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by Justus on May 17, 2023 1:00:46 PM
Organizations that invested little in an intranet or did not have one are discovering that it is now really time to bring internal communication up to standard. As an organization you can no longer do without it if you want to increase both your communication and involvement. In this blog you can read why intranet is important for an organization and why you need an advanced social intranet if you want to increase the connectivity, involvement and efficiency of your employees.
A central place for important information
If many of your employees work from home, they communicate much less with each other, according to research by the Dutch agency Motivaction. And we are of course not just talking about the daily chat at the coffee machine. Especially when it comes to a large company, it is important to have a central place where you can share essential information for all employees.
Intranet as a driver of connectivity
If you think of the intranet only as a place where internal news sometimes appears, it probably won't be the URL you set as your home page when you start your workday. And that is exactly what you want to happen with the intranet: it must become a place where employees go every day to still get a sense of involvement in this day and age. An additional advantage is that employees are more often satisfied if they feel involved!
By reading stories from other colleagues; whether it be success stories that show a creative solution, or a personal story that brings out the human side of being a colleague. News from the management can of course also be added to this to keep employees informed about how things are really going with the company. This as a replacement for the internal newsletter, which often involves a lot of work, but which is not read by everyone.
Avoid misunderstandings and negative conclusions
Certainly when there are challenges in the company - for example if you also want to reach non-desk employees - it must be clearly communicated. When everyone works from home, it is difficult for individual employees to gauge the general mood in the company and whether things are going well. There are no more 'corridors' left, and the focus is often on the work itself. Yet employees often feel it when something is wrong, even when it is not communicated. And then there is the chance that it will take on a life of its own, creating a negative mood (“We are not told anything”, “We are not asked anything”) and wrong conclusions are drawn. Communicating via intranet is a very suitable way to prevent this situation.
Bring (new) life to your intranet
Whether you want to set up a completely new intranet or improve the current intranet, it is important to devote time and attention to this. By applying best practices and collaborating with experts, you can find the right configuration for your business and get started quickly.
In these times of working from home, it is more important than ever to invest in a well-functioning intranet. In other words, a next-level intranet. It provides a central place where information is shared, promotes involvement and connection between employees and helps prevent misunderstandings. By collaborating with experts and applying best practices, you can let your intranet flourish (again) and take internal communication within your company to the next level.
The importance of a clear goal for intranet
Many organizations have an intranet or digital workplace, but find it difficult to use it successfully. An unsuccessful intranet can often be linked to the organization having no idea why there is or should be an intranet. Recognizable, or is it completely different in your organization?
An international problem
Research shows a similar picture and emphasizes the importance of jointly setting a goal and executing a strategy for your intranet:
Swedish research on intranets shows that only 36 percent of organizations have an intranet goal. The rest have a purpose, but not widely shared or no purpose at all.
In Finland, only 23 percent of respondents think that the intranet is targeted and developed purposefully.
Intranets also run into problems outside Scandinavia due to inadequate objectives. Gartner research shows that 80 percent (!) of social collaboration initiatives fail because no goal is defined. Despite the growing market for social intranet.
A study by MIT Sloan and Deloitte on the use of internal social networks shows that the lack of an overarching strategy is cited as the reason why social collaboration projects fail to move forward.
Without a goal, there is no successful intranet.
Goal vs Strategy
It may be helpful to clarify what is meant by "goal" and how it differs from a strategy. Because where some organizations say they have a 'strategy', they actually mean a 'goal' and vice versa.
A 'goal' refers to a shared long-term goal for the intranet. A 'strategy' refers to concrete steps that can be taken in the short and long term to achieve the intranet goal. In other words, the goal answers the 'why' question, the strategy the 'what' question. And tactics and operations are about 'how'.
What is a social intranet?
A social intranet is an interactive platform for internal communication and collaboration within organizations. Here employees can share information, keep abreast of company news, and involve each other in their daily work. A social intranet is suitable for both large and small organizations and helps employees stay connected regardless of their location.
Social intranet for your organization
A social intranet is beneficial. Traditional intranets are developed per organization, which takes time and money. With a social intranet you use the service via a subscription or license. Plek Social Intranet is a good example of this.
An advanced social intranet
Do you want to increase connectivity, involvement and efficiency? And at the same time improve the experience and communication of your employees? Then you need more than an ordinary platform: you need an advanced social intranet. A social intranet that focuses not only on internal communication, but on the entire employee experience. A social intranet that helps you quickly and effectively deploy new hires, measure and increase staff engagement, and foster a culture of compliance and safety. An all-in-one social intranet that can also bridge the gap between office workers and out-of-office workers.
Would you like to discover the benefits of intranet yourself? Watch the product tour for free and discover the secrets of social intranet here:
