10 Best Staffbase Alternatives for 2026

Employee appreciation ideas aren’t just a nice thing to do. They’re common business sense.

71% of highly engaged organizations recognize employees for a job well done, but only 41% of less engaged organizations do the same. Meanwhile, Gartner suggests that a well-designed employee recognition program can lead to an increase in average employee performance.

The numbers don’t lie – employee recognition is vital, now more than ever. You don’t need to spend a lot on employee appreciation ideas for them to be effective either, and some of the best employee recognition strategies are completely free. 

Here’s how to start showing your employees how much you appreciate them, and some staff appreciation ideas to get you started. 

Why are employee appreciation ideas so important? 

Everyone likes to be recognized for the work they put in. For staff appreciation, ‘thank you’ is everything.

In fact, feeling underappreciated at work is one of the most common reasons why employees leave a role. A recent study of UK and US workers by Workhuman found that employees who had been thanked for their work in the last month are: 

• Half as likely to look for a new job (24% vs 48%)
• More than twice as likely to be engaged in their work (48% vs 21%)
• More than three times as likely to see a path to grow in the organization (59% vs 19%) 

All that, just from two short but meaningful words! Imagine the boost more developed employee appreciation ideas could achieve. 

And, with the Great Resignation in full swing, the power of ‘thank you’ has never been more apparent, or commercially essential. Around 4.5 million Americans quit their job in March 2022, enticed by rising wages and more flexible working options. 

Appreciating your employees for all the hard work they put in is vital in encouraging them to stay put. The great news is that this isn’t a difficult task at all! All it takes is the willingness to listen and some creative thinking on your part. 

How to start recognizing your employees’ achievements 

Employee recognition isn’t just a top-down thing. 

Sure, your senior execs can and should take the lead in calling out great performance – it makes it much easier for everyone else to follow. The issue is that senior managers can only be in so many places at once. They can’t recognize everything worthy of being recognized. 

Instead, it’s all about building a culture of continuous recognition from the ground upwards, encompassing both informal and formal recognition methods. This could include: 

• An employee app that lets managers share great performance with the wider organization
• A quarterly awards ceremony to recognize employees who have gone above and beyond
• Peer to peer recognition apps to encourage colleagues to support each other
• Training all of your employees in how to recognize their peers

That last point is important. In a recent survey, two thirds of businesses said that they trained their managers in employee recognition but only one third offered employees training in colleague recognition. To build a positive culture, it’s important that everyone knows how to offer praise, and its impact on creating an engaged workplace. Don’t leave it to chance.

It’s also essential to build employee preferences into this process. Some people might love receiving an award in front of all their colleagues; for others, this might seem more like a punishment! Ask your teams (or ensure your line managers do) what their ideal way of being thanked looks like. It's an employee engagement best practice worth following.

6 great staff appreciation ideas

1. Salary rise

Almost two-thirds of U.S. private sector payroll workers work in industries where the average weekly wage in the second quarter of 2021 was at least 5% higher than it was in the second quarter of 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

If your rates of pay haven’t budged since pre-pandemic, they’re likely no longer competitive. Show your staff you're serious about your long-term relationship by bringing them up to market rate – or higher! Costs of living are rising rapidly right now, and your team will appreciate it. 

2. Public shoutouts

Use your employee app or intranet to shout about individual and team successes. As well as the warmth of public recognition, this helps your employees build their networks in your organization and get noticed by those who could help them progress. . 

3. Fun benefits and perks

There’s nothing wrong with offering your employees a little treat every now and then. It won’t make or break employee engagement (a decent salary and day-to-day appreciation are far more important considerations), but it’s definitely a great addition. 

Spa days, vouchers for department stores, team days out, gym memberships and personal development funds are all great ways to do this – you might have some ideas of your own. 

4. Identify and celebrate key milestones

What we don’t mean: only celebrating 10-year milestones and giving your employees a watch on retirement. Things have moved on since the 1950s.

What we do mean: finding milestones that are meaningful to your business and celebrating little and often. Passing probation, completing advanced training, promotions and getting that first landmark sale are all worthy of celebration. Identify some that are meaningful to your workforce. 

5. Individual and team specific 

On some level, you’ll have to rely on your line managers to ensure employees feel appreciated on a day-to-day basis. Train them to express their appreciation frequently, and give them a budget for treats like team socials and post-project meals out. It’ll make all the difference.

6. Employee Appreciation Day

Dedicate a day to saying thank you to your employees! In the US, the official Employee Appreciation Day is celebrated on the first Friday of March, but you could hold your own staff appreciation day whenever suits you best. 

Employee Appreciation Day ideas include running an awards ceremony to recognize all the effort your employees have put in over the year, followed by a few hours of fun to celebrate these achievements. Fire up the grill (or hire a food truck), plan some fun activities and let everyone have a great time. 

On a budget? 

It’s not all about the fancy extras. Some of the most effective employee appreciation ideas are free: 

• Creating a ‘wall of fame’ for great achievements 
• Celebrating employees’ birthdays, marriages and other life events
• Putting effort into feedback, so that employees can develop their skills 
• Providing opportunities that will help build experience, such as shadowing other roles

Working remotely? 

This doesn’t need to stop you! Try using an employee app that will allow you to share your appreciation virtually. You could also try the following employee appreciation ideas:

• Early finish Fridays, especially in summer
• Celebrations and awards ceremonies via Zoom or similar
• Constant engagement and feedback via Slack or your other messaging channels
• Treats (food, vouchers, care packages) via post. Everyone loves surprise mail!

Staff appreciation quotes 

What you say and how you say it matters! Use these ideas as templates so that you really get the message across. 

Every day: “Thank you”

Often, it doesn’t have to get much more complicated than this. 

“Thank you for getting that report to me so promptly.”

“Thank you for stepping in last minute – we were really short.”

“Thank you for all your hard work this week – it’s been a long one.”

For small, day-to-day actions that have made everyone’s working lives a little easier, there’s no better alternative. 

Recognizing consistently good performance: “I’ve noticed that…”

All too often, it’s large, one-off actions that get noticed rather than consistently good performance that keeps the organization running. Avoid this trap with the “I’ve noticed…” approach. 

“I’ve noticed that you always make sure the shop’s tidy before locking up, even though that’s not your role.”

“I’ve noticed that you always hit deadlines without fuss, and it makes it so much easier for everyone else.”

“I’ve noticed that you always take the early shift to make life easier for colleagues with kids.” 

Follow up with thanks, by passing on this info to higher ups in the business and potentially with a token of your appreciation – lunch on the company, an early finish this weekend or a large box of baked goods can all work, depending on the situation. 

One-off actions: “That really made a difference”

For those times where an employee knocks it out the park, it’s always worth emphasizing the impact of their actions. Employees want their work to be meaningful, and this lets them know 

“That report gave senior management a real insight into some of the issues we’re facing, and really made a difference in how we’re going to approach them.”

“That big deal you landed made a huge difference in us meeting our quarterlies. You should be very proud.”

“The new processes you suggested save us so much time. They’ve really made a difference to employee wellbeing.”

Again, follow up with an appropriate reward for maximum impact, whether that’s an award, a bonus or something similar. 

Employee appreciation ideas: final thoughts

People like to feel appreciated, so a quick ‘thank you’ here and there works wonders for employee retention.

And, now that your employees can walk out of the job and be reasonably certain of finding another one pretty quickly, ‘thank you’ is a must. If your employees don’t feel appreciated, they will leave. 

It’s all about the basics here. A fair wage, regular appreciation and long-term support will go further than doling out a few Amazon Prime vouchers once every quarter. Employee recognition should be a constant process that’s built into the heart of your business. 

That’s not to say additional treats aren’t motivating. Rewards and bonuses of all kinds can be fantastic tactics as part of an employee engagement strategy, and they will make your staff feel appreciated. They are, essentially, the cherry on the top of your rewards program. Get the foundations right first for best results.  

Blink helps you show employees the appreciation they deserve. Get your free demo today.

Background

Domino's Pizza Group is the UK’s leading pizza brand; their first UK store opened in 1985. They have over 1,000 stores across the country and more than 35,000 team members. Their vision is simple: to be the number one pizza company in the world. But their internal communication strategy was holding them back.

So, what happens when communication becomes critical in the wake of a global pandemic? And how do you reach frontline workers who are digitally and physically disconnected (see the winning types of internal communication)?

The challenge

Domino’s have a distributed workforce operating out of various sites. These include Head Office and Supply Chain Centers in Milton Keynes, Warrington, West Ashland & Naas.

Frontline processes were paper-based and manual with no practical way to reach everyone. Dominoes struggles to get key messages across, because communication relied on word of mouth, posters and consumer channels like WhatsApp.

Domino’s had no reliable channel for frontline communication. And employees needed consistent information – but paperwork posed a Covid-19 transference risk.

The internal communications strategy

The situation demanded an immediate flow of two-way communication. As a result, Domino’s launched Blink in April 2020 as a critical part of their Covid-19 response plan. The goal? Empower, equip and protect all frontline employees.

Before long, Blink integrated with benefits, payslips and holiday bookings. Domino's also began using digital forms for shift swaps and holiday bookings. The result? 85% adoption rate in less than a fortnight, and a strong long-term, communication strategy.

AI isn’t exactly the new kid on the block, but 2024 was the year it truly hit its stride. Businesses that embraced it didn’t just dip their toes in — they’re already seeing big wins.

According to Boston Consulting Group, businesses that are leading the way with AI have achieved 1.5x the revenue growth than those that lag behind.  

So could 2025 be the year when AI becomes commonplace in internal communications and HR? HR leaders seem to think so. 3 in 4 say that failing to adopt and implement AI in the next 12 to 24 months will harm organizational success. 

AI is becoming a necessity rather than a nice-to-have — and the employee intranet is the perfect place to put it to use. AI has the power — not just to enhance intranets — but to reinvent them for the modern workforce.

Let's take a closer look at the essential features and benefits that an AI-powered intranet can bring to your employees and organization.

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Why employee intranets are stuck in the past

Traditional employee intranets — we’re talking those clunky, desktop-based platforms — rarely meet the needs of today’s modern workforce.

Typically used as a content management hub on a private network, they serve up static documents that tend to quickly go out of date, like company policies. Interfaces are usually hard to navigate. There are few (if any) employee engagement features built into the system.

The result? Employees actively avoid your intranet solution. Adoption and usage rates drop. It gets even harder to streamline workflows and share important employee communications.

In recent years, modern intranets and employee apps have been rectifying some of the problems created by traditional intranets — and AI is taking the digital workplace to a whole new level.

How AI is turning corporate intranets into must-have tools

The talk about AI isn’t just hype. Incorporate this tech into your intranet software and you can finally create a social intranet that serves as a single source of truth for your employees.

Here’s a taste of what AI can do for your employee intranet:

Personalization

Imagine logging into your intranet and seeing everything you need in one central location — no digging, no guesswork. Thanks to AI, your intranet can serve up personalized internal communication, relevant content, and digital tools in a company news feed that’s designed to feel custom-built just for you.

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Enhanced search capabilities

Natural language processing (NLP) means we can speak to AI as we would a person — and it understands what we’re saying. This enables intuitive and conversational intranet search functions. Also, AI may soon be able to answer employee questions using its knowledge of intranet resources, rather than simply serving a list of resource links.

Proactive assistance

AI can be integrated into your employee intranet as a chatbot. It can answer employee FAQs and guide onboarding for new hires. It can help employees find the intranet content and tools they need. This frees your HR, IT, and comms teams to focus on higher-level tasks.

Real-time recommendations

Your intranet could become your employees’ personal assistant, predicting what they need before they even realize it. Need a document? It’s already highlighted. Looking for a collaborator? AI’s got a suggestion. It’s like having an intranet that reads minds.

Voice and chat integration

Employees can enjoy seamless intranet interactions through virtual assistants and voice commands. Employees don’t even need to type. They can get answers to questions like, “What are my tasks for the day?” or “show me the latest HR policy,” without having to navigate the intranet interface. This is great for accessibility and for employees who want to access your intranet on the go. 

Task automation

AI can automate a wide range of routine tasks, including PTO requests, compliance training reminders, and IT support tickets. It can search for and flag outdated intranet content, automatically generate content tags, and launch pulse surveys as per your schedule. It can become the home for easy-to-find collaboration tools that help employees connect and work with one another. Managers and employees can also use AI to compose intranet content.

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Easy analytics

AI can help you make the most of your intranet by analyzing data on usage patterns, features that aren’t used very often, and your most popular content. You can also use AI to analyze employee sentiment and identify employee engagement red flags. This gives you time to make changes before dissatisfaction impacts productivity and retention.

Why an AI-powered intranet is a win-win

AI transformation can feel daunting. But the benefits it brings for both employees and organizations can’t be ignored.

Benefits for employees

An AI intranet improves the employee experience. Automation and proactive AI support make work quicker and easier, so employees can focus on more meaningful and strategic tasks. AI can optimize the collaborative parts of a unified platform — like enabling an easy-to-navigate employee directory, or quick-to-use instant messaging — that make or break a great experience on a daily basis.

An AI-powered intranet also reduces friction and frustration because employees are presented with relevant information at every turn. Every employee — from the desk-based employee to the frontline worker — gets a user-friendly, personalized intranet experience that improves their engagement and motivation.

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Benefits for organizations

AI improves your intranet solution, driving higher employee adoption rates and ensuring you get the best possible ROI from your intranet investment.

Your new and improved intranet can also become a key part of the company culture, supporting employee engagement, productivity, collaboration, and retention. And with easy data analysis, it’s much easier to track success relating to all these business objectives.   

AI roadblocks — and how to power through them

An AI-powered intranet can transform your digital workplace, making it more engaging, efficient, and collaborative. But — as with any big change in the workplace — you need to give careful consideration to potential pitfalls.

Here are some of the challenges of incorporating AI into your intranet software and what you can do to overcome them.  

Data privacy concerns

AI systems process vast amounts of personal and organizational data. So preventing data breaches and the associated loss of employee trust is imperative. You should only use encrypted intranet platforms and work to establish clear data privacy policies.

Change management

Introducing AI to your traditional intranet is like rolling out the red carpet for innovation — but not everyone might feel like a VIP right away. Some employees may hesitate, wondering, “How do I even use this?” That’s where effective communication and training come in to save the day.

Balancing AI and a human touch

Use AI to augment, rather than replace, human connection. AI can handle repetitive tasks and help with data analysis. But when it comes to tasks that require decision-making, emotional intelligence, creative collaboration, and relationship-building, ensure that employees — not bots — take the lead.

How to make AI intranet adoption seamless

If, like us, you’re convinced that AI is going to be an intranet game-changer, here’s what you need to do next.  

#1. Conduct a needs assessment to determine what features matter most

To find an AI intranet that meets all your organizational needs, start with a needs assessment. Consult with stakeholders at all levels to find out which intranet and AI features they’d like to see. Then, put features in order of priority before you go vendor shopping.

#2. Partner with a tech vendor specializing in AI-powered intranets

There are lots of tech vendors out there — but not all of them specialize in AI-powered intranets. Work with an AI intranet specialist and your partner can guide you seamlessly through the intranet upgrade process. You can also count on platform reliability, time and cost efficiency, and access to the most advanced AI features. Check out our recommendations of top intranet software providers here.

#3. Prioritize mobile-first design to align with employee expectations

Like the rest of your modern employee intranet, any AI tools should be available to all employees across all devices. Employees — from your office-based knowledge workers to your remote workers and frontline workers in the field — should get the same great intranet experience. So prioritize user-friendly, mobile-first intranet software that meets employees’ high expectations.

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#4. Roll out AI capabilities in phases to avoid overwhelming users

When rolling out any new intranet feature, it’s best to do so in stages, getting employees used to one new feature at a time. This reduces staff overwhelm and helps you sustain intranet engagement. A phased approach also takes the pressure off your IT team, who are less likely to be swamped with training and support requests.

Incorporate AI and take your employee intranet to the next level

Let’s face it: AI isn’t just the future — it’s here. And it’s reshaping the company intranet into something your workforce will actually want to use. With the help of AI, organizations are enhancing the digital employee experience, boosting workplace productivity, and fostering corporate culture — ultimately improving outcomes across the entire company.

The question is: Are you ready to make the leap?

By making the shift to a modern intranet solution now and preparing your platform, employees, and organization for the future, you can stay ahead of the curve — and start to reap AI’s benefits sooner rather than later.

Blink. And discover how an AI-powered intranet can reimagine your organization.

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What makes her awesome?

Sherry has worked at Pierce Transit since February 1990 and has received many accolades and awards during her long career.

She is a member of the agency’s Safety Committee where she lends her experience to help make safety a priority for everyone. She goes above and beyond in her role as Operator: This past year, while on duty, she assisted with putting out a vehicle fire and rescued a lost young girl along her route.

Sherry was a recipient of Pierce Transit’s Q1 2024 Excellence in Safety award. She truly cares about her community and many people have been honored to receive what she gives from the heart.

How has Blink helped in her role?

Sherry uses Blink to keep up to date on what's happening at our agency.

What does she want to do next?

Travel the world!

Nominated by Penny Grellier, Communications Administrator

In the current landscape, remote workforce management is a vital skill for your business. 

With more businesses moving towards remote and hybrid working – and remote work options becoming a strong pull for employee retention – there’s never been a better time to review how you manage remote employees.

Below, we run through exactly what you need to know to set up and manage a remote workforce effectively. 

Remote workforce management

A remote workforce is any workforce that can complete its main duties away from a central place of work. Remote workforce management is the practice of leading and managing a remote workforce using a mixture of communication, processes and technology.

What’s the difference between mobile workforce and remote workforce?

Remote workers generally work in their own space, usually (though not exclusively) in some sort of home office. They are not obliged to stay here – they can work wherever they need to. This opens up a whole range of flexibility benefits – they can work on the train, whilst waiting to pick their kids up from school or in that cute cafe down the road which does the best flat whites. 

A mobile workforce needs to move from location to location to complete its work. They might do this on a day-to-day basis, or be positioned in one location for weeks or months at a time. A few examples of mobile workforces include: 

• Drivers for bus, taxi, train or haulage fleets
• Community healthcare teams
• Consultants who work client side on long-term projects
• On-the-move sales teams with numerous appointments each day
• Tradespeople who travel to jobs and clients

How is remote work changing the workforce?

It’s easy to see why remote work is so appealing to employees – it’s flexible and great for work-life balance, whilst opening up a huge range of roles that would otherwise have been off-limits. 

Because of remote work, the vacancies available to employees have increased significantly. An employee based in Atlanta doesn’t have to limit themselves to Atlanta-based roles – they could apply for roles previously based in New York, LA or even abroad. 

What does that mean for you, as an employer? 

Ultimately, you’re going to have to work harder to keep hold of your talent. March 2022 saw a record 4.5 million US workers quit their jobs, with common reasons for doing so including low pay, no career advancement opportunities and feeling disrespected at work.  

This means that employee experience will play even more of a key role in employee retention than it does now, and is likely to become a key strategic focus for businesses in the coming years. 

The benefits of a remote workforce

If there’s one thing the pandemic has proven, it’s that remote work can be a fantastic tool for both employee engagement and workforce productivity. Far from experiencing the chaos expected at the start of the pandemic, many businesses were immediately impressed by their employees’ ability to adapt to the ‘new normal’ and the productivity that accompanied that. 

With a remote working policy, you can: 

• Access a wider pool of talent with no geographical limits – invaluable for hiring as open vacancies continue to hover around an all-time high.
• Access a wider pool of talent that is often excluded from onsite jobs, for example, people with disabilitiesdisabled people, young parents and those without transport.
• Improve employee work-life balance by removing commuting times and allowing your workforce control over when and where they work. 
• Increase employee retention – employees with access to remote work are 68% more likely to report high organizational commitment and 30% less likely to look for another job in the next year. 

The great news? You don’t even have to trade this for a drop in productivity. Remote or partly remote employees are 63% more likely to report high levels of innovation, and 75% more likely to report being often or always engaged.

Challenges and risks of a remote workforce

When managed well, remote work is a super effective way of expanding your talent pool whilst increasing employee productivity and retention. Equally, there are a few risks that you’ll need to be aware of – factor these into your remote employee management policy to minimize them. 

Distractions and lack of direct supervision

Books, food, TV, hobbies…whatever your distraction of choice, your home has it, within seconds of your workstation. As a manager, it can be an uneasy feeling to have no direct oversight of your employees in this type of environment. 

Isolation and fewer career advancement opportunities

In the Buffer State of Remote Work Report, 24% of respondents reported loneliness as a key difficulty of remote work – only ‘difficulty unplugging’ and ‘no reported struggles’ scored higher. Isolation can drain productivity and morale, so it’s important to invest in an inclusive digital workspace to combat this. 

Communication and technology issues

Not being in the same physical space as your team can cause communication hiccups – make sure you have the right sort of software on hand to overcome this. 

Security

If your employees aren’t in the office full time, it’s more difficult to make sure they’re completing their IT security training and using their work devices responsibly. 

Bring your own device (or ‘BYOD’) workplaces are on a particularly slippery slope here. 83% of companies have some sort of BYOD policy for at least some of their employees, but only 32% require employees to register their devices with IT for software installation. If you are going down the BYOD route, make sure you have the right security procedures in place. 

How do I create a remote workforce?

The answer that many businesses could give here is “get caught by an unprecedented global pandemic, send all of your employees home at once and figure things out from there.” 

Now that the initial shockwave of COVID-19 has died down, however, you have the luxury of a controlled and managed shift to remote work. When you’re rolling out remote working, it’s important to give everyone time and space to adapt to new processes. This could include upgrading and monitoring your IT infrastructure to cope with remote working, buying in the right hardware or simply creating a suitable home workspace. 

1. Give plenty of notice

If your employees plan their lives around being in the office during certain times each day, giving them space to adapt helps ease your workforce into the change. Aim for a month’s notice, ideally more if this decision has been a long time coming. 

2. Roll out department by department, if needed

Going remote requires investment – and you may need to take a short term dip in productivity on the chin as everyone gets used to new arrangements. Rolling remote working out department by department might make this easier to manage, both cash flow-wise and for  keeping key functions running as normal. 

3. Plan for investment in software and office equipment

It’s a given that you’ll need to up your investment in cloud communication tools and product management tools. Equally, be prepared to spend on other amenities you offer your employees at the office – extra monitors, ergonomic chairs, laptop stands and more might all be useful. 

4. Find the right people to oversee the process

A stakeholder panel is a great way to make sure all relevant voices are heard when planning your shift to remote work. Include managers, employees from teams who are going remote and representatives from any functions who might be impacted by this. 

5. Allow for growth and adjustment

Is everything going to go swimmingly the instant you move out of the office? Probably not – expect slowdowns as everyone adjusts to their new normal. Keep monitoring progress and learning from your mistakes, and things will quickly start to pay off after this adjustment period. 

How can I monitor employees working remotely?

Employees like remote work for the autonomy and responsibility it gives them – this is what contributes to the sky-high engagement and productivity rates at remote companies. 

You should not be looking to monitor your remote employees 24/7. They won’t respond well to being micromanaged, and you’ll undo all the benefits remote work offers. Instead of monitoring, shift the focus onto building channels for effective two-way communication. 

Start by: 

• Setting clear deadlines and expectations – are your employees expected to keep core hours, for example, or are you taking a more flexible approach? 
• Set up daily check ins – a quick ten-minute chat about the work day is reassuring for both manager and employee.
• Regular feedback sessions ensure remote employees don’t feel ignored and can develop their skills at the same rate as an on-site employee would. 
• Use remote collaboration tools to keep in contact throughout the day. Instant messengers, employee apps and project management solutions all help here. 
• If you need visibility into how employees spend their day, consider an employee monitoring tool to track time usage.  

Remote workforce management software

The secret to a great remote workforce management strategy? Finding the right software for the job. 

There’s no ‘one size fits all’ here – it’s all about weighing up what you need to meet your unique requirements as a business. You might need the basics only, or you might need remote versions of several different systems to replace the office working environment. 

How can technology help remote workforce challenges?

Whilst remote work has been a mainstream working practice since the pandemic began, nearly a quarter of employees reported not having the right equipment (hardware or software) to do the job as recently as spring 2021. 

Remote work hinges on having the right tech. Remote employees need software to communicate with their colleagues, share ideas, keep track of deadlines, perform data analysis and more. 

You’re likely to have some of this software available in an office setting anyway – so it’s the communication tools that really make the difference. Having intuitive and accessible employee apps, instant messengers and video conferencing tools on hand ensures communication channels stay open, productivity remains high and employees don’t feel isolated. 

Remote workforce management technology: the must-haves and the nice-to-haves

The must-have software below would be pretty tricky to go without If you’re starting an online business from scratch!

• An employee experience app app: mobile internal comms tools like Blink allow employees to share and access important info instantly, from their smartphone. Social feeds and two-way publishing allow employees to expand their internal network, whilst push notifications ensure that important messages aren’t missed. 
• Video conferencing: why opt for crackly, awkward and generally unreliable phone conferencing solutions when you can use cloud-based video platforms like Zoom and Teams to meet and discuss ideas face to face?
• Workplace instant messenger: faster and friendlier than email, workplace messengers like Slack can be used to make remote communication easier (or just for idle workplace chatter that builds workplace morale – pet pic channel, anyone?) 
• Project management tools: distributed teams need an effective way of keeping on top of tasks and deadlines. Project management tools like Trello, Basecamp and Monday.com use intuitive visual layouts to display and manage these processes. 

Depending on your needs, you could also consider: 

• Employee productivity tools: time trackers, note-taking apps and site blockers can all contribute to your employees’ productivity levels. 
• Online whiteboard tools: whiteboard and ideation tools like Miro allow your workforce to take remote collaboration beyond a shared Google Doc or Slack channel. 
• Employee monitoring software: if you’re concerned about productivity, one way to ensure your employees are keeping their minds on the job is by using employee monitoring software to track time usage. 

Final thoughts on remote workforce management

As a manager, the transition to remote work can be tough. How can you provide the right levels of support and oversight when your employees are scattered across the country – or maybe even beyond? 

With the right technology and the right approach, however, it’s more than manageable.

It goes beyond ‘manageable’ to ‘super beneficial’ in many cases – remote work removes the stress and time pressures of office-based working so that your employees can thrive. If you manage this with the right processes and the right tech, you’ve got a recipe for success!

Blink is an employee app that connects remote workers – get your free demo today

12 ideas to increase employee engagement

We can boil employee engagement down to two key employee attributes.

Attitude – how an employee feels about the company, their co-workers, their managers, and their role. And behavior – the effort that an employee is willing to invest in their work.

These two attributes have a huge impact on your business.

When an employee has a positive attitude and is willing (on most days) to give their all, they’re more energized and productive. They’re keen to learn and find solutions for workplace problems.

Engaged employees are also more loyal to your organization. Teams with high engagement have turnover rates 18% to 43% lower than those with low engagement. They have lower rates of absenteeism, too.

It’s easy to see how employee engagement can help to build a more effective and efficient organization. You reduce costs linked to recruitment, sick leave, and low productivity. And you get the very best from your workforce.

Understanding the importance of employee engagement is the first step. However, finding ways to improve employee engagement within your organization, is another - And that’s what we’ll be focusing on here.

We’re going to explore a range of employee engagement ideas that you can put into practice at your business to increase engagement. But first, let’s take a look at how employee engagement applies to frontline organizations.

Employee engagement in frontline organizations

Employee engagement is so often focused on those working remote or behind a desk, rather than your frontline employees. Common activities or ideas to increase employee engagement actually actively exclude frontline workers, as well. Think in-office lunches, social happy hours, or team building activities during the standard workday. 

But the truth is frontline employees want to feel engaged in the same way a desk-based team does. They benefit from a sense of belonging and connection. And your business benefits too.

Engaged employees working on the frontline provide a better service for customers or patients. Like their office-based co-workers, they take less time off sick and are less likely to look for another job.

All frontline organizations should be looking to improve employee engagement - and it’s easier than you might think. Below are our top ways to improve employee engagement across your entire organization - applicable to not only desk-based teams, but frontline organizations as well. 

12 ideas to improve employee engagement quickly

Employee engagement goes way beyond team building activities and the standard annual employee review. The most engaged organizations weave employee engagement activities into the fabric of their workplace.

Our tips to improve employee engagement:

1. Embrace technology
2. Promote two-way communication
3. Recognize and reward
4. Offer growth opportunities
5. Foster work-life balance
6. Gather feedback from employees
7. Set clear expectations
8. Give regular feedback
9. Promote team collaboration
10. Celebrate milestones
11. Lead by example
12. Measure and act on feedback

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1. Embrace technology

Today’s tech is intrinsically engaging, to the extent that people spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on mobile apps. That’s a third of their waking hours.

People leaders can take advantage of this fact by embracing mobile tools to increase employee engagement. Of course, embracing a clunky old intranet is going to do more harm than good. It won’t offer the user experience that employees now expect from their tech. But with cutting-edge software and apps, leaders make the cornerstones of engagement – communication, collaboration, and recognition – more appealing and accessible to employees.

For frontline organizations, this can revolutionize the way you work.

Employees no longer need a desktop or company email to access internal comms. With an employee engagement app like Blink, they can simply use the smartphone in their pocket, meaning everyone stays connected.

Teams can access chat functions, recognition features, and company tools and resources – all from the same interface.

Leaders can make the most of employee engagement surveys and analytics features. They can use data to understand employee engagement like never before, finding more effective ways to improve it.

When you put the very best tech tools at the heart of your employee engagement strategy, you connect your frontline to co-workers and management. You also make measuring and improving engagement a whole lot easier.   

2. Promote two-way communication

Good communication is the key to employee engagement. It’s a way to share information and company values and to include every member of your organization in company culture. But 80% of professionals rate their organization’s communication as poor or average.

If your company comms aren’t hitting the mark, it may be because communication only moves top-down. Your leadership team speaks and everyone else listens.

You’re much more likely to motivate employees when you create channels for two-way communication. (Like they did at Domino’s). When you give them a voice, encourage them to speak up, and listen to what they have to say, employees are much more engaged.

In fact, employees who say their voice is heard at work are 4.6x more likely to give their all.

Creating two-way communication is harder in large, hybrid, and frontline organizations. How do you connect co-workers, managers, and leadership when they don’t physically cross paths? And what do you do when frontline employees don’t have a company email account?

Again, it comes down to having the right tech tools. You need communication channels that are easy to access – from the office, at home, on the shop floor, and on the road. So everyone stays connected and updated wherever they’re working.

3. Recognize and reward

When employees feel that hard work goes unnoticed, there’s less incentive for them to bring their A-game. So if you’re looking to improve your employee engagement strategy, recognition and rewards are another key focus area.

Some organizations go all out with a points and rewards system. Employees earn points for good work and can then spend points to get gift cards, company merchandise, or even make a charitable donation.

But there are lots of other ways to show your appreciation for employees. An employee of the month program or a simple thank you goes a long way. And – as we’ll see in a moment – rewarding high performers with training and career progression opportunities may prove more meaningful than small monetary prizes.   

However you approach recognition and reward, the key is finding a strategy that works for all employees. 

Perhaps a frontline employee stays late to get a job done. Or receives positive feedback from a customer. These employees should enjoy the same level of manager and peer-to-peer recognition as their office-based co-workers.

With Blink’s recognition tool, it’s easy to create a culture of appreciation. Anyone can send personalized messages of appreciation, sharing posts with individuals, teams, or the whole organization. 

4. Offer growth opportunities

Employees who have a clear career path are more likely to stay working with your company. They’re also more engaged and productive in their work.

But too often, the focus is on the professional development of management and office-based employees. According to McKinsey research, many employers underestimate the value that frontline workers place on learning and career advancement opportunities.

Of the 2,100 frontline employees McKinsey surveyed, 70% said they had applied for a promotion or a job with more responsibility. But only 25% of those who applied were successful. And 65% said they were unsure how to achieve advancement.

As well as highlighting the lack of growth for frontline employees, McKinsey made several recommendations:

• Share professional development, mentorship, and promotion opportunities with every team member
• Give managers the training they need to help employees establish career growth goals – and support them to achieve them. 
• Where a promotion isn’t possible, consider a lateral move or the assignment of new challenges within an employee’s current role to satisfy their hunger for growth

Ultimately, when employees are given the support they need to thrive in their careers, it’s a win-win. An organization retains employees and improves performance. Employees get to enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of expanding their talents.

5. Foster work-life balance

Achieving work-life balance as a frontline worker isn’t always easy. Shifts tend to be long and unpredictable. And when employees are supporting customers or patients, it can be hard to even take scheduled breaks.

This has long been accepted as “the way things are”. But with a third of workers saying that work-life balance is a top priority when looking for jobs, frontline organizations looking to increase employee engagement have a real opportunity – to outshine other employers and better support their staff.

You could offer predictable shifts and – where that isn’t possible – communicate shifts in advance. Consider flexible working and fair overtime policies. Encourage employees to get enough downtime by addressing an always-on culture.

Another key consideration? We know that 70% of frontline employees have suffered from burnout or felt at risk of burnout. This is something that the Starbucks team has taken on board.

Starbucks employees get access to a mental health care platform and free therapy sessions. They also get 10 days of backup care for the children or adults they care for, helping them balance the competing responsibilities of work and caregiving with less stress.

By helping employees to plan and enjoy their time away from work, organizations can count on improved productivity and engagement each time workers arrive for a shift.

6. Gather feedback from employees

Frontline employees are your eyes and ears on the ground. They can provide valuable perspective on what is and isn’t working operationally and how you can improve the customer experience.

But if your organization – like many frontline firms – is suffering from a frontline connection gap, you struggle to access that insight. More often than not, frontline employees don’t have the access they need to provide this valuable feedback.

This means you miss out on all kinds of frontline employee feedback – including their thoughts on employee engagement. You find it much harder to identify and address engagement issues before they affect morale and retention.

The first step to fixing this issue is developing feedback channels for all employees. Tech tools can help. An app like Blink allows you to send a feedback request to a frontline worker’s smartphone, meaning they’re much more likely to see it and respond. 

Remember that different employees prefer different feedback methods so open up a variety of options.

Make pulse surveys, annual employee engagement surveys, and manager one-on-ones part of your feedback request schedule. And give employees the option to leave feedback anonymously so they feel comfortable being completely honest.

With up-to-date employee feedback, you can make your employee engagement strategy more relevant and effective. You get to the heart of how employees feel – and discover the areas where change is most needed.

7. Set clear expectations

Uncertainty and employee engagement don’t mix. Role ambiguity creates stress and it’s one of the leading causes of employee burnout.

Employees need to understand exactly what’s expected of them. They need to know what work to do, how to do it, and who to do it with. Even when a frontline role involves a lot of autonomy, employees need guidance on their remit to feel confident and motivated.

Managers are responsible for setting clear expectations. And it all comes down to good communication.

Frontline managers should clearly define the role and its responsibilities for new hires. They need to set key performance indicators (KPIs) so employees know what success looks like. And they need to give clear instructions when assigning new tasks.

Employees also need to know how their role fits into the bigger picture. How do their tasks relate to overarching company values and goals?

By giving employees clarity you improve employee engagement. But you also promote accountability and show employees that their work is valuable.

8. Give regular feedback

Picture an employee – let’s call him Jim – who hasn’t had any manager feedback in a while.

Jim keeps running into the same customer service problem. But he doesn’t feel comfortable approaching his manager about it. And he’s not due a one-to-one for months.

So Jim keeps at it, doubting that he’s doing a good enough job but unsure what to do about it. Without regular manager input Jim feels less confident in his abilities. His job satisfaction inevitably takes a hit.

Now let’s picture a different scene.

Jim’s manager – let’s call her Jane – understands how important feedback is to employee engagement. She sets up regular, informal one-to-ones, where both she and Jim can raise any issues.

Jim gets to hear that he’s doing a great job. And gets useful, actionable advice on what he could do better. He gets recognition where it’s due and a regular reminder of role expectations.

Feedback needs to move in both directions. And it’s as relevant to your longest-serving staff as it is to new hires. Feedback boosts the confidence of employees and increases their job satisfaction, which means better employee engagement.

Employees also stand to benefit most when feedback is constructive. This means managers focus on facts, not opinions. They talk about the actions of an employee, not their personality traits.

They also approach feedback as a two-way conversation, where employees get a chance to share their thoughts within an open and supportive environment.

9. Promote team collaboration

Two heads are always better than one. And employees who work well together are happier, more productive, and less stressed. Team collaboration can help to prevent loneliness, too.  

Glassdoor research shows that 60% of employees with less than five years of work experience feel lonely all or most of the time. But 89% of all workers say that a sense of belonging within their company is essential for workplace happiness.

Bringing teams together, including frontline employees who tend to work alone, is therefore crucial to employee engagement. And it starts with company culture.

You need a psychologically safe environment where everyone feels comfortable contributing their thoughts and ideas. Like a calendar of team building activities. Special consideration for new hires and team members who work in isolation. And praise for team successes as well as individual wins.

The right communication and collaboration tools are another important part of the puzzle. Project management software helps people to collaborate when they’re not working in the same location. And chat tools allow workers to share problems, ideas, and solutions with ease.

Elara Caring is one of the largest care providers in the US, with around 32,000 carers working on their frontline. The company found it hard to connect its carers and was experiencing a collaboration problem.

By making Blink their communication hub, they improved team collaboration dramatically. Now 95% of employees say they feel more connected to the organization and their co-workers.

10. Celebrate milestones

Mavis Mills, an ASDA supermarket employee, recently celebrated her 80^th birthday. And the whole team celebrated with her. They decorated her checkout with banners and balloons and gave her gifts, flowers, and a cake.

Celebrations like these bring teams together. They boost employee engagement for the person being celebrated and inspire other employees, too.

You can celebrate birthdays, work anniversaries, passing probation, or the successful conclusion of a company project. Anything that fits with your company values and culture.

Of course, it’s easier to plan a celebration for on-site teams. You can organize a gathering in the office or – as ASDA did – around the checkout where Mavis was working.

But that doesn’t mean hybrid and dispersed frontline teams have to forgo celebrations. You can still improve employee engagement by celebrating milestones via internal communication tools.

For example, with the Blink Feed, you can share meaningful milestones with a team or the whole organization – and encourage employees to join in the celebration. You can celebrate little and often to show appreciation for employees on a regular, informal basis.

11. Lead by example

The leaders of today do things differently. Good leaders understand that transparency, fairness, and emotional intelligence help to improve employee engagement.

Unlike workplace leaders of the past, they know that when everyone, at all levels of a company, sticks to the same rules and values people feel more invested in a company’s success.

As a leader, this means practicing what you preach.

You should demonstrate the same commitment to two-way communication, collaboration, and recognition that you want to see in employees. You should model work-life balance so workers find it easier to follow suit.

By living and breathing company values and culture, you inspire trust and respect in your workforce. And when you join them in using the same communication and employee engagement tools, you make it much more likely that people will follow your lead. 

12. Measure and act on feedback

Gathering feedback is an essential part of any employee engagement strategy. But simply getting employees to leave feedback isn’t enough. You have to measure and act upon employee feedback, too.

Research shows that people who say their employer takes meaningful action based on their feedback are 37% less likely to look for another job. And they’re also much more likely to take part in future surveys.

So mine employee feedback for data. Then create employee engagement KPIs so you can measure progress. You can base targets around metrics like:

• Absenteeism rate
• Employee retention rate
• Employee net promoter score (eNPS)

It then all comes down to good internal communication. Share your feedback findings and engagement progress with employees. It shows that you take their views seriously and are committed to making improvements.

Employee engagement: the next step

In thriving organizations, the drive to improve employee engagement is more than just an HR team initiative. It’s something that the whole organization embraces as part of its ethos.

Communication, feedback, and recognition become part of everyone’s every day. And the organization benefits from better staff retention, productivity, and satisfaction.

Your organization may not be at this point yet. But wherever you are in your employee engagement journey, the 12 ideas listed above will help you move forward. Weave these activities into your employee engagement strategy and you’ll encourage the employee attitudes and behaviors you want to see.

When it comes to frontline organizations, the right tech tools are a priority because they make employee engagement so much easier. They provide the vital line of connection between every member of your workforce, from new hires to stalwart staff, and frontline workers to your office-based team.

Blink’s mobile-first super-app helps every frontline employee to feel valued and heard. And with a news feed, secure chat, recognition features, surveys, analytics, and more, you have everything you need to transform internal communication and employee engagement for the better.

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