How to create a successful digital transformation roadmap

‍What to look for in a Slack alternative

Choosing the right Slack alternative in 2026 requires understanding how workplace communication has evolved. Today’s teams are distributed, hybrid, and increasingly mobile — so the right platform must go beyond simple chat.

Key things to look for:

1. An all-in-one experience: The best Slack alternatives combine chat, announcements, and engagement tools. Platforms like Blink bring communication, collaboration, and employee experience together, creating a single digital front door for every employee.
2. Support for small and frontline teams: Many businesses now rely on hybrid or deskless workers and need a mobile-first communication tool that employees can use without a company email.
3. Integration with everyday tools: Slack alternatives such as Blink and Microsoft Teams integrate with core systems like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and HR software, ensuring one-click access to essential apps.
4. Ease of onboarding and adoption: Tools with a familiar consumer app UX drive faster adoption across all roles and departments.
5. Customization and security: Look for flexible access controls, branded interfaces, and enterprise-grade data protection.

In short, the best Slack alternatives for small businesses and frontline workforces are those that make communication effortless, keep employees connected wherever they work, and simplify tech stacks — with Blink standing out as a leading choice in this new category of employee experience platforms.

10 Slack alternatives

Slack alternatives include:

• Blink
• Workvivo
• Google Chat
• Microsoft Teams
• WhatsApp
• Staffbase
• Unily
• Mango Apps
• Chanty
• Zoho Cliq

Let’s take a closer look with an in-depth comparison of each of these team communication tools to help you find the right fit.

#1. Blink 

Best for: Organizations with desk-based and frontline employees looking to elevate internal communication and employee experience.

Looking for a Slack alternative that actually works for your entire workforce, including frontline teams? Blink has you covered. With real-time, peer-to-peer chat at its core, Blink makes communication effortless, regardless of role or location.

But Blink isn’t just another messaging app. It’s an all-in-one employee experience platform, packed with seamless communication, collaboration, and engagement features that help connect everyone — from corporate offices to the frontline.

As a mobile-first solution, Blink works on smartphones and desktop computers with equal functionality. Every employee gets easy access to modern intranet features, including real-time conversations, surveys, a content hub, recognition tools, and social networking capabilities.

With deep third-party integrations, Blink becomes the ideal digital front door for your organization. A personalized dashboard provides employees with one-click access to all the workplace software they use, including scheduling, HRIS, project management tools, and other essential applications. 

Benefits

• Real-time chat, for any organization: With peer-to-peer messaging, group chats, and team channels, Blink makes it easy for employees to connect instantly, whether they’re at their desk, on the shop floor, or in the field.
  
  
• Mobile-first: The platform has the same features and functionality on both mobile and desktop devices, and you don`t need a company email address to use it. Enabling all workers to access communication and collaboration tools on the go.
  
  
• Personalized comms: With audience segmentation and a mix of public and private channels, employees only receive communications relevant to their team, role, location, or interests.
  
  
• Multiple communication channels: Blink offers a news feed, content hub, chat, surveys, and recognition tools, making it a complete solution for internal communication.
  
  
• Super-app integrations: Blink integrates with other workplace tools, giving employees access to communications, documents, training, and HR essentials in one place.
  
  
• Dedicated support: Blink pairs you with a customer success manager to maximize adoption and impact.
• In-built AI: Blink’s AI features help employees write, improve, and summarize content, making it faster and easier to share ideas and information.

Considerations

• An all-in-one employee experience platform: Blink includes the tools you need for communication, collaboration, and engagement in a single solution. It may exceed your requirements if you only want to replicate Slack’s messaging functionality.

#2. Workvivo

Best for: Large companies seeking a culture-led comms experience with native Zoom integration.

Workvivo is a product that’s risen to prominence in recent years due to its acquisition by Zoom. Seamless integration with Zoom’s video conferencing software is a major platform selling point. Workvivo also provides a mobile app and a variety of communication channels.

Benefits

• Culture-building communication tools: Workvivo’s channels include a news feed, live streams, and podcasts.  
• A centralized hub: Workvivo can simplify communication and collaboration by cutting down the number of tools you need.
• Translation capabilities: Break down language barriers in multilingual teams by allowing employees to publish and read content in their chosen language.
• Personalized content: A tailored activity feed ensures users only see messages that are relevant to them.

Considerations

• Chat functionality: For instant messaging, Workvivo relies on integration with Zoom Team Chat, MS Teams, or Slack. Because of this, Workvivo might not be the right choice for businesses who want to move away from Slack.
• Cost: Workvivo is one of the more expensive platforms on this list, with additional costs for some features — including Workvivo TV and advanced analytics.
• Overwhelming notifications: Some Workvivo users say that excessive notifications disrupt their work day.

Read also: Top Workvivo alternatives

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Ratings

• Capterra: 4.7/5
• G2: 4.8/5

#3. Google Chat

Best for: Google Workspace users looking for quick, lightweight team messaging.

Google Chat is an instant messaging tool that offers seamless integration with Gmail, Drive, and Meet. It’s perfect for small to mid-sized teams looking for one-to-one and group messaging software. And it’s a good Slack alternative for those keen to stay working within the Google ecosystem.

Benefits

• Google integration: You can jump from Google Chat, to Google Docs, to Google Meet, to Gmail in a click. Google Chat offers easy and extensive Google integration.
• File sharing and spaces: Users can securely share files and create dedicated spaces for specific teams or projects.
• Make announcements: For company-wide announcements, you can create threads that support up to 500,000 members.
• AI functionality: Employees can use Gemini within Google Chat. They can find answers and files, brainstorm ideas, and summarize conversations with ease.

Considerations

• Poor mobile experience: Google Chat offers a better experience on desktops than it does on mobile devices, with users mentioning unreliable notifications and tricky navigation.
• Employee engagement: The user experience offered by Google Chat pales in comparison to leaders in the field. The interface is unlikely to engage employees.
• Functionality and integrations: Users complain that Google Chat lacks the advanced features and third-party integrations provided by other chat tools.

Pricing

Free for Workspace users. Google Workspace plans start at $7 per user per month.

Reviews

• Capterra: 4.5/5
• G2: 4.6/5

#4. Microsoft Teams

Best for: Formal organizations already using Microsoft 365 software.

Microsoft Teams is a popular team collaboration software. It allows desk-based, remote teams to collaborate in real-time — and it integrates with Office 365 to provide team chat, meeting, and document-sharing tools. It’s worth noting that, in contrast to Slack’s informal threads, MS Teams has a more corporate and structured feel. 

Benefits

• Office 365 integration: If you already use Office 365 software, it’s easy to add Teams into the mix.
• Video calls: Teams has in-built video conferencing tools. You can launch one-click video meetings, with breakout rooms, recordings, and transcripts.
• Advanced security: Microsoft prides itself on enterprise-level security so it’s a good option if you’re working in a highly regulated industry.
• Easy navigation: Each chat channel comes with file storage. So it’s easy to find documents that relate to each conversation.

Considerations

• Clunky interface: Teams can feel unintuitive for new users. There are lots of tabs, menus, and nested options to get used to.
• Poor mobile experience: If you want to make comms and collaboration available on smartphones, Teams isn’t the best choice.
• Lacks company-wide comms tools: MS Teams isn’t great for culture-building employee communications. You may find it hard to get critical messages to cut through.

Read more: Best Microsoft Teams alternatives

Pricing

Microsoft Teams is free for the first month. The cheapest plan starts from $4 per user per month.

Reviews

• Capterra: 4.5/5
• G2: 4.4/5

#5. WhatsApp

Best for: Small teams or informal communication where compliance isn’t a concern.

Let’s start this section with a disclaimer. WhatsApp isn’t designed as an internal business communication tool. But many organizations use it as an unofficial Slack alternative, particularly if their existing comms tech doesn’t fulfill their needs. 

Frontline employees may end up using WhatsApp because the software used by their organizations is only available on desktop and with a company email address — neither of which deskless workers have easy access to.

Benefits

• Simple UX: WhatsApp offers a consumer-grade messaging experience. The app is easy and enjoyable to use — and most employees are already very familiar with it.
• Message, call, and video functions: You can use WhatsApp to speak one-to-one or to the whole team using instant messaging, audio calls, and video chats.
• Engaging functionality: WhatsApp offers a social-media-style experience. Users can leave reactions on posts, send multimedia content, and launch polls.

Considerations

• Security: WhatsApp is associated with data privacy and security concerns. The platform has been vulnerable to hacking, malware attacks, and scams in the past.
• Lack of oversight: Internal comms and IT don’t have access to admin controls or analytics.
• Blurring boundaries: Personal and work messages compete with one another. Mixing personal and work comms can blur boundaries and harm productivity.

Read more: Whatsapp alternatives

Pricing

WhatsApp is free to use.

Reviews

• Capterra: 4.7/5
• G2: 4.7/5

#6. Staffbase

Best for: Large enterprises looking to centralize employee communications.

As a Slack alternative, Staffbase provides everything you need and more. It’s an intranet that works well for large organizations with both dispersed and desk-based staff. Via the app, employees can use one-to-one and group messaging functions, with the option to attach files to messages and enable and disable push notifications.

Benefits

• Great user experience: Staffbase provides an intuitive interface and clear page layouts that are easy for users to navigate.
• An all-round communication tool: With Staffbase, you get tools for top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer communication.
• A content management system: A full CMS makes life easy for your internal communications team.
• Customization options: You can tailor the Staffbase interface so it matches the branding of your organization.  

Considerations

• Cost: Staffbase is at the more expensive end of the scale. You also have to pay more for advanced add-ons. So it doesn’t tend to make sense for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Limited mobile functionality: The Staffbase mobile app doesn’t provide many out-of-the-box tools for frontline workers.
• Limited integrations: Staffbase integrates well with Microsoft 365 software. But for a wide range of integrations and to give employees access to niche industry tools, you may have to look elsewhere.

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Reviews

• Capterra: 4.7/5
• G2: 4.6/5

Read more: Staffbase alternatives

#7. Unily

Best for: Global enterprises focused on top-down communication and intranet-style knowledge sharing.

Unily is another all-round employee experience platform. It goes beyond chat functions to connect, inform, and engage employees across your organization. You can launch polls, update the social feed, and send mandatory content, making everything available on both mobile and desktop apps. But while it excels at broadcasting information, it’s not built for real-time, peer-to-peer conversation.

Benefits

• Strong top-down communication tools: Unily lets you create and distribute targeted content via news articles, social feeds, and mandatory reads.
• An integrated people directory: It’s easy for employees to find co-workers and start conversations with them.  
• Read receipts and notifications: Read receipts tell you when a recipient has seen your message — and notifications ensure that critical comms are never missed.
• Personalization: Unily helps you segment your audience and tailor content so employees only receive relevant information.

Considerations

• Lack of instant messaging: Unlike Slack, Unily doesn’t support real-time chat between employees — limiting peer-to-peer collaboration.
• Complexity: Unily is a comprehensive comms tool. But setup and management will take up a lot of your time.
• Cost: Unily customers say they get a lot for their money. But this is one of the priciest Slack alternatives out there.
• A second-tier mobile experience: Because the desktop version of Unily is so complex, it can be tricky for admins to translate the experience to a small smartphone screen.

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Reviews

• Capterra: 4.6/5
• G2: 4.5/5

#8. MangoApps

Best for: Organizations who want to create a unified digital workplace.

MangoApps is an employee experience platform that combines document management, project collaboration, and a news feed. It provides audience-targeting tools and some good configuration options.

Benefits

• Easy to use: Both employees and admins will find it easy to use MangoApps and there’s a minimal learning curve.
• A one-stop shop: MangoApps provides many of the tools you need for internal comms, recognition, and employee engagement.
• Comprehensive search: It’s easy for users to find what they’re looking for within the platform thanks to a good search function.
• Built-in knowledge management: MangoApps offers easy document management and knowledge base features.

Considerations

• User experience: UX and the visual appeal of the platform lag behind that of other platforms on this list.
• A poor mobile experience: The mobile app experience is also not up to scratch, with core features for frontline workers relying on integrations.

Pricing

Pricing is available on request.

Reviews

• Capterra: 4.4/5
• G2: 4.2/5

9. Chanty

Best for: Budget-conscious companies looking for a Slack-lite tool.

Taking things back to basics, Chanty is an internal communication app designed to connect office-based and frontline employees in small to mid-sized teams. It provides a centralized hub for messages, contacts, and tasks and an intuitive interface that allows teams to access information and collaborate.

Benefits

• Intuitive messaging: Chanty supports one-to-one and group conversations across a clearly organized interface.
• Create tasks and Kanban boards: You can start task discussions with a click and manage tasks, due dates, and status with collaborative boards.
• File sharing capabilities: Users can share files, uploading and accessing documents and images within the direct messages.

Considerations

• Limited features: Chanty won’t work as an all-in-one internal communication and real-time collaboration solution. You’ll need other tools in the mix.
• Lack of integrations: Chanty doesn’t provide easy integration with many popular software solutions.
• Scalability issues: This platform is designed for businesses at the smaller end of the scale so if you’re likely to grow quickly, you’ll need a new solution before too long.  
• Limited customization: The platform is simple to use but it doesn’t offer advanced customization options.

Pricing

Chanty offers a free plan with paid plans starting at $3 per month per user.

Reviews

• Capterra: 4.7/5
• G2: 4.5/5

10. Zoho Cliq

Best for: Businesses already using the Zoho software suite.

Zoho Cliq is another Slack alternative to consider in 2025. It provides a secure chat platform for communication within teams and with external stakeholders. You can use video calls, real-time messaging, and file-sharing tools.

Benefits

• Simple UI: Users say that Zoho Cliq is easy and intuitive to use.
• Comprehensive internal team communication: Teams have all the tools they need to communicate effectively, even when working in different locations.
• A good mobile experience: Users are positive about Zoho Cliq’s mobile app, particularly in comparison to Slack’s mobile experience.

Considerations

• Limited functionality: Zoho Cliq works best as part of the Zoho ecosystem, which includes CRM and project management software. Alone, it has limited functionality.  
• Lack of customization: You have limited control over notifications, status settings, and the Zoho Cliq interface.
• Lack of integrations: Zoho Cliq doesn’t offer the same range of third-party integrations as Slack.

Pricing

Zoho Cliq customers can start with a free trial. Plans start from $2 per user per month.

Reviews

• Capterra: 4.6/5
• G2: 4.4/5

What to look for in a Slack alternative

The best alternatives to Slack provide all the communication tools you currently rely on. They also fill the gaps — fixing some of the issues your team experiences with Slack to create a more effective and engaging employee experience.

Beyond the best possible real-time chat and collaboration features, here’s what you should be looking for when choosing an alternative to Slack.

A consumer-grade user experience

A user-friendly interface, simple navigation, and clear communication channels make life easy for employees — and ensure high levels of software adoption.

Easy onboarding

The best Slack alternatives have a minimal learning curve — for both employees and admins. They’re easy and enjoyable to use from day one.

Extensive integrations

To avoid app overload, your communication tech should integrate with the other tools you use, putting everything employees need in one easy-access location.

Customization and personalization

The best internal communication tools are customizable solutions that allow you to put your stamp on them with company branding. They allow you to tailor notification settings and segment audiences so they receive only relevant comms.

Cost-effectiveness

Pick a platform that gets good adoption rates. Also, choose tools that reach all employees — including hard-to-reach frontline workers — so you don’t have to pay for multiple software subscriptions.

Security

The best Slack alternatives keep your data safe and secure. Look for tools that prioritize security with key features like end-to-end encryption (in transit and at rest) and multi-factor authentication.

Find the right alternative to Slack and supercharge workplace communication

So which solution is best for your organization? 

It depends on whether you need a like-for-like Slack replacement or a complete internal communication platform upgrade.

A simple team chat app makes it easy for desk-based teams to message and collaborate. But an employee experience platform takes communication to the next level. 

With built-in surveys, recognition tools, deep integrations, and a social news feed, an employee communication platform connects your team to your organization’s culture and purpose while reducing time spent switching between apps.

When you choose the right Slack alternative, you can create a more engaged, connected, and loyal workforce — something Slack was not designed to deliver.

‍Blink brings this vision to life by turning everyday conversations into real connections through a single, mobile-first employee experience app and platform — software that unites communication, collaboration, and culture across every team.

Blink. And turn conversations into real connection with an employee experience app.
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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?

At first glance, it seems that internal communications and external communications couldn’t be more different. 

External communication is all about sharing your brand and its messaging with people outside of your organization. This includes customers, stakeholders, and investors.

Internal communication is focused on sharing key company developments with people inside your organization. It gives employees the information they need to do their jobs effectively.

Because of this primary difference between internal and external communication, many companies treat these two forms of corporate comms as separate entities. They fail to see how their approach to external comms can inspire a better kind of internal communication.

Here, we challenge that thinking. We look at the similarities and differences between internal and external comms — and share some ideas for improving internal communication at your organization.

Similarities between internal and external communications

Let’s start by looking at all the things internal and external business communication have in common.

Strategic importance

Both external and internal communications are important to the success of your business.  

External communication is how you share your brand with customers and stakeholders. It’s how you convince people to trust in your brand and buy your products or services — and it has a clear impact on your bottom line.

Internal communication is aimed at your employees. It supports day-to-day operations and helps you build a strong company culture. The link may not be as obvious but internal communication also has a big impact on your company’s profitability.

That’s because, when you communicate effectively with employees, you stand to improve productivity, the customer experience, employee engagement, and employee retention, all of which affect company profits.

Therefore, both types of communication are essential to an organization — and both require a detailed schedule and strategy.

Selling the brand and what it stands for

You can use external and internal communication to sell your brand to respective audiences.

To your external audience, you sell your external brand image. You show customers and collaborators what makes your brand unique — and why they should pick you over your competitors. 

To your internal communications audience, you sell your employer brand and company culture. You remind employees why your company is such a great place to work.    

Comms content differs depending on your audience. But there’s a guiding principle to bear in mind. Selling your brand is easier when you create an emotional connection between your organization and your audience.

To do this, creative visuals and persuasive copy can do a lot of the heavy lifting. But you should also communicate a brand purpose that goes beyond increasing profits. You should highlight your company’s social purpose to both internal and external audiences.  

You can take things further with your internal comms. Clearly communicate your purpose, values, and strategy to employees. This helps your staff find meaning in their work — and understand how their efforts contribute to business goals — which means better motivation.

To align employees with your purpose, values, and strategy, focus some of your internal communications plan on the following:

• Making your senior execs accessible and accountable. Holding monthly Q&As is a great way to align your on-the-ground team with long-term strategy goals. It’s also much easier for employees to relate to the humans behind your company than to a faceless corporation.
  
  
• Highlighting how your company has made a difference in the world. Showcase positive customer case studies to show how your company is making a difference in people’s lives. Also, share any company activities that support people or the planet.
  
  
• Featuring employee perspectives. Interview people from different departments and ask them what they do and what they like about their job. This helps people to build a bigger picture of their workplace and understand how everything fits together.

Two-way conversations

In both external and internal communications, communication used to travel one way. A brand and its leaders would speak. Customers and employees would listen.

But social media changed things dramatically. It’s now easy for customers to interact with brands, comment on their social posts, ask questions, and post their online reviews.

This shift from one-way conversations in external communication has changed expectations around workplace communications — and many organizations are now adopting a two-way approach as part of their internal comms strategy.

Companies are involving employees in the company conversation — whether they work in the office, at home, or on the frontlines of the organization. They’re giving them a voice with the help of employee surveys, two-way communication channels, and meetings where their contributions are encouraged.

Of course, making the decision to embrace two-way conversations can be a big deal for brands. They have to be prepared to respond to questions and criticism — from customers or employees. So why do it?

Involving customers and employees in your communications is good for engagement. It helps to boost trust and loyalty, which benefits both employee and customer attraction and retention.

For employees, two-way communication makes them feel valued and respected by your organization. This means they’re more likely to offer their valuable insights and perspectives — and they’re more likely to do their best work.

The need for engagement

Another similarity between internal and external communication is the need for engaging content.

This is a given in external communication. Marketing and PR teams are tasked with making a brand stand out from the competition. They employ eye-catching visuals and interactive content to grab and hold customer attention.  

Typically, internal communication has lagged behind. But with the "Tiktokification" of internal communications, dry, corporate comms are becoming a thing of the past.

Just like customers, employees are more likely to engage with your content when it’s creative, interactive, and visually appealing. This is why many organizations are now posting social-media-style internal content to user-friendly, mobile-first communication channels.

The need for targeting

You maximize the impact of internal and external communications when you personalize content to your audience.

Send the same external or internal information to everyone and your recipients will start to switch off from your comms. They assume that your messages are irrelevant to them and stop reading or watching them.  

So you need to segment your audiences. Then, create targeted content relevant to each group of customers or employees.

For internal communications, you can segment employees by role, location, department, tenure, and team to ensure each employee only receives information relevant to them.

Of course, there are some messages that all employees need to hear. But with proper segmentation, you don’t give retail staff an in-depth update on your work-from-home policy — or tell office-based staff about the next driver training session. Instead, all comms are appropriate and engaging.

Measuring success

Measurement is another important element of both external and internal communications. If you don’t set and track metrics, you can’t be sure that your communications are effective.

So, just as you measure the impact of your external communication campaigns, you can set internal communication metrics and KPIs. You can identify your best content and assess levels of engagement, finding ways to hone your comms going forward.

Also, in the same way that you’d conduct market research and seek customer reviews, seek feedback from employees. Use surveys to ask them about their employee experience. Find out what they think about your internal communications. Then, make informed improvements. 

Differences between internal and external communications

Internal and external comms clearly have a lot in common — and there are lots of external communication principles that you can apply to your internal messaging. 

However, there are some key differences between internal and external communication that you should bear in mind.

Your audience

Internal and external communications have different audiences:

• Your external communication audience includes customers, stakeholders, business partners, investors, and the media. 
• Your internal communication audience includes your organization’s C-suite, managers, and employees.

There is, however, some overlap. You need to share external messages with frontline employees so they can relay a consistent message to customers.

Your communications team

Usually, different teams are responsible for external and internal communications.

External comms is often run by your PR or marketing teams. You may rely on agency or in-house staff.

To communicate effectively with your employees, you need an internal communications team. This is usually an in-house team that has regular contact with:

• The leadership team
• Marketing and PR
• Operations
• HR

Your internal comms team will work with partners throughout the organization to ensure key messages are communicated consistently and employees have access to the information they need.

Content

The content you share with internal and external audiences is very different.

External communication is all about marketing messages, customer support, and building a brand reputation. Examples of external communication content include:

• A press release discussing the latest company news
• Customer emails detailing a discount
• An industry research report
• An advertising campaign for a new product

Via your internal communication channels, you’ll tend to share business updates, strategy details, operational information, and company culture. Examples of internal communication content include:

• Rota changes
• Health and safety updates
• Details of your next company social
• Recognition for employee success

The content you serve to your internal and external audiences may differ. But there are still some fundamentals that apply to both.

Comms that demonstrate honesty and authenticity are better at building brand trust. So try to communicate openly across both internal and external communication channels.

In internal communications, this means being transparent about company goals and challenges. And it means welcoming questions and ideas from employees.

Communication goals

The goal of external communication is to promote the company. You’re aiming to:

• enhance the company’s reputation
• generate sales and leads
• build relationships with customers and stakeholders

Goals for internal communications are different. Across internal comms channels, you’ll share practical and operational information to ensure the smooth running of your organization.

But effective internal communication does more than convey essential, day-to-day guidance for employees. You can use your internal communications to:

• share company values, goals, and purpose
• strengthen co-worker relationships
• recognize and motivate employees
• facilitate collaboration

Done well, internal communications helps you to build a company culture employees are excited to be part of. This is particularly important for remote, hybrid, and frontline teams.

These employees miss out on the camaraderie of the office. It’s easy for them to feel disconnected from the organization and, as a result, less engaged in their work. Internal communications — and co-worker communication channels — provide a vital link to the organization.

So use internal communications to improve the employee experience, boost employee engagement, and reduce employee turnover. Build these goals into your internal communications strategy and you’ll create a happier, more motivated, and more cohesive organization.

Communication channels

You can use some communication channels to speak to external and internal audiences. You might use emails, webinars, conferences, and newsletters to reach employees, customers — and other company stakeholders.

However, in general, you use different communication channels for each group.

Your external audience gets updates via press releases, your company website, media news, and your social media accounts. You can also grab their attention with marketing campaigns and product launches. 

Internal communication takes place over internal channels. Offline channels include company meetings and notice boards. But the best internal communications strategies make the most of digital communication tools.

Modern intranets and employee apps are a one-stop shop. They consolidate your internal communications and give internal comms teams all the tools they need to communicate with staff.  

Pick a mobile-first solution and employees can access your company comms from their smartphones, which is ideal for frontline and remote workers.

You can also find internal communication platforms that provide social-media-style tools. They allow you to post interactive content on the company news feed and give employees the chance to like and comment.

Whether your comms team wants to post a company-wide update, send out a survey, celebrate team success, or provide self-serve HR functions, it’s all possible with the right comms platform.

Finding the right tool to support your internal communications strategy

There are lots of similarities between internal and external communications — and lots of ways external comms can inspire more effective and engaging internal messaging.

So segment your audience, measure success, embrace two-way conversations, and create interactive, visual content.

Don’t underestimate the benefits better internal communications can bring to your organization. It has the power to improve employee engagement, customer experience, company culture, and employee retention.

Also, remember that embracing the principles of external communication for your internal comms strategy is easier when you use mobile-first, social-media-style, digital communication tools.

Blink is an employee super-app, with all the tools you need to deliver relevant and engaging comms to employees. With Blink you can:

• Create engaging, two-way communication with news feed and instant messaging channels
• Segment your audience so they only receive relevant communications
• Launch a content and HR hub, giving employees everything they need to do their jobs well
• Measure the success of your internal comms with analytics and employee surveys

Improve internal communications at your organization. Request a Blink demo to get started today.

If employee turnover is causing problems at your organization, take a look at these strategies for improving engagement and retention.

The Great Resignation may be over. But employee retention is still a challenge, particularly for companies with a large frontline workforce.

Frontline organizations have it hard because reaching frontline employees — who work in various locations across different shift patterns — isn’t easy. Deskless workers can end up feeling disconnected from their organization, which leads to disengagement and churn. 

Engaging and retaining frontline talent may be tricky. But it’s well worth the investment. When you reduce employee turnover across your entire organization you boost productivity, morale, and business results.

Here, we look at the primary causes of employee turnover in 2024 — and at 14 strategies that will help you improve employee retention at your organization. 

Read more: How to calculate your employee retention rate

Primary causes of employee turnover in 2024

33% of hiring managers in the US believe employee turnover will increase at their company in 2024. And Forrester predicts an employee experience (EX) recession, where reduced spending on employee engagement initiatives leads to increased attrition.

Of course, there will always be some turnover in your organization. However, you do have the power to address many causes of employee turnover within your company. Gallup recently looked at the most common reasons people leave a job. They grouped these reasons into four categories:

• Engagement and culture. Employees left because they didn’t feel aligned with the role or company culture. They left because they felt like they didn’t belong or because job expectations were unrealistic.
  
  
• Wellbeing and work-life balance. Workers left because they struggled to manage their work schedule or balance work with personal responsibilities.
  
  
• Career growth, pay, and benefits. Workers left in search of better pay and benefits. They also sought a culture where learning, development, and career advancement were the norm.
  
  
• Managers and leaders. Employees left because they didn’t feel respected or appreciated by leadership. They wanted open communication and to be treated equitably.

As you can see, there’s a lot in there that comes down to organizational culture and internal communication — both of which you can do something about using the strategies below.

Read more: Employee experience in 2024: trends to watch

How to reduce employee turnover: 14 strategies that work

1. Focus on employee engagement

Employee engagement is linked to improved productivity, reduced absenteeism, and higher staff satisfaction.

Engaged employees are also more loyal to your organization. They’d only consider taking a job with another company if they were offered a 31% pay increase. Disengaged employees would leave for a lot less.

You can improve employee engagement by building a strong workplace culture and by looping all workers into company comms. Many of the strategies on this list support engagement and employee retention, too.

2. Cultivate a positive workplace culture

Research from MIT Sloan Management Review says that a toxic culture is by far the strongest predictor of employee turnover. In fact, it’s ten times more important than compensation in predicting attrition.

So how do you create a non-toxic culture that supports a positive employee experience?

Employees want to be part of a culture that is fair and trusting. A culture where transparency is the norm, stress is kept to a minimum, and workloads are reasonable.

In a positive culture, employees also understand the purpose of their work. They’re familiar with company goals and values — and know how their work fits into the bigger picture.

Internal communications have an important part to play in all this. With the communication channels, leaders and managers can amplify company culture. They can share workplace updates, highlight workplace values, and involve teams in decision-making. 

3. Improve your onboarding program

Those first few months of employment are the riskiest in terms of retention. Up to 20% of turnover happens within the first 45 days of employment.

If you’re not sure whether your onboarding program is doing its bit for employee retention, start by surveying existing employees. Find out what they thought of their onboarding experience. Ask if there are any areas for improvement.

Then, use your findings to create an effective onboarding program, providing new hires with the following as standard:  

• The opportunity to make meaningful social connections
• Clear expectations and goals
• An understanding of company culture and values
• Ongoing support from a mentor or manager

4. Embed training and development in company culture

When employees feel like they’re standing still in their careers, they feel less satisfied in their roles — and find less meaning in them, too. So it’s important to embed progression into your company culture.

When creating training and development plans, try to involve employees in decision-making. 90% of employees say having a say in the skills they learn is an important part of their employee experience.

It’s also important to make training opportunities available to everyone. Many frontline employees say they don’t get the right resources or support to advance their careers. This can leave them feeling disengaged and more likely to look for another job.  

Of course, sometimes, there simply aren’t enough rungs on the career ladder for employees to progress within your organization. But if an upward move isn’t possible, there are other options.

Stretch assignments, a lateral move, and cross-training programs all help employees develop new skills and prepare for the next stage of their careers. 

Bear in mind that managers benefit from training, too. 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by managers. So team leaders may need training to become more effective coaches and communicators.  

5. Make internal communication channels more engaging

If you haven’t already, now’s the time to work on your internal communication. Too often, employees are left out of the loop. Or they’re bombarded with so many messages that they start ignoring them.  

We know that employees who get enough information to do their job well are 2.8 times more likely to be engaged. And there are lots of ways to improve workplace communication.

Try to make your internal communications:

• Personalized — so employees only receive relevant internal communications
• Two-way — so employees can take part in the conversation, posting comments and giving feedback
• Real-time — so employees get critical comms quickly

You should then use internal communication metrics to track your performance. By looking at measures like message open rates, response times, and communication tool usage, you get a clearer view of what’s working — and what isn’t.

6. Launch a recognition program

Recognition is another retention strategy that needs to be firmly on your radar.

A recent Gallup and Workhuman report revealed that, by making recognition an important part of company culture, a 10,000-person organization can save up to $16.1 million a year in reduced employee turnover costs.

Recognition reduces employee churn. And the best programs allow managers and peers to provide timely, personalized praise. 

It’s worth noting that recognition doesn’t have to come from managers and leaders. And peer-to-peer appreciation has some surprising benefits. 75% of employees say that the act of giving recognition makes them want to stay at their current organization longer.

7. Facilitate informal co-worker connection

Employees who have a work best friend are less likely to leave. That’s because belonging and connection are two key elements of the employee experience.

But co-worker connection doesn’t always happen organically. It’s something that managers and leaders have to facilitate.

In-person activities work well for office-based teams. You can plan social activities, like team-building days and coffee mornings. 

You also need to allow enough time in the day for informal chats to take place. Stressed, overworked employees are unlikely to spend much time catching up at the water cooler.

When employees are working away from the office, either at home or on the frontlines of your organization, you need an alternative solution. That solution tends to be tech-based. 

Using an employee app or a mobile employee intranet you can:

• Give employees intuitive, social-media-style tools for co-worker communication
• Encourage employees to set up interest groups to find like-minded co-workers and plan social activities
• Get managers to use tech tools too, encouraging connection and promoting employee posts

8. Champion flexibility

In workplaces without flexibility, employees are more likely to feel undervalued and unable to express their opinions. But when employees are highly satisfied with work flexibility, they’re 384% more likely to stay for a year or more at their current employer.

Supporting flexibility and work-life balance looks different for different organizations. But don’t rule it out for frontline employees.

Communicating shifts in advance. Incentivizing less appealing shifts. Co-worker shift-swapping tools. There are ways to make flexibility work for everyone.

Neiman Marcus Group, a luxury retailer, has done just that. The firm offered its sales associates flexibility over which store and department they worked in — and over the days and hours they worked. The result? An impressive 20% reduction in turnover.

9. Keep an eye on compensation and benefits

We’re going through a period of inflation. So compensation and benefits packages are on the rise. You need to keep an eye on competitor packages to ensure you don’t lose employees to higher offers.

But, as we’ve already touched upon, salary isn’t the only thing that keeps an employee working for your organization.

A sense of purpose, connection, and work-life balance can be just as important. So if you aren’t in a position to raise salaries right now, consider whether there are any other levers you can pull.

10. Make it fair for the frontline

When an employee feels unfairly treated, they’re much more likely to leave. So it’s crucial that leaders, particularly those responsible for a large frontline workforce, make the employee experience equitable.   

We also know that deskless employees are less trusting, less engaged, and more likely to experience burnout than their desk-based peers. So frontline and remote working organizations need to ensure that their employee retention strategies apply to all employees.

Employee engagement initiatives, workplace connection, flexibility, training, and development. Make these things available to everyone if you want to make a real difference to your turnover stats.

11. Invest in health and wellness

Deloitte research shows that Gen Z workers don’t feel they’re getting the mental health support they need in the workplace. And 86% of employees would leave a job if it didn’t support their wellbeing.

Health and wellness initiatives are no longer a nice-to-have. For many employees, they’re an essential part of company culture and something they look for when deciding which company to work for.

There’s debate over the value of some popular workplace wellness programs. But we know that companies with honest feedback, open communication, and mutual respect have higher levels of employee emotional wellbeing than those without. Corporate volunteer days have a positive impact on worker wellbeing, too.

12. Encourage collaboration

Effective teamwork helps to create a positive working environment. Co-workers share knowledge and resources. They support one another. And everyone pulls in the same direction.

If you’re looking for ways to improve collaboration in your workplace, take a look at these ideas:  

• Solidify relationships with team-building activities
• Recognize group effort, not just the achievements of individuals, as part of your recognition program
• Promote open and honest internal communication
• Give remote and frontline employees the communication tools they need to collaborate, regardless of location or work pattern

13. Promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I)

There’s a clear moral obligation to support DE&I in the workplace. But there are benefits for your organization, too.

DE&I initiatives lead to:

• a 50% reduction in turnover risk
• a 75% reduction in sick days
• a 167% improvement in employer net promoter score

Better workplace diversity makes people feel like they belong and reduces employee turnover.

But to make a success of your DE&I efforts, you need to embed this ethos into your company culture. That may mean changing how you manage recruitment, onboarding, and employee advancement opportunities.

You need to move beyond mere compliance to build on DE&I in a tactical, integrated, and sustainable way.

14. Get to grips with retention and engagement data

Any good strategy relies on metrics. You need data that shows where you started, where you’re at now, and how you can continue to improve.

So use an employee intranet or app to gather the employee retention and employee engagement data you need. Then, dive deep into that data to discover insights.

By analyzing the data alongside employee feedback, you’ll find data-driven ways to improve employee retention at your organization.  

Using an employee app to improve employee retention

Employee retention is about improving employee engagement, internal communications, and company culture. The right tech makes it much easier to do all three. 

With a mobile-first employee app, like Blink, you can reach employees via their smartphones. You can share company news, highlight company values, and involve everyone in company comms. 

Blink is an easy-to-use tool that connects every employee, whether they’re sitting behind a desk or working on the frontlines of your organization. It provides all the following features. 

Two-way communication

Leaders can share updates and critical comms. Employees can post and comment. So everyone gets to take part in the company conversation. 

Recognition

Blink’s recognition features make it easy for managers and co-workers to celebrate great work. So you make appreciation an integral part of company culture. 

Surveys and polls 

Quick pulse surveys. Annual feedback. Employee engagement polls. Managers find it easy to seek employee opinions, helping workers to feel listened to and valued. 

Mobile access

Our employee app is available on mobile and desktop devices. So every employee is included in company culture and comms.

Content hub

Employees can access all employee apps and resources from the same central hub. So they enjoy a friction-free digital experience. 

Analytics

Use Blink analytics to track which of your employee retention strategies is having the biggest impact — and find areas ripe for improvement. 

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Employees spend hours on TikTok but avoid the company intranet like the plague. So what’s the deal?

TikTok is built for discovery, connection, and delight. It understands and delivers what audiences want. In. An. Instant.

The average company intranet? Well…safe to say, it’s not quite made it into the user experience big leagues.

Nevertheless, the intranet still plays a central role in many organizations. It’s a way to land messages, boost employee engagement, and improve operational efficiency. But only if employees are actually logging in.

This is where we can take inspiration from TikTok — an app that the average user opens a mindblowing 20 times per day — to create a modern social intranet.

A modern social intranet is a million miles from the dusty old document repository your employees grumble about. Done right, it’s a bustling hub of activity — and a place where your workforce actively chooses to hang out.

Want to know more? Here’s what your intranet can learn from the world’s stickiest social platform.

The problem with most intranet solutions

The average intranet packaged solution is about as far away from TikTok as you can get.

It’s built for desktop, not for mobile devices. The UX is cluttered and dated. Content is stale or irrelevant. Communication is one-way. And frontline workers are often excluded from the experience entirely.

The result? Employees actively avoid your intranet.

They use workarounds and WhatsApp in its place. And when they do log in, the overriding feeling is one of frustration. This damages the employee experience along with the workplace productivity, internal communication, and employee trust you expect your intranet to support.

But things are changing. Modern social intranets are rewriting the rules. They’re borrowing lessons from social platforms, like TikTok, and applying them to the digital workplace.

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Why TikTok wins (and what that has to do with work)

With two billion users spending an average of 95 minutes a day on the app, TikTok is a master of user engagement. So what makes it so addictive? And how can you bring that same energy to your employee intranet solution?

Let’s take a look.

TikTok tactic #1: Algorithmic personalization

The “For You” feed knows you better than your best friend. It learns what you like and serves it up on repeat. With a never-ending stream of videos — all relevant to you and your viewing preferences — there’s always a good reason to stop by the app.

Applying it to your intranet: Use personalization features to serve employees content that actually matters to them — based on their location, team, role, tenure, or interests. When employees see content and resources that relate to them, they’re more likely to see value in the intranet.

TikTok tactic #2: Short-form, snackable content

The most popular TikTok videos are short and snappy. They start with a killer hook to grab attention. They opt for authenticity over polish. And they feature text or captions that are quick and easy to digest.

Applying it to your intranet: Boost content consumption and move away from text-heavy messages. If you have a lot of information to share, break it up into bite-sized chunks. Include captions or TL;DRs. Use images, videos, and graphics to stop the scroll and help employees digest new information quickly — even in the middle of a busy work day.

TikTok tactic #3: Endless scroll

TikTok’s feed is designed to be frictionless. No clicking through menus. No dead ends. Just one piece of engaging content after another. There’s always something new for users, available just one swipe away.

Applying it to your intranet: The best intranets feature a home feed that invites browsing and discovery. They surface fresh, relevant content — from CEO updates to shift changes to the next team social — and put them where employees are most likely to see them.

TikTok tactic #4: Social interaction

Likes, comments, shares — TikTok is built for interaction, not just passive viewing. Users can respond to content and pass it on. That two-way employee communication builds employee communities and drives engagement.

Applying it to your intranet: Modern social intranet solutions act as a digital water cooler — a place to build connections. So give employees a way to react to what they see, using likes, emoji reactions, comments, and polls. Let them ask questions, offer feedback, cheer each other on, and share knowledge with their co-workers.

TikTok tactic #5: A creator culture

TikTok thrives because anyone and everyone can be a creator. Every day users drive trends and spark conversation. They enjoy a sense of contribution, creativity, and collaboration that keeps those user numbers rocketing upward.

Applying it to your intranet: Build an internal creator culture at your organization and include employees in your content creation engine. Encourage employees to share birthday shout-outs, behind-the-scenes videos, work hacks, and weekly wins. With authentic and diverse intranet content from employees, you make the intranet feel like their space, not just another management tool.

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What the modern social intranet looks like

To harness these tactics for your workplace, you need a different kind of intranet. This is what it should look like.

#1. Mobile-first and frontline-friendly

For too long, frontline employees have been excluded from the company intranet. To give them the same access and user experience as desk-based employees, you need a solution with mobile access built right in. A mobile-first intranet offers the same features and functionality across all devices — and puts company resources into the pocket of every employee. 

#2. Rich, multimedia content

When creating intranet content, make like a social media marketer and think about your intranet as more than a content management system. Your intranet should support highly visual, eye-catching content. We’re talking images, videos, graphics, and easy-to-digest formats, like Stories. By ditching text-heavy content, you convey information and engage employees more effectively.

#3. Smart personalization + notifications

On a modern social intranet, personalized experiences come as standard. Employees receive tailored internal comms on custom homepages and can easily adjust their notification preferences. With features like employee journeys, you can also automate content to appear to the right employees at the right time.

#4. Two-way interaction

Social media is built on two-way conversations. A modern intranet solution gives employees the option to like, comment, share, and post emoji reactions to news feed content. Other interactive features include polls, surveys, Q&A events, and instant messaging tools.

#5. Seamless integration

TikTok is super easy to use. Just a few taps and users can be scrolling through the latest content. Your intranet can mirror this experience by integrating with your HR systems, scheduling, payroll, and collaboration tools — enabling employees to do more from one user-friendly dashboard.

Need to address the skeptics? Why this isn’t about dance routines at your desk

Adding a little TikTok spice to your employee intranet doesn’t mean persuading your CEO to jump on a viral video bandwagon. Or allowing your workforce to add unnecessary noise to internal communication channels.

Most organizations aren’t like TikTok — and don’t want to be like TikTok. And that’s 100% okay. Because this isn’t about mimicking the latest social media trends. It’s about leveraging the potential of TikTok design principles:

• Design for engagement
• Personalize the experience
• Remove points of friction
• Make it social and visual

By integrating social media-style features into the company intranet you can count on higher employee engagement, better reach, and improved connection across your organization.

It’s easier to reach your whole workforce, including your frontline organization. And when you do, you provide them with relevant and attention-grabbing content that will have them coming back for more.

Your next steps: Modernizing your intranet experience

So what next? How do you go from a clunky old intranet to something worthy of the TikTok era?  Here are the key steps involved in upgrading your intranet:

Audit your current intranet solution. What do you feel is working? Which parts of the intranet get the most and least traffic? What needs to be changed?

Talk to employees. What do they want in an intranet solution and how do they feel your current intranet meets their needs?

Partner with internal stakeholders. Get internal communications, HR, and IT on board to reimagine the platform, laying out the intranet features you class as must-haves and nice-to-haves.

Find the right platform. Browse the top intranet software providers and take shortlisted solutions for a test drive, looking for tools that prioritize a digital employee experience, not just storage.

Start small. When rolling out new employee intranet software, pilot each new feature. Or test the platform with a small group of employees before tweaking and launching it to the rest of your workforce.

Make improvements. Like TikTok, use content analytics and user feedback to continuously improve your intranet solution so it meets the needs of employees now and into the future.

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Will you make the social intranet shift?

Today, employees expect consumer-grade tech tools in the digital workspace. By taking inspiration from tools, like TikTok, you can make your intranet — and the overall employee experience — a central part of your digital transformation.

Incorporate the very best social-style design and you create a reliable and engaging source of information and connection. You reduce employee frustration and improve intranet usage stats, too. 

Blink is a mobile-first modern social intranet that comes with a personalized news feed, Stories, Communities, seamless integrations, and more — everything you need to deliver a high-impact and interactive employee experience.

Blink. And build an intranet your people actually want to use.

Team building gets a bad reputation.

Awkward ice breakers. Forced fun. Activities with very little bearing on the work you actually do. 

But if that’s been your experience, the problem wasn’t team building — it was how it was done.

Done well, team building in the workplace is a valuable investment.

It fosters trust and collaboration, develops communication skills that prevent costly misunderstandings, and helps to create a workplace culture that keeps people engaged and loyal.

Here, we look at the meaning of team building, at all the reasons why team building is important, and at how to make team building activities work for all types of teams.

What is team building?

Team building is a term used to describe activities, training, and initiatives that help employees work well together and achieve shared goals.

It can take many forms. Organized team building sessions. But also social occasions, volunteer days, and informal micro-activities built into the working day.

Done badly, team building is a half-day exercise forgotten by the weekend.

Done well, it creates the conditions for genuine trust and stronger relationships. It helps you build a workforce that can adapt, problem-solve, and perform — together.

Why team building is important

Team building helps improve teamwork in your organization. And that leads to the following business-boosting benefits. Here are all the reasons why team building is important.

It builds trust

Trust is the foundation that makes everything else possible: open communication, team collaboration, the confidence to raise a problem before it becomes a crisis.

Employees working in high-trust companies are 76% more engaged and 50% more productive. They enjoy their jobs 60% more — and they’re much more likely to stay.

Team building helps to create that trust.

A warehouse team working together through a theoretical logistics challenge learns to rely on each other in a low-stakes environment. That reliance translates directly to the real shift, where the pressure and stakes are higher.

It improves communication

Most team-building activities require good communication. Participants have to assign roles, share information, adapt plans in real time, and make decisions under some degree of pressure.

The communication skills developed through team building — active listening, clear information sharing, constructive feedback — transfer directly to the workplace.

This matters to your organization because poor communication is costly — in terms of duplicated work, errors, safety incidents, and customer experience failures.

It increases productivity

Productivity is another reason why team building is important.

A store team that’s practiced working together is faster at solving problems during a busy shift. An office team that knows and trusts each other moves more quickly than one that doesn’t.

When employees are familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, they work together more efficiently. They know when to step back and when to step in.  

It builds workplace friendships

Four out of five employees say workplace friendships are really important to them. Having friends at work increases engagement, satisfaction, and connection to the organization.

Team-building activities create the conditions for those friendships to form. It gives people a reason to interact with each other beyond the transactional demands of the working day.

For remote and frontline workers who don’t share a physical space, this is particularly important. Digital team-building activities that connect employees, regardless of location, reduce feelings of isolation and disengagement. 

It boosts employee engagement and morale

Gallup research shows that effective team working leads to a 23% increase in employee engagement. This reflects the fact that working as part of a team, with shared goals and strong relationships, has a huge impact on how employees feel about their work.

Team-building initiatives reinforce that sense of shared purpose. They remind employees that they’re part of something bigger than their individual task list. And that gives them a reason to show up that goes beyond their paycheck.

It breaks down silos between teams

You can fuel cross-functional collaboration by planning team-building initiatives that deliberately cross departmental boundaries.

Employees from different departments can develop relationships, build mutual understanding, and learn where their skills and remits overlap.

For organizations with a large frontline workforce, cross-functional team building also addresses the sense of separation that can develop between head office and the floor.

Initiatives that bring frontline and desk-based employees together — physically or digitally — reduce the “two cultures” dynamic that so many frontline workers say they experience.

It encourages creativity and innovation

Creative thinking doesn’t thrive under pressure and in isolation. It emerges from the kind of relaxed, collaborative, escape-from-the-norm environment that good team building creates.

This is an environment where employees feel safe enough to suggest ideas that might not work, build on each other’s thinking, and approach problems from new angles.

That mindset goes beyond a team-building session. Employees carry creative thinking back to their everyday work, and can think about problems and situations from different perspectives.

It improves conflict resolution

Workplace conflict is more common than you might think. In the UK, 44% of working-age adults said they experienced conflict at work in a 12-month period, from 2024 to 2025. 

You can’t prevent disagreements. But you can develop employees’ ability to handle them constructively.

The skills at the heart of effective conflict resolution — listening to understand rather than to respond, respecting different perspectives, communicating without defensiveness — are the same ones that good team building helps to develop.

It nurtures and reveals skills

Team building develops team working skills — like delegation, rapport building, and open communication.  

Employees can also learn skills from each other, sharing knowledge earned in different parts of the organization and from different life experiences.

Team building often reveals pre-existing skills, too. Skills that have no obvious outlet in someone’s current role become visible — and can then be put to use.

For example, you may find a great team leader among your frontline crew, or a strategic thinker among your new hires. This is another reason why team building is important, across every team in your organization.

It strengthens company culture

83% of employees say that a positive workplace culture contributes to their productivity. It also encourages them to stay working for your organization.

A positive culture is built through repeated, shared experiences that reinforce what your organization stands for and how it shows up for employees.

Team building creates those experiences deliberately. You can create moments where employees can connect with one another and really get to understand what it means to be part of your organization.

It improves employee retention

The importance of team building is also reflected in your employee retention rates.

When teams work together effectively, the working environment is more communicative and collaborative. Employees enjoy a sense of community and belonging that drives loyalty.

According to Gallup, employees are 29% more likely to stay with their company for the next year and 42% more likely to remain with their company for their entire career when they’re part of high-performing teams.

Team building for every type of workforce

So now we know why team building is important, but how do you ensure those benefits are felt across the whole of your organization? The way you deliver team building has to vary depending on the team you’re leading.

Office-based teams

Office-based teams have the advantage of shared physical space and regular informal interaction. Structured team building supplements what already happens organically.

You can use in-person events to deepen relationships, develop specific skills, and create cross-functional connections that the day-to-day working environment doesn’t always support.

Remote and hybrid teams

When planning team building for employees who spend some or all of their time away from the office, you have to be more intentional.

Limited face-to-face connection with co-workers means the informal relationship-building that happens among office-based teams has to be replaced with structured alternatives.

Virtual team-building activities, digital communities, and regular opportunities for informal communication give distributed employees a way to connect as people rather than just as colleagues.

Read more: 10 online collaboration activities for remote teams

Frontline teams

Frontline teams face the most significant structural barriers to team building in the workplace.

Employees may work across sites and shifts. They don’t always work alongside the same people and they get limited face time with leadership. This makes it difficult for them to build connections with co-workers and company culture.

Effective frontline team building takes these barriers into account. That might mean using:

• Mobile-accessible digital tools to make connection possible, no matter where or when an employee is working.
• Short-form content and activities designed for employees who are on their feet, not sitting in front of a screen.
• Thoughtfully-designed in-person sessions, scheduled with shift patterns in mind and repeated across different shift cohorts.

Read more: 5 tips to improve collaboration among employees on the frontline

Building better teams to benefit your business

The importance of team building shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s an incredibly useful tool — one that shapes how your people communicate, collaborate, and perform.

When it’s done well, the impact is clear: better problem-solving, higher employee engagement, improved retention, and greater productivity.

For dispersed and deskless workforces, who don’t always get the opportunity for informal connection with teammates, the case for intentional team building is particularly strong.

This requires the right approach and the right infrastructure. You need mobile-first tools that make digital team building possible, and that sustain the relationships and culture that in-person sessions create.  

Organizations that understand the importance of team building are investing in employee communication tools, like Blink, that support teamwork across sites and shifts. 

Blink. And give every team member the tools to connect, collaborate, and belong.