Every leader in an organization that has frontline workforce has likely experienced the 'frontline connection gap' - but what is it?
Jess DeVore
Published:
September 6, 2023
Last updated:
October 8, 2024
What we'll cover
This article is part of Blink’s “frontline first” series: content created specifically for leaders of deskless or distributed teams. We know that the job of frontline leadership is entirely different from managing ‘desk-based’ teams, so this is for you and your unique set of challenges.
Every leader in an organization that has frontline workforce has likely experienced the 'Frontline Connection Gap' - it's the root cause of thousands of wasted hours and measurable negative impact on key business metrics like retention and productivity.
But what exactly is this 'gap', and how do you know if your organization is one of the ones experiencing it? And if it turns out that you are, how do you go about closing it (and is it even worth the effort)? In this article, we'll explore all of those questions and give you some simple answers.
What is the Frontline Connection Gap?
In a nutshell, the Frontline Connection Gap is the failure to enable frontline workers to communicate with the same ease, scale and speed as desk-based workers.
If it sounds simple, that's because it is. Think about how the average desk-based worker gets to communicate at work:
Easy access to their co-workers via email, work apps such as Slack and video conferencing tools such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams
Easy access to key information and updates via intranets and cloud-based drives
Easy access to key HR processes such as booking time off and downloading paystubs through tools such as Deel or Workday
Easy access to learning and development through dedicated Learning Management Systems
Easy access to other parts of the organization (including leadership) through shared directories
Easy access to feedback portals through tools such as CultureAmp or Peakon
There's more where this came from, but the key point is that desk-based workers have access to a wealth of people, processes and information within just a few clicks.
For deskless workers, the picture looks very different - let's look at those same areas again:
Limited access to co-workers beyond those in the same physical space, often leading to isolation
Limited access to key information, often still delivered through paper memos as many frontline workers don't have access to a company email address.
Limited access to key HR processes such as booking time off and arranging shifts, which often requires making phonecalls or messaging managers via text and WhatsApp. Processes such as claiming expenses often still involve using paper forms.
Limited access to learning and development, as access to computers is infrequent
Limited access to management and leadership, leading to disengagement
Limited ability to deliver feedback or whistleblow on critical problems
The stark difference in these two worlds all comes down to communications infrastructure (or lack thereof): without continuous access to computers and email addresses, frontline workers are in a world that desk-based workers haven't experienced in more than twenty years.
The impact of the Gap
The way to know if your organization has a Frontline Connection Gap is by seeing if anything 'disappears' into it.
For the best examples of this, look to what your Human Resources team are doing. Let's take Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs as a key case - these critical initiatives are often planned and tracked at board level, and in order for them to be effective they need to impact every single member of an organization. The roll-out of these will often work well for desk-based teams thanks to regular communications such as emails, chat groups, in-person Employee Resource Groups and video calls.
However, getting to the frontline is a different matter. Without reliable channels for communications, People leaders will often find that promoting DEI programs is restricted to a flyer on a noticeboard, curtailing awareness and participation from the very start. In other words, the DEI program has fallen into the Frontline Connection Gap.
So we see just how big a problem the Gap can be: company policies and programs might as well not exist, for all the frontline are able to engage with them. As a result, the impact of the Gap can be felt on almost any core business metric - for example:
Retention drops because frontline employee engagement is low
Recruitment faces challenges as the organization is unable to offer an ideal employee experience
Customer experience is impacted when employees are ill-informed and disengaged
Productivity drops through inefficiencies in processes such as filling empty shifts and inconsistent onboarding and training
Safety is put at risk through failures to communicate critical information at scale
Employee wellbeing suffers as a result of isolation and inability to access support
The list could go on - and it does. If any one of these key metrics looks different in the frontline part of your organization in comparison to the desk-based part, then the likelihood is that you have a Frontline Connection Gap to bridge.
How to close the Frontline Connection Gap
It's important at this point to remember that the Frontline Connection Gap is rarely caused through neglect or intention - in fact, many organizations have tried (and are still trying) to close it. The problem is that the strategies that they employ usually fail, and it's for one important reason: the kind of communications infrastructure that works for the desk-based will not work for the frontline.
A key example of this is using intranets. Many organizations find intranets to be a useful means of sharing information with their desk-based workers, and so attempt to roll these out to their frontline workers through a mobile-based approach. In theory, this should work: most frontline workers have access to a smartphone and are confident enough in using them to download an intranet app.
However, this strategy comes across a number of roadblocks:
Firstly, it requires frontline workers to remember a new login and password (IT teams often find themselves facing high volumes of password reset requests as a result).
Secondly, engagement with intranet apps will usually be disappointingly low - but the reason for this poor uptake will help you unlock the secret of successfully crossing the Frontline Connection Gap (keep reading to find out).
To close the Frontline Connection Gap, there are three simple principles to follow:
Go mobile. With smartphone adoption having reached a critical tipping point, this is a no-brainer.
Consolidate where you can. The more systems and apps you ask a frontline worker to instal, the more you dilute your success. If you're asking your frontline to download and login to separate systems for accessing paystubs, receiving communications, giving feedback and arranging shifts, you're adding friction with every step. Create a single point of access wherever you can.
Put daily value at the centre of your solution. This is the crucial secret behind adoption, and the last mile of closing the Frontline Connection Gap. Busy frontline workers need a reason to engage with HQ, and that's the problem with simply rolling out an intranet on mobile: there's little in it for a frontline worker, so even if they have an app in the palm of their hand, they'll rarely take time out to log in. Success lies in inverting this, by making sure that at the heart of your communications infrastructure are processes that the frontline always need - for example, access to shifts and paystubs. By placing value at the heart of your system, you get the consistent engagement you need to close the Gap (we call this 'Chips and Dip theory'.
Despite the seriousness of its impact, the Frontline Connection Gap is actually a relatively simple problem - which thankfully means relatively simple solutions. If you're ready to get started, check out some of the best solutions on the market over here.
This article is part of Blink’s “frontline first” series: content created specifically for leaders of deskless or distributed teams. We know that the job of frontline leadership is entirely different from managing ‘desk-based’ teams, so this is for you and your unique set of challenges.
Every leader in an organization that has frontline workforce has likely experienced the 'Frontline Connection Gap' - it's the root cause of thousands of wasted hours and measurable negative impact on key business metrics like retention and productivity.
But what exactly is this 'gap', and how do you know if your organization is one of the ones experiencing it? And if it turns out that you are, how do you go about closing it (and is it even worth the effort)? In this article, we'll explore all of those questions and give you some simple answers.
What is the Frontline Connection Gap?
In a nutshell, the Frontline Connection Gap is the failure to enable frontline workers to communicate with the same ease, scale and speed as desk-based workers.
If it sounds simple, that's because it is. Think about how the average desk-based worker gets to communicate at work:
Easy access to their co-workers via email, work apps such as Slack and video conferencing tools such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams
Easy access to key information and updates via intranets and cloud-based drives
Easy access to key HR processes such as booking time off and downloading paystubs through tools such as Deel or Workday
Easy access to learning and development through dedicated Learning Management Systems
Easy access to other parts of the organization (including leadership) through shared directories
Easy access to feedback portals through tools such as CultureAmp or Peakon
There's more where this came from, but the key point is that desk-based workers have access to a wealth of people, processes and information within just a few clicks.
For deskless workers, the picture looks very different - let's look at those same areas again:
Limited access to co-workers beyond those in the same physical space, often leading to isolation
Limited access to key information, often still delivered through paper memos as many frontline workers don't have access to a company email address.
Limited access to key HR processes such as booking time off and arranging shifts, which often requires making phonecalls or messaging managers via text and WhatsApp. Processes such as claiming expenses often still involve using paper forms.
Limited access to learning and development, as access to computers is infrequent
Limited access to management and leadership, leading to disengagement
Limited ability to deliver feedback or whistleblow on critical problems
The stark difference in these two worlds all comes down to communications infrastructure (or lack thereof): without continuous access to computers and email addresses, frontline workers are in a world that desk-based workers haven't experienced in more than twenty years.
The impact of the Gap
The way to know if your organization has a Frontline Connection Gap is by seeing if anything 'disappears' into it.
For the best examples of this, look to what your Human Resources team are doing. Let's take Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs as a key case - these critical initiatives are often planned and tracked at board level, and in order for them to be effective they need to impact every single member of an organization. The roll-out of these will often work well for desk-based teams thanks to regular communications such as emails, chat groups, in-person Employee Resource Groups and video calls.
However, getting to the frontline is a different matter. Without reliable channels for communications, People leaders will often find that promoting DEI programs is restricted to a flyer on a noticeboard, curtailing awareness and participation from the very start. In other words, the DEI program has fallen into the Frontline Connection Gap.
So we see just how big a problem the Gap can be: company policies and programs might as well not exist, for all the frontline are able to engage with them. As a result, the impact of the Gap can be felt on almost any core business metric - for example:
Retention drops because frontline employee engagement is low
Recruitment faces challenges as the organization is unable to offer an ideal employee experience
Customer experience is impacted when employees are ill-informed and disengaged
Productivity drops through inefficiencies in processes such as filling empty shifts and inconsistent onboarding and training
Safety is put at risk through failures to communicate critical information at scale
Employee wellbeing suffers as a result of isolation and inability to access support
The list could go on - and it does. If any one of these key metrics looks different in the frontline part of your organization in comparison to the desk-based part, then the likelihood is that you have a Frontline Connection Gap to bridge.
How to close the Frontline Connection Gap
It's important at this point to remember that the Frontline Connection Gap is rarely caused through neglect or intention - in fact, many organizations have tried (and are still trying) to close it. The problem is that the strategies that they employ usually fail, and it's for one important reason: the kind of communications infrastructure that works for the desk-based will not work for the frontline.
A key example of this is using intranets. Many organizations find intranets to be a useful means of sharing information with their desk-based workers, and so attempt to roll these out to their frontline workers through a mobile-based approach. In theory, this should work: most frontline workers have access to a smartphone and are confident enough in using them to download an intranet app.
However, this strategy comes across a number of roadblocks:
Firstly, it requires frontline workers to remember a new login and password (IT teams often find themselves facing high volumes of password reset requests as a result).
Secondly, engagement with intranet apps will usually be disappointingly low - but the reason for this poor uptake will help you unlock the secret of successfully crossing the Frontline Connection Gap (keep reading to find out).
To close the Frontline Connection Gap, there are three simple principles to follow:
Go mobile. With smartphone adoption having reached a critical tipping point, this is a no-brainer.
Consolidate where you can. The more systems and apps you ask a frontline worker to instal, the more you dilute your success. If you're asking your frontline to download and login to separate systems for accessing paystubs, receiving communications, giving feedback and arranging shifts, you're adding friction with every step. Create a single point of access wherever you can.
Put daily value at the centre of your solution. This is the crucial secret behind adoption, and the last mile of closing the Frontline Connection Gap. Busy frontline workers need a reason to engage with HQ, and that's the problem with simply rolling out an intranet on mobile: there's little in it for a frontline worker, so even if they have an app in the palm of their hand, they'll rarely take time out to log in. Success lies in inverting this, by making sure that at the heart of your communications infrastructure are processes that the frontline always need - for example, access to shifts and paystubs. By placing value at the heart of your system, you get the consistent engagement you need to close the Gap (we call this 'Chips and Dip theory'.
Despite the seriousness of its impact, the Frontline Connection Gap is actually a relatively simple problem - which thankfully means relatively simple solutions. If you're ready to get started, check out some of the best solutions on the market over here.
What we'll cover
Start your free trial today
See how Blink helps frontline teams stay connected, informed, and engaged.
Kerry Schumann is an Occupational Therapist with diverse experience in the healthcare sector. Currently employed at Ross Care since October 2022, Kerry previously held a similar role at Millbrook Healthcare and worked at the Eastern Cape Department of Health from December 2018 to November 2022, where responsibilities included establishing sustainable services as the sole therapist at a district-level hospital.
Kerry always goes above and beyond her role. She will always reach out to help anyone who needs it. She shows great initiative and is proactive in everything she does — and always has a smile around the office. She has always shown amazing rapport with service users and their family. Kerry is just a general delight to work alongside.
How has Blink helped in her role?
Kerry is our Blink Champion for Chandlers Ford.
What does she want to do next?
She wants to keep doing the best she can each and every day and hopes to progress within the clinical.
If you’re considering switching from Flip, you’re not alone. Flip is a well-known employee app for frontline teams — but it’s not the only solution out there. Whether you’re seeking more robust features, better support, or more flexible pricing, the right Flip alternative can help you connect, engage, and empower your entire workforce.
Below, we break down 10 of the best alternatives to Flip, starting with Blink — an award-winning employee experience platform — and covering other leading options to match a range of budgets and needs.
What to look for in a Flip alternative
Before you choose a Flip alternative, it’s important to think about what your teams really need — and how the right solution can support your daily operations. While Flip is known for its frontline focus and simple messaging, many companies need more than just a basic employee app.
Here are a few key things to look for when comparing Flip alternatives:
Entire workforce coverage: Does the platform connect your entire workforce, including desk-based, frontline, and remote employees, in one place? Some tools focus only on frontline messaging, while others unify everyone under the same app.
All-in-one functionality: Beyond chat, look for built-in features like news feeds, surveys, forms, scheduling, file sharing, and integrations with your HR, payroll, or intranet systems. This cuts down on multiple logins and boosts adoption.
Ease of use & adoption: A communication app is only useful if people actually use it. Make sure your chosen alternative is simple to roll out, easy to learn, and accessible on mobile for maximum engagement.
Compliance & security: Especially for industries with strict data rules, your solution should keep sensitive info safe and ensure that work communication stays separate from personal apps.
Analytics & insights: Advanced tools show who’s engaging with content, which helps internal comms teams measure what works — and fix what doesn’t.
Flexible pricing & support: Look for transparent pricing that fits your team size and includes customer support that scales as your needs grow.
By keeping these essentials in mind, you’ll find a Flip alternative that does more than just replace messages — it empowers your people, saves time for managers, and makes your workforce feel truly connected.
Top alternatives to Flip in 2025
#1. Blink
Blink is an all-in-one employee experience platform trusted by brands like Shake Shack and easyJet to connect frontline, desk-based, and hybrid teams in one place. Unlike Flip, which focuses primarily on frontline communications, Blink is built for your entire workforce — so everyone stays connected and engaged through the same mobile-first app. Beyond secure messaging, Blink combines a social newsfeed, surveys, forms, scheduling, file sharing, and deep integrations — everything your employees need in their daily flow of work.
This all-in-one approach drives higher adoption rates, faster compliance, and measurable productivity gains for both employees and managers. If you’re looking for a modern alternative to Flip that unites every team member — not just the frontline — Blink is a top choice.
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G2 Rating: 4.7 / 5
Pricing: available upon request
#2. Beekeeper
Beekeeper focuses on mobile-first communication for frontline employees in industries like hospitality, retail, and manufacturing. It combines secure messaging, automated workflows, and real-time announcements to help employers bridge communication gaps across shifts and locations. Many companies like Beekeeper’s built-in automation and integration options, which make it easier to onboard new staff and sync schedules with payroll tools.
Unlike Flip, Beekeeper also offers checklists and form templates to help digitize daily tasks. Some users note that advanced customizations can require technical support during setup, but once running, it’s praised for simplicity and reliability.
G2 Rating: 4.7/5
Pricing: $3–$5/user/month
#3. Staffbase
Staffbase is a leading internal communications platform used by large global enterprises to deliver news, campaigns, and resources through branded mobile apps and portals. It’s especially powerful for organizations with thousands of employees spread across multiple regions and languages. Compared to Flip, Staffbase’s strong CMS and analytics tools help internal comms teams plan, publish, and measure content more strategically.
Staffbase integrates well with Microsoft 365 and other corporate systems to keep information accessible wherever employees work. While setup can take time for more complex structures, its custom branding and security controls make it a favorite for highly regulated industries.
G2 Rating: 4.7/5
Pricing: $4–$8/user/month
#4. Speakap
Speakap is designed for companies that need a private, secure social network for their frontline teams. Its familiar feed and chat features make it easy for employees to share updates, files, or shout-outs without relying on consumer messaging apps. Speakap also supports custom branding and role-based permissions, which is ideal for multi-site or franchise operations.
While it doesn’t include built-in task or scheduling tools like some Flip alternatives, Speakap integrates with popular workforce management systems to fill those gaps. Companies in retail and hospitality appreciate its GDPR compliance and clear separation from personal channels like WhatsApp.
G2 Rating: 4.4/5
Pricing: $3–$5/user/month
#5. Connecteam
Connecteam is a mobile-first workforce management app that goes beyond chat and announcements to handle daily operations in one place. For companies that want to centralize communication, scheduling, time tracking, and task management, Connecteam can reduce the need for multiple point solutions. Its drag-and-drop scheduling and GPS time clock are especially popular with small and mid-sized businesses.
One standout feature is Connecteam’s flexible pricing — small teams can start for free, and paid plans remain affordable as you grow. Some larger companies do note that advanced reporting and integrations require higher-tier plans, but overall it’s a strong, user-friendly Flip alternative.
G2 Rating: 4.6/5
Pricing: From $29/month (for 30 users)
#6. Workjam
Workjam is a digital frontline workplace designed for industries like retail, hospitality, and healthcare. It combines communications with task management, shift swapping, training, and surveys in one mobile app. For companies that struggle with disconnected scheduling tools and separate comms channels, Workjam can be a real upgrade from Flip’s basic messaging.
Its micro-learning features and compliance tracking help companies keep frontline teams up to date on new processes or safety protocols. Workjam is best suited for larger organizations with complex workforce management needs and can require more implementation support upfront.
G2 Rating: 4.2/5
Pricing: $4–$6/user/month
#7. MangoApps
MangoApps combines an employee intranet, collaboration hub, and comms tool in one customizable platform. Unlike Flip, which is primarily a mobile messaging app, MangoApps offers knowledge libraries, team workspaces, and project management — making it a fit for hybrid organizations that need to connect deskless and desk-based workers alike.
It’s highly configurable, which appeals to companies with unique workflows, but smaller teams may find the setup more complex than plug-and-play solutions. Many users highlight its deep search functionality and document management as standout features for centralizing company knowledge.
G2 Rating: 4.2/5
Pricing: $5–$8/user/month
#8. LumApps
LumApps is a modern intranet and employee experience platform that helps companies share internal news, knowledge, and resources in a personalized way. While it’s broader than Flip’s chat-first approach, LumApps is a good fit for enterprises that need to unify internal comms across multiple departments and locations.
Its integrations with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 make it easy to keep information consistent and accessible. Many companies like LumApps for its personalization capabilities, which let employees see only the content relevant to their role or location.
G2 Rating: 4.4/5
Pricing: $8–$12/user/month
#9. Firstup
Firstup specializes in delivering targeted, personalized communications to large, distributed workforces. Its smart automation and AI tools help internal comms teams reach the right people with the right message at the best time — something Flip doesn’t offer at the same depth.
Enterprises like its measurement tools, which show exactly how content performs across channels. Firstup is a good fit for companies with mature comms strategies and bigger budgets, and its robust governance controls appeal to regulated industries.
G2 Rating: 4.2/5
Pricing: $10+/user/month
#10. Haiilo
Haiilo blends social intranet features with mobile-first employee communications and advocacy tools. It’s built to help companies share news, encourage interaction, and measure engagement all in one sleek interface. Many employers appreciate Haiilo’s flexibility to tailor features to different departments or use cases.
Its modern look and customizable modules make it a strong Flip alternative for companies that want a social, community-focused feel. Larger organizations may need more IT resources to implement Haiilo’s full stack, but it rewards teams with deeper engagement insights and branding options.
G2 Rating: 4.6/5
Pricing: $5–$7/user/month
Final Thoughts on Choosing a Flip Alternative
The best Flip alternative depends on your specific goals — whether that’s simplifying daily communications, adding workforce management, or scaling global comms. Blink remains a top choice for companies that want an intuitive, mobile-first super-app to unify news, chat, surveys, forms, and scheduling — all with industry-leading ease of use.
Why teams choose Blink over Flip
Flip and Blink compete in the same space — frontline-first employee communication — which makes it worth comparing directly on adoption, features, and pricing rather than taking either vendor's word for it. Blink is used daily by teams at McDonald's, Domino's, and Chick-fil-A, all without requiring a single corporate email address. See how Blink compares.
We slip words like these into conversations with ease. New technology has become part of our bread-and-butter vocabulary, without quotation (or question) marks.
Healthtech, on the other hand – that feels a bit more niche. Or it did, until Covid-19 made us sit up and pay attention.
24 months into the pandemic, nobody needs a lecture on the importance of healthtech; it’s staring us in the face. But health tech didn’t emerge on-the-fly in response to the Covid crisis. It’s been around for a long time.
And it’s big business. In 2017, Forbes valued the digital healthcare industry at an astounding $25 billion globally. They believe that number will skyrocket above $379 billion by 2024.
We all know that healthtech helps predict the spread of diseases, track pandemic outbreaks, and contain them. But there are other new developments in the future of healthcare that will change the way we live.
What is healthtech?
Right now, healthtech (also known as digital health) is the fastest-growing verticle in healthcare. It refers to any product or service that's enabled, or revolutionized by, technology. So far, so Sci-Fi. But healthtech is all around us already...
Wearables
Yep, you’ve already got this one. Fitness trackers (like FitBits) are health wearables. We like knowing we've put in my 10.000 steps. But other types of knowledge about what’s happening in our bodies can be more vital. For some people, it’s their heart rate; for others, their blood pressure, or their oxygen supply.
Continuously measuring these things makes a huge difference for people with chronic conditions. And these wearables don’t just make the invisible visible; they also act as a kind of coach. They empower wearers to become active participants in managing their health condition. Immediate feedback from a wearable can change habits; habits can change health; and health saves lives.
Wearables are particularly relevant in the time of Covid-19. But they will continue to be so well beyond it, as part of a bigger drive towards preventative or pro-active health care.
3D-printed prototypes
3D-printing technology still sounds far-fetched. But it’s here, and it’s a quiet revolution in healthcare. Technology like this can create everything from personalized prosthetics to bio-tissues and blood vessels, at a fraction of the past cost. It transforms organ transplants and tissue repair. It can even produce realistic skin grafts for burn victims.
In 2020, researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, managed to develop a method for printing 3D-print living skin, along with blood vessels.
Blockchain for electronic healthcare records
Blockchain and the future of healthcare? Not obvious at first. But think of electronic health records, and how important it is to keep those accurate and safe.
Blockchain technology can play a key role in ensuring that medical records are 100% accurate. It also makes them significantly harder to hack. Conflicting information is automatically detected, thanks to a decentralised network of computers. And blockchain not only helps prevent data breaches; it also cuts costs.
So it’s no wonder that many health and pharmaceutical companies are investing in blockchain technology. A recent report put the blockchain health market at $890.5 million by 2023.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key driver in health tech. We already see it in chatbots and virtual health assistants that act as diagnostic tools, and even as therapists.
But the real power of AI becomes clear in areas like precision medicine. In the past, many cancer patients received cookie-cutter treatments with high failure rates. Because of AI, we now have more personalised treatments, based on individual genetics and lifestyle factors, amongst other things.
And finally, two of the things AI is exceptionally good at is Pattern Recognition and optical character recognition. That means it can analyse large amounts of cancer images that help recognise and diagnose cancer. One famous example of this is Google’s DeepMind, which created an AI for breast cancer analysis. The algorithm outperformed human radiologists on pre-selected data sets to identify breast cancer, on average by 11.5%.
The market value of AI for future of healthcare worldwide? $34 billion by 2025.
VR/AR
Most of us are already familiar with this technology. Immersing yourself in a simulated environment is fun. But it can also be a therapeutic tool. For instance, VR environments help train people to deal with mental health triggers safely. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bipolar Disorder. Covid-related Stress and Anxiety are now being treated this way.
The training potential of VR is – well, awesome. Take surgeons, for instance. A recent Harvard Business Review study showed that VR-trained surgeons had a 230% boost in their overall performance.
Compared to their traditionally-trained counterparts, they were both faster and more accurate. At Case Western Reserve University, students learn via a VR-based HoloAnatomy app. This offers detailed and precise experience without the need for real bodies.
Top 4 emerging healthtech trends for 2022
In light of the Covid pandemic and rapid growth in remote work, safeguarding your workers has become a mandatory part of doing business. This means you’re now also looked upon to bring in measures like:
By making these types of smart technologies accessible to your workforce, you can give way to improved safety standards and early alerts that reduce the risk of contagious threats. Keep track of these trends to keep your employees safe in 2022 and beyond.
identify opportunities to leverage them for your organization going forward.
Virtual care and remote medicine are on the rise
You drive to the doctor. You sit in a waiting area for ages until your name's called. When your appointment finally happens, it's a few questions, a prescription, and you're sent on your way. You wonder why you spent so long commuting for a matter of minutes.
Sound familiar?
That's why virtual care is replacing minor in-person appointments. The past two years have further accelerated this trend, leading to an increase in virtual visits or telephone consultations.
According to a recent McKinsey study, the number of people using telehealth rose from 11 to 46% during the pandemic. It further predicts that telehealth would account for $250 billion — 20% of the US healthcare spending in near future.
Virtual care not only reduces the risk of spreading contagious diseases but allows healthcare professionals to fit more consultations into their daily schedules. This is a vital factor for highly populated nations facing a shortage of medical professionals, such as India and China.
Genomics and gene editing lead to further breakthroughs
Before you get all excited — no, we haven’t figured out how a spider’s bite can turn a normal kid into spiderman.
But the good news is that there've been significant breakthroughs in gene editing, accelerating the development of different types of "precision medicine."
This means drugs can be tailored to the genetic profile of each patient, enhancing their effectiveness and minimizing side effects.
Precision medicine is already used in many ways, one of which is 'lab on a chip' — a technology that allows fast detection of Covid. It’s a hand-held device that can detect if someone is infected with better accuracy than conventional signals such as fever and coughing. So, it can go a long way in getting our lives back to normal.
Data and AI drives shift to fairer healthcare insurance and coverage
With all the strain that the coronavirus pandemic has put on our healthcare resources, you’d think it must have grown the bottom line too. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. In the US, healthcare revenues fell by 50% as patients avoided surgeries and hospitals.
But the silver lining in midst of all this is the revelation that people are willing to share their personal data when it’s a matter of their health. This is evident from how much people have engaged with track-and-trace systems.
The more data people share with health services, mobile apps, and online systems powered by AI, the more accurate picture healthcare providers will have of their well-being, along with a sense of when they should intervene. Not just that, it helps healthcare providers forecast the most efficient way to deliver their services.
This also matters from a financial perspective because other entities such as insurance companies can use advanced predictive technologies to measure risk and set premiums more accurately.
AI, IoT, and Smart Cities improve our ability to detect and respond to future outbreaks
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we were embarrassingly unprepared to deal with an outbreak. And we should have a collective, predetermined strategy if something similar happens in the future.
A key part of this strategy is the concept of “Smart Cities," powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). According to Statista, global revenue from smart city projects is estimated to reach $129 billion in 2021.
The idea of a smart city is based on incorporating digital connectivity and data-driven decision-making at our respective locations. And its applications extend to many areas such as:
Energy distribution
Public transportation networks
Refuse collection
Environmental health initiatives
It’s not just the organizations that are becoming health-care oriented, but also city planners and municipal authorities. These government bodies are now allocating resources to develop technologies that can help us predict, detect and prevent pandemics.
Another major focus is environmental health. Tech-driven initiatives are being put in place to reduce air pollution and build resilience to the effects of climate change, including the rise in sea level and temperature..
Conclusion
Even if most of your workers are remote, don’t think for a second that your health concerns are over. They now require even more attention because you don’t have the luxury of regular, face-to-face contact. It’ll be hard for you to tell when your employees are burning the candle at both ends. So you still need to support the mental health of employees as they perform their duties in the field, or from home.
That’s where the healthcare technology trends we outlined can help. There are several health apps available for professionals to monitor physical activity, practice meditation, set reminders for breaks, water and exercise, and so on.
The only way to avoid setbacks that can take you by surprise is to stay on top of the latest trends and innovations. The faster you can respond to relevant changes in your industry, the better for your organization.
At Blink, we’re constantly evolving our employee experience platform to meet the dynamic needs of organizations and their employees.
As part of our commitment to empowering great employee experiences from the frontline to the front office, we’re excited to announce our latest suite of product features designed to improve the way employees engage with their organization and with each other.
From fostering deeper social connections and real-time interactions, to improving platform security and content protection, discover 6 new features designed to help you create an engaging, reliable, and thriving workplace.
#1. Stories: Share snapshots of your company culture
In today’s fast-paced world, the need for real-time connection and engagement has never been more important — and that includes at work. That’s why we’re excited to bring Stories, a first-of-its-kind feature, to Blink. With Stories, teams can easily share moments, celebrate wins, and keep the workplace experience fun and dynamic.
Much like Stories on the social media platforms we know and love, employees and team leaders can share temporary posts that live at the top of the Feed, keeping internal content relevant and up to date.
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Why you’ll love it:
Instant sharing: Whether it’s celebrating team achievements, giving updates on project milestones, or sharing everyday moments, Stories offer a personal touch that helps foster a connected culture.
Boost engagement: With the ability to share everyday moments and add a personal touch using image-editing tools, Stories make it easier for employees to connect and engage beyond formal communications.
Keep content fresh: With a 72-hour shelf life, Stories are a great way to share timely messages and encourage frequent, social snapshots of your day.
With Stories, organizations can bring a fresh yet familiar approach to their internal communications strategy, engaging employees not just in critical communications but throughout their everyday work lives.
#2. Communities: Modernize your employee resource groups
As part of the reimagined Connect section, which brings Groups, Teams, and Contacts into one cohesive view, we’re excited to introduce Communities. This new feature allows employees to connect and collaborate over shared interests and hobbies.
With Communities, which are open for anyone to explore and join, employees have an intuitive and interactive digital space to foster deeper connections that go beyond day-to-day work tasks.
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Key benefits:
Personalized experience: Employees can join Communities based on their interests, passions, or hobbies, creating a more inclusive and engaging workplace.
A dedicated space: Each Community comes with its own unique Feed, Channels, and Resources, creating a dynamic virtual hub for content and communication.
Cross-company connection: Communities provide an opportunity to engage with colleagues across the organization, helping to bridge the gap between teams, departments, and geographies.
From Parents at Work and Home Chefs, to Dog Lovers and LGBTQ+ Crew, Communities open up new opportunities for social connection, workplace collaboration, and community-building.
#3. Moderation: Enhance control over your digital spaces
In order to ensure organizations can create and maintain a positive digital environment, we’ve enhanced our platform moderation tools. Administrators can now better manage and control content in Blink through new reporting and moderation functionalities.
New capabilities:
Report a comment: Users can now report individual comments, in addition to posts, making moderation more precise.
Report reasons: Users can provide specific reasons for reporting content, enabling admins to make more informed decisions and take quick action.
Streamlined admin workflow: Moderation tasks are now part of the admin task list, ensuring that no report goes unnoticed.
These improvements give admins more transparency and control, allowing them to better maintain a respectful and focused communication environment.
#4. Mobile version control: Improve security for frontline teams
We’ve added mobile version control as an additional security measure to help organizations protect sensitive content on Blink’s platform. With this new feature, admins now have the option to require that devices meet a minimum OS version requirement, across iOS and Android, to access specific content and resources.
Why it matters:
Improved data security: By controlling OS versions, companies can add an additional layer of security to any sensitive resources housed in the Content Hub.
Tailored policies: Admins can customize their security settings to include OS version requirements, helping to meet BYOD (bring your own device) policies and ensuring compliance.
Prompted updates: As part of this feature, Blink will alert employees in-app whose devices don’t meet the minimum OS requirements and prompt them to update their device. Blink will let me know I need to update my device’s operating system.
This update is crucial for companies prioritizing security, especially those with frontline, hybrid, or remote workers who often use their personal devices.
#5. Custom profile fields: Tailor your employee inputs
In addition to our 15 out-of-the-box user profile fields like “Name” and “Location,” we’re excited to roll out customizable profile fields.
Admins can now set up custom profile fields to gather the data they need and expand Blink’s usability, paving the way for admins to design a truly tailored Blink experience for their organizations and employees alike.
A closer look:
Customization: Admins can now create custom fields to collect and manage unique user data, offering more tailored experiences for employees.
Scalability: Whether you’re managing teams in retail, healthcare, or any other industry, custom fields make it easy to track data points that matter most to your organization.
Extensibility: This is just the first step! Soon, custom fields will be integrated across more Blink features, making it easier to manage employee information in a way that works for you.
With these customized fields, you can gain deeper insights, streamline processes, and capture workforce data that aligns with your organization’s unique operational needs.
#6. ServiceNow notification integration: Stay on top of IT updates
Lastly, but certainly not least, we’ve expanded our integration capabilities. Our seamless notification integration with ServiceNow enables employees to receive real-time updates on their IT tickets directly within Blink.
How it works:
Real-time notifications: Whenever an IT ticket is updated or resolved in ServiceNow, employees receive instant notifications via the Feed.
Improved efficiency: This integration reduces the need for employees to switch between platforms, keeping everything in one place and ensuring they stay informed about their requests.
Enhanced integrations like these ensure that Blink can continue to be the central hub for all of your employee communications and task management needs.
Bring your consumer-grade employee experience to life.
As workplaces continue to evolve, our goal remains the same: to provide the tools that foster connection, enhance productivity, and create a seamless and exceptional experience for every employee — no matter what they do and where they work.
These product enhancements are our next step in empowering organizations to meet — and exceed — the expectations of a modern and digitally savvy workforce.
Unmotivated workers do the bare minimum. They can drag other team members down with them. They’re also more likely to be looking for a job elsewhere.
Given that only 23% of global employees feel engaged at work, improving employee motivation is a critical business priority. You need to employ strategies known to boost motivation and inspire better employee productivity.
In this article, we list a range of employee motivation ideas that will help you get the most from your workforce. We’ll be looking at the following:
Why is employee motivation important?
Key factors in employee motivation
12 ways to motivate employees
Using an employee super-app to create a motivated workforce
Why is employee motivation important?
Motivated employees tend to enjoy work. They have a sense of purpose and accomplishment. They also approach work with energy and drive.
But employee motivation isn’t just good for employees. It benefits your business, too. Here’s how:
Increased employee productivity. Motivated employees work harder. They’re more efficient and focused. They’re also more likely to take the initiative, going beyond their basic responsibilities.
Better quality of work. A motivated workforce doesn’t just produce more work. It produces better work. Workers are committed to quality. This results in fewer errors, fewer missed deadlines, and fewer workplace safety incidents.
Higher retention rate. Engaged employees are loyal to your organization. So they’re less likely to look for another job. With a motivated workforce, your organization experiences higher levels of employee retention and less absenteeism.
More profit. Gallup research on employee engagement shows that employee morale impacts a range of business outcomes. It leads to a 23% increase in profitability and a 10% increase in customer loyalty.
Key factors in employee motivation
There are two types of motivation — extrinsic and intrinsic.
Extrinsic motivation is all about the carrot and the stick. You create extrinsic motivation with external rewards and penalties. Rewards might include an employee’s salary, bonuses, rewards, and praise. Penalties might include a poor performance review or a manager reprimand.
Intrinsic motivation comes from within. Employees are motivated to do their best work because they find it personally rewarding. This type of motivation relies on drivers like interest, purpose, pride, and curiosity.
When you have high levels of employee engagement within a workplace, you tend to get high levels of intrinsic motivation. Employees feel invested in their work and the company. So they’re driven to bring their A-game without needing constant carrot-and-stick encouragement.
As an employer, it may seem that you have more control over extrinsic motivation. You can raise someone’s salary, provide bonuses, and praise a job well done. All of these things help to motivate an employee.
But the fact is, you can influence levels of intrinsic motivation, too. Here are some of the things that prompt intrinsic motivation in your employees.
Feeling valued
When employees feel you care about them, their wellbeing, and their lives beyond work, they’re more likely to bring their all. That means giving employee recognition where it’s due, treating people fairly, and valuing their input, too.
Making progress
Employees like to know where they’re heading — and where they’re at right now. That requires regular, positive feedback and constructive criticism. Training, development, and clear career pathing are also important.
A sense of purpose
Every job has its boring bits — the tasks that an employee is never going to be excited about doing. But when employees understand how their work contributes to organizational success and wider society, finding that motivation gets easier.
A positive company culture
Motivation is contagious. And it spreads more easily in organizations where there’s good communication and a sense of belonging. When they’re part of an open and supportive company culture, employees are more invested in company success.
The ideas we’ve included below incorporate all of the above. They also provide ways to inspire both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in your workforce.
12 ways to motivate employees
To motivate your employees, you need to:
Highlight values and purpose
Communicate transparently
Give employees the resources they need
Use the right technology
Provide opportunities for professional development
Develop employee career paths
Support employee wellbeing
Encourage teamwork and collaboration
Support employees to build workplace friendships
Recognize employee contributions
Ask employees for their thoughts and feedback
Treat everyone equitably
Highlight values and purpose
According to Gartner research, shared purpose is one of five primary things motivating employees to stay in their jobs right now. It helps them feel invested in their work and your organization.
Shared purpose helps employees feel part of something bigger than themselves. So work becomes about more than just a paycheck.
You can support purpose in the workplace, by crafting clear company values and communicating these values regularly.
Start during onboarding. Introduce new hires to your company’s vision, mission, and values from day one. Explain how their role contributes to your goals and social impact.
Be consistent. Regularly reinforce your company's vision and mission in all employee communications. Make purpose a recurring theme in meetings, updates, and internal messaging.
Build a values-based culture: Create an environment where company values are lived and breathed daily. Take concrete action based on your values. That way, employees are more likely to believe in them.
Communicate transparently
Employee communication is another important element of employee motivation. Open and transparent communication builds trust. And employees who get enough information to do their jobs well are 2.8 times more likely to be engaged.
But while 87% of business leaders think their internal communications are “highly effective”, only 63% of employees agree. So what does effective communication look like?
Effective communication is a two-way conversation, where both leaders and employees get to share ideas, concerns, and feedback. It’s keeping employees up-to-date with key company developments, and it’s ensuring that you have clear channels of communication to reach all employees.
For remote and frontline teams, this means choosing streamlined, digital communication channels. You need internal communication tools you can use to relay messages quickly and reliably, bypassing paper memos and an employee’s already overflowing email inbox.
Give employees the resources they need
Imagine you’re setting out on a long hike. You’re excited and determined to reach the endpoint.
But you’re given a pair of ill-fitting hiking boots to wear. And a mile or so into the walk, you realize that the map you’re following isn’t 100% accurate. You decide to call the hike organizer for directions. But the number’s engaged and you fail to get through.
It’s likely that at this point in the hike, your motivation has started to dip. You feel thwarted and discouraged. You’re tempted to turn back. What felt like a promising journey now feels like an uphill struggle.
That’s why it’s important to give employees the resources they need. They need the right tech, training, support, and information to do their jobs well. Without it, morale takes a hit.
Use the right technology
Technology is increasingly important to the employee experience. Done right, it makes life easier for employees. Done wrong, it causes friction and frustration, which harms employee motivation.
A concerning 83% of HR leaders say they don’t have the right technology at work. This is contributing to stress, burnout, and low morale. Similarly, only 10% of frontline workers say they have access to the tools, tech, and opportunities they need to connect and advance in the workplace.
All workers — those in the office, those working remotely, and those on your company’s front lines — need access to high-quality, user-friendly tech that makes their jobs easier, not harder.
That might mean using a mobile-first employee app to give frontline employees the resources and co-worker connection they crave. Or it might mean implementing a social intranet that supports workplace communication and collaboration.
You can also use tech tools that have a direct impact on employee motivation. Employee engagement tools help organizations to improve and track staff morale.
Provide opportunities for professional development
According to O.C. Tanner research, organizations have five times greater odds of achieving employee fulfillment when they support professional development. A comprehensive training program improves your workplace retention rate, too.
O.C. Tanner also found that organizations are more likely to make a success of skills-building initiatives when they:
Empower employees to make their own training decisions. Supporting employees to choose training paths that align with their career goals and interests improves engagement with the learning process.
Give employees time during work to complete training. Allocate dedicated time for training so employees don’t experience stress, trying to juggle learning with daily tasks and out-of-work responsibilities.
Provide or reimburse hobby classes as well as work-related learning. Reimbursement for hobby classes improves the odds that a skill-building program will improve retention by 119%.
Develop employee career paths
Training is important. But unless employees can put those newfound skills to use within your organization, they’re going to become frustrated. That’s why every employee should have a clear progression path within your organization.
Sit down with employees to find out where their ambitions lie. And — as we mentioned above — personalize a training program to support their career goals.
Also, try to be realistic and open with workers about when a promotion is likely. This will depend on their current skill set and your organizational needs. If an upward move isn’t available for the foreseeable, there are other things you can do to keep staff motivated.
A lateral move helps employees to develop skills in another area of the business. You give them a new challenge and support them to become well-rounded members of your organization.
Similarly, stretch assignments are a great way to grow employee skills. They encourage workers to move beyond their comfort zone, take on new responsibilities, and prepare for higher-level roles.
Support employee wellbeing
In its State of the Global Workplace Report for 2024, Gallup talks a lot about employee wellbeing. It reveals that to improve employee lives and organizational performance, employers need to do the following:
Make support for employee wellbeing visible and consistent
Assign employee wellbeing counselors or coaches
Emphasize wellbeing at work and in life
Go beyond physical health to provide mental health and holistic support
Employee wellbeing goes beyond the odd mindfulness session. It requires a company-wide approach and a real understanding of what your employees might be struggling with.
Starbucks is a great example. They’ve been helping employees with the astronomical cost of housing. They offer a Tenancy Deposit Loan Scheme that they’ve named Home Sweet Loan. Employees can access an interest-free loan to pay the rental deposit when moving into a new home.
Starbucks is making it easier for employees to find and secure housing. This is good for their baristas. But it’s good for business, too. Because when employees aren’t worried about the roof over their heads, they’re more motivated and focused at work.
Encourage teamwork and collaboration
A 2022 Corel report reveals that 41% of employees have left their jobs or would consider leaving their jobs due to poor collaboration at work.
Collaboration is a great way to engage employees. It helps to create a sense of belonging. It makes work more efficient because teams share knowledge and resources freely. Plus, employees motivate one another when they work together.
You can support collaboration by supporting employees to build positive workplace relationships (more on this in a moment). Praising teams, rather than individuals, for their successes is also a good idea.
For teams who work disparately, the right intranet or app is an important part of the puzzle. You need tools that support employees to collaborate in real-time and access shared resources.
Water cooler chat may feel like an unnecessary part of the work day. But giving employees the time, space, and, in some cases, the tech they need to develop workplace friendships is incredibly important to engagement.
Employees who feel that they belong within an organization are 5.3 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work. And those with a best friend at work are more productive, happier to innovate, and happier to share ideas.
So schedule social events. Allow time at the beginning or end of meetings for informal conversation. If your team works remotely or you have frontline workers, be intentional about creating these opportunities for connection.
That might mean letting employees create shared interest groups on the company intranet. How about a book club? Or a running club? Maintaining a news feed where employees can post, comment, and like, helps remote and frontline workers to build connections, too.
Recognize employee contributions
Employee recognition and rewards are another important pillar of employee morale. When employees feel their hard work is appreciated, they’re more likely to maintain their motivation.
They’re also more likely to stay working for your company. According to recent Gallup and Workhuman research, a 10,000-person organization can save up to $16.1 million a year in reduced employee turnover costs by making recognition an important part of company culture.
Timely and relevant recognition from managers is essential. But peer-to-peer recognition can be just as valuable and it has a surprising benefit. 75% of employees say that giving recognition makes them want to stay at their current organization longer.
Blink’s employee recognition feature makes it easy to give every employee the appreciation they deserve. You can create personalized recognition posts in seconds. Then, share praise with the individual or publish it on the company news feed for everyone to see and celebrate.
If you want to offer employee rewards as part of your recognition program, be sure to find out what employees are excited by. You may think that cash bonuses and company merchandise are great incentives. But it may be that employees would prefer something else, like extra paid time off.
Employees are more motivated when they feel listened to. When an employer seeks their input and insight, it makes them feel valued, which contributes to employee morale.
Ask for employee input on key decisions. Taking everyone’s opinions into account when implementing change helps to ensure buy-in.
Also, get employee feedback on a range of issues, on a regular basis. Use surveys to ask workers about the employee experience, workplace satisfaction, or workplace rewards. Their answers will help you to develop a more motivating environment for employees going forward.
Just remember that feedback is a multi-stage process that requires effective communication. You need to:
Ask for employee feedback
Thank employees for their feedback
Tell employees what their feedback has revealed and what you plan to do about it
Keep employees in the loop, informing them how your plans are going
Closing the feedback loop like this keeps employees invested in the feedback process. It shows them that you’re really listening to what they have to say.
Treat everyone fairly and equitably
Fairness is crucial to employee motivation. When employees feel that they aren’t being treated fairly or equitably, motivation takes a dive.
So all employees must be given equal access to training and career progression opportunities. Everyone should have the option to give feedback and build workplace friendships. They should get the resources and recognition they need to feel valued.
Pay also comes into the equation. You can prevent resentment and employee churn by offering employees a fair salary. Conduct a pay equity audit. Also, regularly check to see how your wages match up with market trends and the cost of living.
But bear in mind that engaged employees look for a 31% pay increase to consider taking a job with another organization. So you don’t necessarily have to match competitors like-for-like if you provide non-monetary benefits and a company culture employees enjoy being part of.
Using an employee super-app to create a motivated workforce
Having the right tech on your team makes it easier to boost employee motivation.
An employee super-app is particularly useful for remote and frontline employees who may feel disconnected from motivators like co-worker support, feedback opportunities, and company resources.
An employee app helps you to create an equitable experience for all members of staff, no matter where they work. It also allows you to put motivation-boosting features into the palm of every employee’s hand.
Take a look at these employee app features, sure to improve employee motivation.
Social features
Social features like a company news feed help to include everyone in your company culture and support workplace connections.
A resource library
A resource library gives all employees, no matter where they work, access to essential workplace resources. You can populate your library with how-to guides, company policies, and FAQs.
Recognition features
Built-in recognition features make it easy to show appreciation for employees and encourage peer-to-peer recognition, too.
Survey tools
The best employee super apps make it easy for managers to request feedback — and for employees to provide it.
A digital hub
By integrating with all of the digitals you use, you can give employees access to professional development, wellbeing, and collaboration tools, all in the same place.
Effective communication
With a news feed, group messaging, and 1:1 chats, it’s easy for every member of your organization to take part in the company conversation and for leaders to amplify company culture.
Analytics
Analytics help you to track motivation and engagement. This allows you to make data-backed improvements to your engagement initiatives.
In summary
Find ways to motivate your employees and you create a happier, more engaged, more productive workforce. You improve employee loyalty and talent retention. You also achieve better business results.
There are lots of different things you can do to motivate your workforce. But all actions center around four key pillars:
Help employees find meaning in their work
Show employees that you value them as people as well as workers
Support employees to make progress in their careers
Build a positive company culture
It’s easier to do all these things when you have the right tech tools. An employee super-app brings your organization together and helps you establish a positive company culture.
It also gives employees all the communication, resources, and digital tools they need to excel in their roles. They experience more flow and less friction, which makes for improved employee motivation.
By ‘encourage’, we don’t mean ‘tolerate’. We mean: do you actively encourage it? Do you run regular feedback initiatives and act on them? Do you train managers to ask for, accept and pass on feedback?
A major survey we conducted recently suggests that ‘not being listened to’ is employees’ number one gripe with management – and one that has a significant impact on talent retention. In other words, there could be a huge amount of untapped innovation going to waste, right under your nose.
With over a fifth (22%) of those who raise issues at work feeling that they receive no advice or support, there’s definitely more organizations could be doing. Here’s how an employee voice strategy could help.
Voice of the employee – what is it?
Whenever we’re grappling with important workplace concepts, we can always rely on the CIPD for a useful, easily digestible summary. They define employee voice as:
“The means by which people communicate their views to their employer and influence matters that affect them at work”
If we were to distill this a little more, our answer to “what is employee voice?” would be
“your employees’ involvement in decision making processes and how you encourage it”.
What is an employee voice strategy?
An employee voice strategy is how you encourage your workforce to have their say.
It’s worth distinguishing between ‘action’ and ‘strategy’ here. Running employee surveys as and when might be a useful action to take, but doesn’t constitute a strategy in itself. An employee voice strategy is a planned and sustained program of activities that encourage your employees to make their voices heard.
Check out the employee voice examples below for specific strategy building blocks, but make sure everything you create is built on these two key principles:
Commitment to a ‘speak up’ culture: if employees consider the risks of speaking up (whether delivering a positive input or a criticism) then they simply won’t bother. Make it rewarding to contribute (even if the feedback is negative) and more employees will do so.
Commitment to employee-centered leadership: senior management must take the lead in listening to employees and acting on feedback. High-visibility commitment to this at senior levels will increase the success of your employee voice strategy.
What are the benefits of employee voice?
Employee voice is good for your workforce. Colleagues feel you take their input seriously, and feel happier and safer in their roles as a result.
Secondly, it’s great for your business! In a nutshell, a great employee voice strategy encourages innovation, boosts performance and rubs off on that all important bottom line.
Employee voice and workplace engagement
Employees like to be involved in the decisions that affect them. CIPD data suggests that employees’ satisfaction with involvement in decision-making is significantly and positively related to their overall job satisfaction.
But employee voice doesn’t just affect how happy employees are at work. It also affects how invested they are in your organization and its long-term success.
Being able to participate in decision-making automatically draws your employees into the mission of your business. Rather than being there to follow orders, they become stakeholders that actively contribute to key business achievements.
This sense of ownership is called employee engagement, and it contributes significantly to long-term business success.
A pre-COVID Gallup poll found that companies with high employee engagement achieved:
10% higher customer ratings
17% higher productivity
20% higher sales
21% higher profitability
Importantly, as the Great Resignation continues to cause staffing issues for many businesses, employee engagement also breeds employee retention, making it that bit easier to hold onto your top performers in a tough market. Regularly surveying your employees to keep your finger on the pulse, and actually actioning the results is a simple employee engagement best practice to follow and help your team invested.
Employee voice and organizational performance
Why ignore your single biggest pool of ideas for improving your organization’s performance?
The link between employee voice and organisational performance is hard to ignore. Your employees know the ins and outs of your organization better than anyone. They can tell you better than anyone about which processes work, which don’t, where major silos exist and where slowdowns occur.
Yet all too often, segments of the workforce – frontline employees in particular – feel as if their input won’t be taken seriously. If you allow this type of sentiment to grow, employees won’t share valuable insights further up the chain.
You might not find any million dollar ideas here (but hey, don’t rule it out), but you can expect a million smaller bits of feedback that could help your business run that bit more effectively. The sum of all these parts: cost savings for you, increased satisfaction for your employees. Everyone’s a winner.
Employee voice and compliance
In a recent online poll, a stunning 93% of respondents thought that becoming a whistleblower would negatively impact their career. There are still huge barriers to overcome for employees who witness wrongdoing or poor practice and want to report it.
Encouraging a genuinely open culture via employee voice initiatives makes it so much more likely that your employees will speak up if they see something wrong. In some cases, this opportunity to fix issues internally can save a huge amount of financial and reputational damage.
The importance of employee voice and communication
We recently conducted a case study of frontline healthcare workers in the UK. When asked about the one thing they would say to senior management anonymously, their answers were pretty telling:
“Please answer my emails and questions. I am trying to do my best at work and would appreciate feeling listened to.”
“Communication please!”
“Listen to us! We have been here long enough to know what works.”
Creating an employee voice strategy formalizes two-way communication so that it’s not left to individuals to follow up. An organizational commitment to communication ensures that people feel heard on a personal level, whilst providing senior decision-makers with the tools to keep the conversation going.
Employee voice examples
Employee voice can be direct or indirect, formal or informal.
Direct employee voice involves speaking directly to senior management, line managers and other decision makers with feedback and suggestions. Indirect employee voice does this through an intermediary, such as an employee committee, representative, or union rep.
Formal employee voice is expressed through official, codified channels, such as employee surveys. Informal employee voice can be expressed wherever and whenever – a quick email to a line manager or dropping in for a conversation during a senior exec’s office hours are both good examples.
As you build your employee voice strategy, you’ll likely use a combination of all of these to make sure your workforce truly feels heard. Here are a few examples of employee voice initiatives that you could start in your business.
Regular ‘pulse’ surveys with a process for gathering and acting on feedback
Training on workplace practices and how to flag up when they aren’t being followed
Regular one-to-ones with line managers for two-way feedback and suggestions
Open office hours for senior managers and key decision makers
Open forums or meetings for discussing new initiatives and proposals
Transparent communication about company news and developments
You can extend the scope of your employee voice strategy using the right software tools. Arguably this is hugely beneficial for all businesses now, and for remote, hybrid and mobile teams this is essential.
An employee app with an instantly updated newsfeed, two-way content creation and the ability to support employee-generated content is a must-have, as is employee survey software,
Final thoughts on employee voice
Your employees are brimming with great ideas! Why lock that away?
It’s on you, as a workplace, to actively encourage employees to share these ideas. Don’t sit back and hope people come to you – shout about how receptive you are (and mean it) and how much you value ideas and contributions from across the business.
You’ll need:
The drive to create a culture where everyone feels able to speak up
A commitment at senior leadership level to open communication and two-way dialogue
The willingness to take the negative feedback along with the positive
Use the ideas above to get started. Focus on meaningful sustainable change and commit for the long term and you’ll get results.
Blink’s newsfeed, social sharing and two-way publishing features help you encourage employee voice. Book a free demo to find out how.
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