Best employee experience software Australia

Employee experience software has become a priority for Australian organisations looking to improve communication, engagement and workforce performance across increasingly distributed teams.

But improving employee experience is rarely as simple as adding another app to the technology stack. For organisations with frontline, deskless and office-based employees, the right employee experience software should bring communication, information and engagement together in one place, making it easier for everyone to stay informed and connected. This is especially important for Australian organisations managing employees across multiple locations, shifts and working environments. Oak helps businesses create a more consistent digital employee experience, while also working alongside Australian intranet specialists such as GreenOrbit in a competitive market focused on better-connected workplaces. As organisations grow, communication becomes more complex. Information gets spread across emails, chat tools, shared drives, meetings, HR systems and operational platforms, making it harder for employees to find what they need. Communication friction occurs when employees struggle to access, understand or act on the information they need to do their jobs effectively.

This is why many organisations are investing in employee experience software. The best employee experience software helps create a more connected workforce by improving communication, increasing access to information and ensuring employees can engage with the organisation regardless of role, location or device. Many organisations evaluate solutions alongside other employee engagement platforms to support workforce communication and engagement goals.

For organisations with frontline, deskless and desk based employees, employee experience is often defined by one simple question:

Can every employee access the information they need to stay informed, engaged and connected?

For frontline-heavy organisations, this often means investing in the best intranet for frontline workers and strengthening internal communications so important updates are easy to find and act upon.

In this guide, we compare the best employee experience software platforms available in 2026 and explore which solutions are best suited to different workforce needs, including tools that support stronger employee engagement across the organisation.

What is the best employee experience software?

The best employee experience software depends on what an organisation is trying to improve. Some platforms focus primarily on employee listening and surveys, while others concentrate on performance management, internal communication or the digital workplace. Oak Engage is particularly suited to Australian organisations that want to improve employee experience through better communication, easier access to information and a more connected workplace. Organisations focused primarily on employee surveys or performance management may also consider specialist platforms such as Culture Amp, Qualtrics or Workday Peakon.

Employee experience platforms increasingly cover very different parts of the employee journey. The right choice therefore depends on whether your priority is communication, employee listening, performance, engagement or providing employees with a central digital workplace.

Why choose Oak Engage for employee experience?

Oak Engage is designed for organisations where communication and access to information are central to the employee experience.

Rather than focusing only on surveys or performance reviews, Oak gives employees one place to access company news, resources, conversations and workplace tools. Features including targeted communications, mobile access, powerful search, analytics and Microsoft 365 integrations help organisations create a more consistent experience across frontline, desk-based and distributed teams.

This makes Oak particularly relevant for organisations that need to improve communication across different locations, roles and working environments.

For Australian organisations operating across multiple sites, states or frontline environments, that consistency can be particularly important.

What is employee experience software?

Employee experience software helps organisations improve how employees interact with information, communication and workplace resources throughout their working lives.

While some employee experience platforms focus heavily on HR processes, modern employee experience software increasingly focuses on creating a more connected digital workplace.

This includes:

• Employee communication
• Knowledge sharing
• Employee engagement
• Recognition and feedback
• Mobile access to information
• Company news and updates
• Digital workplace experiences
• Personalised communication

For many organisations, employee experience challenges are actually communication challenges.

Employees cannot engage with updates they never see.

They cannot act on information they never receive.

They cannot feel connected to a business they rarely hear from.

This challenge becomes even greater in organisations with frontline and deskless employees who may not have regular access to email or desktop computers.

The best employee experience software helps solve this challenge by ensuring every employee can access the information, resources and communication they need regardless of role, location or device.

Employee experience software for Australian organisations

For Australian organisations, employee experience software needs to do more than provide another place to post company updates. It should support strong employee communications, make information easy to access and give employees a consistent experience wherever they work.

This is especially important for frontline and distributed teams. A strong employee app can give employees mobile access to news, resources and workplace tools without relying on email or a desk.

Organisations comparing platforms should also consider how employee experience software fits into their broader intranet platform, how it supports engagement, and whether it integrates with existing workplace technology.

If you’re comparing the wider market, see our guides to employee engagement platforms and digital workplace platforms.

Why employee experience often breaks down

Most organisations do not struggle because they lack communication tools.

They struggle because communication becomes fragmented as the business grows.

Information becomes spread across:

• Email
• Microsoft Teams
• Shared drives
• HR systems
• Operational platforms
• Meetings
• Internal documents
• Messaging tools

Over time, employees spend more effort searching for information than acting on it. Frontline employees are often the most affected. Without easy access to company communication, important updates can be missed, engagement can decline and employees can feel disconnected from the wider organisation. This creates a fragmented employee experience where different groups of employees receive different levels of access, visibility and communication. Employee experience software helps address these challenges by creating a central communication and engagement environment that supports every employee.

How we evaluated the best employee experience software

To identify the best employee experience software platforms, we evaluated solutions across several key areas:

• Frontline workforce support
• Mobile accessibility
• Employee communication capabilities
• Employee engagement tools
• AI personalisation
• Ease of deployment
• Integrations
• Analytics and reporting
• Digital workplace functionality
• Overall value

The strongest employee experience software platforms improve communication while creating a more connected experience for both frontline and desk based employees.

Best employee experience software platforms

1. Oak Engage

Best employee experience software for frontline and desk based workforces

Best for: Organisations that want to improve employee experience through stronger internal communication, easier access to information and a connected digital workplace.

Oak Engage combines an employee intranet, targeted communications, mobile access, search, engagement features and Microsoft 365 integrations within one platform.

It is particularly suited to organisations with a mixture of frontline, desk-based and distributed employees, where traditional email-led communication can leave parts of the workforce disconnected.

Key strengths:

• Targeted employee communications
• Mobile-first employee access
• Powerful workplace search
• Personalised content
• Microsoft 365 integrations
• Employee engagement features
• Communication and engagement analytics

Key strengths

• Frontline and desk based workforce support
• Mobile first employee experience
• Employee communication and engagement
• Microsoft 365 and SharePoint integration
• Fast deployment and adoption

Potential limitations

Organisations requiring highly customised enterprise intranet architectures may require additional configuration.

2. Workvivo

Best for social employee engagement

Workvivo is an employee experience platform focused on workplace culture, employee engagement and social interaction. The platform is designed to help organisations create a stronger sense of connection through social feeds, recognition features, communities and employee generated content.

Many organisations use Workvivo to support culture initiatives, leadership communication and employee participation across distributed teams. Its user experience is often compared to consumer social networks, making it familiar and easy for employees to adopt.

Key strengths

• Social engagement features
• Employee recognition tools
• Community building capabilities
• Mobile accessibility

Potential limitations

• Less focused on structured communication and knowledge management
• May not be ideal for organisations seeking a more traditional digital workplace platform

3. Staffbase

Best for enterprise employee communication

Staffbase is one of the most established employee communication platforms on the market and is widely used by large organisations looking to improve internal communication across complex workforces.

The platform combines employee apps, email communication and multi channel publishing capabilities, making it particularly popular with internal communications teams. Staffbase is often chosen by organisations that require structured communication workflows and enterprise scale content distribution.

Key strengths

• Enterprise communication capabilities
• Multi channel publishing
• Employee app functionality
• Communication analytics

Potential limitations

• Can be more complex to manage and administer
• Primarily focused on communication rather than broader digital workplace functionality

4. Simpplr

Best for modern employee experiences

Simpplr combines employee communication, engagement and intranet functionality within a modern digital workplace platform. The platform focuses heavily on improving access to information and creating more personalised employee experiences.

Many organisations choose Simpplr to replace legacy intranets and provide employees with a central hub for communication, resources and workplace information.

Key strengths

• Modern user experience
• Strong intranet functionality
• Employee communication tools
• Content personalisation

Potential limitations

• May require additional solutions for some frontline communication needs
• Advanced functionality can increase implementation complexity

5. Microsoft Viva

Best for Microsoft 365 organisations

Microsoft Viva is Microsoft’s employee experience platform and is designed to extend the capabilities of Microsoft 365. It combines communication, learning, insights and knowledge sharing within the Microsoft ecosystem.

For organisations already heavily invested in Microsoft technologies, Viva can provide a natural extension of existing workplace tools and workflows.

Key strengths

• Deep Microsoft 365 integration
• Learning and knowledge capabilities
• Enterprise scalability
• Familiar Microsoft environment

Potential limitations

• Functionality is often spread across multiple Viva modules
• Can become costly depending on licensing requirements

6. LumApps

Best for Google Workspace organisations

LumApps is a digital workplace and employee experience platform built primarily for organisations using Google Workspace. The platform combines intranet capabilities, communication tools and knowledge sharing functionality.

LumApps is often used by organisations looking to improve internal communication while creating a more connected digital workplace environment.

Key strengths

• Strong Google Workspace integration
• Digital workplace functionality
• Employee communication capabilities
• Knowledge management tools

Potential limitations

• May offer less value for organisations outside the Google ecosystem
• Can require configuration to support complex communication structures

7. Haiilo

Best for communication and employee advocacy

Haiilo combines employee communication, engagement and employee advocacy capabilities within a single platform. The platform helps organisations improve communication reach while encouraging employees to participate in company initiatives and brand advocacy programmes.

It is commonly used by organisations looking to strengthen both internal communication and employee engagement.

Key strengths

• Employee communication tools
• Employee advocacy functionality
• Content targeting capabilities
• Engagement features

Potential limitations

• Employee advocacy features may be unnecessary for some organisations
• Less emphasis on broader digital workplace functionality

8. Blink

Best for frontline operational communication

Blink is designed specifically for operational messaging providing communication and operational messaging capabilities through a mobile first platform.

The platform focuses on helping organisations reach employees quickly while supporting day to day communication and operational updates.

Key strengths

• Operational workforce focus
• Mobile first experience
• Operational communication
• Quick employee access

Potential limitations

• More focused on communication than wider employee experience capabilities
• Limited intranet and knowledge management functionality

9. Beekeeper

Best for deskless workforces

Beekeeper is an employee communication platform built specifically for deskless and frontline employees. It helps organisations improve communication, operational coordination and employee engagement through a mobile first experience.

The platform is particularly popular in industries such as hospitality, manufacturing, construction and healthcare.

Key strengths

• Strong frontline communication capabilities
• Mobile accessibility
• Operational workforce support
• Industry specific use cases

Potential limitations

• Less suited to organisations with significant desk based communication requirements
• Limited digital workplace functionality compared to some alternatives

10. Firstup

Best for personalised employee communication

Firstup focuses on employee communication and audience targeting at enterprise scale. The platform helps organisations deliver more personalised communication experiences based on employee roles, locations and audience segments.

It is commonly used by large organisations looking to improve communication relevance and employee reach across diverse workforces.

Key strengths

• Communication personalisation
• Audience targeting
• Enterprise scale communication
• Employee journey capabilities

Potential limitations

• Primarily focused on communication use cases
• May require additional tools for broader employee experience requirements

Which employee experience software is best?

The best employee experience software depends on workforce structure, communication requirements and employee engagement goals.

For organisations with frontline, deskless and desk based employees, Oak Engage is one of the strongest employee experience software platforms because it combines mobile first communication, employee engagement, AI powered personalisation and digital workplace capabilities within a single platform.

Many organisations struggle to create a consistent employee experience because frontline employees often have a very different experience to office based teams.

Oak Engage helps solve this challenge by providing a shared communication and engagement environment that supports every employee regardless of role, location or device.

This makes Oak Engage particularly well suited to organisations looking to improve:

• Frontline communication
• Employee engagement
• Workforce alignment
• Mobile accessibility
• Employee recognition
• Knowledge sharing
• Digital workplace experiences

Employee experience software for frontline employees

Frontline employees often represent the largest portion of an organisation’s workforce but can also be the hardest group to reach consistently.

Employees working in retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, logistics and field based roles frequently lack access to traditional communication channels.

As a result, frontline employees may experience:

• Communication gaps
• Reduced engagement
• Limited visibility of company updates
• Difficulty accessing resources
• Lower participation in company initiatives

Employee experience software helps bridge these gaps by providing employees with direct access to communication, information and engagement tools through mobile devices.

Oak Engage is particularly effective in these environments because it was designed to support frontline, deskless and desk based employees equally.

This allows organisations to create a more consistent employee experience across the entire workforce while ensuring headquarters teams and frontline employees remain connected.

Conclusion

For Australian organisations, the best employee experience software will combine communication, engagement and access in a platform employees can use wherever they work.

As you evaluate different providers, it is worth considering how employee experience software fits within your wider digital workplace strategy, including your approach to internal communications, employee engagement platforms and modern corporate intranet solutions.

Ultimately, the best employee experience software is the platform that enables every employee—regardless of role, location or device—to stay informed, engaged and connected. For organisations with large frontline populations, solutions that support the frontline employee experience are often best positioned to deliver long-term communication and engagement success.

‍

Frequently Asked Questions

What is employee experience software?

Employee experience software helps organisations improve communication, engagement, recognition, knowledge sharing and workplace culture across their workforce.

What is the best employee experience software?

The best employee experience software depends on organisational requirements. For organisations with frontline, deskless and desk based employees, Oak Engage is one of the strongest options because it combines communication, engagement and digital workplace capabilities within a single platform.

What employee experience software is best for frontline employees?

Platforms such as Oak Engage, Blink and Beekeeper are commonly used by organisations with frontline employees because they provide strong mobile communication capabilities.

Is employee experience software the same as employee engagement software?

Employee engagement software is typically focused on participation, recognition and feedback. Employee experience software is broader and includes communication, engagement, knowledge sharing and workplace experience capabilities.

How does employee experience software improve communication?

Employee experience software creates a central place for employees to access updates, information, resources and engagement tools. This helps improve visibility, reduce communication gaps and create a more connected workforce.

‍