“Can you just send this out?” — Why internal comms deserves better

How engaged your frontline employees are directly impacts how successful they are as a team. If you can encourage engagement then productivity, quality, care, commitment, and retention surely follow.

Yet, no matter how clear the correlation is, it’s not always as clear how to achieve frontline employee engagement.

In this guide, we share expert insights for your employee engagement strategies — helping you create a positive working environment that inspires satisfaction and success.

From understanding the importance of communication and collaboration across the organization to leveraging technology for better team performance, this guide will cover the activities and tools needed to foster an engaging frontline culture.

The current state of frontline employee engagement

Recent employee engagement statistics tell us that only 21% of employees are engaged at work.

The percentage is likely lower when it comes to the frontline.

That’s because frontline employee engagement is often handled as an afterthought. There’s a misconception that when workers are out in the field, then they don’t ‘need’ to feel connected to the wider business. Or that because their role doesn’t require a computer, they won’t want digital tools to improve their experience.

We see from our work with frontline organizations that these assumptions are wrong, and that frontline employees do want to feel engaged.

Communication starts to flow much more freely when the right tools are in place (as much as 10x more for certain Blink customers); frontline staff are more willing and able to provide feedback (survey responses increase by 300%); and you can help almost every employee to better connect with the company’s mission and vision.

So why do so many attempts at frontline employee engagement fall flat?

Workers might resist not because they don’t want to engage, but because they have become wise to empty frontline engagement projects and initiatives. The programs that fail are the ones that misunderstand what frontline workers need to succeed — or that ask too much of them while delivering too little.

“Great, another thing to remember”

“It’s not a natural part of my day”

“It’s a one-off thing”

“It’s too hard to use”

To help create frontline employee engagement initiatives that work, we first have to understand why these employees have become disengaged in the first place.

Why frontline employees become disengaged

1. Lack of the right technology

According to Blink research on the health and social care space:

• Over one-third (34%) of employees can’t easily access workplace systems on their mobile
• Nearly 20% aren’t using their company’s intranet
• … and two-thirds of this ~20% aren’t even sure how to log on

Disengagement with — or lack of access to — company platforms leads to missed information and feelings of isolation. At best, this can impede a frontline worker’s ability to do their job (maybe they miss an important update or never receive new guidance). At worst, it distances them so much from the rest of the business that they exist in their own, dissatisfied silo.

52% of frontline workers say they would leave their job over tech tools, making leveraging the right technology a very easy win for keeping your frontline engaged and retained.

But we can’t take the same tech stack that desk-based workers use and apply it to the frontline.

As Ian Gordon, former President of Administrative Operations at Elara Caring, told us in an interview:

“Being a frontline worker can feel like you’re on an island by yourself, and the solutions that you need must be quicker and more succinct. You can’t spend a lot of time signing in and navigating. You need to get to your answer now.”

The ‘right’ technology for frontline engagement will:

• Be intuitive and frictionless
• Allow the most essential, day-job-critical messages to cut through
• Facilitate the workflows that are most important to the ‘deskless’ front line: shift swapping, accessing pay stubs, providing feedback, and so on.

If your frontline tools don’t deliver on the above, then your frontline employee engagement efforts will be wasted.

2. No sense of belonging

Frontline disengagement can also result from a lack of community.
80% of frontline employees say that they are afforded few connection opportunities at work, according to McKinsey research.

And even if these opportunities exist, frontline workers aren’t always engaging with them. McKinsey found that frontline workers were taking part in the below methods of community and connection just once a month or less:

• Internal corporate communications (e.g., town halls)
• Watercooler talks with co-workers
• Employee resource groups
• Other work-related events

Touchpoints like these are all essential for building team spirit and rapport within frontline teams. And if workers aren’t engaging with them, then this speaks volumes about the types of community events that frontline leaders should invest in.

The best way to learn what works for your frontline is to ask them.

We touch on the concept of outside-in thinking in our whitepaper, ‘The frontline engagement roadmap: A step-by-step guide to driving transformative change’. Download your copy today.

3. No clear development opportunities

If you think that all engaged frontline workers are ‘rockstars’ — satisfied with mastering the job they have today rather than looking to step up — then think again.

There’s a very good chance you have ‘superstars’ in your frontline workforce as well. When engaged in a role, these employees are further motivated by the idea of career progression and will actively seek out opportunities to advance and develop. 70% of frontline workers apply for advancement opportunities when they are offered, seeking greater financial security, learning, and development.

But how easy is it for these employees to find this professional development?

Lack of development opportunities came up as a theme — and a reason for leaving a role — among the health and social care workers we spoke to in 2021. Further research has found a similar trend in the retail space, where 32% of frontline workers cite a lack of career development as a turnover factor.

“The vast majority of deskless workers (97%) report that they would stay in their current roles if their conditions improved. Such conditions go beyond a pay rise, meaning that HR needs to offer deskless workers the same opportunities as their deskbound counterparts.”

Frontline leaders should strive to offer clear development opportunities to frontline workers, plus training and learning resources wherever helpful. This could include anything from providing access to relevant training courses and a Hub for training materials, or offering them direct opportunities to move into managerial roles.

There’s also something to be said for training and empowering first line managers to help frontline workers develop. 73% of frontline employees agree that having a manager who supports their career progression is key to career advancement.

4. They don’t feel listened to

The 2021 Blink research we mentioned earlier was called our Listen campaign. And it got its name for a reason.

In it, we surveyed 1,000 frontline UK health and social care workers to find out how their day-to-day lives could be improved. And one word cropped up again and again: listen.

Over one-third of the frontline workforce feels their organizations would fail to act on employee feedback — and that needs to change if we want them to keep providing it. To truly empower your frontline employees, you need to show them that you value what they do and that you hear what they say.

No more out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality. No more assuming your frontline is ‘getting on just fine’. If your frontline workers don’t feel heard, your engagement strategy isn’t working. It’s as simple as that.

5. No culture of, or channels for, recognition

Nearly 4 in 10 (37%) frontline workers don’t feel as valued as their desk-based counterparts. We were saddened to learn this from our Listen research, but not all that surprised.

After all, the recognition strategies that work for desk-basked employees can’t be efficiently deployed for the front line. A line manager can’t send a team-wide or company-wide email celebrating someone’s contribution. You can’t all get together at 5pm on Friday to toast the week’s achievements.

As with the tooling and community-building tactics we looked at above, frontline recognition requires a unique approach. How can you bolster both technology and community to give credit where credit is due?

It’s also important to make sure that feedback is given as soon after the event as possible. So ask yourself: what are the platforms that allow a quick turnaround of employee recognition in a fun, engaging way?

Help employees feel valued with Blink

Frontline employees deserve to be recognized for the hard work they do: for being the backbone of an organization’s success.

Without this, it’s no wonder they become disengaged.

6. Inefficient communication strategies

In our research, almost one-fifth of workers state that they don’t receive relevant internal communications from their employer organization.

An effective comms strategy combines group and 1:1 Secure Chats, regular Feed updates, engaging company news announcements, and more — all wrapped up and delivered in a platform or platforms that frontline workers want to engage with.

Given anything less than this, frontline teams can feel left out of the loop and unable to participate fully in their organization’s culture.

Get your frontline-centric communication strategy right and you can expect to see frontline employee engagement pay off in a myriad of ways.

Blink’s best advice for frontline employee engagement

Use tools that work for them

Your frontline staff need digital tools that work for them: where they need them and when they need them. From seamless integration with your current tech stack, to push notifications, single sign-on capabilities, and more, there are a number of tools that make it easy for frontline employees to engage on the go.

A frontline engagement app like Blink allows your workforce to easily access everything from one single platform. We’re talking company news, training materials and resources, inter- and intra-team communications, feedback surveys — the list of features keeps growing.

No more complex systems to navigate or multiple passwords to remember. Blink provides you with a simple, intuitive mobile app that gives your frontline employees the power to stay connected and engaged.

Book a free demo today

Conduct regular pulse surveys

Your frontline staff are the eyes, ears, and face of your organization. Listen to what they have to say, and you can learn more than you’d realize about your product or service, how happy customers are, and how well your processes are working today.

Pulse surveys offer up a consistent and user-friendly way to gather frontline feedback, no matter where your teams are working.

The data you gather can help identify areas of improvement — both internal and external to the business. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on all the essential metrics: frontline employee engagement, customer satisfaction, plus revenue and ROI.

💡 Learn more about How To Conduct Your First Employee Engagement Survey today.

Listen to and action feedback

Remember that statistic about frontline workers not believing their feedback will be actioned? Now is your time to win back their trust.

Remember, employee engagement should be earned. It won’t be given freely.

As a frontline leader, making sure that feedback is heard and put into action should be an essential part of your wider engagement strategy.

Be open and honest with the results of your surveys — and communicate what you’re doing as an organization to action this feedback.

Never present results as better or worse than they actually are, and always encourage an open dialogue about the outcomes of feedback initiatives. If you want your employees to offer their feedback on an ongoing basis, you need strategies that communicate to them how you’re hearing what they say.

You could even share your survey findings in a company-wide Feed announcement, along with specific objectives the organization has taken from the results and when these new initiatives will be put into place.

This doesn’t add any extra pressure to your frontline, but it does make your employees feel heard and valued.

Create engagement champions

Setting off on a frontline employee engagement transformation isn’t easy — or, it doesn’t feel easy at the start, at least.

We look at the power of allies in our frontline engagement roadmap and Ian Gordon also referenced how influential they can be:

“You need to find someone who has the energy, passion, and is empowered enough to lead the initiatives. That person could be the project lead, but preferably it’s someone from the frontline or with frontline experience. The frontline needs to have that relationship with management all the way up and be comfortable to share their concerns.”

Ian Gordon, Former President of Administrative Operations at Elara Caring

These allies, or engagement champions, can help drive initiatives both top-down and bottom-up, facilitating two-way communication between management and staff. They can also support the adoption of new tools, ensuring that frontline workers are comfortable and engaged as new technologies are implemented.

Blink Champions are the cornerstone of a successful launch with the frontline’s leading engagement app. Their role includes:

• Working with other Champions to ensure the launch is a success
• Raising awareness of Blink
• Encouraging others to use the app
• Being active in the Feed
• Educating their team on how to use the app
• Being an advocate for Blink
• Becoming an expert on Blink

Get commitment from every level of management

Ideally, you’d have engagement allies from the front line to your C-Suite.

If your company’s mission is to boost frontline engagement, then every staff member in an authority position needs to show their support. Yes, engagement should be enabled by managers buying into the right digital solutions, but it should also be held up by your company’s values and all aspects of your leadership.

Our research also demonstrates that frontline staff want senior management to listen to them, communicate with them, and respond to them. A simple, yet frequently forgotten, task.

First line managers could be a particularly interesting group to engage with: making up 50% – 60% of a company’s management and directly supervising as much as 80% of the frontline workforce.

When employees interact with their first line managers daily, it’s essential that those individuals set an example and demonstrate engagement through their behavior.

Managers should also be available to listen to frontline workers and act upon any issues they identify. This will help drive the desired engagement from the bottom up, inspiring the workforce to keep engaging regularly.

Recognition and reward

Forward-thinking companies are already investing in co-worker recognition tools. This helps deliver meaningful recognition and rewards to their employee base, reminding employees how valued they are.

Such approaches can quickly encourage motivation, nurture employee wellbeing, raise employee morale, and boost engagement levels across the board.

You should also consider directly rewarding engagement (interactions with your employee app, for example) to reinforce and reward the behavior, creating a positive ripple effect to inspire more engagement.

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What your business stands to gain

Frontline employee engagement = fewer absentees

Teams within the top 20% of employee engagement scores realize a 41% reduction in absenteeism. Imagine what your frontline organization could do with fewer empty shifts and less time spent finding staff to cover sickness — plus the additional revenue this will inevitably create.

Frontline employee engagement = lower turnover, higher retention

The cost of replacing an employee can range anywhere from 50% – 250% of their annual salary. So it’s no surprise that 87% of HR experts consider employee retention one of their highest priorities.

Why are we telling you this in an article about employee engagement? Because engaged workers are more likely to stay with their employers.

Disengaged workers will either be in an active search for their next role or much easier to sway should a desirable opportunity arise elsewhere. If you can create an engaging employee experience, however, you’ll retain your best talent.

Frontline employee engagement = a healthier bottom line

Engaged frontline employees deliver better quality of service, leading to customer satisfaction and loyalty.

92% of business executives believe that engaged employees perform better. And with engaged frontline workers performing at their best, better business outcomes are a natural development.

Bottom line improvements for highly engaged organizations include:

• 10% higher customer ratings
• 18% higher sales
• A 23% difference in profitability

In this way, an increase in engagement from frontline employees can be felt by every stakeholder, in every department, and at every level of the business.

What now?

Achieving operational excellence is a challenge on its own. Doing so while also investing in employee experience can leave frontline management teams feeling overwhelmed.

So let’s break it down into simple steps.

If you understand why frontline employees disengage, what motivates them, and how to keep them engaged, then you can establish a frontline engagement strategy that truly works.

Companies can unlock tremendous value from their workforce, demonstrate a real commitment to their employees, and drive positive business outcomes — all by leveraging the power of frontline employee engagement.

How can Blink help?

At Blink, we understand the importance of engaging with frontline employees. We’ve helped over 250 frontline organizations increase engagement and performance throughout their frontline.

Our frontline engagement app helps you measure and manage employee engagement in real-time to drive sustained improvements across your business. With our advanced analytics and tailored solutions, you can quickly identify problem areas, create action plans, and keep your employees engaged.

With our comprehensive suite of solutions, we’ll help you unlock the power of your frontline and achieve the results you’re looking for.

Get started with a free demo

Experts predict that the staffing industry will bring in a record $185.5 billion in revenue in 2022. That’s because many companies are finally learning that people are one of the most important assets in a business. 

Investing in attracting and hiring the best talent makes sense, but recruitment is only half the battle. To maximize the benefits of your recruiting efforts, you need to create a work environment where your team members feel connected, energized, and motivated.

Highly engaged organizations have been found to benefit from a 23% increase in profitability due to improved retention, customer ratings and sales.  

Operating with a solid organizational communication strategy is the key to building a culture of engagement where you retain employees instead of fighting turnover.

In this article, we'll explore how you can achieve that. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Why communication is the key to employee engagement 

The Harvard Business Review describes an engaged employee as someone who's committed to their employer and identifies with their organization, has job satisfaction, and feels energized while at work. 

For human resource or communications leaders, this creates two primary objectives to improve employee engagement: creating a positive relationship between employee and employer, and enabling job satisfaction. 

Internal communications is essential for creating that positive relationship since it fosters trust and keeps leadership better informed about the employee experience. As for job satisfaction, communication is a valuable tool that can reinforce positive work experiences. 

When employees are well-informed, they’re better engaged with the business, and this leads to all kinds of positive business outcomes.

Communication builds trust 

According to a 2020 Brunel University London study, internal communications strategies such as open communication channels, information sharing, and consistent feedback result in higher co-worker trust and more engagement at work.

Communication informs leadership

Good communication works in both directions. It helps leadership convey values and big-picture goals and enables employees to share their opinions, concerns, and questions with decision-makers. 

Too often, employees feel that company leadership is out of touch with the needs and priorities of the workforce. Internal communication in the form of two-way conversations bridges that gap and enables leaders to make better-informed decisions about matters that affect their teams. 

Likewise, when employees can see proof that leadership receives their feedback and acts on it, this encourages them to speak up more.

Communication makes people feel valued

A report by McKinsey found that 54% of employees that left their jobs didn’t feel valued at work and 51% lacked a sense of belonging.

You may value all your employees highly, but if you don’t communicate it, it will be difficult to keep employee retention numbers up.

Creating initiatives that increase recognition helps your employees feel valued. You can also use internal communications to share the company’s vision and help employees understand where they belong in the big picture.

Communication improves efficiency 

In competitive rowing, there’s a person on the team known as the coxswain (or “cox”) who communicates orders to the rest of the team to keep them motivated and working together. 

It’s the same in the workplace. Keeping your employees informed and aligned enables them to do their jobs well. And when people feel empowered to do their jobs, satisfaction, energy, and motivation all increase.

Frontline focus: the increased importance of communication in frontline organizations 

Creating a sense of belonging and supporting employee engagement is especially important when you have a frontline (or 'deskless') workforce. 

However, there are also more challenges to overcome when employees are spread out at various locations, don't have frequent or formal in-person interactions with management, and are heavily reliant on paper documentation.

Yoobic’s 2022 Frontline Employee Survey illuminates some gaps that can lead to a lack of trust and engagement.

Although 83% of frontline employees want a workplace they can believe in and trust, only 45% believe management cares about their mental health. Another 81% say they want to feel valued by management, but only 38% feel connected to management and headquarters.

To make matters even more challenging, most frontline workers don’t have access to a work email or central communications platform where they can feel connected. 

Many workplace communications solutions were built for desk-based office workers, and aren't convenient for the needs of frontline staff, leaving them feeling even more distant.

This creates a knowledge gap for frontline organizations where management isn’t fully aware of what's happening on the frontline and is, therefore, unable to connect with and make the right decisions for its employees.  

Communication strategies to improve employee engagement 

By implementing these five effective communication strategies, you can energize your workforce — whether they’re remote workers, on the frontline, or in the office.

Ultimately, these strategies will help you build a sense of community where employees feel free to share their opinions and ideas and foster relationships based on meaning and growth.

So here's how to improve employee engagement through communication.

1. Implement transparency and visibility from the top down

Workplace trust works best when it’s implemented from the top down. A 2022 survey by People Element highlighted significant areas for improvement in communication from leadership. 

Specifically, it found that:

• 44% of employees don’t think there’s sufficient communication from senior leadership
• 40% say that leadership doesn’t communicate a clear vision of the future
• 39% still feel that leadership doesn’t value employees

Without clear and transparent communication from leadership, it’s easy for employees to feel uninformed about the decisions that impact them and disengage from the workplace. 

Similarly, as a senior leader, you may get trapped in an “optimism bubble” when it comes to communication. In other words, you might overestimate your approachability, listening, and communication skills and underestimate how much your title and position make it hard for some employees to communicate with you. 

If you want to build a more connected organization, leadership visibility and approachability need to be part of your engagement strategy. 

Ensure management is communicating regularly, with purpose and opening up a two-way conversation as a result. Avoid sending “faceless” announcements and memos. Instead, have individual leaders sign their names on important messages. Take simple steps like adding photos of leadership next to their email signatures, so there’s more of a human element to their communication.  You can take a look at different email signature examples to get an idea of how to personalize these signatures

2. Encourage two-way communication and listen

Open and honest two-way communication sounds simple, but it doesn’t happen automatically. You have to build communication processes that facilitate employee feedback and then prove that you’re listening. 

Start by giving your employees a few different channels to provide feedback to higher-ups. This creates more accessibility and lets people choose the communication method they feel most comfortable with.  

It's important to go beyond the annual survey. Unstructured feedback in the form of multidirectional dialogue has huge potential as it provides insights into ideation, opinions, and concerns that let you capture your employees' inner voices.

When you have a better grasp of your employees’ voice, you can feed that into the messages you put out and integrate it into your strategies, objectives, values, and the company mission.

Your employees' ideas and opinions are excellent resources, but if you don’t provide space for free dialogue, you’re leaving that gold mine completely untapped. 

Once you have your feedback channels, make sure to actively promote them and send confirmation every time you receive communications. If employees feel that their words have disappeared into thin air, they won’t be encouraged to continue providing information. 

3. Centralize your communication technology

Technology is an excellent way to make your communications accessible to everyone. But too many communication tools and platforms can make it harder for employees to stay engaged. 

Nadir Ali, CEO of Inpixon, explains that people at large companies may have “10 or more work-related apps, each with a different interface and operating characteristics.” This means that even figuring out the right app to use becomes a challenge.

Instead, you can use an employee app like Blink, which gives your employees access to the people, processes, communications, and applications they need for their jobs. 

Blink was designed for the needs of frontline workers and offers a unique and simple user experience across corporate or personal devices. Desk workers or management can access the app on a computer, while frontline and remote employees can find all the same information on a tablet or mobile device.

With one central platform at the core of your communications, you can create more accessibility without adding complexity or sacrificing consistency. This will make your employees' lives easier, save them a huge amount of time, and leave them more capacity to do their “real jobs,” all of which will result in their engagement and loyalty in return. 

4. Create community through recognition, support, and inclusion

Effective internal communication builds community. You can do that by using recognition, providing support, and supporting inclusion.

Recognition isn’t just about celebrating good work and achievements. It’s also about showing empathy and letting employees know you understand and appreciate the challenges they face at work. 

In other words, be explicit about appreciation and supporting employee mental health. Demonstrating that you consider your employees’ well-being is a key factor for engagement.

This is especially important for frontline workers who often bear the burden of implementing organizational change at the customer level and may feel less connected to headquarters because they’re not working out of a central office.

It’s also crucial for leaders to ensure that the culture of support applies to all employees. In recent years, we’ve seen organizations prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the hiring process, but it shouldn’t stop there. 

Employees with different backgrounds and life experiences need to be supported, encouraged, and made to feel a part of the broader community to stay engaged and reach their full potential. Your internal communications can support this by creating employee resource groups that help people find their “tribe” at work and provide a safe and secure environment where DE&I issues can be discussed.

Ultimately, recognition and community building work best when they’re ingrained into the company culture.

One of the best ways to make recognition a regular practice (instead of an occasional one) is by attaching it to existing processes. Look at the communications you regularly send out and see where you can add messaging that celebrates wins and acknowledges current challenges. 

5. Use messaging to inspire and energize

As companies continue to deal with the effects of the great resignation and more recently "quiet quitting", leaders have to figure out how to mobilize and motivate workforces dealing with burnout. Every communications initiative is an opportunity to energize your employees and create a more engaged workforce. 

Internal communications can be boring if you’re not thinking about your messaging. Instead of falling into the trap of simply spewing information, craft messaging that inspires your workforce. 

Implement useful and engaging communications that help employees visualize a common goal to strive for, and invite them to help you craft that future. In other words, remember that while your employees need communications that answer “what,” “where,” and “how,” they also need a “why” that keeps them going. 

In addition to providing your employees with the services and tools that fit into their busy days and help them do their jobs, make sure you are using that space to invite engagement with content that makes teams gravitate towards that space naturally. 

To do this, you can unleash user-generated content such as on-the-job stories, celebrations of small wins, and peer recognition. Authentic content generated by your employees is still the best employee branding available. When employees are given the freedom to talk about their work, they feel seen and heard, and they keep the conversation and engagement going. 

Final thoughts: communication strategies to boost engagement in the workplace

Many companies are still figuring out how to bring energy back into the workplace while dealing with employee burnout to avoid attrition. 

What you need to know is that your communication plan is one of the best tools you have to re-engage your workforce. With the right initiatives in place, you can build trust, make your employees feel valued, and make sure leadership has the information they need to create a better workplace. 

Blink’s frontline engagement app facilitates these strategies that improve two-way conversations between employees and leadership and creates a space which invites sustainable and organic engagement. 

Get your free demo today to find out more.

For this week’s Life at Blink, we’re excited to shine the spotlight on Joe Whitney! As a Senior Sales Development Representative, Joe has been an integral part of the team for the past year. Starting out as an SDR, Joe’s dedication and growth have made a real impact at Blink. Join us as we explore Joe’s journey, his role in shaping our sales efforts, and what he believes makes Blink a special place to work.

How long have you been at Blink?

I’m coming up on two years — in about five days, it'll be my Blinkiversary. There is a lot going on so it’s gone by really quickly.. Looking back, it feels like these two years have flown by. So many other things outside of Blink seem to have moved a bit slower. But life moves fast, and the older you get, the quicker it seems to go.

What initially attracted you to join Blink?

I have kind of a funny story — well, not exactly funny, but it's the story of how I got to Blink.

For the eleven years before I joined Blink, I was a professional hockey player. I played four years at Boston College, and after college, I signed with the New Jersey Devils to play professional hockey. It was an amazing 11- year journey.

It took me to a lot of different places — I lived in San Antonio, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Hartford, Connecticut; Hershey, Pennsylvania; New Jersey; and then over to Sweden and Germany. My family and I lived there for two years each. It was a great experience, and I learned a lot of valuable life lessons from seeing different cultures and parts of the world. I think it made me more well-rounded, and I’ve been able to bring some of those experiences into my work at Blink and in sales.

It was funny because when we started having kids, my wife and I never imagined we’d be taking two kids to live in Germany or Sweden for two years. But I wanted to continue my career, so we made the move. We packed all our bags and flew to Sweden. I played in a city called Linköping, and as soon as we landed, it felt like our new home, and the people were incredibly kind. It was a great culture to live in and be a part of, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When my contract expired, we moved to Germany to a small city called Iserlohn, about two hours from Amsterdam. The lifestyle there was very different from Sweden. It was more like North America. The town was small and quiet, but it was a great experience. I learned a lot about German culture and the people. And of course, they love their beer, which was a lot of fun!

When that career ended, it was a bit of a “holy smokes, what do I do next?” moment.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I could do it, since I didn’t have any prior experience. But after reassurance from mentors, friends, and family, encouraging me that many of the same skills in athletics can be applied to sales as well was when I decided to dive in. It was important for me to start as an SDR and work my way up.

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

The thing I’m probably most proud of at Blink is how, despite being a smaller company with a lot of changes and pivots, especially within the SDR team, we’ve been able to build something meaningful.

When I joined in October 2022, our new CRO, Jim McInerny, had just been hired, and we were preparing to go to market in the US. One of the main reasons I came to Blink was to have an impact on the culture and a smaller team. What I'm most proud of is helping to build the culture within the sales development program.

I'm really proud of the fact that after two years, we’re starting to gain traction, building out the program, and seeing the progress we are making as a company. It’s been a journey, but it’s exciting to see how far we have come.

How would you describe the company culture at Blink in three words?

Innovative, creative, tight-knit team.

There are so many different ways to describe it, which makes it tough to choose just three words. I think the culture is very open and transparent, and we have a lot of great people working together towards one mission. That’s what makes it so fun to be part of the team.

Coming from an athletic background, I'm all about teamwork, and it feels great to be in a company where the mindset is very team-oriented. There aren’t any selfish people in our organization, and that makes it incredibly enjoyable to work with everyone.

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

I feel like we’re at a point now where we truly control our own destiny. The sky’s the limit for us, and I believe that everyone on the team is fully bought into the company’s mission. The opportunities we have and the market we're tackling are so big and global that we have the potential to change the lives of so many people in different parts of the world. This could have a huge impact on how people approach their work and how they feel about going to work.

I'm really excited about the opportunities ahead of us as a company to transform the way people work and make this as big as possible.

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

Yeah, I think, obviously in sales, day to day, you’re calling people, trying to explain our approach to the employee experience, and inspiring them to see things differently. But I wouldn’t call that a specific project; it’s more like an ongoing journey in sales.

What really inspired me was some of the work we did with some of our biggest customers, particularly on the product side. They’ve done some really cool things within a work app that feels more like a social app we use in our everyday lives. The product features and the vision our product team has for making this next generation of apps so modern is really exciting to see.

Why do you work for Blink?

In general, when I first started, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. There are a million different jobs out there, and a lot of people work on cool things. But I’ve really found a sense of pride in our company’s mission and the vision of where we want to go.

There are so many essential workers around the world who, like us, are trying to take care of their families, make a living, and provide the best opportunities for their loved ones. Many of the people we serve are blue-collar workers who take immense pride in what they do. We often talk about how they’ve been underinvested in and don’t have the same resources as other types of workers.

Serving this part of the workforce is something I’m really proud of. I have a lot of friends and family members who are blue-collar workers on the frontlines, and it took me a little while to realize there was such a gap in support for them. Being at Blink and seeing it firsthand through our customers was eye-opening and helped me fully embrace our mission of serving essential frontline employees. Ultimately, these workers make the world go round.

Providing a better digital employee experience for these essential works and making it much easier to access all the tools they need to do their jobs productively is incredible. It feels like a lifelong mission.

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When collaboration clicks, teams move fast, ideas flow, and nothing falls through the cracks.

When it doesn’t? Work is a mess of missed messages, duplicated work, and “Wait — weren’t you handling that?” moments.

Collaboration doesn’t always come naturally. And that’s not because people lack talent or motivation. Often, it’s because connection breaks down.

Good team collaboration takes effective communication, clearly-defined habits, and the right tools — particularly when you want to improve collaboration among modern, distributed teams.

So let’s get practical. What does team collaboration actually mean, why does it matter, and how do you help your people work better together? 

What exactly is team collaboration?

Team collaboration is when a group of people work with each other (not just alongside each other) to achieve a common goal. They share ideas, solve problems together, and get better results than they would do alone.

Team collaboration takes many forms — brainstorming sessions, status updates, cross-team sprints. It can happen asynchronously and in real-time, in meetings and in chats, on the frontline and behind a desk.

Collaboration also looks different depending on the size and structure of your organization. A 10-person, fully-remote start-up won’t collaborate the same way as a 5,000-person hybrid workplace, or a huge global business with retail staff.

Collaboration tools and practices may vary. But good team collaboration relies on the same key pillars in any setting. Teams need trust, clear expectations, and open communication to move faster and smarter, together.

Team collaboration vs. team communication: What’s the difference?

Team communication is the exchange of information — updates, questions, decisions, and feedback. Team collaboration is working together to achieve something.

These two things are distinct but closely connected. Think of communication as the bridge that makes collaboration possible.

You can have brilliant project plans and the right SMART goals in place. But if your team members aren’t talking to each other clearly and consistently? You’re not going to make much progress. 

Here’s a breakdown:

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Ultimately, communication is about getting everyone on the same page. Team collaboration is about actually getting the job done.

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Why collaboration matters (and what happens when it goes wrong)

In a collaborative team, people ship better work and genuinely enjoy working together. But what else do you achieve when your teams work cooperatively?

Benefits of team collaboration include:

• Better performance. Highly collaborative teams are 5x more likely to be high-performing.
• Improved engagement. People who feel heard and involved are more motivated and loyal.
• Faster decision-making. Because information doesn’t get stuck in silos.
• Innovation and improved problem-solving. Diverse perspectives, shared openly, spark better ideas.

Because good team collaboration can do all the above, it also has a positive impact on business outcomes. Research shows that organizations with connected employees see a 20–25% increase in productivity, and teams that communicate effectively can cut turnover risk by nearly 50%.

Poor collaboration, on the other hand, leads to duplicated work, missed deadlines, burnout, and high rates of employee churn. It holds your organization back and damages the employee experience, too.

Different types of team collaboration

Okay, now we know why collaboration matters, let’s dig a little deeper into the different types of team collaboration you’re likely to encounter.

Here are four common formats and how they show up in the workplace:

1. Synchronous collaboration: Real-time conversations like virtual calls, video huddles, or live chat. Everyone’s online at the same time, working to solve problems and move things forward.

2. Asynchronous collaboration: Work that doesn’t need everyone in the room (or on the call) at once. Messages, documents, and feedback are shared and responded to at different times. Perfect for shift-based or global teams.

3. Cross-functional collaboration: When different departments team up to solve shared problems. For example, HR, IT, and Operations working together on a new onboarding process.

4. Peer-to-peer collaboration: The informal stuff. Coworkers sharing knowledge, insights, and tips. Often overlooked but very valuable to your organization.  

Blink supports all four types of team collaboration. It features a digital news feed, a chat tool, mobile video conferencing software, and shared communities that all team members can access and join.

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Collaboration at every size: From startup to enterprise

The way teams collaborate doesn’t just depend on how they work together. It also depends on how big the organization is.

While synchronous, asynchronous, cross-functional, and peer-to-peer collaboration exist in every workplace, the structure, tools, and approach you use change dramatically as teams grow. What works naturally in a 10-person startup can quickly break down in a 1,000-person organization.

That’s why effective collaboration needs to scale. Let’s look at how collaboration shows up — and what it requires — at different company stages and sizes.

Collaboration strategies for small teams (1–100 people)

In very small teams, collaboration happens naturally — everyone wears many hats, and you’re likely sitting (or chatting) right next to each other. But even in tight-knit teams, clarity matters. Who owns what? Where does feedback live? What communication tools are being used?

Best practices:

• Use simple, centralized tools (not 10 apps for 10 tasks)
• Establish shared rituals (e.g., daily standups, weekly wins)
• Create standardized document and file sharing processes, even informally

Collaboration strategies for mid-sized businesses (100–1,000 people)

This is where things get tricky. You’re big enough to need structure, but still small enough to move fast. Collaboration needs to grow without adding complexity.

Best practices:

• Create clear communication norms
• Introduce dedicated team collaboration tools (e.g., project management, chat)
• Make visibility a priority across departments

Collaboration strategies for large and enterprise organizations (1,000+)

Now we’re talking scale, complexity, and potential silos. Within large teams — especially where people work on the frontline or do remote work — collaboration requires thoughtful systems, strong leadership, and tech that works for every employee, not just those at a desk.

Best practices:

• Invest in a central, mobile-first platform like Blink
• Use targeted comms to avoid overload
• Encourage cross-functional projects and Communities

What are the most common collaboration blockers?

Even with the right strategies, tools, and structures in place, collaboration can still hit snags. As teams grow and processes become more complex, “working together” sometimes feels harder than it should.

Collaboration challenges emerge. Progress slows. Employees become frustrated. And suddenly, you’re standing still, not pushing forward toward your goals.

What should you do? Recognizing the most common barriers to collaboration is the first step toward creating a truly collaborative environment. So meet the usual suspects — the common culprits of poor team collaboration:

• Tool overload: Your digital workplace might be getting too big. Everyone’s using a different selection of tools, and nothing syncs.
  
  
• Silos: These are the silent killers of great cross-functional teams. Departments operate in a vacuum and rarely share updates.
  
  
• Information gaps: People don’t know what’s happening or where to find key resources. So decision-making and problem-solving take a hit.
  
  
• Digital exclusion: Frontline teams are often left out of internal communication and virtual collaboration, especially when chat takes place over email or on intranet platforms they never use.
  
  
• Unclear ownership: No one knows who’s doing what, or what "done" looks like. And without accountability, projects stall.

Sound familiar? Let’s fix it.

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7 ways to improve team collaboration (without adding more meetings)

If you’re experiencing any of the collaboration blockers above — or if team collaboration simply isn’t what you’d like it to be — take a look at these ideas for building a more collaborative workplace.

#1. Set clear communication norms for everyone

Think of this like putting up road signs. Define which communication channels are for what, how quickly to respond, and what good communication looks like. And write your collaboration processes down, too!

#2. Choose fewer, better collaboration tools

One central hub beats five scattered team collaboration software solutions. Blink brings everything together in a single, mobile-first app that includes:

• News Feed for company-wide and team updates
• Chats for real-time convos and quick questions
• Communities to organize group discussions and build connection around shared interests
• Voice & Video Calling for when face-to-face matters
• Content Hub for sharing docs, policies, and how-to guides in one place

Team members only need to log in once to view the same searchable, interconnected, user-friendly tools.

#3. Make your experience mobile-first and inclusive

If your team isn’t at a desk, team collaboration tools should be available on smartphone. Blink was designed for the frontline: for retail staff, drivers, nurses, and every other on-the-go or remote worker.

With a mobile-first employee app, deskless workers can keep up with conversations, share knowledge, and solve problems together — no matter where or when they’re working. So you improve collaboration among frontline teams.

#4. Make collaboration visible

Collaboration thrives when people feel seen and valued. But too often, great teamwork happens behind the scenes — in private chats, quiet problem-solving, or contributions that never make it onto the news feed.

Make collaboration visible by shining a light on it. Use Blink Stories to share updates from leadership, promote team-building activities, and celebrate wins — big and small.

Recognize employees who go above and beyond to help a colleague. Share examples of great cross-team collaboration. Post behind-the-scenes moments that reveal what different teams and departments are about.

When people see collaboration being executed, recognized, and celebrated, they’re more likely to contribute themselves. It creates a ripple effect where one act of collaborative teamwork inspires another.

#5. Build feedback loops into daily workflows

Great employee collaboration isn’t one-way. It’s about continuous dialogue. Blink helps teams give, receive, and act on feedback seamlessly.

Surveys and polls let you collect input quickly and make decisions more democratically. Comment threads and communities allow employees to ask questions, share insights, and see responses in context.

With analytics, you can track responses. And with the news feed, you can share the actions you’ll take based on employee input.

#6. Align on shared goals and ownership

Start every project by clarifying the goal, who’s doing what, and how success will be measured. Decide where this information will live so people can reference it later.

Then, use shared docs, project hubs, and pinned posts to make goals visible and accessible. When everyone can see the full picture — not just their small slice of it — they understand how their work connects to the bigger mission and what needs to be done next.

#7. Upskill your team for collaboration success

No one’s born knowing how to give good feedback or navigate cross-team conflict. So train your people in teamwork skills.

Prioritize soft skills, not just hard ones. Teach active listening. Run workshops on how to disagree productively. Help managers facilitate better team discussions.

The better your team gets at the human side of work, the smoother collaboration becomes. Projects move faster. Conflicts resolve quicker. And people actually enjoy working together.

Why the right collaboration software makes all the difference

As your team grows, relying on hallway chats, email chains, and in-person meetings just isn’t enough. Collaboration needs to scale. And that’s where digital team collaboration tools come in.

Top team collaboration tools let employees:

• Send messages and updates instantly
• Align behind overarching goals and the bigger picture
• Track progress and assign ownership without confusion
• Keep knowledge searchable and accessible for everyone
• Share and update documents in one central place

The right software keeps everyone connected, whether your team is across the office or across the globe. It reduces miscommunication and turns a dispersed team into a connected, high-performing unit.  

In short? It makes working together feel seamless — even when your team isn’t in the same room.  

Looking for a team collaboration tool for your organization? Below, we’ve compiled 10 of the best.

10 best team collaboration tools

1. Blink

2. Slack

3. Todoist

4. Asana

5. Zoom

6. Monday.com

7. Google Workspace

8. Miro

9. Microsoft Teams

10. Airtable

1. Blink

Blink isn’t just another collaboration tool — it’s an all-in-one employee experience platform, built for teams that need more than just chat.

Our collaboration software combines messaging, a news feed, document sharing, and integrated workplace tools into one mobile-first app.

Direct and group messaging, voice and video calls, file sharing, polls, shift management — it’s all there. Behind one user-friendly dashboard and within one joined-up, searchable system.

Best suited to: Frontline and distributed teams that need mobile-friendly collaboration tools

Blink pros:

• Setup takes hours, not weeks
• Mobile-first design for on-the-go teams
• Easy, in-depth integration with the other workplace software you use
• Value-for-money collaboration software for growing businesses

Blink cons:

• It doesn’t support advanced chat features (such as bots or extensive APIs)
• Fewer automation options compared to Slack or Teams

Blink pricing: Business plan starts at $4.50 per user/month for up to 1,000 users.

2. Slack

Slack is the team collaboration tool everyone knows. It’s where millions of teams chat and share files. Channels keep conversations organized and, with over 2,600 integrations, Slack plays nicely with almost every tool in your stack.

Best suited to: Hybrid and remote teams balancing sync and async work

Slack pros:

• Free tier for small companies
• Familiar interface that most people already know
• A massive app ecosystem

Slack cons:

• Channels can get messy without structure
• Costs add up quickly as your team grows
• Less seamless if you use Microsoft 365

Slack pricing: Free tier available. The Pro plan is $7.25 per user/month (billed annually).

3. Todoist

Todoist is task management stripped down to its essentials. It’s collaboration software for teams that want to organize work without the overhead.

You can create tasks, set deadlines, assign work, and track progress — all in a clear, distraction-free interface. While it’s not as packed with features as some other team collaboration tools, Todoist is great at keeping things simple and streamlined.

Best suited to: Teams that want lightweight collaboration software

Todoist pros:

• Simple, intuitive interface
• Works across devices
• Easy-to-generate productivity reports

Todist cons:

• Limited features for complex project management
• No built-in chat or communication features
• Limited customization

Todoist pricing: Free tier available. The Pro plan is $5 per month (billed annually). The Business plan is $8 per user/month (billed annually).

4. Asana

Asana is project management software built to help teams organize, track, and complete work together.

This platform gives you multiple views (lists, boards, timelines, calendars) so everyone can see work the way that makes sense to them. It also supports team communication with the help of comments and file sharing within tasks.

Best suited to: Marketing, product, and operations teams managing complex workflows

Asana pros:

• Multiple project views for different work styles
• Strong task dependencies and milestone tracking
• Excellent for cross-functional team collaboration

Asana cons:

• Can feel overwhelming for simple projects
• Notifications can be distracting
• Reporting capabilities are basic

Asana pricing: Free for basic use. Premium is $10.99 per user/month (billed annually). Advanced is $24.99 per user/month (billed annually).

5. Zoom

Zoom became shorthand for video meetings during the pandemic — and for good reason. It’s software for collaboration that makes virtual face-time reliable and straightforward.

Beyond video calls, Zoom offers chat, whiteboarding, and screen sharing. It’s not a full project management platform, but it’s often used as part of an integrated collaboration tech stack.

Best suited to: Teams that want simple, high-quality video conferencing

Zoom pros:

• Rock-solid video and audio quality
• Easy to join meetings (even for non-technical users)
• Breakout rooms and recording features for larger meetings

Zoom cons:

• Not a comprehensive collaboration platform — you’ll need other tools
• Free tier has 40-minute meeting limits
• Security concerns have improved, but are still an issue for some businesses

Zoom pricing: Free basic plan. Pro Plan is $13.33 per user/month (billed annually). Business plan is $18.33 per user/month (billed annually).

6. Monday.com

Monday.com is a type of visual collaboration software that turns complex projects into colorful boards. Adapting to how your team works, this platform lets you create custom dashboards and workflows. It offers file management and document commenting capabilities, plus real-time updates that keep remote teams on track.

Best suited to: Teams managing multiple projects with different workflows

Monday.com pros:

• Highly visual and customizable interface
• Strong automation capabilities
• Integrates with popular tools and apps

Monday.com cons:

• Pricing scales quickly as your team grows
• Can be overkill for simple task management
• Learning curve for advanced features and customization

Monday.com pricing: Free plan available with up to two seats. Basic starts at $9 per user/month (billed annually). The Standard plan is $12 per user/month (billed annually). The Pro plan is $19 per user/month (billed annually).

7. Google Workspace

Google Workspace is collaboration software that millions of teams already know how to use. Docs, Sheets, Drive, Meet, Chat — it’s all connected.

These team collaboration tools shine when it comes to real-time editing and file sharing. If you have multiple people working on the same document simultaneously, Google Workspace makes collaboration easy.  

Best suited to: Teams that want a stripped-down yet functional collaboration experience

Google Workspace pros:

• Easy document sharing and collaboration
• Clean, streamlined interface
• Most people already know how to use it

Google Workspace cons:

• Not a dedicated project management platform
• Chat and meeting tools lag behind other software
• Offline functionality is limited compared to other tools

Google Workspace pricing: Business Starter is $7 per user/month (billed annually). Business Standard is $14 per user/month (billed annually). Business Plus is $22 per user/month (billed annually).

8. Miro

Miro is a collaboration software for visual thinkers. It’s a digital whiteboard where teams can brainstorm, map workflows, and solve problems together.

These tools work brilliantly for workshops, sprint planning, and creative sessions. If you’re a team that likes sticky notes and diagrams, Miro allows you to take those processes online for a dynamic and digital collaboration experience.

Best suited to: Remote teams that need visual collaboration tools

Miro pros:

• Easy drag-and-drop functionality
• Infinite canvas and pre-made templates — ideal for brainstorming and planning
• Built-in communication features

Miro cons:

• The open-ended canvas and range of tools can be confusing for new users
• Large boards can be slow to load, disrupting real-time collaboration
• The free plan is generous but costs can rise quickly if you need advanced features

Miro pricing: Free plan available. The Starter plan is $8 per user/month (billed annually). The Business plan is $16 per user/month (billed annually).

9. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is collaboration software that brings chat, video meetings, file sharing, and document collaboration under one roof — all tightly integrated with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Built for hybrid work, Teams combines communication and productivity into a single, secure platform.

Best suited to: Businesses with compliance or governance requirements

Microsoft Teams pros:

• Advanced channel management features
• Seamless integration with other Microsoft software
• Strong security and compliance features

Microsoft Teams cons:

• Setup can be complex and there’s a steep learning curve
• Can be slow to load and consumes significant resources
• Minimal customization options

Microsoft Teams pricing: The Essentials plan is $4 per user/month (billed annually). Microsoft 365 Business Basic is $6 per user/month (billed annually). Microsoft 365 Business Standard is $12.50 per user/month (billed annually).

10. Airtable

Airtable is collaboration software with advanced spreadsheet and database tools and extensive customization options. It lets you build custom workflows, track tasks, link records together, and collaborate on data.

Team members can collaborate in real-time with notification, comments, and permission controls. They can also view data in a variety of formats. This makes Airtable a good option for project management, content management, task lists, and more.

Best suited to: Teams managing complex data and custom workflows

Airtable pros:

• Incredibly flexible and customizable
• A user-friendly interface
• Automation rules make it easy to notify stakeholders of changes

Airtable cons:

• It takes time to configure the platform to your needs
• The learning curve for new users is steep
• Not ideal for simple task management

Airtable pricing: There’s a free tier available. From there, the Team plan starts from $20 per user/month (billed annually), and the Business plan starts from $45 per user/month (billed annually).

Real-world collaboration in action: JD Sports + Blink

With 90,000+ global employees across 49 countries, JD Sports needed a way to unify HQ and frontline teams. Enter JD Now — their branded Blink app and employee experience platform.

Today, store associates, regional managers, and HQ teams can:

• Access real-time updates
• Chat across teams and locations
• Celebrate wins together
• Get HR tools and resources in one place

The result? Faster comms, higher employee engagement, a collaborative team environment, and a stronger sense of community.

Read the full story.

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How to introduce team collaboration practices that actually stick

Effective collaboration can transform your team. But how do you embed new collaboration practices — and make communication and cooperation the norm?

• Start small: Pick one area or team to pilot new tools or habits. Focus on solving a real pain point — like streamlining updates or centralizing files — so your team sees immediate value.
  
  
• Involve champions: Engage trusted team leads to model collaborative behavior. These ambassadors set the tone, answer questions, and show that collaboration isn’t extra work — it’s smarter work.
  
  
• Communicate clearly: Set expectations around how and why things are changing. Clear communication reduces confusion and gets everyone on the same page.
  
  
• Collect feedback: To make a success of collaboration, your team needs to feel heard. Use pulse surveys or Communities to hear what works, what doesn’t, and what you can do to improve.
  
  
• Adjust and scale: Don’t over-engineer or force tools that don’t fit your workflow. Keep it simple and useful, using tools that can scale with your team as and when required.

Final thoughts: Building collaborative teams with Blink

You don’t need fancier tools or more meetings — you need clarity, connection, and a collaboration platform that actually works for everyone. Because when your people can talk to each other easily, they can build, solve, and grow together.

With Blink, you put collaboration tools into every employee’s hand — whether they’re in the office, at home, or working in a frontline role. You make collaboration a core part of company culture, empowering employees to share their knowledge, motivate each other, get behind goals, and move faster toward them.

What makes her awesome?

Chandi has been instrumental in representing the company and its bus drivers in cases related to traffic penalties. By thoroughly reviewing and addressing these cases, she has substantially reduced costs for both the business and individual drivers.

It is very common for bus drivers to face fines and prosecutions while doing their essential job for the communities of London. Chandi appears in Courts and Tribunals to represent the business and has successfully challenged almost 50% of the cases that come in. In years gone by the business was facing charges of up to £10k per month which have now been reduced by 70%. This is a massive saving both financially and reputationally to the business.

Most importantly, Chandi’s work provides crucial support to drivers, alleviating their stress and ensuring they feel valued. She is a quiet and meticulous professional who has created so much good in the department since her arrival in April 2024.

How has Blink helped in her role?

Blink has been used to advertise “money boxes” YBJ where fines are received. Chandi has also used the platform to share guidance and resources about observing traffic regulations, as well as demonstrating the team’s support for drivers. 

What does she want to do next?

Continuing to reduce penalties, with the ultimate goal of eliminating them, would be a massive achievement, maybe seen as impossible — but what Chandi has achieved would have been seen as impossible six months ago. Chandi is keen to communicate with drivers using Blink as well as garage roadshows to raise awareness and help bus drivers avoid fines and better serve the communities of London.

Nominated by: Phil Thornton, General Manager Central Operations

Digital tools are transforming the way organizations build and sustain employee engagement. Platforms like Blink, Workvivo, Staffbase, and Reward Gateway are helping teams stay connected, improve communication, and bring company culture to life — wherever employees work.

But with so many employee engagement tools on the market, choosing the right one can be tricky. The wrong platform can waste time, hurt adoption, and even reduce engagement.

Getting it right matters. Companies with highly engaged teams are more productive and see up to 23% higher profitability. The best employee engagement software goes beyond simple communication — it connects people, recognizes great work, and supports a shared sense of purpose.

Every organization is different. The tools that work for a remote or office-based workforce may not suit a frontline team. That’s why it’s important to align your engagement goals with the right platform.

You’ll find software built for:

• Frontline employees — mobile-first apps like Blink that keep workers connected on the go
  
  
• Remote teams — tools such as Asana and Slack that combine communication and project management
  
  
• Office-based teams — platforms like Culture Amp and OfficeVibe that measure engagement and feedback
  

And others that specialize in areas such as:

• Communication and collaboration
• Feedback and performance
• Wellbeing and productivity
• Rewards and recognition
  

Choosing the right solution depends on your people and your priorities — because engagement software only works when it works for everyone.

For frontline organizations, this is especially true. Most engagement platforms are still built with desk-based employees in mind. Only 1 in 10 frontline workers says they have access to the tools and technology they need to connect and advance at work — even though they make up 82% of the global workforce.

Without easy access to company updates, communication, and recognition, frontline employees can quickly feel disconnected and undervalued.

That’s why your employee engagement solution needs to work for all employees — wherever and however they work.

In the next section, we’ll look at the best employee engagement software for 2026 — from all-in-one employee apps like Blink to specialized tools for communication, wellbeing, and recognition.

Let’s take a closer look.

Best employee engagement app for frontline organizations

Frontline employees are the backbone of many industries — from transportation and retail to healthcare and hospitality. But engaging this workforce comes with unique challenges. Many frontline employees don’t have regular access to company systems, email, or desktop devices, making it harder for them to stay informed and connected.

That’s why mobile-first employee engagement software has become essential. The best platforms for frontline teams combine communication, recognition, and real-time updates in one easy-to-use app.

These tools close the gap between head office and the field, helping every employee — regardless of location — feel included in company culture.

Below are some of the best employee engagement tools for frontline workers in 2026, starting with Blink, a leading all-in-one platform designed specifically for deskless and distributed teams.

Best employee engagement software for frontline workers

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Blink

When it comes to engaging a dispersed, frontline workforce, few tools match what Blink delivers.

Blink is a mobile-first employee engagement platform built to help organizations connect with every worker — whether they’re in the field, on the factory floor, or on the move. Used by teams across industries such as transport, healthcare, logistics, and construction, Blink turns everyday communication into connection.

Employees can easily chat with colleagues, access company updates, view schedules, and complete essential tasks all in one place. The result: better communication, stronger engagement, and a more unified culture.

Managers benefit, too. Blink’s analytics dashboard helps leaders track engagement and performance trends, identify communication gaps, and celebrate wins through built-in recognition tools.

Key features include:

• All-in-one communication: Peer-to-peer chat, team groups, and company-wide updates keep everyone aligned.
  
  
• Employee recognition: Built-in recognition features highlight great work and reinforce culture.
  
  
• Engagement surveys: Pulse surveys provide quick, actionable insights into morale and satisfaction.
  
  
• Analytics and insights: Track usage, engagement, and content performance to inform strategy.
  
  
• Seamless integrations: Connect scheduling, HR, and project management tools for a single digital workspace.
  
  
• Mobile-first design: Works on any smartphone — no corporate email required.

With Blink, your entire workforce can access the same tools and information, creating a seamless digital experience that keeps everyone connected, informed, and motivated.

Capterra score: 4.6 (114 reviews)

Pricing: Available upon request

Request a demo today to see how Blink can transform engagement across your frontline teams.

Best employee engagement software for desk-based remote workers

If you're looking for employee engagement software platforms suited to desk-based remote workers, here are some excellent options.

Google Chat

Google Chat is a communication platform that includes features like video and voice calls, and group chat. It's a great option for workplace communication and it's free to use.

As you’d expect, this tool integrates with the rest of the Google suite, including Google Calendar, Drive, Groups, and Gmail. But it lacks some of the advanced features you tend to get with paid tools.

Reviews from Capterra note that Google Chat is easy to use. It also provides good collaboration tools. However, the interface can be frustrating, message delivery can be an issue, and notifications can be challenging to navigate.

Capterra score: 4.5 (2,302 reviews)

Pricing: Monthly pricing for Google Chat for business starts at $6 per user.

Discord

Discord is a chat app designed for gamers. But it’s recently been used for workplace communication, too. It includes features like voice and video chat, so you can easily connect and communicate with colleagues.

You can use Discord for free, making it a basic but cost-effective tool for internal communications, especially in a remote working environment.

Capterra score: 4.7 (434 reviews)

Pricing: Many of Discord’s features are free to use. For businesses that want to invest in extra perks, Discord’s premium tier, “Nitro,” is available for $99 per year.  

Asana

Asana is a popular project management tool that can also be used for employee engagement. With Asana, you can easily create and assign tasks, track task progress, and set team priorities. You can also use Asana to create custom projects for easy employee collaboration.

Asana makes a great option for remote teams, in part because it offers a mobile app for easy access to tasks and progress data. This helps to ensure that employees are working cohesively and effectively wherever they’re based.

Reviews from Capterra note that while Asana offers a clean, intuitive, and integrated interface, notifications are often missed, automatic opt-in to email notifications can be annoying, and the different projects and access features can be confusing.

Capterra score: 4.5 (12,648 reviews)

Pricing: Monthly pricing for Asana starts at a basic free plan. A business plan costs $24.99 per user per month when billed annually.

ClickUp

ClickUp is a cloud-based collaboration and project management tool and it’s a good option for those looking to improve remote employee engagement.

Key features include task assignments and statuses, alerts, and a task toolbar. But while ClickUp does well in terms of task management, it doesn’t offer a full range of employee engagement tools.

This platform lacks features relating to real-time communication, employee recognition, and social interaction. So you’re likely to need additional software.

Capterra score: 4.6 (4,135 reviews)

Pricing: ClickUp offers a free version. Monthly pricing for a Business plan costs $12 per user per month.

WorkTango

WorkTango is an employee experience platform with a number of solutions for employee engagement. It provides tools like employee surveys, real-time analytics, rewards, and recognition.

You can also see how your engagement scores rank against other WorkTango customers to get a better sense of how you’re doing.

On Capterra, users say that anonymous feedback and anonymous employee chat allow for truly honest conversations. Clients also praise recognition features. However, some users would like better reporting tools and easier platform navigation. 

Capterra score: 4.9 (144 reviews)

Pricing: Pricing is available on request.

Leapsome

Leapsome is a good employee engagement tool for goal setting and employee development.

It’s designed to support organizations to create high-performing teams. You can use Leapsome to track and collaborate on goals, run 360-degree reviews, and create personalized learning pathways.

With lots of tools for remote teams, Leapsome helps maintain employee progress even when employees aren’t in the office. The software also offers video conferencing tools, which make it easy to collaborate on agendas and align action plans.

Capterra score: 4.7 (62 reviews)

Pricing: Pricing starts at $8 per user per month, with the option to add on the extra features you need.

Slack

Slack is a great productivity tool for remote office workers. It helps you to organize teams and their work, with the help of channels, huddles, and a workflow builder.

However, it's worth noting that Slack doesn't provide much in the way of scheduling, performance tracking, or survey features. If these tools are essential to your organization, you’ll need to use Slack plus another employee engagement platform.

Reviews from Capterra note that Slack’s user interface is easy to use. They like channel and plugin features. They also appreciate having all work conversations in one place.

However, reviews also note that it can be a confusing platform to use, with lots of channels across different teams. Adoption can also be difficult if people are not familiar with the software.

Capterra score: 4.7 (23,231 reviews)

Pricing: For multiple employees, monthly pricing for Slack starts at $6.67 per user.

Best employee engagement software for desk-based office workers

Now, let’s take a look at the tech tools best suited to office worker engagement.

OfficeVibe

OfficeVibe is a “people-first” employee experience platform, with a number of employee engagement features designed for the office.

It helps employers to assess and improve employee engagement levels with robust measurement tools. It also provides an app so you can track progress on the go if needed.

Reviews from Capterra note that OfficeVibe is an innovative tool that helps organizations better understand employee happiness. The company also provides strong customer service.

However, managers complain that survey questions can’t be customized and that insights don’t go deep enough. They also say that the Slack integration doesn’t work too well and that setup can be confusing.

Capterra score: 4.6 (51 reviews)

Pricing: Monthly pricing for OfficeVibe ranges from a free version to a $5 per user Pro Plan.

SurveyMonkey

By using employee satisfaction survey tools like SurveyMonkey, you can collect regular feedback from employees on their engagement levels. This real-time feedback can help you to identify problem areas and take steps to improve employee engagement in your organization.

As well as survey templates, SurveyMonkey offers reporting and analytics features that help you spot data trends and insights. It also uses AI to reveal employee sentiment.

Capterra score: 4.6 (9,991 reviews)

Pricing: For over three users, monthly pricing for SurveyMonkey starts at $31.83 per user.

Doodle

Employee polls are a quick and easy way to collect anonymous feedback from employees on a range of topics. You can use employee poll tools from Doodle to gather feedback on everything from engagement levels to job satisfaction.

But Doodle does more than polls. It also provides meeting, video conferencing, and scheduling tools. You can even poll meeting attendees to find a time that works for everyone and improve attendance.

Capterra score: 4.6 (1785 reviews)

Pricing: Monthly pricing for Doodle Professional starts at $6.95 per user.

Monday.com

Monday.com is a project management tool that can also be used for employee engagement.

With Monday.com, you can create and assign tasks, track progress, and more. You can also use it to create performance tracking templates for employees. This can help you to identify areas where employees need improvement and take steps to address them.

On Capterra, Monday.com users say that the platform’s project management tools are excellent. But others complain that the backend of the platform is complicated and involves a steep learning curve.

Capterra score: 4.6 (4,816 reviews)

Pricing: For more than two employees, monthly pricing for Monday.com starts at $8 per user per month.

Culture Amp

Culture Amp’s employee engagement platform provides over 40 science-backed survey templates. You can use these surveys to find out how employees feel about engagement, belonging, inclusion, and more.

The platform also uses AI-powered insights to summarize employee engagement findings, supporting your business to make data-backed decisions.

Reviews from Capterra say that Culture Amp has a user-friendly user interface. They also praise the platform’s ready-to-go survey templates.

But users don’t like having to rely on the Culture Amp support team to update some parts of the platform. They also say that — while survey features are strong — features like the objective and key results (OKR) module aren’t as well-developed. 

Capterra score: 4.7 (137 reviews)

Pricing: Pricing is available on request.

A few more employee engagement software tools

The following tools specialize in one area of employee engagement. As such, they make a great add-on to your chosen staff engagement tool.

At Blink, our App Marketplace integrates all the tools you need to manage your employee engagement in one place. If we don't already integrate with your app, just ask!

Kudos

Kudos is an add-on app that allows employees to give and receive recognition in real time. With Kudos, you can create a culture of recognition where employees feel appreciated for their hard work.

Capterra score: 4.8 (1,084 reviews)

Pricing: Monthly pricing for Kudos starts at $3.25 per user.

Friday

Friday is an app that makes it easy to give employees recognition for a job well done. With Friday, you can give employees badges, points, and rewards to show your appreciation.

Capterra score: 5 (1 review)

Pricing: Friday has a free version. Monthly pricing goes up to $100+ for company plans.

Bonusly

Bonusly is another dedicated employee recognition tool. Bonusly supports peer recognition, allowing employees to give each other bonuses in the form of points that can be redeemed for rewards. By using Bonusly, you can create a culture of appreciation and recognition throughout your workforce.

Capterra score: 4.8 (1,586 reviews)

Pricing: Monthly pricing options for Bonusly starts at $2.70 per user.

Limeade Wellbeing

Employee wellbeing programs, like those on offer from Limeade, go hand in hand with employee engagement programs. Because when employees feel healthier, happier, and less stressed, they have the headspace they need to engage with their work.

Limeade provides customized employee wellness programs. These programs encourage participation and deliver essential wellbeing resources via one handy tool.

With this tool, you can also listen and respond to your workforce in real time through anonymous surveys, polls, and quizzes. All that’s really missing from this system is strong employee communication tools.

Capterra score: 0.0 (Zero reviews)

Pricing: Pricing is available on request.

WeThrive

WeThrive is an employee engagement tool designed to support the mental health of desk-based workers. With this platform, you can create surveys to assess employee wellbeing and then take action to improve it.

WeThrive analytics allow you to segment survey results by team, tenure, location, department, and manager. This makes it easy to identify the root causes of poor wellbeing and identify areas for improvement.

Capterra score: 4.7 (37 reviews)

Pricing: Pricing is available on request.

Reward Gateway

Reward Gateway is an employee engagement solution that offers employee discounts, employee rewards and recognition, and tools for employee communications.

This combined platform is a great tool for office-based employers looking to boost employee recognition, with features such as discounts and rewards accessible in one place.

Reviews from Capterra note that Reward Gateway is flexible and easy to use. But it can be glitchy, with reporting features sometimes not running properly and some features failing to run as smoothly as others.

Capterra score: 4.5 (319 reviews)

Pricing: Monthly pricing for Reward Gateway starts at $10.19 per user.

Weekdone

For structured goal setting, Weekdone is an excellent choice. It’s a top-rated OKR platform that allows you to track weekly plans and progress, provide feedback, and get everyone pulling in the same direction.

OKR software can also be used to ensure that remote employees have clear objectives, with performance reviews and goal tracking. 

Capterra score: 4.5 (61 reviews)

Pricing: For more than three employees, monthly pricing for Weekdone is $8 per user.

Awardco

Awardco is another bonus tool that makes recognizing and rewarding people easier and more effective.

With Awardco, employers can set up reward and recognition programs that their employees can access from any device. You can tailor incentives to your teams, ensuring the prizes on offer act as real motivation.

This tool is a good option for office-based companies of all sizes looking to increase employee satisfaction and engage with their workforce to boost productivity.

Capterra score: 4.9 (4,560 reviews)

Pricing: Pricing for Awardco ranges from $2,500 to $4,000 per year.

QuizBreaker

QuizBreaker is a virtual team-building tool. It works well for both office-based and dispersed teams, bringing a bit of gamification to the work day.

Key features of QuizBreaker include:

• a scheduled icebreaker quiz that helps employees get to know each other better
• escape games and 1,000+ trivia quizzes for fun team-building events
• employee profiles that reveal work style, unique strengths, and fun facts
• pulse surveys to help you get regular feedback from employees

QuizBreaker isn’t an all-in-one employee engagement tool. But this platform helps teams to bond and brings a little fun to your workplace culture.  

Capterra score: Not found in Capterra database.
‍Pricing: Monthly pricing for QuizBreaker starts at $3 per user.

Motivosity

Motivosity is employee recognition software that makes it easy for managers to give recognition and rewards.

Motivosity’s “Thanks Matters” card is an innovative way of rewarding employees. Like Bonusly, you assign points for great performance. These points directly translate into cash, which employees can access via a special Visa debit card.

They can choose from hundreds of reward options. You can even add your own gifts such as branded swag or lunch with the CEO. Employees can also choose to forgo cash rewards in order to make charitable donations.

Capterra score: 4.8 (1,053 reviews)

Pricing: Pricing is available on request.

Key employee engagement software features to prioritize in 2026

When choosing the right employee engagement software for your organization, focus on the features that will help you overcome your biggest engagement challenges. The right combination of tools can improve communication, morale, and productivity across every level of your workforce.

Channels and chats

Communication is the foundation of engagement. Real-time chat features — including group channels, private messages, and announcements — ensure employees stay in the loop and can collaborate quickly, wherever they work.

Surveys, polls, and content analytics

Platforms with built-in surveys, polls, and analytics help you measure engagement levels, gather employee sentiment, and identify emerging issues before they become major problems. This data ensures every employee has a voice and helps leaders take action with confidence.

Employee recognition

Recognition tools — such as kudos, badges, or points systems — make it easy to celebrate achievements and highlight great work. This simple feature goes a long way toward strengthening motivation, morale, and a sense of belonging.

Analytics and dashboards

For organizations managing distributed or frontline teams, analytics functions are essential. They allow you to measure engagement, retention, and satisfaction while uncovering insights into how employees interact with leadership and one another. These insights drive continuous improvement in your employee experience strategy.

A main feed or hub

A centralized hub — or main company feed — brings all updates, videos, documents, and announcements together in one place. This consolidation creates a single source of truth, keeping employees informed and aligned with your company’s goals.

At Blink, our frontline employee app brings all of these features together. With tools for chat, recognition, surveys, analytics, and communication, Blink helps you overcome common engagement challenges and connect every employee — from the frontline to the office.

The business benefits of digital employee engagement tools

Digital engagement tools require an upfront investment — both financially and in time. But the return on that investment is substantial. The right software encourages participation, builds connection, and creates a culture employees want to be part of.

Below are the five key business benefits of using digital employee engagement software.

#1. Reduce employee turnover and save on recruitment costs

When engagement goes up, turnover goes down. Highly engaged business units experience 51% lower employee turnover, and companies with strong engagement see 23% higher overall profitability.

Engaged employees are more likely to stay with your organization, reducing the cost of recruitment and training. According to SHRM, hiring a new employee can cost three to four times the position’s salary, making engagement one of the most effective retention strategies available.

Digital tools strengthen this connection by amplifying company culture and ensuring all employees can participate fully — leading to a happier, more loyal workforce.

#2. Strengthen company culture through digital engagement platforms

In today’s competitive labor market, salary alone isn’t enough to retain top talent. Engaged employees are motivated by purpose, belonging, and appreciation.

The 2024 O.C. Tanner Global Culture Report found that strong company culture rests on six pillars:

1. Purpose
   
   
2. Opportunity
   
   
3. Success
   
   
4. Appreciation
   
   
5. Wellbeing
   
   
6. Leadership
   
   

Digital engagement tools help reinforce these pillars by improving communication, supporting growth, and enabling public recognition. The right platform makes culture tangible — connecting leadership, values, and everyday work.

#3. Improve internal communication with employee engagement software

Two-way communication is critical for engagement. Modern tools help you deliver the right message to the right people — whether through audience segmentation, targeted updates, or role-based notifications.

These platforms also make it easier to track the effectiveness of communication. With built-in analytics, you can see how employees interact with content and refine your messaging to increase engagement and clarity across the organization.

#4. Use analytics to understand and improve employee engagement

Feedback is the backbone of a strong employee engagement strategy. Without it, leaders can’t identify what’s working or where improvements are needed.

Employee engagement software with advanced reporting provides actionable insights. You can see how satisfied employees are, how frequently they engage with company updates, and where there are communication or experience gaps.

With Blink, for example, you can access detailed data on engagement, satisfaction, and retention — helping you identify frontline challenges early and respond faster.

#5. Boost productivity with connected employee engagement platforms

Disconnected tools slow teams down. Employees lose valuable time switching between apps, searching for information, and handling repetitive admin tasks.

A unified engagement platform streamlines these processes. By digitizing workflows, automating basic tasks, and connecting every workplace app in one place, you free up employees to focus on meaningful, high-impact work.

Blink’s connected platform helps teams stay organized and productive — from digitized HR processes to mobile-friendly task management — improving both individual and organizational performance.