An enterprise intranet has a wealth of features that help employees feel connected and valued. It also supports a variety of functions that increase productivity and reduce risk.
Before deciding on an enterprise intranet, consider the vendor’s reputation and track record. Ask how their fees are structured and if they include technical support.
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is a key factor for a thriving digital workplace. Creating an intranet with interesting material is the best way to engage employees in their work. The content provided on the intranet should be updated regularly. If employees see the same information over and over again, they will lose interest in logging in to the intranet. It’s important to use an editorial calendar with fresh and exciting content that will keep employees engaged on the platform. This includes company news, fun ideas or contests.
The employee portal should also include social features that allow employees to connect on a personal level with one another. Providing social tools such as team bonding activities, virtual hang outs or online scavenger hunts can help people get to know each other better. Similarly, providing an Employee Directory that includes headshots and bio summaries can encourage employees to use the platform more often to stay up to date on co-workers’ updates. Many companies also offer monetary compensation to employees who promote the company on social media. This could be in the form of gift cards, a mention on the company’s social feed or even a small celebration for their accomplishments.
It’s important to be present in your social community and participate by leading discussions, posting relevant content, or checking in with your employees. This will show that you care and will encourage others to do the same.
Collaboration
When employees can share knowledge and collaborate in a single tool that’s easy to use on mobile, it boosts productivity. It also improves communication and helps everyone keep up with the latest information. An intranet can be a single point that houses the different information channels and processes of an organization, including team calendars, chat systems, newsrooms and more.
While an intranet has long been a solid response to the need to create a central hub that houses these channels, it’s not always ideally suited for modern working habits. Traditional portal-style intranets operate on a top-down model and aren’t suited to the reality of hybrid and remote work where people need fast, in-context answers that don’t require asking around.
The best intranets provide a mix of static and dynamic communication channels. They allow for the creation of pages that host static communication such as policies, team calendars or other relevant information, and they integrate with other tools such as project management systems and chat systems to foster collaboration. They also offer features that enable employees to find information easily such as search engines and directory tools.
When choosing an intranet software, look for a platform that has a simple, employee-friendly interface and a quick ramp-up time. It’s no secret that people don’t have much spare time at the office and often struggle to adopt new technology.
Automation
Many businesses invest in business process management systems that can automate approval processes but they can be over-engineered for the average staff member to use. The intranet is a much more accessible way to bring automation into the office and can be more flexible in terms of the workflows it supports. For example, if a manager needs to approve something but they are out of the office, their intranet system can be configured to automatically send the request to a supervisor who can authorize the task. This means there is no backlog when the manager returns to work and productivity is not impacted by delays.
The intranet can also support automated document management and a full range of collaborative tools for teams. For instance, many intranet software solutions offer fully customizable wikis and online forms to facilitate information sharing across the company. These can be a great tool for team projects or for broadcasting important announcements that apply to all employees. Some solutions also offer division and/or team-specific subsections for more focused sharing of information.
Other collaborative features that can be supported by intranet software include activity walls, blogs, forums, private and group IM and project spaces. These can all contribute to faster responses and more efficient working. Streamlining communication in this way also helps to boost employee engagement.
Security
With so much data being exchanged on the intranet, it is vital to maintain high security standards. The first step is to ensure the platform is secure from direct hacking. This can be achieved by following configuration best practices to limit the number of “holes” hackers can exploit, by encrypting data during transit and by implementing IPS and IDS systems to detect any malicious activity before it’s too late.
The second step is to educate employees on the potential threats they may face when using the intranet, such as impersonation of company leaders or requests for confidential client information. It is also important to set up granular content management controls to limit access to specific files and applications.
Another way to increase security is by requiring users to log into the intranet with a VPN to manage their connection. This will not only improve employee productivity but will also keep the intranet’s private data protected.
Some intranet solutions, such as Happeo, include data encryption capabilities, meaning that even if a file was intercepted it would be impossible to read without the proper key. This is a crucial layer of protection and something every business should consider. In addition to this, it is important to enforce a strong logging system. For example, some companies require that employees log out after a period of inactivity and others even delete an employee’s access if they have not logged out for long periods of time.