Why employee communication tools are business-critical in 2025

Internal communication has never been more important or more complex. Businesses are navigating hybrid teams, evolving employee expectations, and rapid technological change. And at the centre of it all is how well people communicate across functions, roles, and locations — which hinges on strong, consistent team communication.

Communication gaps are no longer a soft issue; they have hard costs. To overcome these challenges, organisations must communicate effectively to bridge gaps, ensure clarity, and drive impactful collaboration across all levels.

According to recent studies, ineffective internal communication leads to lost productivity, higher turnover, and costly mistakes. In fact, U.S. businesses lose an estimated $1.2 trillion each year to miscommunication (roughly $12,500 per employee). 55% of workers say they lose up to two hours a day resolving avoidable communication breakdowns. These aren’t minor inefficiencies. They’re structural risks.

The stakes are even higher as workforce dynamics shift. Hybrid working is here to stay, but with it comes the challenge of keeping people aligned when they’re rarely in the same room.

Frontline and deskless workers, who make up over 70% of the global workforce, are often underserved by traditional channels. And for younger employees, email isn’t the default. They expect real-time updates, mobile access, and two-way dialogue, not one-size-fits-all messaging or buried intranet links. In this environment, fostering human connection is essential to maintain engagement and trust across distributed teams.

Investing in the right communication tool is about building a culture where everyone feels informed, valued, and empowered to contribute. These tools also help employees stay connected through mobile apps, file-sharing, employee recognition efforts and more, ensuring ongoing engagement and collaboration.

Yet despite the risks and rising expectations, many companies still lack a cohesive employee communication strategy. According to Gallagher, 60% of organisations operate without a long-term internal communication plan. That gap creates a domino effect: disengagement, misalignment, poor employee sentiment, and a lack of trust in leadership. Without organised communication, misalignment and confusion can quickly spread, making it harder for teams to collaborate effectively. Only 14% of employees say they fully understand their company’s goals. A statistic that should give every comms leader pause.

Organisations that invest in employee communication tools and strategies see significant benefits. From higher engagement to better decision-making and retention, effective communication creates clarity, reduces friction, and strengthens culture. These tools also help build and maintain professional relationships, fostering trust and collaboration across teams. Companies with highly connected employees report up to 25% more productivity and 4.5× higher retention rates.

This guide explores how to close the gap. From understanding common blockers to choosing the right employee communication tools. Whether you’re in communications, HR, or IT, your role in shaping internal communication directly impacts employee experience and business outcomes. And with the right approach, you can transform your communication channels from a recurring challenge into a strategic advantage.

For many organisations, internal communication is a persistent pain point because the tools and habits that once worked are no longer fit for purpose. Teams are more dispersed, expectations have changed, and the volume of workplace noise has skyrocketed.

To move forward, you need to understand what’s holding your comms back.

Internal communications tools are now essential for overcoming modern communication challenges, helping organisations facilitate meaningful employee exchanges and engagement. Three common culprits stand out.

Modern team communication apps can help address these barriers by enabling more dynamic and interactive communication.

1. Over-reliance on email

Email is still the default communication tool in many companies, but it’s become more of a burden than a benefit.

Employees are inundated with messages daily, making it hard to distinguish critical updates from routine notifications. Important internal communication often gets buried, ignored, or misread in the flood of other inbox traffic.

This overload not only reduces productivity but increases the risk of misalignment. Worse, email is largely one-way.

In contrast, group conversations in modern communication tools enable more interactive and collaborative communication, allowing teams to engage in real-time discussions, share feedback, and make decisions together.

It doesn’t invite dialogue, feedback, or fast clarification. When you rely too heavily on email, you miss the opportunity to build connection and trust through real-time, interactive communication tools.

Email also lacks integrated file sharing features found in modern platforms, which streamline collaboration by allowing users to share and access documents, images, and media directly within the workspace, reducing reliance on cumbersome email attachments.

Without more agile channels for team communication, organisations risk critical updates falling through the cracks

2. One-size-fits-all messaging

Many internal communication strategies default to broad-brush messaging: one update sent to all staff, regardless of their role, location, or needs.

This approach assumes everyone consumes and processes information in the same way which couldn’t be further from reality. Frontline staff may not check email regularly. Office-based workers might prefer chat updates. Senior leaders may need high-level summaries, while technicians need detailed action steps.

Without segmentation, your message risks being ignored or misunderstood. Modern employee communication apps allow you to tailor content by audience, reducing information fatigue. These messaging platforms can also personalise news feeds and notifications based, further increasing engagement and keeping employees informed.

3. Underuse (or misuse) of the intranet

Intranets were once the digital heart of internal comms, but many now sit outdated, unloved, and underused.

Clunky interfaces and navigation have made intranets more of a content graveyard than a communication hub.

In some organisations, even basic updates like policy changes or leadership announcements go unnoticed because they’re buried several clicks deep — the opposite of what centralised internal communication platforms are designed to achieve, which is enhanced access to important resources.

An effective intranet needs to be more than a document repository. It serves as a centralised knowledge management platform platform. It should integrate with other internal communication platforms, offer a user-friendly interface, and be actively maintained.

Strong integration capabilities, such as seamless connection with Google Workspace, microsoft teams, and other productivity tools, or file sharing and video conferencing capabilities are essential to maximise value and support collaboration. In many cases, companies are replacing traditional intranets with mobile-first team communication apps that offer better reach, targeting, and engagement.

Modern internal communication can’t thrive on outdated tools and generic messages. To engage employees effectively, companies must move beyond legacy habits and adopt platforms and strategies that meet people where they are, with timely, relevant, and accessible information.

Choosing the right communication tool means finding a solution that fits your people — their roles, routines, and realities. Current trends in employee communication software focus on unique functionalities that enhance engagement and efficiency.

Supporting a mobile workforce is crucial, with features tailored for employees who are not at a desk, ensuring effective communication and engagement for remote, field, or deskless staff. Whether you’re a comms leader, HR manager, or IT stakeholder, the goal is the same: enable clear, engaging, two-way communication at scale.

But with so many options, what should you prioritise?

Here are five must-have features every modern employee communication software should offer in 2025, including the ability to manage tasks so teams can easily assign, track, and organise work within the platform.

A: Features that help you reach more employees

1. Mobile-first design

If your communication platform isn’t designed for mobile, it’s not designed for the modern workforce. Deskless employees don’t sit at a computer all day. They rely on mobile devices to stay informed. That means your employee communication software must work perfectly on a smartphone: fast to load, easy to navigate, and fully functional on smaller screens.

A mobile-first approach means more than just having an app. It means enabling accessible, high-quality team communication on the go. It means designing for mobile first. Ensuring that everything from push notifications to video content to Microsoft Teams chats works seamlessly without compromise.

Internal communication tools should offer offline access, one-tap reactions, and a clean, user-friendly interface. If you want to connect every employee this is non-negotiable.

2. Audience segmentation and targeting

Not every message matters to every employee. The ability to segment your audience and target specific employee groups is critical to cutting through the noise. Whether you want to send a policy update to team managers, a safety reminder to warehouse staff, or a video message from the CEO to the whole company, your internal internal communication tools should make that easy.

Modern platforms let you define audiences by location, department, role, or shift pattern. The best software takes it further, allowing you to personalise content dynamically (e.g. auto-filling a recipient’s name or displaying local office details). This level of control ensures your messages land with the right people, at the right time, with far more relevance.

B: Features that foster real-time dialogue

3. Integrated chat and live video

Communication should be a two-way street. Look for employee communication software that includes built-in chat and live video capabilities.

Instant messaging enables fast, informal team communication between team members, departments, and leadership.

It helps build connections and solve problems in real time. Live video, on the other hand, creates space for leadership visibility, Q&As, and virtual town halls. And like video conferencing tools used for virtual meetings and training sessions, they’re essential for maintaining connection across distributed teams.

Video huddles facilitate face to face communication, enabling real-time, spontaneous interactions and quick explanations for distributed teams. Whether it's in a connected app like Microsoft Teams or Slack Hangouts, or through a dedicated app, these formats humanise communication, especially for remote and frontline employees who rarely see executives face to face.

A good employee communication platform will offer both, ideally within a single interface. Most employee communication software also includes features for document sharing, enabling teams to collaborate and access key materials directly within their communication flow.

4. Multi-language support

Workforces are increasingly diverse. To ensure inclusivity and clarity, your platform must support multiple languages in the content delivery itself. That means giving employees the ability to toggle messages into their preferred language with a single tap.

Some of the best internal communication tools offer automatic translation for posts, comments, and even live video subtitles.

This feature isn’t just a “nice to have.” It directly impacts employee engagement, understanding, and trust, especially for remote employees or multicultural team members.

If your frontline staff speaks five different languages, your platform should speak all of them too.

5. Analytics and reporting

You can’t improve what you can’t measure. A strong task management platform includes robust analytics so that internal communicators can see what’s working and what isn’t.

Metrics like open rates, read confirmations, engagement (likes, comments, shares), and video views provide real-time feedback on message effectiveness.

This data empowers comms teams to refine content strategy, experiment with formats, and prove ROI to stakeholders. It also helps identify gaps, like which departments are missing messages or which topics generate the most interest.

Look for dashboards that offer both overview insights and drill-down detail. The integration of AI and analytics tools is becoming more prevalent to enhance communication effectiveness and employee engagement. Some employee communication software even connects with HR systems to track impact on satisfaction, turnover, or compliance.

In today’s workplace, communication is about connection. The right employee communication platform brings your people together, no matter where they work or what language they speak.

It offers mobile-first accessibility, precise targeting, real-time interaction, and clear insights. And when you get it right, it becomes more than a tool. It becomes the digital heart of your culture.

Strong team communications apps are essential for culture, clarity, and agility. The right platform should support a broad range of use cases that reflect the diversity of your teams, workflows, and business needs.

Below are six essential use cases every comms, HR, and IT leader should plan for seamless employee communication.

1. Company-wide updates

Company-wide announcements — strategy shifts, quarterly results, policy changes — must land with speed and consistency. In the past, these messages relied on mass emails or manager cascades, which risk delay or distortion. Today, an employee communication platform allows leadership to speak directly to everyone, simultaneously, and trackably.

Messages can be sent as mobile push notifications, posted as video updates from executives, or shared as digestible summaries with links to more detail.

Live streams and podcasts also enhance corporate culture and employee engagement by giving leadership a more human, authentic voice. Leadership blogs or centers allow top management to engage with employees and foster transparency, creating space for consistent, visible leadership communication.

Read receipts and engagement analytics give internal communicators visibility into who has received, read, and responded.

2. Store and factory floor messaging

Frontline employees have traditionally been the hardest to reach. Without company email accounts or regular desktop access, they’ve often relied on printed notices, bulletin boards, or word-of-mouth updates.

That model is slow, inconsistent, and fails to give frontline staff the same sense of inclusion as their desk-based peers.

Mobile-first team communications apps change that. Whether it’s daily shift briefs, health and safety reminders, updated floorplans, or celebrating team wins, these messages can be sent instantly, even in noisy, fast-paced environments like warehouses or retail stores.

Managers can also use group chat to confirm task completion and streamline team communication. They can send photo updates, or answer questions in real time, just as team communication apps enable real-time collaboration and document sharing in other settings.

For the first time, the frontline gets real-time, personalised communication just like everyone else.

3. Crisis communication

When a crisis hits, every second counts. Whether it’s a weather event, a cybersecurity threat, or an unexpected operational issue, companies must reach employees quickly and track who’s received and understood the message.

An app for employee communication allows you to send urgent updates directly to mobile apps and devices with push alerts that override silent settings if necessary.

You can use templates for faster execution, add FAQs or video briefings, or require acknowledgment (e.g. “tap to confirm you’ve read this message”). Built-in analytics show who’s been reached, while comment threads or check-ins allow for immediate assistance requests.

Driving engagement through campaigns and feedback

4. Internal campaigns and initiatives

Communication platforms are also key enablers of internal change. These platforms also support sharing internal initiatives, such as training sessions and policy announcements, through video content on the company intranet to boost engagement, transparency, and corporate culture.

The ability to deliver consistent, multi-format messaging over time makes internal communication tools an ideal channel for running campaigns that actually stick. These campaigns are most successful when embedded into daily team communication rhythms, making them visible and actionable at every level.

You might kick off with a video from leadership, followed by interactive posts, feedback polls, and peer-contributed content. The ability to segment audiences helps ensure local relevance, while analytics let you track awareness, engagement, and behaviour change over time. It’s a powerful way to bring initiatives to life — not just announce them and hope they land.

5. Two-way feedback and employee voice

Top-down communication has its place, but without ways to listen, you risk disengagement and misalignment.

A strong employee communications platform includes built-in mechanisms for feedback: polls, pulse surveys, open comment threads, and anonymous suggestion boxes.

Employee feedback features are integrated within the platform to gather, analyse, and act upon employee input, promoting involvement, measuring sentiment, and improving workplace culture. Regular anonymous employee surveys help gather real-time feedback and improve workplace culture, allowing leaders to involve people in decisions, and show that leadership is listening.

For example, before rolling out a new policy, HR might use the platform to run a short poll: “Do you understand the upcoming benefits changes?” or “What’s your biggest concern about this shift?” Aggregated responses help shape messaging and support follow-up. Done well, this creates a culture of listening, not just broadcasting.

6. Recognition and shoutouts as a communication tool

Recognition is one of the most powerful drivers of employee engagement, and one of the easiest to overlook. The right internal communication tools makes shoutouts and informal recognition part of everyday communication.

Whether it’s a peer tagging a colleague in a “thank you” post, a manager celebrating a team’s milestone, a shared 'thank you' for exceptional customer support, or a leadership message highlighting high performers, shoutouts build a culture of appreciation, boosting employee engagement, morale and reinforcing company values.

Some platforms allow recognition to be tagged to specific initiatives or values, making it easy to track what’s being celebrated (and by whom). They also facilitate employee recognition and reward programs. Rich media — photos, emojis, videos — make these moments more engaging and personal, especially for remote and frontline staff.

Your internal communications platform should do more than transmit information. It should support how your business runs; enhancing employee engagement, promoting a positive workplace culture, and support employee interest by allowing you to host virtual meetings and engage in instant messaging for team collaboration at every level.

From company news to crisis updates, and frontline messaging to feedback loops and culture-building shoutouts, the right tool becomes central to how your people connect, engage, and succeed.

The most effective internal communications software is intentional, data-informed, and designed for impact.

Employee engagement solutions improve company culture and bring the digital workplace to life, making communication a true enabler of business value.

Whether you're launching a new platform or levelling up your existing internal comms, these four best practices will help ensure your strategy drives real engagement and delivers measurable outcomes.

1. Set clear goals and KPIs

Every strong strategy starts with clarity: What are you trying to achieve? Too often efforts focus on outputs rather than outcomes.

Instead, define clear objectives tied to business priorities. Do you want to improve engagement scores? Track employee sentiment over time? Reduce onboarding time? Ensure 100% policy acknowledgment? Boost participation in an initiative?

Setting goals upfront allows you to identify the right metrics, whether it’s read rates, survey responses, feedback volume, or engagement with specific campaigns.

Your employee interactions should also be supported by regular reporting. Many platforms offer built-in analytics dashboards to track performance in real time. Use this data to refine, identify gaps, and demonstrate ROI .

The most effective strategies are iterative, not set-and-forget.

2. Empower local managers as communicators

Corporate messages are essential, but it’s often local managers who have the most influence over how those messages land. When line managers understand, reinforce, and contextualise comms, employees are far more likely to engage with them.

Make manager enablement part of your internal employee communication platforms strategy. Provide talking points, templates, and training so that managers feel confident communicating with their teams — especially during change or uncertainty. If you're using an internal communications platforms, give managers tools to post updates, share shoutouts, or run quick polls within their own team spaces. Local leaders are often the missing link in scalable team communication, helping bridge strategy with day-to-day action.

When communication is reinforced at the team level, it feels more relevant, more trusted, and more actionable.

3. Build a cadence and stick to it

Inconsistent communication erodes trust and increases noise. If your teams never know when the next update is coming, every message feels either urgent or irrelevant.

Set a clear cadence for regular updates: weekly roundups, monthly all-hands, quarterly leadership messages, etc. This rhythm helps employees stay informed without feeling overwhelmed. And it helps comms teams plan content with intent rather than reacting week to week.

Use your internal communication software to schedule posts, automate reminders, and surface the right content at the right time. Consistency doesn’t mean rigidity, it means reliability.

4. Balance communication

Many strategies still rely heavily on top-down messaging. Today’s employees want to be informed and heard.

The most effective employee communication channels make space for bottom-up input: questions, suggestions, feedback, and recognition. Use features like comments, polls, Q&As, and shoutouts to build a participatory communication culture.

When employees can speak up and see their voices reflected in decisions, communication becomes a true relationship.

A winning internal communication strategy blends structure with flexibility. It connects people clearly, consistently, and on their terms. Set the right goals, equip your people, and keep the conversation flowing both ways.

Great employee communication is about making an impact. To know if your strategy is working, you need to go beyond gut feel and start measuring what matters.

Key metrics and employee insights to track

Start with foundational engagement metrics:

• Reach: How many employees received the message?

• Read rates: How many opened or viewed it?

• Feedback and interaction: Are employees responding, reacting, or commenting?

These indicators show whether your messages are getting through and whether they’re resonating.

With Flip’s analytics dashboard, for example, you can view message performance by channel, team, or location. You’ll see which updates drive engagement, which get skipped, and where comms may need reinforcement.

You can also track who’s missing messages and proactively close the loop — especially critical in frontline environments.

Go beyond the clicks: Use feedback and digital forms to drive action

Engagement is just the beginning. The true value of internal communication lies in behavioural impact.

Ask: Did communication lead to action? Did it improve compliance, boost event participation, or support change adoption? For example:

• After a policy update, did acknowledgment rates hit 100%?

• After a DEI campaign, did employee sentiment scores improve?

• After a safety alert, did incident reports decrease?

• Did employee sentiment reflect greater trust and clarity following the communication?

Combining platform analytics with business data paints a fuller picture. Over time, this shows how communication contributes to culture, performance, and alignment.

With the right metrics in place, internal communication shifts from an output-driven function to a strategic driver of employee experience and business outcomes.

Many organisations still rely on legacy tools like email, static intranets, or standalone chat platforms. While these tools serve a purpose, they were never designed to support the speed, scale, or complexity of today’s workforce.

Modern employee communications applications are built to overcome these limitations.

They combine the strengths of traditional tools with the mobility, targeting, and interactivity today’s teams expect.

Many also integrate with social media channels, making it easy to amplify content and extend recruitment outreach through employee advocacy. Here’s how they compare:

Why traditional communication and collaboration tools fall short

Email is overloaded and often ignored, especially by frontline teams who may not even have corporate email addresses. Important updates get buried, and there’s no clear way to track reach or engagement.

Intranets are often underused and poorly maintained. Content becomes outdated, hard to find, or simply irrelevant. They also lack the immediacy needed for real-time communication, particularly in urgent situations.

Chat tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams are great for collaboration, but they aren’t designed for structured communication. Messages disappear in fast-moving threads, and there’s limited support for message targeting, analytics, or acknowledgment.

Why modern communication software is the better alternative

Today’s internal communication tools are purpose-built to engage your entire workforce. They offer mobile-first access, rich multimedia, clear analytics, and integrated feedback loops that enhance team communication. With a single platform, you can align leadership messaging, local updates, recognition, and crisis communication.

As workplace communication becomes more fragmented, consolidating channels into a modern employee communications application ensures clarity, consistency, and connection across your business.

Flip’s employee communication solution is transforming how large organisations engage their frontline and deskless teams.

Through mobile-first communication, real-time feedback, and integrated workflows, Flip helps companies streamline operations and foster a connected workforce. Here are several sector-specific success stories:

McDonald's Germany, with around 65,000 employees across 1,425 restaurants, faced challenges in keeping its diverse workforce informed and engaged.

To address this, they launched the "MyPeople" app powered by Flip. This platform provided a centralised communication channel, enabling real-time updates, digital shift schedules, and on-demand training.

The app's one-tap live translation feature bridged language barriers among employees from 161 nationalities. As a result, McDonald's Germany saw improved employee satisfaction, and increased employee engagement, including a significant increase in participation rates for internal surveys.

GLS Germany faced challenges in communicating with approximately 550 transport partners across 68 depots. To digitise manual processes and centralise communication, they adopted Flip to create the "Partner Hub."

This mobile platform provided real-time updates, integrated existing tools, and offered instant translation features for increased employee engagement.

Post-implementation, 79% of partners felt better informed, 53% reported improved communication, and 41% saved time using the app.

Automotive supplier MAHLE needed a solution to connect its 72,000 employees across 35 countries. By deploying Flip, they achieved faster distribution of shift rotas and improved communication between production and office staff.

The app enabled MAHLE to streamline communication and facilitate communication with real-time updates, safety alerts, and feedback collection, leading to enhanced operational efficiency and employee engagement.

These examples demonstrate Flip's versatility as an employee communications application, effectively addressing the unique challenges of various industries. By prioritising mobile accessibility, real-time communication, and integration with existing systems, Flip empowers organisations to build a more connected and efficient workforce.

Effective leadership is the cornerstone of strong internal communication and high employee engagement. In 2025, leaders set the tone for a positive workplace culture by championing open dialogue and recognition across all levels of the organisation.

When leaders actively use internal communication tools and platforms, they not only keep team members informed but also foster a sense of inclusion and trust.

Leaders can drive engagement by leveraging a variety of communication channels and strategies:

• Sharing company news and updates: By regularly communicating organisational goals, achievements, and changes through internal communication platforms, leaders ensure everyone is aligned and on the same page.

• Encouraging feedback and participation: Utilising survey tools and open forums, leaders can invite suggestions and insights from employees, making them feel heard and valued.

• Recognising achievements: Public recognition through reward programs, shoutouts in team chat apps, via instant messaging, or during virtual meetings and video conferencing sessions boost morale .

• Fostering transparency: Leaders who communicate openly about challenges and successes create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their own ideas and concerns.

• Facilitating collaboration: By promoting the use of team chat apps, video conferencing, and task management tools, leaders help break down silos and encourage cross-functional teamwork.

When leadership prioritises internal communication and employee engagement, the result is a more connected, motivated, and productive workforce.

This commitment enhances employee satisfaction and drives better business outcomes, as engaged employees are more likely to collaborate, innovate, and stay with the company long-term.

The landscape of employee communication is evolving rapidly, with new technologies and strategies reshaping how organisations connect with their people. Looking ahead, several key trends are set to define the future of internal communication and employee engagement:

• Mobile-first communication: As mobile devices become the primary tool for work, internal communication software and mobile apps will be essential for reaching every employee, especially those on the frontline or working remotely.

• Data-driven insights: Advanced analytics and reporting will play a bigger role in shaping communication strategies. Organisations will increasingly rely on data from employee surveys, feedback platforms, and communication software to measure engagement and refine their approach.

• Personalised and targeted messaging: The demand for relevant, tailored communication will grow. Internal communication platforms will use segmentation and employee profiling to deliver the right message to the right audience, boosting engagement and reducing information overload.

• Enhanced employee experience and sentiment tracking: Tools that monitor employee sentiment and experience—such as pulse surveys and real-time feedback—will become standard, enabling organisations to respond quickly to emerging needs and trends.

• AI and automation: Artificial intelligence and machine learning will streamline processes, automate routine updates, and provide intelligent recommendations for content delivery and timing.

• Integrated collaboration tools: Seamless integration between internal communication software, team communication apps, and team collaboration tools will streamline workflows, and enhance team collaboration for team members across the organisation.

By embracing these trends and investing in modern communication tools, organisations can enhance employee engagement, and create a more agile, informed, and connected workforce. Staying ahead of these developments will be key to maintaining a competitive edge in the years to come.

Flip is the modern intranet platform built for real work and real workers.

Where legacy systems stop at the desk, Flip starts with the frontline, connecting every employee to the information, workflows, and people they need to do their jobs.

Designed mobile-first and integration-ready, Flip unifies communication, collaboration, and knowledge in one intuitive interface. From publishing company updates to sharing safety protocols or onboarding new hires, Flip delivers the clarity and consistency today’s workforce expects.

As a trusted digital workplace platform, Flip offers:

• Seamless integration with Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and major HR systems

• Enterprise-grade security with role-based access controls — because data security and compliance features are priorities.

• Easy rollout with no corporate email required

• A mobile-first experience that drives adoption across all roles and regions

Used by leading brands in retail, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, and more, Flip regularly achieves over 90% active usage—often within weeks of launch.

Because when your employee intranet software is simple, relevant, and built for how people actually work, it doesn’t just improve communication. It transforms it.