3 ways to unify your frontline workforce experience

Why ditching the PDF could be the best thing your comms team ever does

The dreaded PDF.

A multi-page document posted on the company intranet. No summary. No design flair. And zero chance everyone will actually read the thing — especially if you have any number of frontline employees. 

Dense blocks of text feel uninspiring and overwhelming in a world where real-time news, multimedia content, and bite-sized morsels of information are now the norm.

So why are so many internal communication messages still stuck in 2005?

“Please see the attached document” may have worked once upon a time. But for today’s workforce — used to scrolling and skimming — this kind of internal communication simply doesn’t cut it.

Let’s take a look at why static comms still linger — and how to move beyond them to deliver social-style communications your workforce will love.

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The PDF problem — and why it persists

Overreliance on PDFs is a tell-tale sign that your internal comms strategy needs a makeover. While the PDF was once the preferred format for read-only updates, in 2025, it’s something of a relic.

Here’s why:

• It’s slow, clunky, and hard to read (especially on mobile). Ever tried to read a PDF on a smartphone screen? It’s a miserable experience. Pinching. Zooming. Scrolling from side to side. Endless downloads clogging up your device storage. Even on desktop, downloading a PDF is a process. And reading lots of long-winded text requires a lot of time and concentration — neither of which is easy to come by in the middle of a busy work day.
  
  
• It doesn’t engage employees. People don’t tend to consume information in document form these days. They prefer feeds, stories, swipes, and reactions. They don’t read studiously through a text. They expect key messages to jump out at them. And PDFs definitely don’t meet the 8-second comms rule — they consistently fail to grab and hold employee attention.
  
  
• There’s no way to measure impact. PDFs are a one-way street. You send it out and hope it lands — but you never really know. Sure, you can track email metrics like open rates. But you can’t be sure that employees are actually reading the attached doc from beginning to end. It's hard to get a good sense of employee feedback. So you have lots of unanswered questions. Who read it? Did you grab their attention? Did they understand the information shared?

The charge sheet is pretty conclusive. PDFs aren’t fit for a modern communication strategy. And they’re especially frustrating for frontline workers. So why are some companies still using them?

It often comes down to habit — and a feeling that PDFs are an “official” form of communication. Some organizations have always done comms this way and no one has challenged the process yet.

Workplace tech is sometimes also to blame. Many legacy tools still default to static formats. So it’s easier to create a PDF than to explore modern internal communication channels.

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What “modern comms” actually looks like

Modern comms are dynamic, snackable, and social. They split an extended message (that would once have been presented as a PDF) into smaller, bite-sized morsels that are easy — and even fun! —to digest.

If you’re itching to ditch the document in favor of something that meets your audiences where they are, you’ll need help from all the following:

• News-feed-style content. Just like LinkedIn or Instagram, your company updates should flow like a content feed. Think attention-grabbing headlines, snappy captions, and plenty of images.
  
  
• Short-form video. The most popular form of content in recent years, short-form video deserves a place within your internal communication strategy. A quick 60-second vertical video from your CEO will make a much bigger impact than a 4-page memo.
  
  
• Real-time updates, not quarterly announcements. Because you share rolling company news with your workforce, there’s no need for lengthy quarterly updates. You can make your messages short and snappy, so it’s easy for employees to engage with them during a busy work day.
  
  
• Comments, likes, and quick polls to boost interaction. Top-down business communication is out. Two-way communication is in. Modern comms gives employees the chance to like, share, and comment on content — and even respond to polls — so they’re always part of the company conversation.

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Benefits of a modern internal comms strategy

Creating Insta-worthy internal comms isn’t about replacing PDFs with pretty pictures or chasing the latest comms trends. It’s about improving internal communication, meeting employees where they are, and delivering real business value.

Here’s what a modern internal communications strategy can do for your business.

Better reach, better recall

When messages are delivered in an engaging and accessible format, employees remember them. They’re also more likely to be hanging out on your internal comms channels in the first place, so reach improves too.

Faster adoption of updates

Need to roll out a new process? Launch a policy update? Shift a deadline?

Because modern comms are more likely to land, employees see and understand what’s happening within the workplace. Everyone pulls in the same direction, and behavior change and adoption of new policies get easier. 

More authentic connection to your workforce

Today’s workforce craves transparency and authenticity. They want to hear from leaders who sound like real people. And they want to see what their peers are up to, too.

Modern comms make that happen. It gives leaders a way to show up in a relatable way — via short-form videos, comments, and emojis. It gives employees space to voice their own perspectives and connect with one another.

A stronger sense of culture

With video, images, graphics, and interactive internal content, it’s easy to showcase company culture — and help employees feel part of it too.

Recognizing wins. Sparking conversation. Sharing behind-the-scenes moments. Modern comms is great at all of the above. So you make employees feel seen, celebrated, and part of something bigger. You create a shared sense of community — something a PDF could never do.

Measurable results

Unlike a PDF delivered via email, it’s easy to track the impact of modern comms delivered over a modern comms platform.

You can view analytics that tell you how many people are logging in, liking, clicking, and responding. You get the insight you need to hone your internal communication plan and double down on the content your workforce likes best.

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Practical shifts you can make now

The best internal communication tools give you everything you need to deliver a modern comms strategy. But if you’re not ready for a total platform overhaul, there are still things you can do to modernize your employee communications.

Start small and build momentum with the following ideas.

Turn long-form PDFs into bite-sized posts

Break that 6-page deck into a series of short news feed posts. Lead with a headline. Include a key takeaway. Add a graphic or visual. End with a call to action. Use bullet points, simple language, and short paragraphs that make it easy for employees to digest content on the go.

Introduce Stories and visual formats for leadership comms

Video is even easier to consume than short-form text — and it’s great for employee engagement too. A quick Story from your CEO or a candid photo from a site visit helps to humanize your leadership and build trust with employees.

Encourage employee-generated content

Employees are often experts in social media-style comms. And with the right guardrails in place, an internal creator culture can work wonders for your modern comms strategy. Give people a way to share their wins, co-worker shoutouts, and day-in-the-life content — and your feed will be filled with authentic, culture-building content, sure to engage your workforce. 

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Ready to put your PDFs out to pasture?

PDFs had their moment. They were useful when all we knew were static, desktop-based systems. But — in 2025 — they’re no longer an effective way to share information with your workforce.

Your people are busy. They’re mobile. They’re social media savvy. Frontline employees, in particular, need mobile-first comms that fit seamlessly into a jam-packed work day. If you want their attention and their trust, you have to meet all employees where they are, with content that actually connects.

That means rethinking formats, making your messages more fun and engaging — and producing content that feels less like a boring homework assignment. So bring in visuals. Spark a dialogue. And make life easy for employees with short, snappy snippets of content.

So next time you’re about to hit “Save as PDF,” pause. Could it be a feed post? A 30-second video? A quick poll? If the answer’s yes — skip the static doc and go modern. Your employees (and their attention spans) will thank you. Blink makes it easy.

‍Blink. And give your people the modern comms employee experience they deserve.

What makes him awesome?

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

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

How has Blink helped in his role?

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

What does he want to do next?

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

Nominated by: Michael Galbraith, Operations Manager

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Frontline employee engagement is no easy task. Your frontline employees work varying shift patterns and spend limited time at head office. They don’t tend to get much downtime during their working hours. And they aren’t always kept in the loop when it comes to company comms.  

These obstacles get in the way when you’re trying to connect frontline workers to company culture — and each other. And it’s why standard team-building activities usually fall short.

To make a success of your employee engagement strategy, you have to tailor activities to your deskless workforce. Otherwise, you risk disengagement, plus the productivity and retention issues that go with it. 

That’s why we’ve created this list of 18 employee engagement activities. These ideas are suited to busy frontline workers and their schedules. They’re designed to boost engagement and offer meaningful benefits to your employees.

Why you should care about employee engagement

Employee engagement is particularly important for frontline teams. That’s because deskless employees are less engaged and trusting of leadership than their desk-based peers. They’re also more likely to experience burnout.

This can lead to lower levels of productivity. It can also cause increased staff turnover rates, which already tend to be pretty high in frontline organizations. 

Employee engagement activities, like the ones we’ve included below, help frontline employees feel more connected to their company, role, and co-workers.

And, according to Gallup, improving your employee engagement rates can lead to a range of business benefits. Besides increased productivity and employee retention, these benefits include: 

• A reduction in safety incidents
• A decrease in absenteeism
• An increase in customer loyalty
• An increase in profitability

Employee engagement is good for employees — and it’s good for business. So let’s take a look at the activities that will help make it happen.

18 employee engagement activities (that work for a frontline workforce)

To engage your frontline workforce, you can incorporate any of the following employee engagement activities into your work days:

1. Engage with employees from day one

2. Celebrate employee milestones and contributions

3. Incentivize goals

4. Create a mentorship program

5. Offer perks that boost employee wellbeing

6. Give regular feedback

7. Encourage group chat

8. Provide shift swap tools

9. Plan a money management month

10. Launch a poll

11. Create online communities

12. Offer professional development opportunities

13. Launch a competition

14. Use video tools

15. Organize a volunteering day

16. Hand the mic to your leaders

17. Run Lunch and Learn sessions

18. Measure employee engagement

Team engagement ideas for frontline workers are different than for other workers. With their variable schedules, you can’t arrange lunch dates or after-work get-togethers. 

Here are a few employee engagement initiatives your frontline workers can benefit from.  

1. Engage with employees from day one

Start strong with comprehensive onboarding for new employees. 30% of new employees leave a job within the first 90 days of being hired.  So the onboarding experience is a key driver of employee engagement.

You can start with employee engagement activities like:

• Introducing new co-workers (digitally if it’s not possible to introduce everyone in person)
• Supporting new hires to login and familiarize themselves with your engagement tech tools
• Sharing a library of online resources that explain the company, their role, and company culture
• Assigning them a buddy or mentor

New hires need regular guidance, especially from managers. So don’t assume your workers are done onboarding after a few days or weeks. Instead, design a process that lasts for at least 90 days.

2. Celebrate employee milestones and contributions

Employee recognition improves engagement. Everyone likes to feel appreciated and valued by their employer.

So make recognition a regular feature on your company intranet or newsletter. Celebrate birthdays, volunteer work, and project milestones. Recognize the hard work and successes of employees.

You can also encourage peer-to-peer recognition. 75% of employees say that giving recognition makes them want to stay at their current organization longer.

Get co-workers to nominate each other for awards, then hold an award ceremony. Or simply get them to appreciate each other by sending a message on the company news feed.

3. Incentivize goals

Gamify the work environment by offering rewards in return for meeting goals. When employees perform well and meet targets, give them a gift you know they’ll like. Company rewards can include gift cards, discounts, cash prizes, an extra day of paid vacation, or the option to give a charitable donation.

But don’t dive right in. Before you announce your reward program, it’s a good idea to survey employees. Ask them which rewards they’d prefer so you can be sure that workers will be motivated by the prizes on offer.

4. Create a mentorship program

Do you want your employees to engage with each other, learn valuable skills, and help each other at the same time? Try rolling out a mentorship program.

Assign frontline workers a mentor within your organization. You can pair people from different departments and different levels of the company.

Then, set a regular schedule of mentor meet-ups. Mentors and mentees might like to conduct meetings online to better suit their work schedules.  

Also, offer guidance on how constructive meetings should be run. The aim is for mentees to set workplace goals and come up with a plan for achieving them.

5. Offer perks that boost employee wellbeing

A healthy worker is a productive worker. So encourage fun runs, offer free healthy snacks, and provide discount gym memberships.

Also, try to provide flexible scheduling when possible to give employees a better work-life balance. You’ll reduce employee stress and their risk of burnout.

To ensure frontline employees can access wellbeing activities, you can use a wellbeing app. Via this type of tool, you can provide employee engagement activities. Things like mindfulness and meditation sessions, nutrition planning, and health tracking, all via an employee’s mobile device.  

6. Give regular feedback

Gallup research shows that 80% of employees who say they’ve received meaningful feedback in the past week are fully engaged in their work.

So schedule activities where employees receive regular feedback from managers. Make it constructive and useful for employees, so it’s not an appointment they dread.  

Also, take a few hours each week to run an online open-door session. This is a time when employees can meet with managers digitally to ask questions and express any concerns.

7. Use the company news feed

A user-friendly employee app with a company news feed acts as a virtual water cooler. It’s a place where frontline workers, who may spend little time with co-workers, get to build stronger workplace relationships.

The comms team can support engagement by using the news feed to share a mix of essential and informal posts. They can announce news, celebrate birthdays, and share tips — encouraging workers to comment, like, and post.

Also, consider these engagement-boosting ideas:

• A weekly challenge — a photo contest, a trivia quiz, or a step-count competition
• Employee spotlight — highlight a different employee each week, describing their achievements, personal stories, and contributions
• A survey — whether the topic is something fun or something more serious, surveys are a great way to engage your workforce‍
• Health and wellness tips — share tips and articles related to physical and mental health, all suited to the demands of frontline roles

8. Provide shift swap tools

Frontline employees want greater levels of flexibility. It’s not always easy for frontline organizations to provide this when there are fixed shifts to fill.

But with shift swap tools, you make it easy for workers to achieve a little more work-life balance. They can swap shifts with co-workers without HR or managers having to get involved.

You can provide other self-serve tools, too. For example, via the Blink interface, employees can access their pay stubs, request time off, and view their shift schedules.

Automating HR tasks like this gives more control to your frontline workers and lightens the load for your HR team.

9. Plan a money management month

Money worries can affect an employee’s wellbeing and their engagement with work. And employee engagement activities are most effective when they provide real value for your workers.

So plan a money management month to help employees make informed financial decisions. Use quizzes and polls to engage employees in the conversation. Challenge employees to a low or no spend day. Provide money advice over 1:1 chats or via your company resource center.

This is exactly what they’ve done at supermarket chain, Tesco, where they recognized the strain that the cost of living crisis has put on employees. In response, they introduced a range of new initiatives:

• Skills training activities so employees develop store-wide skills and can pick up extra shifts
• A Pay Advance scheme that allows workers to access earned pay ahead of payday
• Personalized videos explaining to every worker how much their pension will be worth

10. Launch a poll

Polls give employees a chance to share their ideas and opinions. It’s a way to make their voices heard.

You can launch polls online, with the help of a tool like Blink Surveys. This allows you to quickly and easily find out what frontline employees are thinking about your chosen topic.

You might like to ask questions related to internal communications, company change, employee engagement, or simply the layout of the break room. Using this insight, you can make changes that make a real difference to your employees.

Just be sure to keep them updated with poll findings and your plan of action so they know that you’re really listening to what they have to say.

11. Create online communities

It’s easier to build connections with co-workers when you have something in common with one another. Online communities — based around shared interests — make it easy for frontline workers to find like-minded work friends.

So create space on your intranet for these types of communities. Perhaps you have a group that loves to run in their spare time. A gaggle of gamers. Or a bunch of bookworms. An online community helps bring these co-workers together.

12. Offer professional development opportunities

Training is a great way to improve workplace engagement. 71% of frontline workers have a strong desire for more learning opportunities at work. But a third of workers say that employers don’t invest enough in their growth.

Try to make training more accessible to your frontline workforce. Remember that it doesn’t have to take place in a classroom. You can put training resources into the palm of frontline workers’ hands with the help of the right technology.

You can offer micro-learning modules that workers can complete on mobile devices during a break. And provide fun online courses, with competitive and gamified features.

Also, remember that a lot of worker engagement can be tracked back to your managers. So ensure that managers get the employee engagement training they need, too.  

13. Launch a competition

Pit teams of employees against each other with a fun company-wide competition. For an engagement boost, link your competition to company goals and values.

For example, if you’re championing employee wellbeing, set workers a steps or fitness challenge.

If you’re focused on employee development, encourage workers to complete training modules by setting them a training challenge.

To highlight your commitment to a chosen charity, set a fundraising contest.

Alternatively, improve engagement on the company app with a quick photo caption competition.

Pick challenges that can be completed remotely, without teams having to meet up in person. Also, plan rewards for the winners and give regular updates via your comms channels to keep competitors engaged.

14. Use video tools

When you can’t meet face to face, video is the next best thing. You can film leadership updates, company events, and new product demos to give employees more insight into the organization and their roles.

Videos are a great option for town hall meetings. Post the video on your employee news feed and employees who can’t attend in person can watch the video back later.

Similarly, get new hires to film a video to introduce themselves and post it to the news feed. Their co-workers can comment on the post to say hello and help their new co-worker feel more at home.

15. Organize a volunteering day

Offering employees opportunities to volunteer is good for their wellbeing and engagement levels. You can make this activity more appealing to frontline workers by giving them paid time off to volunteer and by giving them flexibility over the days they choose.

Salesforce leads the way on this. They give employees seven business days every year to volunteer for one of the non-profit organizations that Salesforce formally supports — or one of their own choosing.

Jamie Olsen, senior director of Citizen Philanthropy at Salesforce says:

“These are the types of programs that people want and that are attracting them to companies right now. They better the community. They improve people’s happiness.”

16. Hand the mic to your leaders

According to Axios 2023 State of Workplace Communications report, 77% of leaders think the communications they share have the context employees need to do their jobs well. But only 46% of employees agree.

You can ensure everyone is on the same page by conducting a virtual Q&A session with one of your leadership team.

This type of event gives employees direct access to leadership. It bridges the gap between the frontline and head office. It also helps employees make their voices heard, which makes them feel valued and motivated.

The prospect of a Q&A can be a little daunting for leaders. But remember, a moderator can facilitate the session, reading out pre-submitted questions and managing live questions.

Also bear in mind that there are huge benefits to be gained. These include frontline insights, improved communication, and a stronger workplace culture.  

17. Run lunch and learn sessions

When employees have all the information they need to do their jobs well, they feel more engaged. So give employees access to an online library of resources, transferring any old paper documents to a digital format.

With this library, you can then run virtual Lunch and Learn sessions. This is where a group of employees watches or reads a selected resource. Afterwards, they discuss their reflections either over video call or via group messaging.

18. Measure employee engagement

The last on our list of employee engagement activities is one for your people team, not your frontline employees. And it’s a really important part of any employee engagement strategy.

Find out how you’re doing by tracking employee engagement KPIs. Track your employee net promoter score (eNPS), engagement with your intranet platform, or employee survey results.

You can then set goals and — by drilling down into the data provided by your platform analytics — find actionable areas for improvement.

Final thoughts: employee engagement activities and ideas

To make a success of frontline employee engagement, you need to:

• Provide employee engagement activities that offer real benefits for frontline employees
• Make these activities accessible to the frontline with the help of flexible, digital solutions
• Combine these activities with employee engagement best practices

You then create a culture that employees can play an active part in, no matter their schedule or location. You also motivate frontline workers to engage with company culture out of choice, making time for it in their busy days.

Incorporating the activities above into your frontline workplace is much easier when you have the right technology. And an employee engagement app comes in very useful. It’s a way to put all content and communication into the palm of every employee.

By creating online spaces where employees can gather, chat, share knowledge, and connect with company culture, you extend employee engagement to your hardest-to-reach employees — those on the frontline.

An app like Blink provides features including:

• Surveys and polls
• A news feed and group messaging
• An online library of resources
• Self-service functions

Take a look at Blink’s full range of features here.

9 ways to boost employee engagement in manufacturing organizations

The manufacturing industry has an engagement problem. Just 25% of manufacturing employees are engaged at work, making it one of the least engaged occupations in the US.

Employee engagement is the extent to which workers feel satisfied with their jobs and are aligned with organizational values. It also influences how able and willing they are to give 100% to their work. 

So the stat above is worrying. But it also presents an untapped opportunity for forward-thinking firms.

When you improve employee engagement, you create a stronger connection between employee and organization. This leads to better retention, productivity, and business results.

With Deloitte’s 2024 Manufacturing Industry Outlook listing skilled staff shortages as one of the industry’s primary challenges over the coming year, there’s never been a better time to put an employee engagement strategy into action.

Take a look at our ideas for manufacturing employee engagement to swim against the tide, attract additional employees and motivate the ones you already have.  

The importance of employee engagement in manufacturing

It is without question that employee engagement is important to every organization in every industry.

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Engagement has a direct impact on talent acquisition and retention. Staff are less likely to take time off sick and productivity sees a 14% uptick. Happier, more satisfied staff produce better, more cost-effective results for your company.

But in manufacturing, employee engagement can help you to overcome a range of industry-specific challenges. There’s a link between manufacturing employee engagement and all of the following:

• Quality management – engaged employees care more about company goals – they’re more likely to spot and report quality issues
• Safety and risk management – engaged employees pay more attention to the critical comms sent out, which can often include safety and risk management documents. Engaged employees also hold themselves accountable for their impact on the team and work environment, which will lead them to paying more attention to health and safety. 
• Customer experience – there’s a link between employee experience (EX) and customer experience CX) – engaged employees manufacture better products and provide a better service
• Business results – when quality, safety, and CX improve, you improve overall business results – costs go down, sales go up

Key factors influencing employee engagement in manufacturing

If you want to improve the manufacturing employee experience at your organization, you need a strategy. This plan sets out how every part of your company – not just your HR team – is going to work together to improve engagement.

Your strategy should also consider the key factors that affect employee engagement in the manufacturing workplace.  

Communication

Internal communication within a manufacturing organization can be tricky. 

To start, the majority of manufacturing frontline employees don’t have business emails. This creates an initial barrier to cross —of how to even communicate with these workers. 

Then you have teams in the office and on the factory floor, plus a variety of login, language, and time constraints. To give updates on safety protocols and equipment issues, and to share company culture, you need communication channels that deliver the right information to every employee.

The physical work environment

Your workplace should be a safe and comfortable environment for employees. Equipment and protocols have to support the physical wellbeing of workers. And staff need easy-access communication channels so they can report hazards and safety concerns.

Training and development  

Training and development are key in a fast-changing sector like manufacturing. So employees can deliver products to the expected standard. And so you can retain more of your workers by giving them new challenges and a clear career path.

Manufacturing employees are often responsible for repetitive tasks. And it can be hard for them to see how their work fits into the bigger picture. Workplace leaders bring meaning to employee work by recognizing their efforts and sharing company goals and values.  

9 ways to improve employee engagement in manufacturing

Looking to improve employee engagement at your manufacturing firm? The following ideas will help you enhance the employee experience and reap business rewards.

1. Invest in technology

AI, automation, robotics – manufacturing tech is coming on leaps and bounds. But technology doesn’t just improve manufacturing processes. You can use it to boost employee engagement, too.

An employee app like Blink supports easy communication across your organization. As a mobile-first solution, available via smartphone, you can put mandatory reads, new safety protocols, and essential company updates at the fingertips of every employee.

You also bring together the tech tools your teams already use. With next-level integration capabilities, Blink puts information and resources in one easy-access location. You provide a friction-free, user-friendly interface that your employees enjoy using.

Technology streamlines work – and keeps employees in the loop. Just be sure to choose tools suited to both frontline and desk-based workers, and accessible for those with a company email or without. In doing so, you create an equitable working environment and raise the engagement bar for everyone.

2. Open communication

In workplaces that prioritize honesty, personal openness, and mutual respect, workers are 80% more likely to report high emotional wellbeing. Open communication helps keep employees happy.

Image source

You can put the rumor mill out of action and adopt a more open communication style by letting information move freely between all members of your organization:

• Leaders keep employees in the loop, sharing key updates and supporting workers to understand the bigger picture.
• Managers have an open-door policy and regularly connect with their employees, offering feedback, updates, and – crucially – listening to what they have to say, too.
• Workers are encouraged to contribute – they collaborate with each other and feel comfortable raising issues and ideas with decision-makers

So how do you make this kind of communication a reality within your manufacturing organization?

Firstly, you need the right communication channels. These should be suited to your way of working and link every member of the workforce. In a large, modern workplace, a noticeboard crammed with paper memos simply won’t cut it.

Secondly, leaders need to leave egos at the door. Open communication means sometimes hearing things you don’t want to hear. Remember that negative feedback is often more valuable than good as it highlights areas for improvement. And encourage managers to lead by example.

Lastly, bear in mind that open communication can be taught. So train employees in information sharing, active listening, empathy, and teamwork. Teach them which communication channels are the most appropriate – and how often they should be using them. 

3. Translation capabilities

Most manufacturing organizations have a diverse, multinational workforce. And many frontline employees don’t speak English as a first language. So if you’re not already translating company comms, this is a really easy way to boost employee engagement across the board.

Resources, information, and internal communication should be available in the languages your workforce speaks. That way everyone receives the same message and enjoys equal access to information. This also eliminates the bottleneck that managers create, having to be the translator themselves and spending their hours on managing the communication channels that their employees don’t have access to.

For example,The Blink app supports over 100 languages. Contributors can translate posts and resources at the click of a button, making all of your content accessible to everyone on your team, regardless of the language they prefer to use.

With effective, accurate translation, you get everyone on the same page – and include everyone in your company culture.

4. Recognition programs

Recognition makes employees feel valued. When you appreciate and reward employees who go above and beyond, you motivate them and inspire other employees to follow suit.

So when an employee hits a professional or personal milestone, when someone highlights a safety issue before it becomes a hazard, or when a team consistently meets their targets, give them the public recognition they deserve. And encourage co-workers to praise one another, too.

You can give recognition in company meetings, on the blog, or in the newsletter. Or ensure you reach every member of staff with recognition updates by using a digital solution like Blink.

With Blink’s recognition feature, you can post instant, personalized messages to highlight staff achievements. You add a recognition post to the company news feed and start building recognition into your company culture in just a few clicks.

Praise goes a long way. But you may also like to consider perks and prizes. Gift vouchers, an extra paid day’s leave, or a catered team lunch can all incentivize your teams. For manufacturing firm, JFE Shoji Power, sweepstake competition prizes helped them to fill overtime shifts.  

But before you put a reward program into place, survey your staff. Find out what they really want in terms of recognition and reward. That way your recognition program stands to make the most impact.

5. Opportunities for advancement

It’s not just your office-based team who are keen to advance in their careers. 70% of frontline employees have applied for advancement opportunities. But this group doesn’t always get the resources or support they need to move up the career ladder.

When you’re looking to improve employee engagement in a manufacturing organization, allowing all employees to learn and advance within their roles is crucial. It gives employees something to work towards and feel excited about. And it makes them much more invested in doing a good job.

There are lots of things you can do to support career growth.

• Map out clear career goals with employees, offering training and mentor support to help them achieve them
• Give workers more responsibility during the standard work day, encouraging them to take ownership and make decisions where appropriate
• Cross-train and rotate jobs to bring variety to an employee’s workplace experience
• Ensure everyone is aware of training and career opportunities within your organization, highlighting typical career pathways and the perks of promotion

6. Regular, two-way feedback

As we mentioned earlier, open communication is an important part of employee engagement. You can facilitate this type of interaction by providing regular opportunities for two-way feedback.

Regular 1-to-1s between employees and managers help to maintain open lines of communication. These meetings are an opportunity to align goals, resolve conflicts, and identify areas for development.

Crucially, employees get the chance to raise queries and issues, too. They can provide insight into the manufacturing employee experience and any challenges they’re currently facing.

Just remember, this type of interaction needs to take place regularly, not just once or twice a year. To build trusting, open relationships, you need to build this type of communication into every single week.

That means managers spending time on the factory floor, seeing for themselves what excites, challenges, and frustrates workers. It means creating impromptu feedback opportunities. And it means using digital solutions to make feedback and communication easy, even when managers and workers aren’t based in the same location.

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7. Create a safe environment

The manufacturing industry in the US has some of the highest rates of occupational injury and illness. But you don’t get high rates of manufacturing employee engagement unless staff feel safe at work.

When employees feel safe:

• They can focus on their work
• They feel a greater sense of morale
• They feel valued and supported
• They trust in workplace leadership

Prioritize workplace safety and you also create a virtuous circle. Safe environments lead to better employee engagement. And engaged employees help to improve workplace safety going forward. There are 70% fewer safety incidents in the most engaged workplace environments than there are in the least.

Leaders and managers should regularly reassess the safety performance of equipment and protective wear. Careful plant design can help to mitigate safety risks, while clear risk assessment and safety protocols help workers identify and rectify issues before they lead to a safety incident.

But workplace safety isn’t just about having the right equipment and protocols. It’s about fostering a company culture with safety at its core.

To do this, you need psychological safety in addition to physical safety. This is where people feel safe voicing their opinions because they’re not worried about being judged, blamed, or punished.

Give employees a sense of psychological safety – and the right communication tools – and they’ll be more likely to report safety issues. Digital tools, rather than pen and paper methods, help safety information to travel both ways, reaching decision-makers and factory floor workers quickly.

8. Invest in training and onboarding

Manufacturing processes are prone to change. Employees need to keep their knowledge of tech and equipment, as well as their skills, up-to-date. This helps to create a safe environment for everyone working on the manufacturing team. And it boosts employee engagement, too.

Research from 2023 reveals that:

• 71% of manufacturing employees say that training and development is important to them in their work life
• 35% say they aren’t getting the quality of training and development they expect
• 28% said they would leave their employer soon because of poor training and skills development

Onboarding is not to be overlooked either. When new hires start working for a company, there’s lots to learn. Safety protocols. How to use equipment. Company values. Who they can turn to for feedback and support.  

Some organizations, lacking manpower, don’t put enough time and effort into onboarding. But this is where you lay the foundations of employee experience. And it can make or break an employee’s engagement with your firm.  

You can maximize onboarding benefits without spreading their staff too thin, with the help of a digital onboarding process.

Employees access guides, rules, and resources via the company portal. They can refer back to resources as and when they need them. It’s also easy for your teams to update resources with the most up-to-date information.

Managers and co-workers can then supplement this online learning with face-to-face input ensuring a positive experience for new employees.

9. Implement employee surveys

You can never really be sure how your staff are feeling unless you ask. So before you implement an employee engagement strategy for your manufacturing organization, it makes sense to conduct surveys.

As well as listening to employee concerns during manager 1-to-1s, surveys allow employees to give feedback on specific aspects of their role and on what they feel could be better within the organization.

Follow up with a regular schedule of surveys and you build a complete picture of the employee experience:

• Annual surveys give you insight into employee engagement progress
• Quick and easy pulse surveys give you an up-to-the-minute snapshot of employee sentiment
• Lifecycle surveys help you understand the challenges facing employees at each stage in their journey

To get feedback from as many employees as possible, you need to communicate openly. Tell employees about the insights your surveys have uncovered. And share your plan for acting upon their feedback as well as any results.

By engaging employees in every stage of the feedback process, they’re much more likely to respond next time you send out a survey request.  

You’ve read the tips. Now get some real-life inspiration! Aggregate Industries has already put these employee engagement tips into action. Find out how this manufacturing firm improved digital engagement across their frontline with Blink. Watch the webinar now.

In conclusion

In manufacturing, employee engagement can be transformational. When you improve the employee experience, you improve product quality, workplace safety, and customer service. You also find it easier to attract and retain staff in a tough labor market.

In an engaged workplace, information flows between all members of your workforce. Work is more meaningful thanks to clear company values and a sense of the bigger picture. Employees are empowered to do their best work, every day.

Getting to this point may feel like a challenge, particularly if you haven’t given much thought to employee engagement up to this point. But it’s a lot easier to make engagement improvements when you harness the power of technology.

With the help of a mobile-first employee app, you connect every employee, from your HQ office to the factory floor, regardless of their access to a company email or not. You can conduct surveys, give recognition, and provide easy-access training resources. You can translate information into a variety of languages.

Get an employee app on your team and you’ll find it easy to reach and engage every member of staff, whatever their preferred language and whatever their role.

What makes him awesome?

Chris has been with Stagecoach since June 2014, making this year his 10th anniversary! Starting out as a driver, he is based on the Lincoln depot.

Chris consistently goes above and beyond in his role, adapting brilliantly to late changes to his working rota and the work contained in it. The nature of the transport industry and staffing needs means no two weeks are the same, as we have to meet demand.

Chris is ultra reliable all the time and never balks at extra work. If Chris says he can't do something for us, there is always a very good reason for that. I feel he deserves recognition for all he gives to both the Training Team, and the drivers he is responsible for.

What does he want to do next?

Anything we want him to do, he will turn his hand to it. The sky’s the limit!

Nominated by: David Earl, Delegated Driving Examiner

Meet your newest digital water cooler: Your employee intranet

Whatever happened to the workplace water cooler?

Water cooler conversations were never just about small talk. They helped build stronger teams, sparked collaboration, and made employees feel part of a welcoming company culture.

In today’s hybrid and frontline workplaces, these moments are a rarity. But the need for connection is stronger than ever.

‍83% of employees want their workplace to provide a sense of community, with more than a third willing to trade higher pay for meaningful workplace friendships or social enrichment.

Enter the modern employee intranet: A digital water cooler that supports seamless internal communication and boosts employee engagement. It’s a tool that amplifies company culture and gives all employees — no matter where they work — the connection and sense of belonging they crave.

Ready to take your intranet from dusty document repository to thriving social hub? Here, we look at how to upgrade the employee intranet — and why having a digital space for connection is so important in 2025.

The evolution of workplace connection

Remote and hybrid work have transformed employee communications. There’s less opportunity for organic office conversations, which means workplace relationships and employee engagement suffer.

This is nothing new for frontline workers who rarely step into HQ. Relying on paper memos and word-of-mouth messaging, they often miss out on essential company news and coworker camaraderie. 

But times are changing. Many employers now recognize the critical role connection plays in employee engagement, retention, and productivity. And they’re turning to corporate intranets to bridge the gap.

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Rethinking the employee intranet: From static portal to social hub

You may be wondering how the intranet — that clunky and outdated software — can solve the employee connection conundrum. Traditional intranets, often relegated to the dark corners of the tech stack, have functioned as a digital filing cabinet. Certainly not a space for water cooler conversation.

But internal communications have moved on.

The modern employee intranet is dynamic and mobile-first. It’s designed to connect employees across locations — offering a single source of truth and need-to-know company updates. But also a sense of belonging, a deeper understanding of company culture, and a more satisfying employee experience.

Imagine this: A delivery driver rarely crosses paths with his teammates. With limited access to an old, static intranet that he has to access via a shared desktop computer in the depot, he feels like he’s working solo.

But, thanks to a new and improved employee intranet and personalized experience, he can check the company’s social feed on his smartphone during breaks. In one central location, he can add a reaction to a recognition post for top-performing drivers and even join a group chat where colleagues swap route tips.

Suddenly, he’s part of something bigger.

Social features that make modern intranet software more interactive and effective include social feeds, secure chats, Polls, Stories, and peer recognition tools.

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How to make your intranet a go-to digital water cooler (paper cups not necessary)

Ready to turn your modern intranet solution into the digital workplace hotspot? Here’s how.

Make it social

The best employee intranets replicate your favorite experiences on social media platforms. When employees can comment, react to posts, and share their own content, you create more compelling user experiences and make your platform more engaging.

Use bite-sized, engaging updates

Keep it snappy. Use short and snappy videos, GIFs, and eye-catching graphics. This type of content attracts attention and fits seamlessly into the busy schedules of both desk-based and frontline workers.

Encourage leadership visibility

Have executives and managers actively post, share insights, and respond to employee comments. Employees are more likely to engage with your intranet when they see that leadership is invested in two-way communication.

Leverage personalization

Relevant content is engaging content. So ensure employees see content relating to their role, location, tenure, and team. When staff enjoy a highly personalized intranet experience, they're more likely to log in regularly — boosting key metrics like employee adoption.

Make it accessible

All employees should be part of the conversation. So you need an intranet that your frontline employees, remote workers, and desk-based staff alike. Streamline the experience, provide a user-friendly dashboard, and make all essential features available via mobile access to create a solution that works for everyone.

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Turning employees into active intranet participants

You can build it. But will they come? And will they participate?

To prevent tumbleweed moments on your intranet platform, employee interaction is essential. Here’s how you can nudge workers in the right direction and develop a modern intranet culture that employees are excited to be part of.

Interactive content

Ask questions. Launch polls. Create employee recognition posts and ask teammates to add their messages of congratulations. Coworker connection is much more likely when you invite employees to join the conversation.

Informal content

Company updates are an employee intranet essential. But to foster connection, you need to leave space for informal conversation. So create fun content — like caption contests, a question of the day, and photos of the latest team event — to make your intranet more relatable and appealing.

Employee-generated content

Nothing inspires the reactions and comments of coworkers like employee-generated content. You can encourage employees to post their own content with a company-wide content generation contest — or by identifying and supporting employee influencers.

Gamification

A spot of good old-fashioned competition can prompt the intranet behaviors you want to see. A points system, a leaderboard, or digital badges inspire employees to take a more active role in the company intranet.

Communities

With Communities, employees can build meaningful connections with a smaller group of coworkers. These community-driven spaces link employees to their teammates or to coworkers with shared interests — and they’re great at driving engagement and participation.

These social communities are especially beneficial for frontline and remote teams who rely on digital collaboration tools to sync up with their colleagues.

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Measuring success: Is your digital water cooler thriving?

Once your digital water cooler is a hive of employee interaction and conversation, it’s time to measure its impact. Use analytics and employee feedback to assess engagement and optimize employee intranet platform performance.

You can track internal communication metrics by looking at:

• Intranet adoption rates
• Number of likes, comments, and shares
• Number of employee-generated posts
• Number of daily logins

Supplement this data with employee surveys. Ask employees what they think about modern intranet features, functionality, interactivity, and the types of intranet content they prefer.

You can then use this information to make meaningful adjustments to your intranet solution, making it more engaging and keeping up-to-speed with evolving employee expectations.

Give workers the social connection they crave with a modern employee intranet

A modern, social intranet isn’t just a tool for sharing information. It’s a powerful driver of culture and connection across the entire company — and a strategic part of your digital transformation.

Populate your employee intranet with key features, functionality, and content, and it becomes the gathering space of your digital workplace. It offers water cooler moments that enrich the digital employee experience.

Your intranet strategy doesn’t just benefit your people — it benefits for your broader business goals, too. By creating a deeper sense of connection and a more inclusive corporate culture, you can improve employee productivity, engagement, and retention.

‍Blink. And create uplifting water cooler moments — with a new and improved employee intranet.