EMPLOYEE INTRANET
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS ONE
Do you want to improve efficiency, productivity and performance in your business?
Of course you do!
Every company wants to streamline processes, improve communications and maximize profits, but what’s the best and most cost-effective way to set about it?
There are plenty of tools available online that promise to deliver much; however, when budgets and time are tight, it’s essential to make the right decision.
An employee intranet could well be the solution you are looking for.
In a single platform, employee intranet software offers a whole host of business benefits, all for just a modest investment. In the following slides we provide 40 compelling reasons why your business should have an employee intranet!
WHAT IS AN INTRANET?
PURPOSE OF AN INTRANET
Think of an intranet as being the home screen for your employees. Each day staff members log on and use the intranet to accomplish tasks and access information and data needed to get the job done.
In simple terms, an employee intranet is a closed, internal communications network.
Just as your website is the outside face of your organization and brand, so the intranet is the internal version. It includes a range of modules and tools that employees can utilize in support of their work.
It could be something simple like booking a meeting room, completing an expenses claim form or checking out the latest company news bulletin. Maybe it’s something more involved like working on a cross-departmental initiative to improve the customer experience.
A dedicated project space on the intranet enables team members to collaborate, share insights and work jointly on G Suite or Office 365 documents embedded directly in the intranet. Quite simply, the purpose of an intranet is to support the smooth and efficient operation of your business.
TYPES OF EMPLOYEE INTRANET
It is possible to create an employee intranet using software downloaded from the web such as WordPress, which is then hosted on a company server. However, it requires a considerable investment of time and resources in developing, testing and piloting the intranet software. Furthermore, often the software has not been created for that specific purpose. Extra add-ons and plug-ins to achieve the required functionality can make for a convoluted and challenging exercise even for a dedicated IT department.
Cloud employee intranets, on the other hand, are a far more straightforward option.
Cloud intranet providers utilize fully customizable pre-built intranet templates. The templates have already been extensively tested in the field which means your site can be up and running in just a few days. Easy to set up, no great technical expertise is needed to create your own unique employee intranet. What’s more, cloud intranets offer good value for money. Usually, services are provided at a fixed monthly price and may also cover unlimited users and unlimited data. Cost certainty, as well as a very reasonable price, provide an unbeatable combination.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that most companies deploying intranet software opt for the simple choice of cloud employee intranets over the do-it-yourself option.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
1. Improve Internal Communications
The employee intranet is the perfect vehicle for sharing timely and consistent corporate messages. Whether it’s staff news, product launches, company announcements or internal memos, the employee intranet’s news feed or what’s new button is the quickest way to get the message out there.
2. Promote Genuine Dialogue With Employees
You can also use the employee intranet to develop an ongoing dialogue with staff or to promote internal conversations across teams and departments. Through blogs and team or company forums, the intranet allows employees to easily share new ideas and insights, offer feedback and suggestions to management.
3. Increase Employee Engagement
There’s plenty of research that suggests engaged employees tend to be happier, are more productive and have a longer tenure with an employer. An intranet is an excellent tool for increasing employee engagement. The improved internal communications provided by the intranet, alongside opportunities to have two-way conversations with management, are an important first step in developing employee engagement in your business.
4. Make The CEO And Senior Leadership More Accessible
An intranet-based CEO blog or vlog is a great way to reach out directly to staff. Getting up close and personal will make the senior leadership team come across as being more open and accessible. However, for maximum effect rather than being just a corporate mouthpiece, it needs to be authentic and heartfelt.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
5. Canvass Staff Views With Surveys and Quizzes
You can utilize theintranet’seasy-to-use, in-built surveys and quizzes tool to canvass staff views on a rangeofissues. Perhaps you would like staff to give theiropinionson the revamped company logo. You caneven survey staff on the preferred location for a team social outing. Whatever the case may be, quizzes and surveys are aversatile andhighly effective way to engage with employees.
7. Enhance Organizational Knowledge Management
Most companies havevast amounts ofdata stored electronically, often in multiple locations.An employee intranet provides one central location for allcompany-criticalinformation, which can be accessedatany time byany member of staff. This preventsoverlap and duplication ofeffortand allowsemployees to obtain the files they need. Also,thetaskofmanaging, organizing andupdatingcorporate knowledge issimpler and more effective.
6. Measure EmployeeEngagement With An Annual Survey
Many companieshavedevelopedannual staff engagement surveys as a way of assessing and measuring over time howtheyaredoingonthe employee engagementfront. You canalsousethedata to compare andbenchmark your performance with others in the industry.
8. Facilitate Knowledge Transfer
An intranet is a useful tool in ensuring the effective transfer of knowledge within yourcompany. Different people learnin different ways and the beautyofan intranet is that it offers multiple media to satisfy those varied needs, likee.g.podcasts, howto videos,wikis, webinars, quizzesand checklists, standardoperatingproceduresorfaqs.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
9. Make File And Document Sharing Easier
The employee intranet is the central repository for all company-wide information. The easy to understand site navigation means it is a simple process for staff to locate and share all the information they need. The intranet’s straightforward site setup will make it easier for staff to source and share information for themselves.
10. Harness The Power Of Google In Your Intranet
Lots of businesses already make extensive use of G Suite – Google’s set of collaborative and cloud-based content sharing apps. Embedding the G Suite apps directly in your intranet means that you can provide background and context. Live calendars, forms, documents and spreadsheets within your intranet pages mean that users can view, edit and collaborate online and in real-time.
11. Share And Collaborate More Effectively With Office 365
If MS Office 365 is your preferred office system and collaboration tool, you can do the same with embedded Word and Excel documents. Combining powerful tools like these in the one cloud-based platform will lead to enhanced productivity and increased savings with any time, anywhere access.
12. Do Away With Paper And Email Processes
There’s no denying it – paper and email-based business processes are a cumbersome way of getting things done. It’s just not an efficient way of operating and it’s also prone to errors. Instead automate businesses processes via the intranet for faster, more efficient and accurate operations.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
13. Disseminate Information Quickly And Easily
When it comes to disseminating information quicklyand easily, the employee intranet’scontentmanagement system is the most efficient platform. Information is accessible in thecloud 24/7 from any location via an internetconnection. Thisself-service approach is notonly empowering for employees, it’s also a great time-saver which means that staff can focusonmoreproductive tasks other than sourcing information.
15. Break DownInformation Silos
Information silos exist in most organizations to some extent.An unwillingness oran inability to sharedata, or a reluctance to handovercontrol canimpede the flow ofinformationbetween teams ordepartments.An employee intranet helps to break down thosebarriers. Staff members can directly source information for themselves. Dynamicnavigation and sophisticated search functionality will make information silosa thingofthepast.
14. FindInformation With AdvancedSearch Functionality
The ability to find information quickly isa greatadvantage to efficient and effective business operations. Theintranet’s advanced search function will support this. Users can easily locate information and data by searching usingkeywords within the contentand title.
16. ProvideMoreOpportunitiesForCollaboration
Providing more opportunities for collaboration will stimulate creativity andinnovation throughoutthe whole company. The intranetcan help you achieve this byproviding dedicatedproject workspaceswhereemployeescan come together. The platform can also bring staff together and enablethem to make connections via a socialintranet.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
17. Support Flexible Working
The open-all-hours nature of the intranet means that employees can log on anytime and anywhere. This gives employees the opportunity to work more flexibly than ever before. Moreover, those staff that spend time out on the road meeting with clients or in a servicing role can provide a much more responsive service to customers. The mobile-optimized employee intranet means that all the company information is available at their fingertips.
18. Connect With And Retain Oversight Of Remote Workers
If your business utilizes remote workers or freelancers in the gig economy, then the employee intranet means you can connect with and retain oversight of these workers. Research tells us that 4.3 million employees in the US now work from home at least half of the time. This is a trend that’s only going to increase as among the non-self-employed, the number regularly working at home has grown by 140 percent since 2005. Therefore, it’s vital that companies have systems in place to meet the operational challenges.
19. Instill A Sense Of The Company Brand And Culture
As an organization-wide tool, the employee intranet is often used to instill in new hires or freelancers a sense of the company culture, its values and how they connect with the vision of the organization.
20. Develop Online Approval Forms
Every business needs to complete a variety of approval forms. Speed up the system and eliminate the potential for errors by automating these processes with online approval forms. Select from the employee intranet’s integrated forms builder or utilize an embedded Google Form and create your own customized forms. In addition, the employee intranet can automatically route the completed form through to the relevant staff member.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
21. Utilize User ProfilesIn An Online Staff Directory
We’ve all hadthat first day at a new jobexperiencewhere we’ve been introduced to a dozencolleaguesand within five minutes have forgotten theirnames.
An easily updated online staff directory on the employee intranet does awaywith that embarrassingproblem. The new hire will be able to refreshtheir memoryby clicking on the faces or names within the onlinedirectory.
23. SupportOngoing Training And Development
22. Facilitate Collaboration With Staff Biographies
Some businesses have taken things a step furtherand have included moredetailed employee profilesandbiographies within the staff directory.As well as outlining the worker’s primary job focus, areas of expertise andcurrentprojects, you could include additional social intranetfeatures like individual activitywalls or follow-me functionality. These featureshelp to connect employees and encouragecollaborationandjointworking.
It’s likely that employees will fromtime to time be required to undergotraining to updatetheir knowledge and skills. Using an employee intranet, it’s easy to create simplee-learningpagesfor employees. It is a proven, cost-effective andflexible way to deploywork-related training. The e-learningcould take many formsincluding webinars, quizzes, how-to videos, podcasts orblogs. Employee intranet-based e-learning delivers consistent content to all learners, minimizes disruption to normal business activities andallows staffto train attheir own pace.
24. Keep A Log of Employees’ Professional Development
Furthermore, e-learning systems provide an electronic record of training and achievement foreach employee. This is often an essential recordfor compliance and auditing purposes and it is a very visible demonstration to employees of theirvalue tothe company.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
25. Build Connections And Relationships Between Colleagues
Discussion forums and collaborative workspaces on the employee intranet are the perfect tools for encouraging colleagues to make connections with others in the organization. Sharing best practice and insights as well as engaging in comments and feedback help to build social relationships in the workplace. After all, building relationships with colleagues is an important part of our working lives.
26. Safeguard Important Company Data
Safeguarding the security of commercially sensitive or confidential company information has to be a priority. The truth is that the threat of cybercrime is constantly evolving and keeping on top of it is a full-time occupation. With a cloud employee intranet, the provider retains responsibility for security and ensures your data is protected.
27. Keep Staff Updated On Company Events And Important Deadlines
The company calendar tool is an effective way to keep everyone updated on corporate events and deadlines. Your employees need never miss anything again as the calendar feature is updated in real-time.
28. Celebrate Company Successes
Use the intranet’s news feed to celebrate important company successes.
It’s hugely motivating for staff to see that their contribution is making a difference and that the business is succeeding.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
29. Recognize And Reward Employees
It’s importantthat you also recognize the achievements of staff. The intranet is theperfect forumfor a company-wide employee recognition scheme. Acknowledging the contribution through the news feed or a dedicated intranet pagesends a clear signal to staff aboutjusthow importanttheir efforts are. Plus the public validation is very motivating for employees and will enhance employee engagementacrosstheboard.
31.Simplify EmployeeOnboarding
Effective onboarding shouldbe a key priority foreverybusiness. It’s importantthat newemployees are quickly assimilated and areupand runningassoonaspossible. The employee intranet allows for a consistent, streamlined process. What’s more, the new staff member canaccess the dedicated onboarding section at a time and placethatsuits them and can complete tasks attheir own pace. In addition,managers are able to track progress via theintranetforcomplianceandreportingpurposes.
30.Promote Employee Wellness
Every responsible employershould make it’s a priority to look after the health and wellbeingof the workforce. The intranetcan help to promote the message with a health and wellness portal. As well asbeing a repository for informationon workrelated health issues, the portal can also promote company wellbeing initiatives.
32. EncourageMindfulness At Work
We’ve heard much lately abouthow practicing mindfulness can improve the focusand creative energyof staff members. Mindfulness is all about being in themomentand not allowingyourself to getdistracted. Use theintranet to encourage stafftopractice mindfulnessexercises.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
33. Provide More Effective Offboarding
Likewise, the employee intranet provides the opportunity to more effectively manage offboarding. Departing employees and the reasons why they are leaving provide a wealth of data on the health of any business. From setting upexit interviews, handing over and transferring knowledge to managing the termination process, the employee intranet makes for a more efficient process.
34. Improve The Employee Experience
Companies are focusing their attention on creating a positive, holistic employee experience as a way of attracting and retaining the best people. Developing employee engagement, promoting employee wellness and supporting employees’ professional development are all important elements of this. So too is intranet software that provides staff with access to all the tools, information and resources they need.
35. Enhance The Customer Experience
It naturally follows that employees who are empowered and equipped with the tools and resources they need will also be providing enhanced customer service. You could, however, take it a step further by developing a customer portal via the intranet for improved access and responsiveness for customers.
36. Increase Engagement With Partners
And if your business relies on partners selling or reselling product, then a partner portal via the intranet offers the potential for better engagement. Your partners will be able to engage with you and exchange information 24/7. The benefits in terms of greater control, oversight and accountability are obvious and are not to be underestimated.
40 REASONS WHY EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS AN INTRANET
37. Improve Quality AssuranceProcesses
Assuring the qualityofyourproduct or serviceisa fundamental task for any organization. An employee intranetthough, can make ita much easierand more streamlinedone. The flexible natureof the intranetmeansthat you can accomplish all quality assurance tasks ina singleplatform.
39. Standardize ProjectManagementProcesses
Every business involves some form ofprojectmanagement, but the chances are thatdifferent teams will havedifferentproject management processes in place. It’s possible though to set up a streamlined project managementprocess on the intranet.As staff members arealreadyusing the intraneton adaily basis, it’s anobvious and readilyimplemented solution where file and updatescanbekept ina singleplace.
38. EnsureCompliance With CorporateResponsibilities
Similarly, anemployeeintranetcan support compliance andreportingprocedures within yourbusiness. Whether it’s internal complianceprocesses, safety and healthrequirementsor achieving ISO accreditation, the intranet will tick alltheboxes.
40. Facilitate More Efficient And Effective Working
The bottom line is that with all these great benefitson offer, your business will be more efficient and effective. Andthat translates into increased productivity and profits.
Are you interested in finding out more?
The team at MyHub is happy to discuss your organization’s needs. Our super easy to set up and manage cloud intranet templates are guaranteed to deliver the whole host of business benefits.
Contact MyHub for more information or a free demonstration of how a cloud intranet can help.
Why not even sign up for a 14-day no-obligation trial and discover the many advantages that an intranet has to offer.
