During this prolonged time of remote work, it’s important to hone in on the benefits of employee engagement and how intranets are at the heart of various employee engagement technologies. A more engaged workforce means higher company morale, increased productivity and deeper connection of distributed employees. There are clear benefits to employee engagement on a human level but there are also business advantages.
Engaged employees are in more lockstep with goals, strategy, and strategic priorities. Employees want to feel a strong sense of community, be proud to work for the company and what it stands for, and to feel like their work is valued.
Intranets contribute to higher rates of employee engagement and drive immeasurable productivity and innovation goals with higher ROI and sustainable company success.
Here are some key ways an intranet can boost employee engagement at your workplace:
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #1: Create an employee engagement strategy
In order to boost employee engagement on the intranet, you need everyone to be comfortable using the company intranet. Strong communication from the beginning will set you up for success so creating a plan will allow all parties from leadership to employees to be on the same page. Sharing the benefits of the intranet and keeping employees engaged helps align the whole organization and sets expectations across the board. Set up goals, expectations and reevaluate on a periodic basis to see what is working and where you have room for improvement.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #2: Make the Intranet user-friendly and easy to use
Choose an intranet that is as user-friendly as possible so that deploying or onboarding employees is not a frustrating process. By subsiding confusion and making the platform easy to use, you’re maximising on the positive benefits and it encourages employees to engage and utilize the platform with its friendly interface.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #3: Clarify goals and intent from the beginning
In a Simpplr Research survey, we found that over half of intranet programs (57%) don’t have clearly defined goals. Organizations need to get buy-in on what they’re trying to achieve and broadly communicate that charter to its users. This clarity gives your intranet program legitimacy and focus on what types of content belongs and aligns with your intranet goals. Its charter alone encourages usage and engagement. In addition, your internal communications programs are less likely to be scrutinized with clear, agreed-upon objectives.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #4: Keep your Intranet updated
Intranets need fresh content! Sometimes in the day-to-day, we lose sight of keeping the internal communication platform updated so create an editorial calendar that has engaging content for employees to utilize. If employees log in and see the same content everyday, they will eventually lose the incentive to log-in and check the intranet. Plan out content with company news, fun ideas or contests to ensure that employees are engaging on the platform as a part of their daily habit.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #5: Engage leadership
When Simpplr Research reviewed Glassdoor ratings from companies across the Wilshire 5000, it was striking to see how highly correlated employee reviews of both “Company Culture” and “Senior Management” were. In short, as goes the management so goes the culture. It is imperative that your leaders take accountability to inspire and engage employees. This is done with transparency and continuous communications. If you’re looking for tips on how to help your leaders become better communicators, see our blog post here.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #6: Encourage social activities on intranet
As most organizations have moved to remote work, employees are missing the social connections that were built over lunch, coffee breaks and work happy hours. Use this opportunity to engage employees on the intranet by having team bonding activities, virtual hang outs and even online scavenger hunts. Add elements of recognition by sharing employee rewards, work anniversaries and birthday celebrations.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #7: Provide Relevant, Valuable Content
Ensuring that you’re sharing content and resources that have a purpose and benefit for employees is a valuable way to keep engagement levels high. Useful content like relevant industry articles and tips to office location news to remote work policies these days help employees feel like they’re up-to-date on not only organizational news but also specific to their roles. Intranets are designed to cut through the noise, they should be viewed as the employees’ definitive source of truth. Curated results improve your employees’ productivity by surfacing only the most relevant search results and allows employees to stay focused and engaged.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #8: Create a virtual water cooler environment
Create a space on your intranet where employees are able to discuss non-work related topics with their fellow co-workers, like a virtual water cooler. Having space for affinity groups, memes or team bonding activities helps employees foster personal connections and socialize in a manner that adds value to their job. Allowing an opportunity to get a laugh or smile connects employees in a personal manner while also feeling like they’re connected to an organization that values personal and social connections.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #9: Encourage content creation
When you have employees from across the company contributing to the intranet, the community grows. Encourage employees to post relevant articles, a fun travel post or a work oriented blog on the platform which helps them connect with co-workers across regions and departments. By creating an environment where employees are empowered to contribute, they feel motivated and valued. Use this to boost employee morale and engagement.
Boost Intranet Engagement Tip #10: Ask for and listen to feedback
It’s not enough to survey employees. It’s not even enough to survey employees and say “we hear you.” Rather, systematically tackle the most pressing employee experience challenges. Use surveys and data – they are your friend. Operationalize the process of corrective action based on employee engagement surveys. Spend time in your company meetings showing what progress has been done. Keep it authentic by surveying employees on whether the actions are working. And most importantly, keep the process going continuously. There are always areas to improve. The worst thing you can do is forgo employee feedback at the expense of other business.
Looking to go a little deeper on improving employee engagement?
Download our eBook Strategies to Improve Employee Engagement where we show how to incorporate the key drivers of engagement into your strategy and how to measure the results of your efforts and continuously improve.
