Best intranet for frontline workers

For years, the “deskless” workforce; the retail associates, hospitality workers, nurses, drivers, and factory floor teams, have been left with the digital crumbs of corporate communication. Relying on barely visible breakroom noticeboards, unofficial WhatsApp groups, or clunky SharePoint sites that have never been designed to thrive on mobile.

And still the reality today is that 75% of frontline workers feel isolated from their company, 45% of employees have missed an update due to poor comms, and 81% of frontline employees say that customers suffer due to poor communication. (Oak Engage The Frontline Divide Report) 

With labour markets tightening and the “engagement gap” widening, your intranet needs to be the glue that binds everyone to the information they need to do their job properly, creating space for people to connect.

Maybe you currently have an intranet that’s just not helping to connect your frontline workers, or maybe you don’t have an intranet at all. But don’t worry, we’re bringing you a breakdown of the top platforms and the critical features that actually connect your frontline and deskless workers.

A frontline intranet succeeds when it is accessible, relevant, and fast. Unlike office-based systems, these platforms must be designed for people who work in shifts, are constantly on the move and time-strapped, and often lack a corporate email address.

The pillars of a modern frontline solution:

• Mobile-first, not mobile-also: A mobile app is essential for reaching the frontline, but the UI must be reimagined for vertical, one-handed use, not just a squashed version of a desktop site.
• Easy access and onboarding: Support for QR code, SMS, or ID-based logins is mandatory. If a worker has to wait for an IT-provisioned email, you can wave goodbye to high app adoption. Not only that but for new starters, onboarding is the most crucial stage of the employee experience and having personalised comms and onboarding makes that initial start seamless. 
• Utility over “vibes” (even though vibes are important): Primarily, workers need an app to see their rota, payslips, and safety protocols. The “engagement” (social feeds and news) should be the thing that keeps people coming back for more once they are already inside for functional reason.
• AI search: Frontline staff need the right answers first, which is why robust AI search that understands natural language is crucial for confidence in decision making.
• Producing multiple content formats, accessible in one app: Whether it’s 1 minute video updates, newsletters, posts or dedicated hubs — your people will all engage with content differently and so having a platform that allows you to reach people in the way they prefer to consume content is crucial.

In our webinar ‘The Frontline Divide‘, Sacha Thomas, Internal Comms and Content Manager at River Island explains the power of video content:

It’s important to note that choosing an intranet is rarely about “which is best” and usually about “which fits our specific friction points and will help us achieve our goals.” One of the best ways to do this is to look at what other companies are doing, and how they’re reaching their frontline staff effectively. We’ve got some customer stories to share from our customers who have frontline-first workforces, and how an intranet has helped impact their employee engagement and employee experience. 

The best way to evaluate an intranet is to look at how it performs in the “wild.” Here is how three industry leaders used Oak Engage to solve distinct frontline challenges.

1. Solving the retention crisis: Burger King UK

Industry: Hospitality I Employees: 6,000 I Workforce: 98% frontline/deskless

The Challenge: With 98% of their 6,000-person workforce being deskless, Burger King faced high turnover and “new starter drop-outs.”

The Solution: They launched BK Hub, focusing on a personalised onboarding journey that didn’t require a corporate email. 

The Result: *32% reduction in employee turnover.

• 40% reduction in new starter drop-out rates.
• 99% mobile app adoption.

“It’s aided a reduction in employee turnover, helped improve productivity, and completely transformed how we work as a business.” — Nick Hollis, Head of Engagement.

📖 Read the full Burger King customer story.

2. Boosting engagement at scale: Aldi UK & Ireland

The Challenge: Reaching 50,000 warehouse and store-based colleagues who had zero access to desktops. 

The Solution: The MyAldi app. It integrated “lifestyle” features like rotas, payslips, and holiday allowance alongside corporate news. 

The Result: *95% sign-up rate across the entire workforce.

• 90% monthly engagement rate.
• Over 3,000 ‘praises’ sent between colleagues in just four days during a pilot phase.

📖 Read the full Aldi UK & Ireland customer story.

3. Cutting through the noise: NatWest Group

The Challenge: 85,000 employees were overwhelmed by news across multiple legacy platforms, leading to “information fatigue.” 

The Solution: Implementing Smart Delivery and a personalised daily news roundup. 

The Result: *70% reduction in homepage noise (fewer, more relevant stories).

• 99% monthly engagement.
• A single “source of truth” that aligns with their ‘one bank’ strategy.

📖 Read the full NatWest customer story.

When evaluating vendors for the best frontline intranet, try not to get into the weeds with a list of features and ask these four operational questions:

• Does it require a corporate email? Many frontline workers don’t have company email addresses. Your platform must support QR code or SMS-based onboarding.
• Does it have “mandatory reads”? For safety-critical industries, you need a “Confirm I have Read” button that triggers an audit trail for compliance.
• Is the search “frontline-fast”? A worker on a warehouse floor has about 15 seconds to find a policy. If the AI search can’t surface the answer instantly, they’ll stop using it.
• Can it handle “offline” mode? For drivers or field engineers in low-connectivity areas, cached access to essential documents is a safety requirement, not a luxury.

Want a more in depth checklist.

Your frontline workers are the face of your brand, yet they are often the last to know what’s happening within it. Choosing an intranet that allows you to reach everyone seamlessly will transform the way your workforces communicates, collaborates and performs.

While likes and comments have their place, true connection happens when a worker feels seen, safe, and supported. Whether it’s finding a shift change in seconds or receiving a “thank you” from the CEO that actually reaches their pocket, the right platform turns “deskless” from a disadvantage into a superpower. The goal isn’t to keep them on the app, it’s to get them the information they need so they can get back to the work that matters.