Intranets have been around since the mid-nineties in one form or another and are still very much part of the workplace technology landscape. Most organisations have an intranet of some kind and choose to invest significantly in them.
Occasionally we hear observers declare that “Intranets are dead”, which is not exactly true; dig a bit deeper and what they are saying is that “intranets have now fully evolved” and it’s just the traditional, content-heavy (and largely unsuccessful) intranets that are in fact “dead”
The idea of an intranet, is, in the minds of many one which brings a vision of a static location, with links to applications and perhaps your HR policies and the staff handbook and some other key documents you might need at some point to do your job.
While the above functions certainly have their place and are in many ways, an essential component, the concept of what an intranet encompasses needs to change and, in fact, we are strong advocates of ditching the term intranet in favour of Employee Experience
What is an employee experience solution?
The world of work has changed significantly in the last 3 years, with the drive to hybrid working being the norm for many since the COVID-19 pandemic, add to this the expectations of a younger and more mobile workforce who have differing expectations to those of an older generation of older employees.
An employee experience solution, at its core, is a portal that connects employees to their ecosystem of enterprise tools, apps, and content. It doesn’t replace a true modern intranet. Instead, it exists alongside it, providing users easy access to everything they need in a personalised interface.
While traditional intranets are typically static, employee experience platforms are dynamic and flexible. They allow employees to focus on what is important at the right time in their working day. Because they are mobile-first and personalised by users, employees can tap into the information they need in real-time, anytime, and anywhere
%
The percentage of employees who see no purpose in their current outdated company intranet**
An employee experience solution gives organisations better control over how employees perceive, experience and interact with work technology and touchpoints in the employee journey, with no need to replace or change their current set up
Employee experience refers to the overall experience of people who work for a company, covering all touchpoints including multiple elements such as:
- Pay and benefits
- Opportunities to work flexibly
- The sense of community and connection employees feel
- Quality of the physical workplace
- The onboarding experience.
- The digital workplace employees use every day
This may seem a wide definition, but it encourages employers to think holistically and in more joined-up ways about the overall employee experience, and to regard this as a strategic factor that can positively impact everything from employee attraction and retention through to productivity and customer service
%
The increase in employee satisfaction when a company introduces an employee experience led social intranet**
Here are a few things an employee experience needs to deliver
It needs to be engaging.
Remote workers can often feel disengaged from their employer, feeling little or no connection with your brand, your culture or indeed, to their colleagues.
An experience which matches your company colours, branding and tone can help with delivering this connection.
It needs to be accessible from anywhere.
Being tied to a single, desktop machine in the office is far from the norm these days, with many users needing access to your systems and services from multiple machines, and from multiple locations (including mobile).
Enabling this flexibility brings many benefits, giving hybrid workers seamless access from wherever they are, and it is this very flexibility, which is essential to keeping employees engaged, and for retaining the younger generation of employees who have grown up with technology.
It needs to be integrated.
Bringing your systems, processes and data into a single platform will allow you to streamline your end user experience and deliver consistency, adding to accessibility, flexibility, and employee engagement.
%
The increase in employee retention in organisations that implemented an employee experience led intranet**
Sounds great, but how do I get there?
The good news is that you may have already invested in the tools which can help to deliver this experience.
The Microsoft 365 platform delivers
- SharePoint for document storage, news, events and content.
- Teams for collaboration, messaging, and meetings.
- Planner for task and project management
- Power Platform for process automation and integration
- Viva connections mobile for mobile access
Your employee journey should feature engaging touchpoints, not browser tabs!
Engage your entire workforce with personalised, practical experiences that ignite passion and fulfil purpose.
Connecting all the dots and building this seamless experience is where we can help you, providing you are you users with an integrated, consistent and secure platform that you can access from anywhere.
Just get in touch and let’s get you started
**Source – Deloitte