Client Background and Context

The Ascott is one of the world's largest serviced residence and hotel operators, with a portfolio spanning more than 190 cities globally. Its UK and French operations employ around 800 people, the majority in frontline, shift-based roles, moving between properties, rarely at a desk.

Getting important information to those employees had always been difficult. Shift workers on nights missed updates sent during the day. Day workers missed things that went out in the evening. Different teams used different channels: some relied on WhatsApp, some on email, some on nothing formal at all. There was no single place where everyone could be reached.

There was also a compliance risk sitting in the background. A significant portion of the workforce had been accessing The Ascott's workplace tools and platforms through personal email addresses. That arrangement worked day to day, but it raised questions about data ownership, GDPR compliance, and what happened to access when someone left.

When Meta announced that Workplace would be sunset, The Ascott needed to move to a new platform. That decision made the access problem impossible to ignore. The goal was to give every employee a secure way into Workvivo without relying on email addresses.

The Challenge

There were essentially two core issues that needed solving. First, the gap between The Ascott's comms platforms and its people. Second, the compliance risk associated with insecure access to workplace platforms. Solving both at the same time required more than choosing a new app.

• Frontline employees were being left out of the conversation: With staff working across different shifts and time zones, there was no reliable way to reach everyone. Messages sent through email only landed with those who checked their inbox. For frontline workers, that was rarely when communications went out.
  
• Every team was doing it differently: Without a single channel, teams found their own workarounds. Some managers used WhatsApp groups, others sent emails, some relied on notice boards. Information moved unevenly and no one had confidence that key messages had landed.
• Personal email created a compliance problem: Using personal email addresses to verify employee identity raises questions about consent, data handling and what happens when someone leaves. For a business operating across multiple European jurisdictions, that was a risk that needed to be addressed properly.
• The new platform needed everyone on it from day one: Workvivo requires an email address to create a user account. For desk-based employees with corporate accounts, that was straightforward. For frontline workers without one, it was a barrier. Without a way around it, a significant portion of the workforce would not be able to get in.

The Solution

With Connect, The Ascott gave every employee a secure way into Workvivo that works whether they have a corporate email or not.

A secure identity for every employee, no email required

Connect sits between The Ascott's people data and Workvivo, creating a verified identity for each employee. Desk-based employees with Microsoft 365 accounts sign in through standard SSO. Frontline workers without corporate email activate their account by scanning an Ascott-branded QR code, verifying their identity with a few simple details, and setting a password. It takes less than two minutes and works on any device. Connect handles both groups through the same identity layer.

One source of truth for people data

Employee data had been spread across multiple systems and regions, with no single consistent record. Connect brought it together through structured data uploads, giving the business an accurate view of its workforce across the UK and France for the first time.

A platform migration with access built in

The move from Workplace to Workvivo was managed by Cocentric, the parent company of Connect. When Workvivo went live, the identity layer was already in place. The entire migration was completed in less than two months.

The Results

With Connect live, The Ascott has a secure access model that works for every employee across its UK and French operations, not just those with a corporate inbox.


For IT and Compliance

• Personal email addresses no longer used as identity verification, GDPR risk reduced
• Employee access tied to verified identities, making offboarding cleaner and more auditable
• People data centralised and consistent across the UK and France
• Central visibility across access, usage and compliance for group IT

For HR and Comms

• Reliable source of truth for employee data across UK and France locations
• Communications reach the full workforce consistently, regardless of shift or location
• Frontline workers able to self-serve activate their account, on any device, at any time

For the Business

• ~800 employees connected to a single communications platform, including those without corporate accounts
• Lower onboarding costs with self-serve activation
• Platform migration completed in under two months, with access built into the process from the start
• One communications channel replacing a fragmented mix of email, WhatsApp and local workarounds

By removing the email dependency and building access into the Workvivo migration from the start, every employee now has a secure, simple way into the platform, from their first shift to their last.