build it for me” feature, you can create surveys quickly
Excellent analytics that help you make sense of employee responses
Cons
Limited free features
Limited customization options, so you may struggle to create complex or specialized surveys
Pricing
Prices start from $30 per user per month.
Use cases
Boosting employee satisfaction and engagement with the help of employee feedback
Making it easy for your teams to launch and respond to employee surveys
10. Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint is a file-sharing software that integrates seamlessly with the other Microsoft tools you may already use. You can create branded document libraries called sites, customizing them for document collaboration or top-down comms.
Teams get to share news, documents, and data. They can also edit documents collaboratively — setting notifications so they know when a co-worker makes changes.
Pros
Easy integration with other Microsoft products
Allows you to segment employees by division, giving each division its own calendar and visual timeline
Customization options so you can build forms, workflows, and custom applications for your teams
Cons
Not particularly user-friendly, especially on mobile
Cost of implementation is high and adoption rates tend to be low
Pricing
A basic SharePoint plan costs $5 per user per month.
Use cases
Project collaboration — teams can co-edit documents and manage workflows
An easy way for desk-based teams to access company documents and resources
Using internal announcements and newsletters to communicate with all employees
11. Monday.com
Monday.com is a project management tool that supports comms and employee engagement. You can use this internal communications software to create and assign tasks, track project progress, and create performance-tracking templates for employees.
Team members receive notifications when action is required. And an easy-to-use visual interface makes it easy to see where each project is up to at a glance.
Pros
A comprehensive set of project management tools
Customizable project templates to get you started
A weekly overview so you can see tasks and project milestones you need to tackle over the next few days
Cons
The backend of this business communication software is complicated and involves a steep learning curve
Limited comms tools so Monday.com isn’t useful as a standalone business communication platform
Pricing
Prices start from $8 per user per month.
Use cases
Improving project management and work collaboration
Task and workflow automation to streamline repetitive processes
12. Workvivo
Workvivo is an intranet software company owned by Zoom. You can use this internal communication tool to improve comms, employee engagement, and recognition, too. You can also make use of multiple communication channels and employee feedback tools.
Standout features include live broadcasting tools, so you can launch live streams and podcasts. You can also create microsites, where teams and special interest groups can create their own, tailored communities.
Pros
Strong translation abilities for multilingual organizations
An engaging, social-media-style interface that will feel familiar to employees
Rich communication tools including a news feed and instant messaging (available through integrations with tools like Slack, MS Teams, and Zoom meetings)
Cons
Chat functionality on the mobile app falls behind the desktop experience
Advanced features — including chat, Workvivo TV, and advanced analytics — are add-ons that come at an additional cost
Admins say they want better customization options and improved third-party integrations
Staffbase is an internal communication platform designed to connect and engage employees. It brings company news, messaging, and resources into one place, making it easier for you to reach your workforce — whether they’re remote, hybrid, deskless, or office-based.
With Staffbase, you can communicate over the company intranet and send emails and SMS, all from one centralized dashboard. You can also create tailored content paths so employees receive the right information at the right time.
Pros
A great user experience across desktop and mobile versions
Brings a range of communication and workplace functions into one location, supporting top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer conversations
Built-in reporting so you can see how employees are using the platform and interacting with your content
You can customize the platform so it matches the look and feel of your branding
Cons
Some add-ons and integrations come at an additional cost
There are few out-of-the-box features on the employee app
Search functionality and integrations aren’t as good as they could be
Pricing
Pricing is available on request.
Use cases
Launching employee surveys with in-built tools
Creating a single source of truth within your organization thanks to communication channels that all workers can access
Making comms more personal, with the option to segment your audience and deliver relevant content to different employee groups
14. Poppulo
Poppulo is an email and mobile communications software. It also provides digital signage functionality and digital tools for desk and meeting room management.
You can target messages based on location, role, or interests to cut through the noise. You can also access tools for planning and promoting internal events, like town halls and team meetings.
Pros
Omni-channel communications, across email, SMS, intranet, and digital signage
Drag and drop email design tools plus advanced personalization
Strong analytics — Poppulo gives comms teams clear visibility into message performance
Cons
Poppulo is more complex than some of the other tools on this list, so there can be quite a learning curve
While it brings multiple communication channels together, Poppulo isn’t comprehensive enough to work as a standalone company communication system
Pricing
Pricing is available on request.
Use cases
Enterprise email communication and analytics
Improving the quality of email messaging with employee segmentation tools
Managing office workspace among hybrid teams
15. Qualtrics
Qualtrics is an employee survey and feedback tool. You can use it to capture employee data via surveys and passive listening — and discover how your business is doing across metrics like intent to stay, engagement, inclusion, and wellbeing.
Surveys are easy to customize, with advanced question types and logic, while analytics and reporting tools help you turn insights into actionable strategies.
Pros
Flexible survey design options
Powerful analytics and reporting capabilities
AI tools that guide you to take action based on your employee feedback findings
Cons
Using advanced features effectively may require training
Qualtrics can be overly expensive for smaller businesses
Pricing
Pricing is available on request.
Use cases
Improving employee satisfaction and engagement with the help of regular surveys
Creating a culture of 360 feedback to improve the effectiveness of management and leadership
16. Happeo
Happeo is a Google-based intranet that provides a centralized location for all internal communications. It provides a hub for company news, documents, and collaboration tools.
Key features include a social intranet, an employee directory, and an intuitive search function. You can also use AI tools to find and fix gaps in your knowledge base.
Pros
Easy integration with Google Workspace tools
Excellent search functions so it’s easy to find the people, posts, and integrated third-party apps you’re looking for
The option to create hubs and communities based on departments, roles, and shared interests
Cons
Limited integrations beyond the Google suite
A web-first platform, best suited to desk-based teams
Pricing
Pricing is available on request.
Use cases
Creating a centralized hub for updates and document sharing
Unily is an employee experience and internal communications tool. It provides features that support its “four cornerstones” of digital employee experience: Alignment, Engagement, Enablement, and Simplicity.
Key features include email, employee feedback, and recognition tools. You can design, sequence, and automate employee journeys so staff receive relevant information at the right time. You can also use gamification features to improve intranet engagement.
Pros
An excellent desktop version, with an engaging and intuitive user experience
Fine-grained controls for admins
A good range of notifications
Cons
Mixed opinions on Unily’s customer service and ability to support its partners
Translating Unily’s comprehensive desktop features to mobile is a challenge for admins
Pricing
Pricing is available on request.
Use cases
Creating channels for company-wide communications
Boosting employee engagement with dynamic content and gamification
A comprehensive intranet platform, Simpplr supports internal communication and employee engagement. It provides a user-friendly, social-media-style interface and provides AI-driven content recommendations.
Standout features include employee listening tools, surveys, and a recognition program. There are also lots of communication channels you can use across email, SMS, a mobile app, and desktop software.
Pros
An intuitive, uncluttered interface
Strong analytics that make it easy to track engagement metrics and content performance
Great search functions
Cons
Difficult login process, with multiple links provided
Some users say the struggle to integrate Simpplr with their preferred third-party apps
Advanced features can be expensive
Pricing
Pricing is available on request.
Use cases
Making employee feedback and listening a key part of company culture
Creating a centralized hub for communications, resources, and community
Bringing large organizations and distributed teams together
Google Meet is a video conferencing and virtual meeting tool. It’s integrated into Google Workspace, so it connects easily to Gmail, Calendar, and any other Google tools your team happens to use.
It’s incredibly easy to use via an internet browser so users don’t even have to download the software. This makes it one of the most accessible virtual meeting tools currently available.
Pros
Easy to set up and use
The ability to hold meetings with up to 1,000 participants
Chat, emoji, and screen share functions available during meetings
Cons
You need additional tools to fulfil all internal communication needs
Fewer advanced features compared to Zoom and Microsoft Teams
Pricing
Prices start from $6 per user per month.
Use cases
Virtual team meetings, webinars, and company-wide announcements
One-on-one video meetings
Virtual training and employee onboarding
20. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams combines instant messaging, video conferencing, and file-sharing tools. As you’d expect, it offers the best possible integration with other Microsoft Office tech. You can use a selection of tools to create an all-round internal communication solution.
You can use Teams to run video meetings and team chats when your employees are working remotely or across different locations.
Pros
Strong integration with other Microsoft products
Secure communication and file sharing
Cons
Interface isn’t particularly engaging and there are few social-media-style features
Teams is designed for desktop use so mobile users don’t get the same user experience
Pricing
Prices start from $4 per user per month.
Use cases
Creating digital channels for internal communication and project management
Launching video and audio calls and sharing company-wide updates
Bringing remote and hybrid teams together, even when they’re working in different locations
Choosing an internal communication tool for your frontline organization (2026)
The right choice depends on your organization’s structure, workforce, and goals — particularly if you operate with hybrid or frontline teams.
For frontline organizations, the most significant communication challenge is dispersion. To resolve this, every employee should receive critical updates and feel part of the same company culture, even if they rarely visit headquarters.
To build a sense of belonging, choose a mobile-first internal communication platform that’s user-friendly and equally accessible for all.
To identify the best fit, ask yourself these four questions when evaluating internal communication software:
#1. Is your organization office-based, or do you have deskless workers to consider?
Some internal communication tools suit desk-based teams, such as intranets designed for desktop access. However, these are often unsuitable for reaching frontline workers who rely on smartphones.
To prevent information gaps, look for mobile-first internal communication solutions that offer the same functionality across devices. A dedicated mobile app ensures equal access and engagement across every team member — no matter where they work.
#2. Do your employees have regular opportunities to connect during the workday?
Connection drives performance, and employees who feel they belong are much more engaged and productive.
The problem for frontline teams is that they often lack organic “water cooler” moments. Using internal communication tools that enable social-style interaction — such as chat, feeds, and communities — fosters real-time collaboration between field and office teams.
#3. How much time can your employees spend on internal comms each day?
As frontline employees are busy serving customers, maintaining operations, or working off-site, they need a simple and reliable communication platform.
When evaluating tools, prioritize their ease of use, onboarding speeds, and precise message delivery.
Also check adoption rates and engagement levels as they’re powerful indicators of how smoothly a tool integrates into your daily workflow.
#4. How many internal communication goals do you want to cover?
Some platforms specialize in single functions, such as surveys, document sharing, or project management. Others, like all-in-one employee communication platforms, combine these capabilities.
To streamline your tech stack while enhancing connection and engagement, choose an internal communication tool that supports multiple channels — chat, news, surveys, recognition, and analytics — within one system.
The importance of internal communications in an organization
Every organization — frontline or otherwise — needs an effective internal communication strategy thatunites employees behind the company culture and values, improves collaboration, and enhances retention.
Strong internal communication also supports:
Company connection: When employees feel aligned with organizational goals, engagement and satisfaction rise
Change management: Transparent communication ensures buy-in during transitions
Problem-solving: Clear, direct messaging limits misinformation and strengthens trust
Productivity: Employees perform best when information is easy to find and act upon
Many internal communication tools support these goals — from instant messaging and surveys to intranets and recognition platforms. For frontline teams, the right solution must be mobile-first and easy to access on the go.
The right internal communication software can transform a disconnected team into a cohesive, informed community.
Blink shows how this works by helping companies like Go North West connect all their employees through a single digital hub.
Blink. And transform company communication with an all-in-one internal communication platform built for every worker.
Searching high and low for the perfect employee to fill a complicated role can be difficult. It stresses you out if you’re already short-staffed and in a rush to get more hands as quickly as possible.
Of course, it would be preferable not to worry about hiring at all. Retaining employees you already have can be a lot simpler than constantly hiring. And it can benefit your business too.
While you’re probably familiar with some of the benefits of employee retention, there are several hidden advantages of employee retention that you may not have considered.
If you’re ready to get motivated to kick your retention efforts into high gear and retain your top talent, keep reading and learn some of the lesser-known benefits of staff retention.
Why employee retention is important
Employee retention is important because it can improve the productivity of an organization.
Organizations with high employee retention profit from increased employee engagement, higher employee morale, more experienced employees, and lower employee turnover costs.
That’s why 91% of Human Resources leaders are concerned about employee turnover in the near future.
Besides the revenue, companies with a lower turnover rate can spend time on their employees, build a cohesive company culture, and achieve innovations that outperform their high-churn counterparts.
Employee retention’s effect extends beyond your annual revenue or quarterly performance reports — it improves each day for your workers, managers, and customers.
In short, it’s hard to overstate the importance of effective employee retention strategies as they can impact just about every aspect of your business, including revenue, service, and company culture.
1. More quality hires
Hiring typically increases when employees leave your company. So it should decrease as your retention goes up.
The hidden benefit of high retention is that you can allocate more resources to the time-consuming job of sourcing new hires. You can be more selective in finding candidates with relevant experience and perfect cultural fit instead of rushing to fill a vacancy.
The candidates you hire this way are more likely to stick around and better fit your organization, which further improves your retention rate.
Ultimately, more employees staying means more business growth and more new positions. You can focus your hiring efforts on adding to the team rather than replacing previous talent.
2. Better employee training
Hiring new employees takes up a significant portion of your company’s HR budget and time. It’s estimated that replacing an employee costs anywhere from 50% to 200% of their annual salary.
Retaining just one extra employee means thousands of dollars saved you can use in other areas.
One often-neglected management area is training, with 78% of workers saying they want more training. By saving on hiring, you can spend on training.
With more time for training, your employees will be happier, more skilled, and even more likely to stay with your organization.
3. Improved customer relationships
Most of your return customers and clients don’t think of your business as a logo or physical store. They think of the person with whom they interacted. Your employees are the face of your business, from frontline workers up to account managers.
Your customers rely on your employee’s knowledge of their needs and history with the company to deliver the highest level of service. So when an employee leaves, the relationships they built with your customer base leave with them.
A PWC report found that 80% of Americans think a knowledgeable staff is the most important element to customer satisfaction, along with speed and convenience. They also pay more for things when they experience a positive customer experience.
The benefits of employee retention reach beyond your current staff and bottom line and impact the customer experience. A high employee retention rate ultimately improves your clients’ and customers’ perception of your business.
4. Faster progress
While onboarding and formal training programs are essential for satisfied, efficient employees, these resources are hardly the only way employees learn on the job.
One of the most valuable sources of guidance and information is your current employees. Studies show that 91% of employees with a workplace mentor are happy with their jobs.
By retaining most of your employees, you get:
Strong relationships between your employees that impact their performance
Employees who possess in-depth knowledge in their fields
Great mentors who have the technical skills and know little-known tricks in the field to help the newcomers
You benefit from the perks of high employee retention: Employees have a wealth of team members to turn to when they have a question or need advice. This turns your newest employees into your best employees.
Also, when turnover is low, you keep the work environment of cultural cohesion and the know-how of experienced employees. This results in less stress and high productivity.
Final thoughts: 4 hidden benefits of employee retention you should know
Why retain employees? The answer is clear.
The benefits of employee retention are wide-reaching for your entire organization. Employees, management, and customers all reap the benefits of employee retention.
Employees benefit from greater satisfaction, higher productivity, and better support on the job. Employers can enjoy greater profit and less uncertainty. And your customers can rely on consistently high-quality and personalized customer service.
These benefits are well worth the expense of managing incentives like healthcare, training, and work-life balance.
If you’re ready to improve your employee retention, an all-in-one employee communication tool like Blink can maximize your organization’s initiatives.
Supercharge engagement across your employee intranet
It might be harsh, but we've all experienced it: Legacy intranet systems are bad at attracting and engaging workers. You may even find that staff actively avoid a traditional intranet, citing outdated content and a clunky interface as reasons to stay away.
If this sounds familiar, your employee intranet is crying out for a glow-up.
A new and improved intranet is a place where your workforce can access the information, connection, and support they need to do their jobs well. It contains engaging, useful content that has employees logging in multiple times a day.
This unified platform, built around the needs of your workforce, can improve internal communications and amplify company culture. It also has a positive impact on employee engagement, satisfaction, employee productivity, and retention rates.
Ready to turn your intranet into an employee magnet? This guide will help you create a modern employee intranet, with all the essential features and tools you need to transform platform engagement and the employee experience.
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How to turn your employee intranet into a hub of engagement
Set the stage: Design your homepage to make the ultimate first impression
Get your intranet experience off to the best possible start by treating your homepage as a digital storefront. Elevate visuals and copy so they reflect the consumer-grade experience employees enjoy on tech tools away from work.
Use vibrant imagery, brand colors, and an intuitive layout to draw employees in. And put the most important information front and center. That might include company news, employee recognition content, or your latest events.
Some other must-have intranet homepage elements include:
Clear navigation. Logical menu options make it easy for employees to navigate your intranet. Employees should be able to access all communication channels and resources in just a few clicks. You can also add a search bar and provide robust search functionality to help them uncover any and all intranet content.
Dynamic announcements. Your intranet homepage should feature real-time updates. This makes it easy for employees to get up-to-date news — and it reassures them that your intranet provides relevant, reliable information as standard. Use embedded videos, images, interactive tools, and compelling copy to direct employee attention to your announcements.
Quick links to essential tools. A good employee intranet platform acts as a central repository for all your digital workplace software. So whether employees want to swap shifts, view their pay stubs, or complete the next module of their training program, your intranet homepage should provide quick links to their most commonly used tools.
Also, bear in mind that your homepage will make zero impression if employees can’t access it. Frontline workers, in particular, struggle to access legacy intranet systems. So ensure your intranet is available on the devices and via the login methods that employees can actually use. That might mean honing or launching an employee app so workers can log into your intranet via their smartphones.
Make it personal: Tailor the experience for every employee
Imagine you’re a bus driver working for a transit organization and — thanks to your organization’s employee app — you log onto the company intranet using your smartphone.
What do you expect to see on your dashboard?
Are you greeted with details of the next Casual Friday event? A celebration of the previous office lunch? A link to the latest Excel training module?
Or do you see quick links to a shift swap tool and your pay stubs? Do you see the latest route and safety updates — and a post celebrating the driver of the month?
When an intranet dashboard offers a personalized experience, tailored to the role, department, location, tenure, and interests of each employee, you can count on:
Higher levels of engagement
Higher adoption rates
More intranet logins
So when giving your employee intranet a much-needed glow-up, make personalization one of your guiding lights.
Segment employees so they only receive relevant content. Allow employees to customize their intranet dashboard with the widgets and resources they use most. Use AI to surface relevant content and updates based on an employee’s intranet interactions.
Of course, there will be internal communications that are relevant to the whole organization. So there should also be space on employee dashboards for high-level company announcements and mandatory reads. These messages keep employees in the loop and connected to wider business goals.
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Keep it fresh: Ensure your intranet is dynamic and up to date
If we consider the big social media platforms as masters of engagement, it’s clear that up-to-date content is key to creating an employee intranet that your workers want to spend time on. Your intranet platform can quickly feel stale if you fail to maintain the right cadence of effective communication.
So, with that in mind, here’s what you need to do to keep your intranet content fresh.
Post content regularly
A content calendar helps you plan and create content in advance. Seeing everything down on paper, it’s easy to plan a varied mix of engaging content ideas, including news feed posts, blogs, videos, and leadership messages, while leaving space for critical updates too.
Find your comms cadence
It’s a delicate balance. You need to keep employees engaged with the platform. But you don’t want to overwhelm them with information. To find the right comms cadence for your organization, play around with your content schedule and keep an eye on platform engagement.
Like Coastal Medical — an emergency and non-emergency medical transportation organization — you’ll soon find the sweet spot. Their intranet now has a 98% adoption rate and gets 5.7 daily app opens per user.
Harness employee-generated content
You don’t have to leave content creation to your employee communications team. Encourage employees to share their own posts, photos, and Stories to create a sense of community. This informal content tends to prompt the likes and comments of coworkers.
Commit to regular content maintenance
The traditional intranet is a place where resources go to gather digital dust. Fail to update intranet content and employees come to see your content hub as unreliable and irrelevant. So keep track of publication dates and regularly audit old intranet content, updating and archiving content as needed.
Take inspiration from social media managers
Create Insta-worthy internal comms and your intranet will become irresistible to employees. So make like a social media manager and create news feed posts that are quick to access and easy to digest. Use multimedia visuals to stop their scroll and keep any copy concise and to the point.
Bonus points if your intranet has easy mobile access — especially helpful for frontline and remote teams.
Foster interactivity: Make your employee intranet a two-way communication hub
Two-way internal communication is another intranet essential. When employees can use the intranet to build connections with coworkers and to share their ideas and feedback with leadership, they’re much more likely to hang out there.
As we’ve already mentioned, employee-generated content is a great way to increase intranet engagement. You can support interactivity using the following key features too:
Engagement tools. Use polls, surveys, and forums to request employee feedback. If you have a willing leadership team, you can also host live Q&A sessions.
Recognition features. Use your intranet to celebrate employee achievements — and encourage coworkers to add their congratulations too.
Collaboration spaces. Create social Communities, where employees can exchange ideas, collaborate on work projects, and connect over shared hobbies.
Gamification. Use progress trackers, badges, and points to gamify the intranet experience. You can give rewards in return for activities like login streaks or survey completions.
Measure and adapt: Continuously improve the employee experience
No matter how much careful thought you put into your intranet software glow-up, it’s rare to get every little detail right, first time. And this is where intranet data proves invaluable.
The number of comments, likes, and shares associated with each news feed post
Employee adoption and login rates
User satisfaction scores
As well as tracking key metrics, be sure to seek feedback from employees using surveys and polls. Viewed together, this data will reveal which elements of your intranet solution and content offering are working well — and which could use improvement.
You can then set intranet performance goals and identify ways to adapt your intranet to keep ahead of ever-evolving employee needs.
Build an employee intranet your workforce will love
Make your employee intranet more magnetic and it can become one of the most-used communication tools in your digital workplace. To achieve this, you need to cultivate a social intranet platform, bringing it in line with internal communication trends and employee expectations.
Personalized, multimedia content. Opportunities to interact with coworkers and leaders. Visual appeal and an unbeatable user experience. Data-driven platform improvements.
Incorporate these social features into your employee intranet and you create a better digital employee experience. You can count on high levels of intranet engagement, a stronger corporate culture, and a happier workforce.
So what should you do first?
Start by taking a good hard look at your current intranet solution. There may be underutilized features on there with the potential to transform the intranet experience.
If, however, you feel you’ve maxed out your current intranet solution and still aren’t attracting employees to the platform, it may be time for a software switch. The best intranet software providers are built with the modern workforce and the latest internal comms trends in mind.