Why HR, comms and L&D must join forces to fix the employee experience

The employee experience rarely breaks because of one, single bad moment. 

It erodes in the background, in the gaps between systems that have steadily broken apart. 

A new starter logs onto one platform for learning, another for communications, and a third to find basic policies -- and before long, nohing feels joined up or built around them.

At Thrive, we believe the next era of employee experience will be defined by connection. That belief has shaped our growth, including last year’s acquisition of Huler and Guider. Together, we’re building a digital front door that brings learning, communication, and everyday work into a single, connected employee experience. 

‍

The employee experience is fragmented by design 

Organisations obviously don’t set out to create a disjointed experience. It happens gradually, tool by tool, team by team.

HR needed a system of record; L&D invested in an LMS; comms launched an intranet. 

And each of these decisions made sense – in isolation. 

But cumulatively, over time, they led to the ownership shifting to the employees, as they themselves became the integrators. People were just expected to intrinsically know where to go, and which of their disparate platforms mattered most that day or that week.

As a result, important messages began to compete with learning content, which meant engagement suffered. 

This fragmentation creates real damage over time:

• Learning begins to feel optional.
• Communication feels noisy and distracting.
• HR initiatives struggle to land.

None of this reflects a lack of care or capability. Instead, it simply serves to highlight the fact that a lot of teams are working hard within boundaries that no longer serve the wider business.

‍

Why alignment matters now

Employee experience sits at the intersection of how people are informed and developed by HR, comms, and L&D:

• HR shapes policies and culture.
• Internal communications give clarity and direction.
• L&D enables growth and development.

When these functions are all trying to pull employees in different directions, people are left second-guessing where their focus should be. But in joining forces and moving together, leaders make work feel easier to navigate (and more purposeful) from day one. 

Alignment between HR, L&D, and comms does not mean losing ownership. It means working from a shared understanding of what employees need in the flow of work, and designing experiences that feel intentional rather than accidental.

This is especially important in distributed and fast-moving organisations. Just as we highlighted in our last blog, employees no longer tolerate hunting for information or switching endlessly between tools. They expect the same coherence at work that they experience in the rest of their digital lives. 

‍

The digital front door as the foundation

A digital front door gives employees one clear place to start their workday. It’s not just another platform to add to the list; it’s the entry point to everything they need to get their day started and do their job well, from learning and updates to resources and support.

When done well, the digital front door removes decision fatigue. Employees don't have to spend time trying to decide where to go -- the organisation makes that decision for them.

Learning sits alongside communication. Culture is reinforced through content and context. Information arrives when it’s relevant, not when it’s convenient.

This is where a connected employee experience becomes real. Connection comes from orchestration across systems, guided by a shared strategy.

‍

Creating experiences that stick 

We touched on the idea of ‘experiences over platforms’ in last week’s blog, and it applies here.

Too many organisations still think in terms of platforms, while employees think in terms of experiences. Ultimately, nobody really cares which system delivered the content; they care whether it helped them do their job or develop their skills. 

This is why HR, comms and L&D must design together. A leadership update should link naturally to learning that supports the strategy. A change in policy should be accompanied by clear explanation and practical guidance. Development opportunities should be visible at the moment they matter, not buried in a separate destination.

When these elements are connected, the organisation speaks with one, singular voice. That voice feels clearer and more credible.

‍

What our new positioning reflects

Our acquisition of Huler and Guider was driven by a clear belief. The future of employee experience is connected and human-first. Huler brings strength in communication and the digital workplace. Guider brings depth in skills, mentoring, and development. Thrive brings learning at scale, rooted in business impact.

Together, we're creating a single ecosystem that supports the whole employee journey. From onboarding to growth, from updates to capability, everything flows through one digital front door. 

For HR teams, this means policies and people data are brought to life through context and communication. For comms teams, it means messages land where employees already are, supported by learning and action. For L&D teams, it means development is woven into everyday work rather than pulled out into separate moments.

‍

Moving from collaboration to co-ownership

True connection requires more than regular meetings between teams. It requires shared goals and shared measures of success. When HR, comms and L&D are jointly responsible for the employee experience, decisions become altogether more thoughtful:

• Content is planned together. 
• Campaigns are designed with learning in mind. 
• Technology choices are made based on employee journeys. 

And this shift from collaboration to co-ownership is where real progress – and real efficiency – happens.

‍

The opportunity ahead

Many organisations know their employee experience needs attention, but few have addressed the root cause: Siloed ownership leads to siloed experiences.

By bringing HR, comms and L&D together around a shared vision, organisations can move beyond incremental fixes. They can build experiences that feel coherent, human and genuinely supportive of performance.

That is the future we are building towards at Thrive. A connected employee experience, delivered through a single digital front door, where learning, communication and growth reinforce each other every day.

Learn how Thrive can become your organisation’s digital front door. Book a demo today. 

‍