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

The Capital District Transport Authority (CDTA) runs the public transit system in Albany, New York. They employ around 800 people.

Most of these employees are drivers and maintenance workers and CDTA was having a tough time staying in touch with them. An intranet. Seat drops. Posters. Digital screens. They tried everything. And it just wasn’t working.

For this webinar, our team sat down with CDTA’s Head of Communication, Jaime Kazlo, and Communications Manager, Emily De Vito. 

Two years after launching Blink, they talked about how they went from an ineffective internal communication strategy causing a huge digital divide to an employee app that supports digital inclusion.

The internal communication problem

Before CDTA found Blink, internal communication was a nagging problem.

They had a high proportion of frontline workers who didn’t sit behind a desk and didn’t have company-issued emails or devices. So it wasn’t easy to share company messages with them.

To communicate with office-based employees, the company was relying on an outdated intranet. For frontline employees, the main methods of communication were:

• Noticeboards and digital screens
• Emergency SMS
• Word of mouth
• Seat drop, where posters were left on a bus operator’s seat in time for their shift

But these comms were ineffective. As Jaime pointed out, “A lot of the folks that work at CDTA don’t necessarily come into the office every single day. They may get their bus out on the road. And if they do come into the office, they’re coming in and getting their work at the dispatch window and then immediately leaving”.

So employees weren’t reliably seeing posters and digital screens. They weren’t getting an awful lot of co-worker contact. And teams ended up relying on one-on-one communication, which put a lot of pressure on supervisors.

Focus group feedback made it clear to the CDTA leadership that their comms weren’t cutting through. Frontline employees were missing out on important communications. They were missing out on the fun stuff too, like competitions and giveaways.

This was creating a disconnect between employees and the organization. And it was harming the employee experience. So in 2021, CDTA decided to make a change.

They wanted to overhaul the way they did internal communications. And they needed a way to meet frontline employees where they were at.

Their CEO, says Jaime, is a champion of open communication and certainly didn’t want more than half of the organization missing out on comms. So with his support, they set out to find a solution.

"I know we’re not unique. A lot of organizations struggle with internal communication. It’s just whether or not you’re going to take that next step to really get to the employees, listen to their feedback, and give them what they need so they can also feel that they’re an integral part of the organization.” — Jaime Kazlo, Head of Communication, CDTA

Deciding on a solution

CDTA already had a SharePoint intranet, which they’d tried to revamp. This was a tool that they’d been using for several years. But it was old, outdated, and poorly maintained.

While a handful of employees chose to use the intranet, many stayed away. In fact, it had gotten to the point where comms and HR teams wouldn’t even tell staff about the intranet because they didn’t want them using it.

The intranet didn’t provide relevant information and wasn’t a good representation of the company. Crucially, it was hard for frontline employees to access.

Having gone ahead with a new and improved intranet, the team had some last-minute doubts. As the launch approached, they questioned whether they wanted to roll this tool out to the workforce.

Jaime says that, having taken the intranet as far as it could go, they were still wondering if there wasn’t something better. A tool that would improve employee communication for the whole organization.

So they took the bold decision to shelve the intranet. And started talking seriously about other options. Here’s how they decided that a modern intranet, in the form of an employee app, was the frontline-first solution they were looking for:

They got buy-in from the IT team. The IT team was integral to the process. They made sure the chosen solution was secure, sustainable, and wouldn’t compromise the company network.

They got buy-in from the union. The team worked to ensure the union president and employees would get on board with their chosen solution.  

They took a cross-functional approach. The comms team collaborated across different departments. They had conversations with everyone who had a big stake in the solution, including HR, IT, and operations. They gathered co-worker questions, found answers, and learned what each department needed from the company comms tool.

They got buy-in from the CEO. Finally, having decided that an employee app was the best solution, they made their case to the CEO, who gave the go-ahead.

“For our workforce — and the way people consume information in this day and age — it seemed archaic to stick with that intranet tool. So we decided to go to something a little bit more user-friendly and something that is pretty much in the palm of everybody’s hand every day.” — Jaime Kazlo, Head of Communication, CDTA

Buying a solution

The next step in the process was choosing app technology that suited their frontline employees and the rest of the organization.

The comms team started by, again, looping in different departments to find out what modern intranet features they needed. 

They asked marketing leaders about their branding requirements. They asked HR how they’d like to use employee information within an app. They spoke to maintenance and transportation teams about the needs of their frontline workers.

This part of the process, says Jaime, was easy. Everyone was on board. Because everyone agreed that internal communications at CDTA needed to change. And because everyone wanted largely the same things:

• a product that was user-friendly and easy to use
• a product that was easy to download
• a product that allowed us to communicate daily company news
• a product that made it easy for employees to receive emergency messages

Once internal discussions had taken place, it was time to vet solutions and choose the best software for the job.

This part of the process was led by the IT and communications teams. The IT team knew what CDTA was looking for technically — and in terms of app security. The comms team knew what tools they needed to communicate effectively with the organization.

After speaking with several vendors and viewing app demonstrations, they decided on Blink. It was a speedy process. The team started looking for a solution in January 2022 and launched Blink in June of that year.

They were able to turn this process around in just six months, says Jaime, because the team got clear on their priorities first. By getting their ducks in a row — and knowing exactly what they were looking for in an employee app —finding the right app was quick and easy.

Ensuring success

Finding the right employee app is the first part of the battle. The next? Ensuring success — in the form of employee adoption and engagement — once that app goes live.

So how did the CDTA team tackle this particular challenge? In the webinar, Emily explains what the team did before and after the launch of Blink to maximize its success.

Pre-launch

The CDTA comms team started their pre-launch activities with a group of company leaders. They wanted to establish these people as app ambassadors. So they made sure they understood exactly what the app was for, what it could do, and how they should use it to interact with employees.

The comms team — along with the company’s new app ambassadors — started promoting the app to the wider organization about a month before it launched. They sent letters, put up posters, and advertised the app on digital screens.

Emily emphasizes the importance of speaking to people face to face, too. She and her team hosted information sessions. They also visited staff in break-out rooms, at every company location, to promote the app and field employee questions.

“[We were] letting them know — “Hey, this app is for you, it’s so you know what’s going on in our company and so you’re the first to know what’s going on in our company”.  

Contests and giveaways also helped to incentivize employees to download and use the app, both pre-launch and for about a month after. For example, the team launched the app on the first day of summer. So they had an ice cream truck come to each division and people who signed up to Blink got a free cone.

Post-launch

Launch done and dusted, the comms team turned their attention to sustaining app engagement levels. And encouraging late app sign-ups, too.

To achieve high levels of engagement, CDTA has focused on:

• Creating engaging content, with input from every department
• Being responsive to employee comments and questions
• Using pictures and graphics to grab employee attention
• Balancing serious content with fun content

Emily says managing the app and its content doesn’t take up her whole day. And you don’t need someone to do it 24/7.

Her role now involves asking team leaders to send her regular content. She launches surveys. And she posts at least a couple of informal, fun posts each month. That might mean highlighting a member of staff who got a promotion. Or — as CDTA did recently — posting pictures from an Exemplary Attendance Luncheon.

Employees like being able to see pictures of themselves or their teammates, says Emily. They like being recognized for their hard work. And they like being able to comment — congratulating others.

While they see better levels of engagement for fun posts, she says employees like to engage with serious content, too.

For example, CDTA recently did a safety post about cell phone usage on the road. Employees appreciated seeing it on the feed. They like being able to comment and contribute their thoughts. And these posts are a great way to get instant feedback on company policy.

Responding to resistance

CDTA doesn’t require employees to download the Blink app. So it’s up to each individual whether they choose to use it.

Emily acknowledges that some resistance is inevitable. Some employees told her that they didn’t want to see work content on their personal phones. Some simply didn’t see how Blink would benefit them.

But, says Emily, many of these employees have changed their perspectives. “Those people have now come back to me a year later, “Can you send me the invite to Blink again, I wanna download it.””

Part of CDTA’s success in getting employees to come around has been illustrating the personal benefit Blink brings to employees.

Comms team members get in the room with other employees to show them — here’s where you get your tax form, here’s where you see your pay stubs, here’s where you book vacation time.

They’ve also been using Blink’s analytics functions to see which content is working best. By seeing when and where employees are interacting, the team can hone content to make it even more relevant and engaging.

A majority of employees, says Emily, have seen the value of being able to do so much from their smartphones. And now — two years after the launch — adoption is at 80%, just shy of the company’s 85% target, which they hope to meet soon.

Q&A

The webinar ended with a Q&A session. Jaime and Emily provided answers to viewer questions. Here’s a summary of what they discussed.  

Do you allow employee comments on the app? And, if so, how do you manage them?

Allowing comments, says Emily, is essential for two-way communication. And the comments they get on the CDTA feed are mostly positive and primarily question-based.

Negative comments, when they do occur, are seen as a jumping-off point.

When the conversation feels constructive, leaders and managers can respond in the app. Alternatively, they go into Blink’s chat feature to say they’re happy to discuss an employee issue in person — and then set up a meeting.

While the admin team can delete comments, Emily says they would only do this if a comment contained profanity or something vulgar. And, thankfully, in two years of using the app, this is a problem they’ve yet to encounter.

It helps that openness is part of CDTA culture. And that company leaders understand that it solves more problems than it creates. 

“We have a CEO who is very transparent. He wants to know what the workforce is thinking. He wants them to know what he’s thinking[…]If you’re not transparent it brings up more questions and it creates more angst within your company because people are saying “Why aren’t they answering me” “Why are they being secretive?”.” — Emily De Vito, Communications Manager, CDTA

How do you work alongside your union when rolling out an employee app?

CDTA has a unionized workforce. So it was important for them to work in lockstep with the union president during the whole process — from solution scoping to app launch and beyond.

The comms team made a real effort, says Jaime, to explain to the union why they were implementing the app and to help them understand where they were coming from.

There were some employee concerns about how an app might invade their privacy. But we made it clear that the one and only purpose of the app was to make all employees feel included within the organization.

Now that the app is up and running, Emily highlights the importance of the union president having a profile and using the app. And knowing they can get in touch with the communications team when they want to send a union-related message out to the workforce. 

How do you enforce a cell phone policy when you have an employee app?

So you’re promoting a cell phone app. But you have a cell phone policy that means employees shouldn’t be looking at their phones during certain workday hours. What do you do?

For Jaime and Emily, it’s all about education and helping employees understand app features, like Blink’s snooze function.

Employees can set a do-not-disturb function to run automatically during particular times. This means they can pause notifications during work or driving hours. They can then pull out their cell phone during a break or when they’re back at home. 

How does an employee app work for team members without a smartphone?

There are very few employees at CDTA, says Jaime, who don’t have a smartphone. These tend to be older employees who aren’t necessarily very tech-savvy.

For these employees, the company has computers in break rooms. These computers are equipped with Blink’s desktop version. And they’re a way for employees who don’t have a phone — or who don’t want to download the app — to check in with their account and company news.

Does each employee have a profile? How do you manage those?

Every employee has their own app profile. They can upload a picture to this profile. But employees don’t have admin capabilities and they can’t edit anything else.

When it comes to creating profiles, the CDTA comms team worked with the HR team to import employee data. The app integrates with most HR software, so profiles can be added and removed automatically.

You can set up a profile with very basic information, including name, location, and job title. You also need an email address or a phone number so the employee can receive an invite to download Blink.

But you have the potential to refine these profiles. Emily is currently working with the CDTA on segmenting employees. She’s working out which employees should be grouped together so they can send the most relevant comms to each individual.

So there you have it. A summary of our webinar — and of CDTA’s journey from a clunky old intranet to a modern employee app.

Take a wild guess. During a week-long hospital stay, how many different employees is a patient likely to interact with?

When you account for all the doctors, nurses, technicians, consultants, and other people involved, it’s certainly more than a dozen. And depending on the patient’s condition, he may also see more than one type of specialist such as an oncologist, haematologist, radiologist, and so on.

If these many people are responsible for a patient’s care, they better be on the same page regarding the patient’s condition, diagnosis, and treatment. After all, a small mistake can risk his well-being.

Despite that, internal communication is an area where the global healthcare industry hasn’t caught up with the latest tools and best practices available to them. In this post, we’ll walk you through the importance of internal communications in the healthcare industry, its challenges, and what you can do to address them.

Why is communication important in healthcare?

Caring for patients properly takes more than procedures and diagnoses. You also need an effective internal communication system. And not having one in place makes you vulnerable to gaps that can have dire consequences.

In the UK alone, the healthcare communication gap costs over £1 billion in wasted funds and resources per year. Not to mention the risk that it poses to patients’ health.

This shows better internal communication has the potential to benefit both patients and healthcare providers. It helps save costs, protect your patients, and enhance day-to-day efficiency.

Gaps & barriers in healthcare communication

The issues that widen the healthcare gap are multi-faceted. Miscommunication exists between healthcare workers and patients. And it also exists between healthcare workers, technological systems, and more. So let’s take a closer look at the main obstacles getting in the way of effective communication in healthcare.  

Outdated communication channels

The global healthcare industry boasts of some of the most advanced technology in the world. From AI to VR-assisted operations, and from 3D printing to robotic surgeries, healthcare has seen some incredible scientific breakthroughs.

Yet, it’s shocking that many medical organizations haven’t adopted the latest communication technologies. Not just that, the whole burden lies with the senior practitioners to plan and send communication materials to patients, mid-level employees, frontline workers, and other caregivers. There is no infrastructure to support streamlined multi-directional communication.

Lack of focus on internal communication 

Most organizations focus on improving communication between healthcare professionals and patients, but the gap among the healthcare professionals themselves is usually a blind spot.

Many doctors work alone. Specialist care is often fragmented. And healthcare professionals are not always in contact with each other. This leads to a lower quality of care. This is where a well-thought-out internal communications strategy is vital.

Apathy towards frontline staff

Katie Knight, a pediatric emergency medicine registrar in the NHS, recalls from a roundtable discussion among experienced NHS professionals:

“Those in senior management rarely ask for the opinions or ideas of those in junior positions.”

When decisions are being made that could drastically change the experience of those working on the frontline, it seems strange that those on the frontline are rarely consulted. The result is the formation of unrealistic rules and regulations that can’t be implemented in the real world. 

Limited technological aptitude

Gaps in technological ability affect both healthcare workers and patients. A report published by the Good Things Foundation in 2019 found that 55% of over 65s lack at least one essential digital skill.

In fact, over 50% don’t have the basic digital skills they need. This prevents organizations from truly adopting the tools that can streamline internal communication.

High-pressure environment

Healthcare workers tend to be pressed for time. These are professionals with limited resources tasked with an array of responsibilities such as meeting patients, diagnosing conditions, monitoring reports, supervising treatment, and much more. And the ongoing pandemic has added even more to their stress and work pressure.

So unless you make it really easy for them to adopt and use a new communication mechanism or policy, it’s not going to put a dent.

3 ways to improve healthcare communication

Good internal communication practices aren’t easy to adopt, even for experienced healthcare professionals. Here are the steps to foster better internal communication in your healthcare organization.

1. Assess your current situation

Before you zero in on where you need to go and how to get there, you should understand where you are right now. Conduct an internal audit or employee survey to get answers to questions such as:

• How do workers communicate most often?
• Are there any commonalities or trends in communication mishaps?
• How are company news and policies communicated?

This is also your opportunity to solicit feedback and suggestions to address communication problems and enhance internal communication.

Implementing new methods and patterns of communication will require time and effort, but it will pay off in the end.

2. Form an internal communication strategy

Good internal communication involves everyone in the organization, but it starts at the top. It needs support and active participation from senior leadership.

When administrators and managers clearly define and communicate goals, processes, and expectations, along with aligning their own behaviour accordingly, it’s easier for employees to adhere to the same standards.

Now to clearly shape and share guidelines for effective internal communication, you must have a concrete plan. A great internal communication strategy will answer questions such as:

For more information, check out our in-depth guide to building an iron-clad internal communication strategy.

• What do you need to communicate in the next 6-12 months?
• Which communication tasks are manual and which can be automated or streamlined with technology?
• What software/tools should you adopt for your healthcare facility?
• How will you distinguish between the handling of must-read and nice-to-know updates?
• How will you ensure and track whether important information is reaching the intended audience?
• How can you meet the communication needs of frontline workers, technologically challenged individuals, and other staff groups?
• How will you train and onboard staff members to align with new communication rules and technologies

3. Use technology to streamline communication

Using the right tools and technologies goes a long way in improving healthcare communication. A study found that 92% of healthcare workers think internal communication technology is “extremely important” or “very important” for the betterment of clinical results.

For example, managers can use employee communication software to:

• Set up reminders and schedule employee performance reviews and other team meetings.
• Share new procedures and policies with everyone in the organization (including frontline staff) with just a few clicks or taps.
• Make certain messages mandatory and monitor electronic signatures to check whether employees have read the information.
• Store and distribute training materials in multiple formats to make sure workers understand and can refer to the information again as needed.

Most of all, a great communication tool can empower everyone to access and share stories, updates, and suggestions across your organization. This change alone can lead to a significant boost in employee lifecycle and productivity.

Final thoughts

If you’ve ever looked for a job online, we bet you’ve come across the phrase —  “candidate must have excellent communication skills.”

Good communication with coworkers is a key ingredient everywhere, but it’s even more important for hospitals and other healthcare facilities.  Poor communication can put lives at risk, and cause many day-to-day issues in a hospital, regardless of your profession or department.

So use this guide to analyze the gaps hindering internal communication and start taking steps that take you close to build a company that does right by both its workers and patients.

Satnavs. Facial recognition. The Cloud. FinTech.

We slip words like these into conversations with ease. New technology has become part of our bread-and-butter vocabulary, without quotation (or question) marks.

Healthtech, on the other hand – that feels a bit more niche. Or it did, until Covid-19 made us sit up and pay attention. 

24 months into the pandemic, nobody needs a lecture on the importance of healthtech; it’s staring us in the face. But health tech didn’t emerge on-the-fly in response to the Covid crisis. It’s been around for a long time.

And it’s big business. In 2017, Forbes valued the digital healthcare industry at an astounding $25 billion globally. They believe that number will skyrocket above $379 billion by 2024. 

We all know that healthtech helps predict the spread of diseases, track pandemic outbreaks, and contain them. But there are other new developments in the future of healthcare that will change the way we live.

What is healthtech?

Right now, healthtech (also known as digital health) is the fastest-growing verticle in healthcare. It refers to any product or service that's enabled, or revolutionized by, technology. So far, so Sci-Fi. But healthtech is all around us already...

Wearables

Yep, you’ve already got this one. Fitness trackers (like FitBits) are health wearables. We like knowing we've put in my 10.000 steps. But other types of knowledge about what’s happening in our bodies can be more vital. For some people, it’s their heart rate; for others, their blood pressure, or their oxygen supply. 

Continuously measuring these things makes a huge difference for people with chronic conditions. And these wearables don’t just make the invisible visible; they also act as a kind of coach. They empower wearers to become active participants in managing their health condition. Immediate feedback from a wearable can change habits; habits can change health; and health saves lives. 

Wearables are particularly relevant in the time of Covid-19. But they will continue to be so well beyond it, as part of a bigger drive towards preventative or pro-active health care. 

3D-printed prototypes

3D-printing technology still sounds far-fetched. But it’s here, and it’s a quiet revolution in healthcare. Technology like this can create everything from personalized prosthetics to bio-tissues and blood vessels, at a fraction of the past cost. It transforms organ transplants and tissue repair. It can even produce realistic skin grafts for burn victims. 

In 2020, researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, managed to develop a method for printing 3D-print living skin, along with blood vessels.

Blockchain for electronic healthcare records

Blockchain and the future of healthcare? Not obvious at first. But think of electronic health records, and how important it is to keep those accurate and safe. 

Blockchain technology can play a key role in ensuring that medical records are 100% accurate. It also makes them significantly harder to hack. Conflicting information is automatically detected, thanks to a decentralised network of computers. And blockchain not only helps prevent data breaches; it also cuts costs. 

So it’s no wonder that many health and pharmaceutical companies are investing in blockchain technology.  A recent report put the blockchain health market at $890.5 million by 2023.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key driver in health tech. We already see it in chatbots and virtual health assistants that act as diagnostic tools, and even as therapists. 

But the real power of AI becomes clear in areas like precision medicine. In the past, many cancer patients received cookie-cutter treatments with high failure rates. Because of AI, we now have more personalised treatments, based on individual genetics and lifestyle factors, amongst other things.

AI also plays a big role in the discovery of new drugs and the development of vaccines. That’s a Bigger Deal Than Ever Before in the Covid pandemic. 

And finally, two of the things AI is exceptionally good at is Pattern Recognition and optical character recognition. That means it can analyse large amounts of cancer images that help recognise and diagnose cancer. One famous example of this is Google’s DeepMind, which created an AI for breast cancer analysis. The algorithm outperformed human radiologists on pre-selected data sets to identify breast cancer, on average by 11.5%.

The market value of AI for future of healthcare worldwide? $34 billion by 2025.

VR/AR

Most of us are already familiar with this technology. Immersing yourself in a simulated environment is fun. But it can also be a therapeutic tool. For instance, VR environments help train people to deal with mental health triggers safely. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bipolar Disorder. Covid-related Stress and Anxiety are now being treated this way.

The training potential of VR is – well, awesome. Take surgeons, for instance. A recent Harvard Business Review study showed that VR-trained surgeons had a 230% boost in their overall performance.

Compared to their traditionally-trained counterparts, they were both faster and more accurate. At Case Western Reserve University, students learn via a VR-based HoloAnatomy app. This offers detailed and precise experience without the need for real bodies.

Top 4 emerging healthtech trends for 2022

In light of the Covid pandemic and rapid growth in remote work, safeguarding your workers has become a mandatory part of doing business. This means you’re now also looked upon to bring in measures like: 

By making these types of smart technologies accessible to your workforce, you can give way to improved safety standards and early alerts that reduce the risk of contagious threats. Keep track of these trends to keep your employees safe in 2022 and beyond.

identify opportunities to leverage them for your organization going forward. 

Virtual care and remote medicine are on the rise

You drive to the doctor. You sit in a waiting area for ages until your name's called. When your appointment finally happens, it's a few questions, a prescription, and you're sent on your way. You wonder why you spent so long commuting for a matter of minutes.

Sound familiar?

That's why virtual care is replacing minor in-person appointments. The past two years have further accelerated this trend, leading to an increase in virtual visits or telephone consultations. 

According to a recent McKinsey study, the number of people using telehealth rose from 11 to 46% during the pandemic. It further predicts that telehealth would account for $250 billion — 20% of the US healthcare spending in near future.

Virtual care not only reduces the risk of spreading contagious diseases but allows healthcare professionals to fit more consultations into their daily schedules. This is a vital factor for highly populated nations facing a shortage of medical professionals, such as India and China.   

Genomics and gene editing lead to further breakthroughs 

Before you get all excited — no, we haven’t figured out how a spider’s bite can turn a normal kid into spiderman.

But the good news is that there've been significant breakthroughs in gene editing, accelerating the development of different types of "precision medicine."

This means drugs can be tailored to the genetic profile of each patient, enhancing their effectiveness and minimizing side effects.

Precision medicine is already used in many ways, one of which is 'lab on a chip' — a technology that allows fast detection of Covid. It’s a hand-held device that can detect if someone is infected with better accuracy than conventional signals such as fever and coughing. So, it can go a long way in getting our lives back to normal. 

Data and AI drives shift to fairer healthcare insurance and coverage 

With all the strain that the coronavirus pandemic has put on our healthcare resources, you’d think it must have grown the bottom line too. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. In the US, healthcare revenues fell by 50%  as patients avoided surgeries and hospitals. 

But the silver lining in midst of all this is the revelation that people are willing to share their personal data when it’s a matter of their health. This is evident from how much people have engaged with track-and-trace systems. 

The more data people share with health services, mobile apps, and online systems powered by AI, the more accurate picture healthcare providers will have of their well-being, along with a sense of when they should intervene. Not just that, it helps healthcare providers forecast the most efficient way to deliver their services.  

This also matters from a financial perspective because other entities such as insurance companies can use advanced predictive technologies to measure risk and set premiums more accurately. 

AI, IoT, and Smart Cities improve our ability to detect and respond to future outbreaks 

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we were embarrassingly unprepared to deal with an outbreak. And we should have a collective, predetermined strategy if something similar happens in the future.

A key part of this strategy is the concept of “Smart Cities," powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). According to Statista, global revenue from smart city projects is estimated to reach $129 billion in 2021. 

The idea of a smart city is based on incorporating digital connectivity and data-driven decision-making at our respective locations. And its applications extend to many areas such as: 

• Energy distribution
• Public transportation networks
• Refuse collection
• Environmental health initiatives

It’s not just the organizations that are becoming health-care oriented, but also city planners and municipal authorities. These government bodies are now allocating resources to develop technologies that can help us predict, detect and prevent pandemics. 

Another major focus is environmental health. Tech-driven initiatives are being put in place to reduce air pollution and build resilience to the effects of climate change, including the rise in sea level and temperature..

Conclusion

Even if most of your workers are remote, don’t think for a second that your health concerns are over. They now require even more attention because you don’t have the luxury of regular, face-to-face contact. It’ll be hard for you to tell when your employees are burning the candle at both ends. So you still need to support the mental health of employees as they perform their duties in the field, or from home. 

That’s where the healthcare technology trends we outlined can help. There are several health apps available for professionals to monitor physical activity, practice meditation, set reminders for breaks, water and exercise, and so on. 

The only way to avoid setbacks that can take you by surprise is to stay on top of the latest trends and innovations. The faster you can respond to relevant changes in your industry, the better for your organization.

A telltale sign of whether an organization will survive and thrive into the future is its adaptability.

That’s because sooner or later, every organization will go through a big change that impacts its employees.

It may be a merger, a growth slump, an acquisition, a leadership replacement, or a company-wide policy update. To make it work – to adapt and thrive – employees need to be aligned with a company’s change efforts. This is especially true for frontline organisations.

Sadly, when it comes to communicating change, many organizational change initiatives fail miserably. A recent study by Gartner shows that only 34% of all change efforts are successful.

Granted, communicating organizational change isn’t easy. But it can be a lot smoother with proper communication throughout the company.

Informing and involving your workers throughout the process is the key to successful change that has a positive impact on employee experience.

So let’s see what it means to communicate change in the workplace, and what the best practices are for a seamless transition.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What is change communication?
• Communicating change in the workplace: how to do it right
• Communicating change in the workplace: final thoughts

What is change communication?

We’re not big on fancy jargon. So let’s keep it simple. Change communication is the process of keeping your workers updated on your change initiatives throughout a period of change.

How you go about communicating change can help employees and other stakeholders understand:

• What is being changed
• Why the change is necessary at this time
• What’s the scope of your change efforts
• How the change will affect them
• What steps are required from their side

Whether you’re adopting new technology, updating a part of a business operation, or shuffling leadership, communicating change helps workers shift from where they are to where they need to be in the future.

Understanding the change communication model

If you want your change initiative to bear fruit, your workers should go through the following phases.

Awareness: informing employees about the coming change. This should be done through clear and relevant messages distributed through internal communication channels.

Understanding: helping employees what, why, and how of the change.

Acceptance: supporting employees in accepting the upcoming change effort and act in accordance with it. This will almost certainly require two-way communication.

Commitment: making sure that communication keeps flowing until the new activities become the norm, to reach full commitment.

Each of these phases is important for a smooth transition. If you rush the process and skip a phase you will encounter resistance. There are no shortcuts.

So the big question is: how can you best meet the needs of workers during each phase? We’re glad you asked. Here are some tips to help you streamline your change initiatives.

Communicating change in the workplace: how to do it right

Use visual communication

Visual communication relies on visual aids to convey information – graphs, maps, charts, infographics…

Images and videos are visual forms of content too. TechSmith’s research shows that using them saves time and leads to faster understanding than text on its own.

Visuals can help you communicate key data in a way that it’s easily digestible, comprehensible, and memorable.

Chances are your company is already using visualization in many areas. From the emoji that a coworker shares with you to the poster in the hall depicting Covid precautions, you probably come across a variety of visuals every day. So it’s only a matter of extending the same creativity to your change communications.

On top of that, tools like Canva, Piktochart, and Visme that have recently flooded the market allow even non-designers to create stunning visuals in no time.

Once you have created the visual content for communicating change, use a platform like Blink (which has a newsfeed and content hub) ensure smooth distribution and ready accessibility.  

Bring in video communication

Videos are among the most engaging communication formats. Viewers retain 95% of a message when the message is conveyed with a video, as compared to just 10% from plain text.

If the thought of creating a video is conjuring images of complex video editing software in your head, worry not.

Just like with graphics, you don’t need to be a video-mixing pro to create engaging clips. What matters is that your videos are genuine and authentic – they don’t need to be slick and polished.

Tools such as Snagit, Piktostory, and Loom make it really easy to record, edit and share videos with employees in your organization.

Don’t forget face-to-face channels

It’s no secret that people are increasingly working remotely and relying on digital communication platforms to meet and keep in touch. In many ways, that’s a good thing.

But change, no matter how small, is a sensitive topic. When communicating change, it’s not just about what you’re saying, but also about how you’re saying it – the non-verbal signals you, and your employees, send out contain important information.

Take the example of a global manufacturer who held a meeting of about 200 workers right after a reorganization. There was an unease in the crowd, and when the VP got up to deliver his speech, he spotted this and took it into account: instead of embarking on his presentation, he started by addressing the elephant in the room.

He told the workers that he understood how they were feeling. Uncertain. Sad. Scared. He expressed honest, heartfelt sorrow over the senior management’s distress about letting good people go. He validated what the employees were feeling.

Had this been a virtual meeting, the VP probably wouldn’t have caught the non-verbal signals of workers’ mental and emotional condition.

So whenever possible, include in-person communication in your change management communication process. Tune in to what preoccupies your employees so you can respond genuinely. This is especially important if they are frontline workers; make sure they feel seen, heard and taken into account.

Incorporate the principles of storytelling

In the early 1980s, the airline industry went through a tough time. Scandinavian Airlines was hit particularly hard: it was facing a loss of $20 million.  

To turn itself around, the business decided to make a big change in its strategy, the core of which was to focus more on business travelers. But changing the mindset of its 20,000 workers was not going to be easy.

So what did they do? The management sent a short handbook to all the employees with a visual story communicating the change. The booklet covered what the company was going through, its future goal, and how workers could help the organization get through its struggles.  

Along with other change communication efforts, this approach helped the company increase its earnings by $25 million in the first year, and $80 million overall.  

Stories can go a long way in reducing the fear and uncertainty associated with your change initiative, and rally your workers around shared objectives.

To learn more, see our guide to employing storytelling in your internal communications.

Open up channels for multi-way feedback  

Change is stressful. 73% of employees affected by change report experiencing moderate to high stress levels.

When going through a transition, employees want to feel heard and validated. They should be able to share their concerns, feelings, and experiences, and raise questions.

In-person chats go a long way in giving workers a sense of being included. If that’s not possible, or in larger companies, two-way digital communication channels can make a big difference. Either way, the unspoken message you want to convey is that the management and the employees are in this together.

Create a change communication strategy

Your employees will feel reassured and get on board much faster if they have a clear view of exactly what’s happening when, and if they feel that they have a voice.

The best way to embark on a change process is to start with a change communication strategy that helps workers see what lies ahead. Not knowing generates anxiety; being in the loop alleviates it.

A proper change communication strategy will help you distribute timely, consistent, and relevant information, along with mechanisms for workers to share feedback and raise questions.

Communicating change in the workplace: final thoughts

Communicating change takes time and effort but it is often worth it. When communicated skilfully, a change effort can shift gears and successfully move your company into a desired future state.

Many organizations fail at change management because they treat it as a set-and-forget process. Don’t make that mistake. When communicating change, make sure to hammer home your key messages not just once, but again and again. Keep communicating until the change becomes second nature.

If you make your workers the protagonists in the story of your change, you’ll see a real willingness on their part to adapt and contribute.

If you are looking to implement effective change communication, schedule a demo to learn about how Blink can help you drive successful organizational change with efficient internal communications.

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Once upon a time, a company intranet that worked off a server in your office was enough to keep internal communication on track. But today, company needs have changed. And so have employee expectations.

We’ve entered the era of the digital workplace. Employees use a variety of different devices. Teams work remotely, across multiple locations. And beyond the world of work, everyone is now accustomed to intuitive, convenient, and personalized digital experiences.

Digital change has come quickly. And workplace software  — like the intranet — hasn’t always kept pace. Traditional intranets feel old and clunky today. They’re affecting employee experience (EX) - and they could be doing more harm than good.

Around a fifth of workers don’t or no longer use their company intranet. And (importantly for frontline organizations) 52% of frontline workers say they’d quit their jobs because of poor tech tools. 

Thankfully, a new breed of intranet is now emerging. It’s fresher and more relevant to today’s workforce. It’s also built with digital workplace challenges front of mind.

A modern intranet holds the key to two-way communication and collaboration, better employee engagement, and an enhanced digital employee experience (DEX). And it could be a game changer for your organization.

Here, we’re going to take a look at the changing face of the company intranet and examine the features and benefits of a new and improved modern intranet.

Contents

• Intranets: then and now
• Why you need a modern intranet
• Features of a modern intranet
• How modern intranets impact the digital employee experience
• Choosing the right modern intranet
• Conclusion

Intranets: then and now

The company intranet has come a long way since it was first introduced back in the 1990s. Adapting to advances in technology and changing workplace trends, it’s taken on a variety of different forms over the years.

When talking about the modern intranet, it’s useful to compare the most cutting-edge intranet software to what has come before. So let’s step back in time and revisit each stage of intranet evolution.

Early intranets

Closed private networks were the first intranets to hit the office. They used local servers to host static web pages, meaning only computers based within the same geographical location could access them.

These early intranets provided limited interactivity and functionality. They were a place to share company directories, policies, and other documents. But because the setup and maintenance of early intranets required a lot of technical expertise, information was often outdated and badly organized.

Web-based intranets

As the internet went mainstream, web-based intranets made their way onto the market. These intranets were accessible via standard web browsers and had basic search functions, which helped users find what they were looking for. But these new intranets still had their drawbacks.

Internal communication remained one-way, with information traveling from the top of an organization down. Content was often poorly maintained because updates were complex. And there was very little opportunity for companies to provide personalized employee experiences.

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Social intranets

Social intranets were the first intranets to go mobile. Remote servers meant geography mattered less — and everyone within an organization, regardless of their location, could access the same information.

Inspired by social media platforms, social intranets prioritized communication, with features like user profiles and user-generated content. They were also designed to support team collaboration and productivity, with personnel services and project management tools built in.

Modern intranets

Modern intranets take the social intranet concept to the next level. They are a mobile-first solution with a focus on user experience (UX), designed to meet the expectations of today’s digital workforce.

Content creation is democratized in modern intranets. All members of an organization can access information and tools easily. And team leaders get the analytics and data-driven insights they need to improve employee engagement.

Interested in seeing a modern intranet in action? Preview Blink today with a short 2-minute video. 

Why your frontline organization needs a modern intranet

So why should your frontline organization ditch its traditional intranet and adopt a modern software solution instead? There are several very good reasons.

Older intranet software can cause friction and frustration. Perhaps your intranet has become a dumping ground for outdated information. Or it simply fails to provide the intuitive, user-friendly, productivity-boosting features we’ve all come to expect.

We know that traditional intranets fail to live up to employee expectations. 67% of workers say that digital experiences in their personal lives are better than the digital experiences they get at work.

Many traditional intranets are built around the needs of desk-based teams, so they do your frontline workers a disservice. Frontline workers miss out on the communication and resources available to their desk-based peers.   

A modern intranet, in contrast, helps you meet all of the following challenges head-on.

1. Employee engagement

According to Gallup’s State of the Workplace Report for 2023, just 23% of employees are engaged at work. But organizations should try to do better. That’s because high levels of employee engagement lead to happier employees, improved productivity, and lower rates of attrition.

Employee engagement is always a challenge. But engaging employees in a frontline organization can be particularly tricky. When your workers are deskless, how do you give them the connection, coaching, and support they need to thrive within your organization?

A modern intranet gives you all of the tools you need to engage your employees, regardless of where they work. You can count on a social feed, a content hub, employee recognition tools, surveys, and more.

With analytics too, you can see what is engaging your employees — and what isn’t — so you can improve your efforts going forward.

2. Communication

Open communication within a workplace is vital. It helps you inform, motivate, and engage your employees, while fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment. It involves top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer communication, so everyone has a voice. 

For frontline teams, maintaining open channels of communication within teams who don’t work face-to-face requires tailored solutions.

A modern intranet helps you build internal communication links between every member of your workforce — whether they’re based in the office, on the shop floor, or out in the field.

You don’t need to rely on emails or a company noticeboard. Instead, all types of internal communication are supported via your intranet app.  

With better communication, you bring your teams together and you may find it easier to grow your company too. A Forbes study found that companies who involve 75% of their frontline in internal comms, achieved more than 20% growth over a year.

3. Digital access

Older intranet software is built around an outdated version of the workplace. It doesn’t prioritize the mobile experience and instead works best for employees who sit at a desk on a computer for the majority of each working day.

Newer intranets understand that the world of work has changed. Digital tools are a workplace essential. And frontline, hybrid, and remote teams should have equal access to the information and interaction that these tools provide.

That’s why the best modern intranets have a mobile-first design. Employees can access them as easily on a small smartphone screen as on a desktop computer. All workers across an organization are engaged and empowered, so no one misses out.

4. Collaboration

Traditional intranets are known for being slow and difficult to use, with low rates of user adoption. In fact, 57% of employees say they see no purpose in their company intranet.

This impacts collaboration. When employees avoid your intranet — because it isn’t intuitive to use or data is hard to find — knowledge sharing suffers and you risk creating organizational silos.

For frontline teams, this exacerbates an existing risk. Frontline workers spend time away from HQ, working different shift patterns, and managing a high workload. These factors already get in the way of team collaboration.

Luckily, this is another frontline challenge that a modern intranet can solve. The intranet allows people across your organization to share ideas and objectives via an easy-to-use interface.

Everyone can contribute, even those who work remotely, making your organization more productive, more innovative, and better able to solve problems.

Features of a modern intranet

We’ve touched on what makes a modern intranet different from the other intranet software available. But now we’re going to delve into the details. Here are features you can expect from the newest intranets  and how they stand to benefit your business.   

A central hub

A modern intranet acts as the gateway to your business. It’s the go-to location for company communication and knowledge sharing.

With a single, searchable hub, it’s easy for employees to find what they’re looking for, whether that’s essential documents, a directory of co-workers, or a list of the latest company events.

Importantly, information is stored logically and consistently. And the advanced search functionality of a modern intranet — thanks to keyword suggestions and content tagging — means it’s always clear what information is and isn’t available.

User friendly interfaces

Modern intranets are familiar to their users. That’s partly because they can be customized with employer branding. But it’s also because they have an intuitive, user friendly interface that mirrors many of the digital tools employees already feel comfortable using.

Employees don’t need a company email address to sign in. They can get notifications whenever important information is posted. And it’s easy to download intranet apps from the App Store. This means very little training is required.

Personalized experiences

Personalization makes the modern intranet even more engaging for users. Employees can personalize their dashboard and see content tailored to their role and department.

You can also program your intranet so it presents different information depending on where an employee is at in their career and how much time they’ve spent with the company. Someone who started working for you last week will get different intranet content to someone who has been working for you for years.

Communication tools

Managers can share important news and announcements. Teams can share ideas. An employee can wish a coworker a happy birthday. With a variety of communication tools based within the same intranet software, meaningful communication becomes second nature.

Employees don’t have to switch between different platforms for informal co-worker chat, essential C-suite comms, and knowledge sharing resources. They can easily find communications, and contribute to them too, all within the same interface.

It’s also easy for managers to highlight need-to-know information.Push notifications and mandatory reads ensure essential information never goes unread.  

Real-time communication

Asynchronous communication is important for teams who work across different time zones or shift patterns. But real-time communication is also crucial for your organization. It allows employees to communicate as if they were in the same physical location — even when they’re not.

This allows for faster decision-making, improved problem-solving, and better collaboration. It also helps employees to feel more connected to one another — because real-time communication mirrors face-to-face communication in a way that an email thread just can’t.

Employee recognition

Employee recognition isn’t always easy when employees work disparately. Managers have to be intentional about praise and recognition because they get few informal opportunities to show their appreciation.

With built-in employee recognition features, a modern intranet makes it easy for you to motivate and incentivize your team.

Managers are prompted to recognize employee anniversaries and milestones. Peers can celebrate coworker wins. And some intranet software even provides recognition leaderboards and real-life rewards as further incentive for hard work.

Collaboration tools

The modern intranet makes collaboration a priority. It provides features that support collaboration for teams who don’t necessarily work in the same office.

From shared calendars to real-time chat, document sharing to task allocation, a modern intranet helps teams work together, even when they’re physically apart.

Mobile compatibility

Workers no longer have to be chained to their desktop computers in order to get the most from the intranet experience. Modern intranets are mobile responsive. They offer the same user experience and the same great features whichever device employees have access to during their workday.

This means frontline, remote, and hybrid workers enjoy the same intranet experience as their desk-based peers. And you create a joined-up organization in which all workers are treated equally.

Integration capabilities

Modern intranet software integrates with the digital tools and data sources you already use within your organization. It creates a seamless experience for employees.

They don’t need to log in to multiple platforms and deal with repetitive or conflicting information. Everything is available via the same intranet hub.

For your management team, integration makes everything more efficient. You don’t need to duplicate work over different tools, which means you improve data accuracy too.

Feedback functions

Good internal communication goes both ways. And with modern intranet feedback functions, it’s easy to find out what your employees are thinking and feeling at any given moment.

Surveys and forms are delivered in a user friendly format so a higher proportion of your employees is likely to respond. And with accurate insight into employee sentiment, you can create better employee experiences, making informed decisions based on what your workforce really wants and needs.

Security

When you opt for a modern intranet, security comes as standard. The best providers work by recognized cybersecurity guidelines.

They provide data encryption and data backup. Regular penetration testing ensures the system always provides a strong defense against cyber-attack. And access controls mean admin teams can choose with members of your organization can see sensitive information.

Analytics to optimize and measure

The best modern intranets offer analytics too, meaning you get real-time data on employee engagement and the employee experience.

You can track a variety of metrics — things like user activity, co-worker interactions, likes, searches, and downloads. And then you can view these results in a visual, easy-to-digest format.

Along with surveys and feedback forms, intranet analytics gives insight into how employees use the software and how it impacts their overall experience of the workplace. This empowers you to make data-driven improvements.

How modern intranets impact the digital employee experience

The digital employee experience (DEX) is how employees feel about the digital tools they use within the workplace. For optimal DEX, you need digital tools that support and streamline every employee workflow, without creating points of friction.  

DEX comes under the umbrella of employee experience (EX). But we’d argue that, in a digital workplace, DEX isn’t just part of the EX picture. It’s integral to it. In fact, we can relate DEX to nearly all of the nine EX elements identified by McKinsey.

Source: McKinsey

Digital tools affect:

• social relationships in the workplace
• an employee’s sense of belonging
• an employee’s sense of growth, purpose, and motivation
• how employees feel about their productivity and efficiency

The company intranet is inevitably a big part of employees’ digital experience. And when you replace a traditional intranet with modern software, designed to meet the expectations and needs of today’s employees, you impact DEX in all of the following ways. 

Enhanced communication

These days, we rely on digital communication tools to connect frontline, hybrid, and remote working teams. It’s important to EX that teams get the same level of connection and knowledge sharing, and the same sense of belonging, that they’d get working face-to-face.

Modern intranet software is built with team communication at its core. It understands that, in a digital workplace, informal water cooler chats aren’t always possible.

So it provides teams with communication tools that create a sense of physical togetherness, even when teams work disparately.

With Blink Chat, for example, employees can message each other in real-time. They can chat one-on-one or set up Group Chats for multiple team members. Within chats, employees can send messages, send documents, and even start online voice or video meetings, straight from the app.

But the modern intranet doesn’t just facilitate peer-to-peer communication. It also gives managers the communication tools they need to enhance the employee experience.

This is where the Blink Feed comes in. Via a familiar, social media-style feed, leadership can post company-wide communications. They can guide company culture and broadcast important news, motivating and informing employees in the process.

Employee techquity

Employee techquity is achieved when frontline workers have equal access to the digital tools, resources, and people they need to succeed. Older intranet systems tend to leave frontline and remote workers behind. They fail to address many of the key challenges faced by frontline teams.

This means frontline and remote employees miss out on the opportunities afforded to desk-based staff. They find it harder to advance in their careers, they don’t always have access to the same tools, tech, and training, and they can end up feeling disconnected from company HQ.

A modern, mobile-first intranet helps to create a fairer working environment. All employees get to use exactly the same functions and features, whether they access the platform via a desktop computer or a smartphone device.

A modern intranet is easy to use, so frontline workers can dip into internal comms during a busy work day. It also acknowledges the fact that many frontline workers don’t have a company email address, so provides alternative login methods.

By providing an equal digital experience for all workers within your organization, everyone gets the tools they need to do their job — and everyone enjoys a sense of connection and belonging.

Learn more: Download our ebook, Achieving Employee Techquity 

The right resources

Employees enjoy a better workplace experience when they feel they’re working to the best of their ability.

In a digital workplace, this means having the right information, along with the right collaboration and productivity tools. And this is another area of DEX that a modern intranet can help with.

A modern intranet acts as a content hub for your organization. But unlike old intranet software, this new style of content management system is well-organized and user friendly. It’s easy to find and read policy documents and to collaborate on files with co-workers.

Just take a look at the Blink Hub. It’s a content management system that puts policies, training materials, and manuals in one convenient, easy-to-access location. 

A drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to add content. And because the Blink Hub is available via desktop and mobile apps, every member of your organization can access it.

A modern intranet can also provide self-service functions, another big plus for the digital employee experience. 

When employees can book shifts, request annual leave, register for a training course, and access pay stubs all from the same platform, work admin becomes much less of a headache.

Employee engagement

Engaged workers feel emotionally connected to their work and co-workers. They feel aligned with company values and empowered to work productively.

A poor digital employee experience gets in the way of engagement. But there are lots of ways that a positive DEX — supported by a modern intranet — can enhance it.

The social features of a cutting-edge intranet — like social feeds, discussion forums, and employee profiles — help employees build meaningful connections with people at all levels of your organization.

Employee recognition and reward functions within the intranet also boost engagement. Employees understand their goals and how these goals relate to the overarching company mission. A culture of recognition and rewards — made easy with intranet tools — then incentivizes them to meet their objectives.

Another way that your intranet can improve employee engagement is with employee personalization.

Workers get to personalize the platform dashboard to make it more relevant and engaging. Admins can adapt content too, tailoring it to the needs of workers at each stage in the employee lifecycle.

Analytics and feedback

Modern intranets make it easy for you to gather information on the digital employee experience. You can launch surveys, send out forms, and dive into the analytics provided by your platform.

This is a huge bonus to your DEX strategy. Because you don’t need to stab in the dark. You have all the data you need to make targeted EX improvements.  

View data on employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. See what content performs best to improve your content management strategy. Understand how your teams interact, identifying co-worker relationships that need a little TLC.

A tool like Blink Analytics allows you to really drill down into the data. You can segment it based on team or location. So you understand exactly how your digital workplace is working for each member of your organization. 

Simplicity

Some organizations have approached the challenge of digital transformation by acquiring tech tools for every business function. But this isn’t an effective way of doing things.

Gartner research shows that application sprawl (when workers are expected to use multiple digital tools) turns up the volume without improving communication.

When workers use multiple apps, it affects productivity too. Workers could save up to 10 hours per week simply by reducing the number of tech tools and apps they use.

Simplifying and streamlining the technology you use can therefore have a huge impact on the digital employee experience.

When workers have a single, go-to platform, there’s less friction. Employees aren’t constantly pinged with notifications from multiple apps. They don’t have to familiarize themselves with different interfaces. And it’s easy to find the information and tools they need.

Choosing the right modern intranet

We’ve covered all of the reasons that a modern intranet might benefit your organization. But with numerous intranet options out there, how do you choose the right one for your business?

Let’s take a look at a couple of questions you can ask when looking for intranet software that meets the needs of your organization and employees.  

Is the software built to scale?

An intranet is a big investment of time and money. It also quickly becomes a central part of your company operations. So you don’t want to be changing it in a hurry.

When choosing an intranet, look for a solution that can grow with your business. Consider whether an intranet contender will continue to meet your needs if you experience a period of rapid growth and need to take on lots more staff.

Scalable intranets offer bespoke pricing for enterprise clients (per-user pricing can become unaffordable as your team grows). They’re also cloud-based, so you don’t have to rely on on-premise infrastructure when you need to expand capability. 

Some other considerations to bear in mind? You need access controls suited to large teams, the option to create communication channels for each team or department, and the right level of security and support for a bigger organization.  

Is mobile access a priority?

If you have any workers who don’t spend their workday sitting behind a desk, then a mobile-first intranet is the only logical choice.

On-premise solutions aren’t always accessible via mobile devices. You may even find that remote desk workers, using a laptop or desktop computer, have to jump through VPN hoops to access intranet content.

A mobile-first intranet is designed to work well — and provide the same features — over any device and from any location. So it’s particularly useful for frontline teams who need to access internal info on the go, using their smartphone.

Does the solution provide analytics?

The best intranet solutions give you the analytics and reporting features you need to measure the success of your new platform.

They provide data on employee engagement, content performance, user behavior, employee retention, and employee satisfaction. With real insight, you can identify areas for improvement and make targeted changes. 

Only shortlist solutions that offer robust analytics functions. They should be able to provide data on a wide range of metrics, allow you to segment data by a variety of user groups, and provide real-time data. They should also present all data in a visual, easy to understand way.  

Does the intranet integrate with your existing technology?

One of the key benefits of a modern intranet is its simplicity. It brings all of the communication and collaboration tools your digital workplace needs into the same platform.

The ideal intranet will meet your business needs in terms of two-way communication, content management, and collaboration. But it should also integrate with any of the tech tools you already use.  

You need to know that any payroll, project management, or customer service software can integrate seamlessly with your intranet. And that these tools will continue to work just as well as before.

A new intranet shouldn’t negatively impact the adoption of your current tools. Instead, streamlining your digital tools should actually improve uptake.

Is the intranet user friendly?

An intranet only benefits your company (in all of the ways listed above) if your employees actually use it. So you need a solution that is intuitive and easy to learn, even if your team isn’t super tech-savvy.

Look for an intranet with a user friendly interface. It should feel familiar even if you’ve never used it before. Also, ensure it includes all of the self-service and search functions that make life easy for your teams.

User friendliness is particularly important for frontline teams. Working away from a desk, often with limited time for company comms, your intranet needs to be so easy and engaging that these remote, time-poor workers choose to open the app and check in.

When conducting your software search, it can be helpful to look at adoption and intranet usage stats. If other organizations, with a similar structure to yours, have managed to persuade their workers to use a particular intranet solution, then the platform will probably work well for you too.

Want to head straight to the best of the bunch? Then start your intranet journey by comparing the 16 top intranet software providers.

Conclusion

Ever since its introduction in the 1990s, the intranet has been an integral part of company operations. But today, organizations are moving away from older intranet versions to embrace a newer, slicker, more effective modern intranet.

A modern intranet supports the creation of a truly digital workplace. It gives frontline, remote, and office-based teams everything they need to work happily and productively. Because it provides a beautiful interface, designed to meet the needs of digital workers, employees actually enjoy using it too.  

Choose the right modern intranet and you’ll improve the way your teams communicate and collaborate. You’ll improve DEX and employee engagement, so employee retention gets easier.

You’ll also avoid some of the pitfalls of digital transformation, preventing application sprawl by making all tech tools available via the same user friendly dashboard. 

For frontline organizations, the modern intranet really comes into its own. Mobile-first, intuitive design with a real-time communication focus, ensures everyone – whether they work on the frontline or in an office – has access to the tools and information they need.

If you’re ready to benefit your employees and your organization by adopting a cutting-edge intranet solution, take a look at Blink —– a platform designed specifically for frontline teams. Blink does everything a modern intranet does, and more.

Employees get a social feed and a content hub. They can access self-service functions, make their voice heard via company-wide surveys, and receive recognition for a job well done.

As an organization, you can count on analytics and top-notch security. Blink also integrates with many of the most popular workplace apps out there, so it fits seamlessly into your workflow.

Blink has all the tools you need to make your frontline organization more connected, collaborative, and successful. So why not book a demo to see Blink in action?

Operational communications don’t usually get the spotlight. They’re not flashy. They don’t come with glossy videos or inspirational quotes from leadership.

But they do keep the business running.

Shift changes. Schedule updates. Safety alerts. Policy changes. System outages. Last-minute coverage requests. The messages that tell people what to do, when to do it, and what happens if they don’t.

Every organization relies on operational comms — whether they’ve designed them intentionally or not. And that’s the problem.

Because in far too many workplaces, especially frontline ones, operational communications are scattered, inconsistent, and treated like an afterthought. And when operational comms fail, work fails with them.

Operational comms already exist. They’re just a mess.

Let’s start with the uncomfortable truth: You don’t have no operational communications. You have too many — spread across too many places.

A WhatsApp group for one team. A text from a manager’s personal phone. An email someone might see three days later. A notice on a bulletin board nobody walks past anymore. An intranet update that assumes everyone sits at a desk.

None of this is malicious. It’s improvisation.

When internal communications aren’t built for how work actually happens, people do what they can to fill the gaps. Over time, that creates a patchwork of communication channels, habits, and workarounds that are impossible to manage — and even harder to rely on.

The result?

Missed company updates. Conflicting information. Managers acting as human routers. Employees unsure which message “counts.”

Operational comms don’t break because people don’t care. They break because the system was never designed to support them.

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What operational comms really are (and what they’re not)

Operational communications aren’t about company culture-building or storytelling. They’re not meant to inspire. They’re meant to execute.

And for many internal communications leaders, operational comms are where strategy meets reality.

At their core, operational comms answer five simple questions:

• What changed?
• What do I need to do?
• When?
• Where?
• What happens if I don’t?

If someone misses a leadership update, it’s unfortunate. If someone misses an operational update, it’s disruptive — or dangerous.

That’s the key difference.

Yet too often, operational communications are lumped in with a broader internal communication strategy that prioritizes tone, cadence, and employee engagement metrics — without enough attention to clarity, speed, and reliability.

This isn’t about “nice-to-have” content. This is about the messages that make or break a shift, a service, or a customer or employee experience.

Why operational comms fail first on the frontline

Frontline environments put operational communications under the most pressure — and expose their weaknesses the fastest.

Frontline work is:

• Shift-based
• Time-sensitive
• Location-dependent
• Often safety-critical

And yet, operational comms for frontline workers are still commonly delivered through digital tools designed for desk-based work.

Email assumes regular access and time to read. Intranet platforms assume a login, a browser, and spare minutes. Manager cascades assume perfect recall and flawless consistency.

That assumption gap is where things fall apart.

When someone is on a shop floor, behind a counter, on a bus route, or moving between patients, they don’t have time to hunt for information. If operational comms aren’t immediate, accessible, and impossible to miss, they may as well not exist.

This is why frontline teams are often the first to experience:

• Confusion around changes
• Inconsistent execution across locations
• Frustration with “yet another update”
• Workarounds that introduce risk

Desk-based internal communications strategies simply don’t survive contact with frontline reality.

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Systems are optimized — communication isn’t

Here’s the irony: Organizations have invested heavily in operational systems.

HR platforms. Scheduling tools. Workforce management software. IT service management systems.

These tools are powerful. They automate processes, standardize workflows, and generate insights. But too often, they stop short of the people who actually need to act on them.

Instead, communication becomes the weak link — handled manually, inconsistently, or as an afterthought.

A system updates, but no one sees it. A policy changes, but not everyone gets the message. A process improves, but adoption lags.

This disconnect creates delays, rework, and unnecessary strain on managers. And it puts internal communications teams in a tough spot — expected to “fix” operational problems with tools that were never designed for the job.

Operational excellence can’t exist without operational communication to match it.

Reframing operational comms as infrastructure

The biggest shift organizations need to make is this:

Operational communications aren’t a channel. They’re infrastructure.

Just like roads or power lines, they should be:

• Always on
• Reliable
• Embedded into daily work
• Designed for clarity and speed

If operational comms only work when someone remembers to check the right place, at the right time, they’re already optional. And optional doesn’t cut it when work depends on it.

This is where internal communications strategy needs to evolve — from publishing updates to enabling action.

That means designing corporate communications for formal channels that meet people where they work, not just where leadership prefers to post.

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Where a mobile-first internal comms platform changes the game

If operational communications are infrastructure, then they need a delivery system built for how work actually happens — not how we wish it happened.

That’s where a mobile-first internal communications platform makes the difference.

Frontline teams don’t work at desks. They work on the move, across shifts, locations, and roles. They need operational updates to reach them in real time, in a format that’s fast, familiar, and impossible to ignore.

A modern internal comms platform creates a single, reliable place for operational communication — without asking employees to jump between digital communication tools or remember where the latest update lives.

And critically, it allows organizations to move beyond “send and hope” communication.

From posting updates to driving action

Operational comms aren’t successful because they’re published. They’re successful because they’re seen, understood, and acted on.

Mobile-first, social media-inspired platforms are designed for this reality:

• Short, visual updates that mirror the consumer apps employees already use
• Time-sensitive messages that surface at the right moment
• Clear signals when something requires attention — and when it doesn’t

Features like Stories help operational updates cut through the noise without adding more of it. They make change management feel timely and relevant, rather than buried in a company news feed or lost in an inbox.

When critical messages actually need to be seen

Not every message is optional.

Policy changes. Safety updates. Compliance notices. Operational shifts that impact how work gets done today.

Mandatory reads ensure those messages are acknowledged — not just sent. That creates confidence for business leaders, clarity for employees, and far less reliance on manual follow-ups or manager guesswork.

In operational communications, visibility isn’t enough. Confirmation matters.

The right message, to the right people, at the right time

One of the biggest reasons operational comms break down is over-broadcasting.

When everyone gets everything:

• Important updates blend into background noise
• Relevance drops
• Attention disappears

Segmented internal communications — by role, location, department, or shift — allow operational messages to be targeted to the people they actually affect.

That means fewer distractions, clearer expectations, and more consistent execution across teams. It also means frontline employees aren’t asked to mentally filter information that was never meant for them in the first place.

Built for frontline reality, not desk-based assumptions

A mobile-first internal comms platform meets employees where they are:

• On their phones
• Between tasks
• On different schedules
• Across multiple locations

Operational communications become something employees can access in seconds — not something they have to hunt for when they finally sit down.

And when comms are embedded into the rhythm of work, rather than bolted on top of it, they stop feeling like “another update” and start feeling like part of how work flows.

The experience layer operational systems need

Operational systems will always matter. But systems alone don’t communicate — people do.

A mobile-first internal communications platform acts as the experience layer between operational systems and the workforce. It surfaces the information that matters, in a way people can actually engage with and act on.

Not as another tool to manage. Not as a replacement for core systems.

But as the connective tissue that turns operational intent into operational reality.

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The question every organization needs to ask

Operational communications don’t usually get the credit when things go right. But when they go wrong, the impact is immediate.

So here’s the question worth sitting with:

If a frontline employee misses an operational update, is that an engagement issue — or an operational risk?

Once you see operational comms for what they really are, it becomes clear they deserve more than improvised fixes and scattered internal channels. They deserve to be designed with the same care as the systems they support.

Because when operational communications work, everything else works better too.