How Scottish Rugby reconnected its workforce with Oak

Scottish Rugby oversees national representative teams, professional clubs (Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors) and the operation of Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium – a major international events venue hosting global artists such as Taylor Swift and Oasis. Behind the scenes, teams work across multiple locations, roles and schedules.

Before Oak, communication relied heavily on email and desktop access. Deskless colleagues were hard to reach, updates were easy to miss and reporting on-site issues meant paper forms, scanning and emails.

Scottish Rugby wanted a single platform that worked just as well pitch-side or on event days as it did in the office – a better way to keep employees informed, aligned and confident in its fast-moving, high-pressure environments. With a workforce spanning those working in the office at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, around the estate of its stadium operations and frontline teams working with players on the pitch and on the move, communication had become fragmented – and critical updates weren’t always communicated in the most efficient way.

With such a diverse workforce, Scottish Rugby needed a way to connect and engage its employees to ensure they received key updates in a timely and efficient manner. Reaching colleagues working around Scotland in its rugby community and others working at multiple locations through approved channels was a challenge.

Scottish Rugby has digitalised accident and near miss reporting, achieved 97% adoption rates and a 27-point increase in employee engagement.

As Scottish Rugby entered into a new era following a period of financial change and organisational restructure it was critical Scottish Rugby colleagues were as connected as possible no matter where they were in the country or what their role was.

Following a complete refresh of the platform including the launch of its employee app, every employee now has secure, on-the go access to key information and updates they need.

Improving safety visibility whilst removing operational friction

Scottish Rugby has transformed how it manages accident, incident and near-miss reporting. By digitalising the process and making it accessible via mobile, the organisation has removed friction from a critical safety workflow. What was once a manual task involving paper forms, scanning and emails can now be completed instantly within the app.

As Sarah explains: “An increase in reports is actually a good sign – we are now ensuring that all incidents are reported through our simple system because the process is so much more streamlined. Now, everything is done within the InTouch platform either on the desktop or app and photos are uploaded directly from their device, saving so much time for on the go colleagues.”

“InTouch has given us the agility to move at the speed of sport, putting vital information and safety procedures directly into the hands of those who need them most.”

Accelerating onboarding and embedding engagement from day one

Scottish Rugby has also strengthened its onboarding experience by giving new starters immediate access to the tools, information and resources they need in one central place. By embedding InTouch into the onboarding process, new employees become familiar with the platform from the outset, helping them settle in faster and adopt consistent communication habits early.

This approach has driven engagement and confidence from day one, with new starters naturally contributing to activity on the platform as part of their everyday work.

Sarah adds: “Embedding an introduction to InTouch as part of onboarding has helped us instil those behaviours from day one. Our People team runs workshops with new starters to help navigate the platform and a lot of the engagement we see comes from new joiners because it feels natural to them from the very beginning.”

Giving frontline employees a modern, mobile first employee experience

For Scottish Rugby’s remote and on the move workforce, InTouch is a modern mobile experience that matches the reality of how people work. The launch of the employee app in September 2025 gave colleagues across stadium operations, events and remote roles instant access to communications, safety reporting and urgent updates wherever they are.

This mobile access has transformed how information flows across the organisation, ensuring critical messages reach the right people at the right time. Oak supported the rollout with tailored training to optimise mobile content and drive adoption, even encouraging friendly competition between Edinburgh and Glasgow teams to boost downloads.

Reducing email noise and creating a single source of truth

Scottish Rugby has become more efficient by reducing reliance on all-colleague emails. By repositioning InTouch as the primary channel for updates, policies and event information, the organisation has achieved an approximate 83% reduction in direct email traffic.

This shift has made communications clearer, more purposeful and easier for employees to act on.

Sarah commented: “Traditionally, we were very much in a culture of sending all colleague emails, for technological and operational reasons, but we’ve shifted greatly from that. Now if we have to send an Outlook email, it all links back to InTouch. For example, event ticket access might be mentioned in the email, but people have to go to InTouch for the information. This has streamlined communication and allowed important communication to cut through the noise.”

Strengthening leadership visibility and driving cultural change

Scottish Rugby’s new CEO has helped to shape the digital transformation by getting involved from the outset and paving the way for employee generated content. Launching his own company-wide video updates via InTouch has enabled him to personalise leadership updates and helped colleagues put a face to a name. Bridging the gap between leadership and the workforce proved successful early on and continues to break down barriers, providing honesty, openness and clear communication about the future of the organisation.

Sarah said: “Having our CEO visible and communicating directly with everyone through InTouch has made a huge difference. People feel more connected to leadership and it has helped present more clarity about where the organisation is heading because communication is open, honest and consistent.”

Adoption and employee feedback

The new and improved version of InTouch has achieved 97% adoption which showcases a complete turnaround in perceptions of the platform. Thanks to dedicated resource and regular updates that are tailored to each audience segment, it is now re-established as a single source of truth and the go-to in the business. Regular updates from diverse voices across the organisation have encouraged more people to post their own updates, questions and content to become part of the conversation, rather than passively consuming updates.

Sarah said: “It’s definitely helped foster a culture change in that there is visibility on the platform of activity across all departments which allows colleagues to see and understand what other people are working on, which has allowed our people to feel more connected to the wider business.”

The app has been rated 4.75 out of 5 stars by colleagues. Feedback praised the ease of accessing information on the move: “It’s a great idea to allow colleagues to access InTouch without having their laptop on them!” and “Much more accessible, quick and easy to access key info, news and links to other relevant platforms”.

Business impact

The launch of InTouch has delivered measurable impact for Scottish Rugby across engagement, safety, efficiency and culture. What began as a platform refresh has become a critical enabler of how the organisation operates day to day. Engagement has increased significantly and has seen a 27-point increase.