In today’s fast-moving world, having the right technology is essential to developing a thriving business. Although many may assume that company intranets are an outdated solution, the truth is far from the case. Not only are today’s intranets built upon modern technologies, but they also come with many benefits for business owners, employees, and even customers.
With that being said, read on to learn more about what intranets do and how to use one to take your company to the next level.
What is an Intranet?
Though we all know of the internet, being asked to define an intranet may leave you scratching your head. The internet delivers information and connects people worldwide, and an intranet does the same thing, but just for one business. It acts as a private network where those who work at the same company can exchange information and collaborate.
In the past, intranets were typically used for file exchanges and company-wide announcements, but today’s companies use them for everything from application integration to project management and even socializing. There are other differences between the internet and intranet, but the core one is access to the wider web.
Intranet Benefits for Companies in 2023
What are the benefits of intranets? In short, they can improve communication and collaboration in today’s hybrid work culture, boost productivity, streamline processes, and add to a business’s bottom line.
More specifically, here are some reasons an intranet is a good investment for business owners:
Improving Performance Through Collaboration
Statistically speaking, collaboration boosts business revenue. In particular, studies show that companies with a collaborative culture accomplish the following:
- Improve product quality by over 30%
- Regularly achieve 27% higher sales
- Increase total production by 36%
- See a 40% rise in customer satisfaction
- Experience a 30% increase in innovation
Sales and customer success teams often experience a few specific benefits of intranets. For example, customer success managers can use their intranet’s knowledge base and the information in their intranet communication channels to keep themselves up-to-date on new product features. They can then relay that information to subscribed customers to keep them engaged with the company’s product over time.
Outperforming the Competition
To be successful in its mission, a sales team often conducts extensive research on its company’s competitors, but it may not be appropriate to share such sensitive information via the Internet.
On the other hand, a company intranet eliminates data silos by providing a centralized location for production, marketing, operations, and executive leadership teams to quickly collaborate with sales managers and easily add this information to their knowledge base. These teams can then use the collected information to improve their processes and help your business stand out in competitive markets.
Creating a Culture of Engagement Through Better Communication
More companies are beginning to offer remote work as an option for their employees as owners start to realize the cost savings and employee satisfaction benefits.
Transitioning to a hybrid or remote work environment can take time for those who are used to coming into the office each day, but thankfully, one of the most significant intranet benefits is that it can solve most of the communication-related issues that arise when teams work from home.
For one, intranets engage employees by providing a centralized space for onboarding, training, and recognition. Managers and executive teams can increase employee satisfaction by conducting surveys on a platform they’re already familiar with. An intranet also makes for a great place to express ideas and receive real-time feedback instead of having employees with one another by way of email threads.
Additionally, intranets promote company-wide productivity and communication — given that employees can easily find their colleagues when they need to meet or discuss a project — as well as act as self-service platforms, allowing employees to retrieve information themselves from a central location rather than waiting for colleagues to have the time to send it in an email.
When your teams are connected and sharing knowledge across the company, it reduces the time spent on menial tasks and allows everyone to focus on projects that matter to your long-term strategic goals.
Allow IT and HR Teams to Exercise Proactive Leadership
IT teams can reap the benefits of intranets by supplying troubleshooting procedures for the applications their fellow employees use, ensuring they don’t waste time responding to tickets for issues employees can quickly resolve on their own. In line with the same goal, using an intranet can even reduce the number of applications employees rely on to communicate, store information, and transfer documents, thus cutting down on potential IT issues even further.
An intranet also allows your IT team to train and remind other employees about regulatory compliance measures and network safety, ensuring they protect sensitive information and avoid phishing scams that can lead to data breaches.
For human resources teams, intranet benefits include the ability to create a self-service platform for documentation, payroll forms, employee feedback, and performance reviews. They can also use an intranet to connect frontline and offline employees working in areas like production and logistics to other parts of the company with digital signage. In the same way, intranets also provide a way for HR teams and executives to communicate quickly during a crisis and help employees figure out what to do next.
Better Internal Communication Leads to Business Growth
An engaged, productive, and collaborative company culture doesn’t just build itself. Business owners must use the latest tools available to create a culture that moves the company in the right direction and supports long-term goals. Fortunately, such a scenario is where hubley truly shines.
Built on Microsoft Office 365 and SharePoint, hubley shortens the internal information discovery process by providing a custom-built, feature-rich, user-friendly intranet platform that helps your team stay connected and get things done, all with a scalable pricing model that grows with your organization.
If you’re asking yourself what are the benefits of intranet, contact us today to book a demo and learn how hubley can help your team stay engaged, collaborate better, and keep moving forward.
