Q&A with multi award-winning Burger King UK

BK Hub, powered by Oak Engage, has been recognised in the following prestigious industry awards in just one year of launching:

• Internal Communications and Engagement Awards - GOLD

• Internal Communications Brilliance Awards - WINNER

• Ragan Employee Communications Awards - HONORABLE MENTION

The mobile-first platform has also been recognised as a finalist in three other categories, with judging still to follow on a few others. With such success in just over a year, we caught up with Nick to see how he feels about it all.

Q. Congrats on all the recognition so far for BK Hub. What does this significant achievement mean to Burger King UK?

Nick: "To win in multiple award categories, each with an excellent calibre of finalists is incredible. We know our platform is brilliant because it works so well for us, but to get the recognition externally is the icing on the cake. The old clunky intranets you imagined once upon a time have truly shaken off that reputation with suppliers like Oak Engage leading the way in helping companies like us to achieve our internal comms and engagement goals with such an easy to use platform. It’s great to know that we’re a strong benchmark throughout the wider internal comms industry.

"BK Hub is growing into something our people can’t live without. To have created such a FOMO mentality around it is incredible. It empowers us to always be thinking of what’s next to keep our colleagues engaged and excited about working here."

Q. Can you share the process behind developing and implementing this innovative, multi-award winning platform?

Nick: "Almost half of our employees are under the age of 22 and 98% of the workforce is frontline with no access to a work email address or desktop device. We knew that a mobile-friendly app version of the final product was crucial to engage and connect them.

"Throughout the implementation process, our small internal comms team was supported every step of the way by the Oak Engage team. Internally, we provided training for those staff who would be posting regularly on BK Hub, with larger-scale training for Head Office departments to manage their own content areas and pages.

"Our annual internal ‘WhopperCon’ employee event is held each March. We used this event to promote the new intranet, when we had colleagues in one space and could demonstrate everything it has to offer. We also created a teaser video to present the features and benefits of the platform and how it could help colleagues in their day-to-day roles. We started the project in January and we achieved full implementation in just two months, including design, build, transferring all membership data and project launch."

Q. How did our collaboration ensure that BK Hub was tailored to meet the specific needs of the restaurant team, especially considering their offline and mobile-first needs?

Nick: "The Oak platform was tailored to meet our specific needs and provides a range of functionalities including content sharing, employee recognition, social timeline, advanced search and a document library. We knew the branded mobile app would be key in engaging our deskless workforce, but it also needed to look fun, enticing and reflect our branding.

"The support from the Oak team throughout the entire process was second to none. They really understood the brief from the moment we got started. In fact, before we even signed the contract, they had created designs for what it would look like. They hit the nail on the head with the branding, style and general vibe we wanted to achieve with the app.

"Oak Engage has vast experience in this field so we were open to many suggestions about how to maximise the effectiveness of the app for our people while making it user-friendly and visually appealing. They created a mobile view of our intranet which is intuitive to what our deskless workforce needs in a few clicks, without surfacing as much content as the desktop version to avoid information overload."

Q. What impact has the user-friendliness of BK Hub had on engagement and comms across Burger King UK's 300 locations?

Nick: "It’s more than just a tool for employee engagement, it’s had a huge, measurable impact on the business. It’s aided a reduction in employee turnover, helped improve productivity, enhanced efficiency and completely transformed how we work as a business. 

"We’ve been surprised by the huge difference it’s had on our teams. We can easily connect with our offline workforce across the country, making each person feel appreciated, seen and heard. 

"Employee-generated content has skyrocketed. We are so glad that our people are engaged with the platform and willing to share their stories and experiences, from the small successes in their restaurants to fundraising activity and more. We really do see it all. It’s so motivating and makes us so happy to see our people thriving.

"By creating community spaces within BK Hub, our people really do have a place to socialise with like-minded colleagues all over the UK, even if they’ve never met before. Shared interests and hobbies can connect people in all kinds of ways and we’ve provided a safe space for them to communicate, which we believe has improved morale and a sense of belonging at work."

Q. How has personalised content delivery helped overcome information overload?

Nick: "Being able to tailor content delivery has honestly been a game-changer. We can specify which roles, locations and groups receive each communication. With Oak’s analytics, we can see who has read these updates, which we previously had no way of measuring. The whole content delivery process makes everything more streamlined and relevant, which our teams really appreciate.

"There’s nothing worse than scrolling through updates that have nothing to do with you or your role. When anyone accesses BK Hub, no matter their role or what device they’re on, they know that everything they can see will be of relevance to them. Plus, we can now share information directly to the right people rather than relying on managers to cascade the information, so the responsibility to act lies with the individual, relieving some pressure from busy managers."

Q. You have seen a significant reduction in employee turnover and new starter drop-out rates. How has BK Hub made onboarding more effective and engaging?

Nick: "The beauty of BK Hub is that our people don’t need a company email address to access it. This has enabled us to restrict access to specific areas of the platform for those who have just accepted a job offer, then we can simply share details of how to download and access the app.

"We have created dedicated homepages for new recruits and new starters so that they can see information about the company, our benefits, what to expect in their first few weeks and any documentation they need to share with us in advance of their start date. There is also a space to contact line managers in advance with any questions they may have. We believe that this ongoing communication from job offer to day one has contributed to this reduction in new starter drop-out rates.

"Once the new starter joins on day one and throughout their first few weeks, they are opened up to slightly more of BK Hub which highlights processes, policies and everything they need to learn about in order to safely do their job. We stagger the amount of content that is revealed over the first few weeks to avoid information overwhelm and to familiarise them with where to go in the platform to find what they need. After this, they’re granted complete access to BK Hub so they can see everything that’s going on and explore all areas of the site that their permissions allow.

"This well-structured preboarding and onboarding process has been so engaging because it is still housed within our branded app. The company culture is drip-fed at every stage, so they remain excited about working at Burger King and all of the benefits that it brings."

Q. How have you used BK Hub’s social timeline to create a more inclusive and positive work culture?

Nick: "Giving employees a voice is what makes them feel included and involved in company culture. Providing a platform for them to share whatever they like (within reason!) with other colleagues brings a social media feel to our platform. The more that people post, the more others will be inclined to share their own posts and engage with others.

"We empower people at all levels to participate so that we can have diversity of voices and keep timelines fresh. Nobody wants to see a stream of top-down communications from a single author that they can’t engage or interact with.

"With BK Hub, whether it’s a photo from restaurant staff or an update from head office, anyone can comment and react to the update, have their say, congratulate or celebrate whatever the update is. Breaking down barriers between colleagues and giving them this platform has not only brought our colleagues together socially, but it’s given us at head office so much more visibility of the incredible things our people do every day. We continue to encourage this and believe it plays a huge part in people’s enjoyment of working at Burger King."

Q. How has in-platform employee recognition impacted employee morale and collaboration?

Nick: "Public appreciation for team members creates a positive, collaborative environment, strengthening relationships and boosting morale. The fact that it’s so quick and easy to do gives people every reason to show appreciation for each other.

"From thanking colleagues for getting through a particularly busy shift, congratulating them for trying something new or celebrating promotions and general jobs well done, the amount of recognition which feeds through our homepage really is impressive. We can see that people genuinely mean it when they share appreciation for others."

Q. What is it about BK Hub that keeps people coming back?

Nick: "I think the balance of exceptional user experience and intuitive functionality allows us to achieve our communications objectives and maintain BK Hub as a platform that our people enjoy using.

"BK Hub is so easy to use from both an administrative and user perspective. Navigation is clear and opportunities to connect are woven throughout the whole platform. Oak’s content and recognition applets enable us to provide a seamless user experience that is modern, clean and on brand. This entire experience is what makes our people keep coming back to the platform. They love how it works, they love what's on there and they love being part of the conversation."

Q. Looking at the success metrics, such as 97% monthly engagement and 98% of employees onboarded in a short time, how do you measure the ongoing impact of BK Hub on employee satisfaction and business performance?

Nick: "Thanks to Oak Engage’s monthly report which brings us AI-generated insights and recommendations, we can find specific areas to focus on improving each month. We can see which content types are performing best and resonating most with our people, which informs how we frame content for upcoming campaigns and communications. There’s no need to compile the report ourselves, it gets delivered straight to the hub so we can jump in and visualise the insights straight away.

"Our people tend to scroll through updates on the BK Hub timeline just as they would across other social platforms and the variety of content we have on here is what keeps people coming back. The more that our people absorb from BK Hub, the more they are engaged and informed on what’s new with the business, which positively impacts our overall performance."