Client Background and Context

Gleneagles Group operates four premium hospitality brands, each with its own identity, its own properties and its own HR system. The four brands run across three separate Sona instances and one Fourth environment.

That independence is part of what makes the group work. But when it came to connecting thousands of frontline employees to Blink, the group's communications platform, that fragmentation was a problem.

Most of the workforce is frontline. Staff work across multiple locations, often without corporate email or regular access to a desk. Getting them onto Blink meant pulling employee data from four different systems, creating a verified identity for each person, and getting them into the platform quickly.

Before Connect, none of that was automated. Joiners, movers and leavers each required manual work across multiple systems. There was no shared view of who was employed across the group, and no consistent way to manage access when things changed.

The Challenge

Running four independent brands is a strength. But connecting a shared workforce to shared tools, without a common identity and access layer, meant more manual work, more gaps and more risk.

• Four HR systems with no shared identity layer: Most of the workforce had no Microsoft accounts and no route into digital platforms. They were employed, trained and on shift. But communications didn't reach them. Learning platforms were inaccessible. All of this was causing a growing gap between desk-based and frontline employees.
  
• A largely frontline workforce without corporate email: Standard platform onboarding assumes employees have an email address. For frontline workers, that's often not the case. Most didn't have corporate accounts, which meant they couldn't receive activation emails. Without a different approach, they'd be locked out from the start.
• No automated process for joiners, movers or leavers: Every time someone joined, changed brand, moved between properties or left, access had to be updated manually. That meant delays for new starters, inconsistencies when roles changed, and a risk that leavers kept access longer than they should.
• A platform launch that needed fast activation: The Blink rollout needed to work from the get-go. A slow or incomplete activation would have undermined the platform before it had a chance to gain traction. The group needed to get the majority of employees on quickly, and keep new joiners coming in automatically after launch.

The Solution

Instead of consolidating HR systems or forcing brands into shared infrastructure, Gleneagles deployed Connect as a layer that sits above everything already in place.

One identity layer across four brands and four HR systems

Connect integrates individually with all four HR systems, pulling employee data from each. Every employee across the group now has a single, verified identity, regardless of which brand they work for, which property they're based at, or whether they have a corporate email address. Each brand retained operational independence and no existing infrastructure was replaced.

Fast, secure access for frontline workers

Frontline employees without corporate email can sign in using a secure single sign-on that doesn't require an email to set up or manage. Desk-based employees with Microsoft 365 accounts sign in through standard SSO. Both groups access Blink through the same identity layer, with activation rate across the group reaching 90% in under two weeks.

Automated provisioning and audience mapping

When someone joins a brand and is added to the relevant HR system, Connect provisions their access to Blink. When someone moves between brands or changes role, their access and audience mapping updates accordingly. When someone leaves, their access is removed.

Audience mapping means employees only see content, channels and communities relevant to their brand, location and role. It runs automatically from the HR data, without anyone maintaining it manually.

Built to grow

Phase one focused on getting Blink live across the group. Future phases will bring in additional platforms as the group's needs develop. Adding a new brand, HR system or tool means connecting it to the existing layer, not starting from scratch.

The Results

With Connect live across all four brands, Gleneagles Group has a consistent, automated identity model with no brand giving up its independence.


For IT Teams

• Four HR systems (three Sona instances, one Fourth) connected through a single identity layer
• Automated provisioning for joiners, movers and leavers across all brands
• Secure access for frontline employees without corporate email
• A new process that can easily integrate new brands, HR systems or platforms without a rebuild

For HR Teams

• 90% activation in under two weeks across a largely frontline workforce
• Audience mapping running automatically from HR data, so employees see content relevant to their brand, location and role
• Onboarding and offboarding running without manual steps
• A consistent, group-wide view of the workforce for the first time

For the Business

• ~2,500 employees across four premium brands connected to Blink
• Operational independence preserved: each brand manages its own workforce, with group-level visibility above it
• A phased approach that lets the group add platforms and tools without disruption

By deploying Connect across four brands and four HR systems, Gleneagles achieved fast, reliable activation for a largely frontline workforce and built a foundation that will scale as it grows.