-
-
Discover how 'BHXProudPerks' bridges the deskless divide by engaging and valuing frontline teams.
-
Learn how the iconic UK pottery manufacturer enhances engagement and connection for deskless teams.
-
Dive into how the global 'B-Hive' programme reduces turnover in engaged users by 50%.
-
There's plenty more customer success stories to explore - go and take a look!
RAIL INDUSTRY INTEL
Employee Engagement in Rail.
From keeping commuters on track to supporting freight logistics and high-speed networks, the Rail industry keeps our world moving from A to B.
However effectively connecting, engaging and rewarding the colleagues powering the sector presents key challenges for employers. As many workforces face instability and restructuring, engagement and retention have become key priorities alongside maximising the efficiency of rewards and benefits processes as People directors plan their engagement strategies. Plus, with the majority of industry teams – from customer-facing colleagues to third-party contractors – geographically dispersed, the deskless divide amplifies traditional barriers to recognition, engagement and cultural cohesion.
So, how can HR, Rewards and Benefits leaders overcome the challenges for world-class employee engagement in Rail? At Rippl, we’re all about unifying, valuing and rewarding every colleague – no matter where they work. Here, we share intel around how sector employers can bridge the gap to ensure every person feels seen, heard and valued.
Why employee engagement is important in Rail
- A deskless and dispersed workforce. Data shows between 80%-90% of Rail industry colleagues operate in deskless roles, creating key barriers to engagement and a disconnect between ‘frontline and centre’. Through a recognition lens, this is often manager-first meaning customer-facing staff and contractors remain overlooked.
- Industry instability and restricted resource. With high inflation and industrial unrest, restructures, job losses and overstretched teams are challenges many People leaders have become familiar with. Businesses are looking for ways to stretch employees’ pay packet further and enhance compensation against tightening budgets.
- Manual, outdated engagement processes. Many businesses still lean on paper-based or spreadsheet-hosted recognition and reward “Excel Hell” programmes, reducing employers’ scale of impact and operational efficiency. This has led to growing demand to centralise mobile rewards and benefits, scale accessibility across various locations and geographies, and automate the time-consuming processes slowing HR teams down.
- Lack of cultural cohesion. Horizontal appreciation strategies often result in culture and engagement being concentrated to only a select few individuals. For the rest, the business’ values remain invisible, the “us vs them” divide continues to grow accelerated by unions, and feedback loops remain limited leading to many colleagues feeling unseen, unheard and under-valued.
80%
of Rail sector colleagues operate in deskless roles.
51%
of colleagues in deskless role feel expendable to their employer.
90%
do not have access to the right tools to stay connected and empowered in their role.
MAKE EVERY PERSON MATTER
The State of the Deskless Workforce: 2025 Report
Collating key market research and insights, explore the workplace barriers continuing to grow the deskless divide and practical ways to actively address these in 2025 and beyond, so every person feels seen, heard and valued – from head office to the frontline.
How we improve employee engagement in Rail
ENGAGEMENT IN COLLEAGUES' POCKETS
Mobile access around the clock
Rippl streamlines everything under one roof. We unify recognition, rewards and benefits into one mobile app that’s fully branded to your business so colleagues stay connected, feel engaged in real time, and access their rewards and benefits from their pockets.
TAILORED REWARDS AND BENEFITS
Elevated pay and compensation
Enhance financial wellbeing and stretch salaries further within your mobile Benefits Hub, streamlining discounts, savings, salary sacrifice schemes and more. Plus, with Rippl you can further enhance savings on brands on your choice, such as supermarkets.
MANUAL PROCESSES, AUTOMATED
Engagement, made smooth and simple
Forget lengthy reward spreadsheets and paper-based recognition. Rippl cleverly automates birthday and long-service shoutouts, streamlines feedback loop workflows, and configures reward approval processes so your team can get back to the good stuff.
BUILT TO YOUR BUSINESS CULTURE
Values-led recognition and reward
Rippl embeds your business’ culture within your programme with values-led recognition ensuring they are understood and contextualised at every level, whilst tailored award nomination campaigns and Spin to Win prize draws bring your culture to life.
RIPPL
Employee engagement for Rail teams
See how Rippl can revolutionise your engagement strategy for all corners of your workforce. Get in touch to find out more or book a platform demo at a time that suits you.
Employee engagement made easy
Personalised engagement
Recognition, rewards, benefits and more, unified in your branded engagement mobile app available in the iOS/Android store.
Flexible tools
Customisable features including incentives, feedback and learning can be switched on/off in line with your business needs.
Global reach
Global recognition and reward catalogues and multi-currencies to deliver consistent and scalable engagement.
Customised benefits
Hand-pick from our Benefits Marketplace, enhance discounts, and bring your own perks to champion every pillar of wellbeing.
Dynamic feedback
Instant polls, long-form surveys and a dedicated Ideas Hub amplifies voices and innovations from every level.
Real-time reporting
Track and optimise every dimension of your programme through live reports in Rippl’s Analytics Centre.
Book a Demo
Employee engagement in Retail: Case Studies
Asda: Delivering multi-dimensional engagement in store colleagues' pockets.
Partnering with Rippl in 2013, ‘Asda Stars’ delivers multi-dimensional engagement under one streamlined platform, placing recognition, reward and benefits in the pockets of their frontline teams across the UK.
Dyno-Rod: Centralising engagement, rewards and discounts for a franchise network.
The ‘Orange Moments’ platform streamlines recognition, rewards, benefits and wider engagement across Dyno-Rod’s UK-wide network of engineers.
Birmingham Airport: Connecting, recognising and rewarding their UK dealer network
The ‘BHXProudPerks’ programme bridges the deskless divide between Birmingham Airport’s frontline colleagues with unified, mobile engagement.
Frequently asked questions
Sector-specific challenges in engaging Rail workforces include bridging the deskless divide, scaling recognition and rewards equally to managers, customer-facing staff and behind-the-scenes contractors, innovating traditionally manual and time-consuming HR processes, and maximising pay and compensation packages in the face of reduced budgets.
Employee engagement is essential in the Rail industry, where most colleagues are on the move and dispersed from central HQ teams and peers. This deskless divide paired with restricted budgets and resource means strong engagement strategies are key to retaining teams, improving operational efficiency and building a united culture where every person feels valued.
Grab a coffee and take a look through our Platform Overview Brochure to dive into each customisable feature to use in your very own branded platform and mobile app.
Set to your rewards budget, managers distribute reward points to elevate recognition that one step further. All rewards are instantly delivered to employees’ in-platform digital wallets for them to redeem against 300+ retail, travel, hospitality and leisure brands. Plus, any unredeemed rewards are refunded back to you.
We understand every workforce is brilliantly unique. That’s why Rippl can be used for teams with as little as 500 employees, all the way up to 10,000+. Chat to us about pricing based on your workforce size.
Rippl’s mobile app supports employees with both corporate and non-corporate devices and email addresses. That’s why it’s perfect for frontline teams who don’t have access to company smartphones – they can simply set up their own login to receive engagement around the clock to their own device.
Yes! Our Communications & Engagement expert team are on-hand to support each of our customers launch and maintain the success of their programme through bespoke additional support. Chat to us to find out more information on our Launch and Ongoing Essentials packages.
Yes! We pride ourselves on providing a platform with global reach, so our customers can deliver a consistent experience to their people. Read our existing case studies here.
Using Rippl, our customers build tailored and bespoke benefits packages that reflect the unique needs of their workforce. You can host your existing perks within your in-platform benefits hub, or tailor additional benefits into your offer from our extensive catalogue.
RIPPL
Ready to talk about employee engagement?
Chat with us to explore how Rippl can revolutionise your people experience so every employee feels valued, inspired and rewarded.
Read more about employee engagement
14 Powerful Examples of Employee Recognition
4 minute read
Your people are more than their job descriptions. Explore 14 powerful ways to ensure your teams feel valued, seen and heard for their contributions.
8 Factors Affecting Employee Retention (And How To Address Them)
3 minute read
What are the factors affecting employee retention? Explore 8 key drivers and how to meaningfully address them.
Deskless Workers: Empowering the Overlooked Majority
3 minute read
They make up 80% of the global workforce. So why do deskless workers remain so overlooked and unheard?
Make Every Person Matter: Real Employee Recognition Stories
4 minute read
Explore these real employee recognition stories that champion meaningful workforce connection and deliver measurable business impact.