In the past, many businesses approached building and launching an intranet hesitantly because of an age-old warning that 90 percent of them fail.
In truth, however, that statistic has more to do with traditional intranet solutions that don’t have the capabilities to meet the needs of modern employees. In contrast, today’s advanced intranet solutions have contributed to an improved, more personalized user experience that encourages communication, collaboration, productivity, and engagement. Many companies that have put in the work to create a great intranet experience are reaping these benefits and more.
With that said, whether you’re considering building your company’s first intranet or trying to establish one again, the following seven intranet examples and three case studies will help you learn how intranets can enhance the workplace in various sectors and find the inspiration you need to make your intranet launch a success.
Example 1: Government/Public Sector
Working in the government sector is all about following bureaucratic regulations and procedures. Similarly, many policies in public sector workplaces are set in stone and must be followed to comply with laws and regulations.
Workers in both environments need to be able to access important forms, streamline administrative processes, and have reliable access to required training that will keep them in compliance.
Intranets, therefore, are incredibly beneficial under these circumstances. They allow employees to retrieve what they need without having to make a phone call for every minute administrative task, thus saving them a great deal of time and frustration away from their often inflexible schedules.
Example 2: Human Resources
Human resources (HR) professionals are often quite busy and often difficult to track down, making having to reach out to them whenever an issue arises time-consuming. Therefore, employees need to be able to access critical information and forms and complete processes like requesting time off or signing up for benefits on a self-service basis.
The modern-day intranet, thankfully, makes doing so easy and efficient. By placing policies and paperwork in one central location, HR professionals can save everyone time, especially if the company uses different applications for training, documentation, and timekeeping purposes. Having an HR intranet also makes employees feel empowered and in control, able to complete tasks independently and on their own schedule.
Example 3: IT Departments
Many IT departments are often focused on completing projects while using a suite of applications to manage the business’s tech resources, resulting in increased pressure and missed tasks.
Having an IT intranet helps these teams create a central source of truth through which they can manage each of their tasks and projects in an organized fashion. What’s more, they can also use it to stay up to speed with what’s going on at the company and weigh in on the tech implications of any new initiative.
Implementing a ticketing feature will allow IT team members to respond to employees who need help. Creating a learning management system allows all employees to learn to resolve minor issues so the IT team can focus on more pressing matters.
Example 4: Education
The education sector makes for one of the best use cases of how an intranet can transform an organization. Many school districts and institutions use intranets to ensure all employees are on the same page and working toward a united mission.
Given that, with an intranet, all communication comes through a single digital channel, teachers and staff enjoy the fact that administrators can share critical information without tedious meetings or paperwork.
Furthermore, with the addition of a learning management hub, staff can complete required school or district-level training at times that work for their schedules, thus putting them back in control over their time.
Example 5: Real Estate
The nature of real estate is such that large teams of agents are often spread out across a city, showing spaces to interested buyers, while a stationary team runs the office. With that in mind, and given that agents spend most of their day in the field, they don’t always have immediate access to the information they may need for showings or meetings. On top of that, it can also prove frustrating to juggle their calendar and clients’ schedules while maintaining adequate communication with their team.
Intranets have helped real-estate firms streamline these chaotic processes by giving agents a hub to access everything they need, including documents, marketing materials, and appointment calendars. As a bonus, whenever they close a sale, posting their win on a company-wide intranet boosts confidence and gives other agents a chance to celebrate with them.
Example 6: Financial Services
The financial services sector is all about one thing — compliance policies. Banks, investment firms, credit unions, and insurance companies are all subject to hefty legal regulations that carry serious penalties if not adhered to. Since these policies often change, it can be difficult for employees to keep up.
Implementing an intranet can ensure that all critical policy information stays in one place that employees won’t miss. If your company requires proof that each employee has received and reviewed their documents, an intranet can streamline that process by tracking acknowledgments, saving you time and providing peace of mind.
Example 7: Healthcare
Everything in the healthcare space is team-oriented. Doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and even front office staff must all work together to ensure that patient needs are taken care of. If everyone is on a different schedule or employing different methods of notetaking during patient appointments, it can be difficult for the team to collaborate on bringing each patient the best care.
A modern, secure intranet allows clinicians to share important patient health updates without jeopardizing data security compliance. Intranets also can act as scheduling tools, helping employees know who is available to help meet a patient’s needs and ensure they receive care on time.
Three Real Company Intranet Examples to Inspire Your Organization
While more general examples of intranets can help you imagine what your organization can do with an intranet, you may also find it inspiring to hear stories of what real companies have already accomplished by improving their internal communications.
San Diego Humane Society and SPCA
The San Diego Humane Society created an intranet named FEtCH to boost its efforts toward internal branding. The society’s Director of Community Engagement spearheaded the initiative, building the intranet with the following features:
- A company news section
- Access to benefits and workers’ compensation policies
- Career opportunity listings
- Shared calendars
- Spaces for employee recognition and a photo of the week contest
- “Happy Tails,” a place for updates on adopted animals
With the implementation of these elements, the organization met its goal of enhancing its internal branding, launching an intranet that aligned well with their culture, providing an essential resource for employees, streamlining administrative tasks, and helping them focus on what matters.
New Seasons Market in Portland, Oregon
Having grown their business to a dozen locations since its start in 2000, the team at New Seasons Market knew they needed a way to allow employees to communicate across multiple sites. Though their internal communications manager knew an intranet would be helpful, most of the staff didn’t even have email addresses.
Working to solve the issue, he set up intranet kiosks in employee-only spaces throughout each of the company’s 12 locations. With such convenient places through which to interact, intranet adoption went through the roof. Employees enjoyed features like a space to buy and sell their items, testimonials from satisfied customers, and company-wide announcements.
With one of the best multi-site intranet examples out there, the New Seasons Market team was able to streamline communication for those without access to a company email address and maintain employee engagement amid growth and expansion.
LOC Credit Union in Michigan
With multiple locations throughout Dearborn, Howell, Hartland, and Farmingdale, the team at LOC Credit Union wanted their company’s culture to reflect the highly engaged and personal nature of their business.
They decided, to infuse more fun into the day-to-day grind, to implement a host of new social features into their company’s intranet, including creative polls, an employee-exclusive buy/sell feature, room for staff recognition and birthday celebrations, a “Get to Know Your Team” feature, and a place for staff to share their interests.
With company-wide policies situated around appropriate use and a leadership team with full buy-in, LOC Credit Union was able to reach its goals of increasing employee engagement and making work more fun for everyone involved.
Transform Your Internal Communication with an Intranet
Arguably, the best thing about an intranet is how it serves to benefit any organization ranging across many sectors. When your people need to collaborate and communicate, an intranet can help them do so quickly and efficiently.
Fortunately, today’s cloud-based technology makes building your company’s intranet simple and intuitive. The key features included in hubley’s out-of-the-box solution increase productivity and employee engagement by allowing employees to access company-wide news, keep track of their schedules, message other team members, upload and manage documents, and interact with learning materials – all with the convenience of a mobile app that moves with employees wherever they go.
Contact the hubley team today to schedule a demo and see how our user-friendly interface and included SharePoint apps can help. Create an intranet experience your employees will love, and join the next wave of examples of intranet success with hubley today.
