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Boost your employee engagement with an effective company intranet. Learn here how to build the intranet your organization needs.
In the ever-evolving world of modern business, companies need to seek more efficient ways to manage internal communication, data sharing, and collaboration.
That’s where a company intranet solution comes in!
An intranet is a private network that enables employees to access information unique to their organization. An effective company intranet portal plays a crucial role in boosting employee engagement. It provides a platform for employee recognition and appreciation, fostering a positive corporate culture. Additionally, the intranet facilitates social interactions and encourages teamwork, allowing employees to connect and collaborate easily.
In this article, we will delve into the world of company intranets - what they are, how they work, and why they are so important for businesses today. We will also explore the components of a successful company intranet, potential pitfalls to avoid when creating one, and the impact it can have on employee engagement and productivity.
A company intranet is a private network exclusively accessible to employees. It is a centralized internal communication, collaboration, and information-sharing platform. Features like news feeds and document management enhance efficiency, employee engagement, and company-wide communication.
A well-designed company intranet includes critical components that enhance organizational communication and collaboration. It should provide a centralized hub for company news, updates, and announcements, allowing employees to stay informed about important information.
Socialization features aren’t left out! Social features encourage employee interactions and engagement, fostering a sense of community with genuine connections.
In the past, intranets used to be static data archives only accessible within a company's network. Today, they have developed into dynamic centers for collaboration that provide real-time communication, accessibility from anywhere, and integration with cutting-edge tools and systems.
Intranets facilitate remote work, improve productivity, and create digital workplaces. Modern intranets offer advanced features like team collaboration and mobile apps, making them indispensable tools for organizations.
Companies use intranets for various purposes, including enhancing employee communication and engagement, serving as a centralized knowledge base, facilitating project management and collaboration, streamlining business processes, and enabling company-wide announcements and updates.
These cutting-edge intranets improve worker engagement, permit remote work, and offer personalized experiences, revolutionizing businesses and encouraging practical cooperation throughout the organization.
A user-friendly intranet enhances employee onboarding and knowledge management. Incorporating company intranet features into day-to-day activities benefits the organization by breaking down communication barriers and providing easy access to information.
There are various creative intranet names to inspire your naming, and some of those examples include:
When picking an intranet name, several factors will increase the chances of its functionality and efficiency. Here are tips to help inspire your creativity in naming your company intranet:
When building a company intranet, you should include various components to enhance organizational communication and collaboration. A great way to begin is to encourage employees to develop ideas to incorporate into the core functions of your intranet based on their needs.
The components of a company intranet should have the essential features that enhance its functionality and benefits. These include:
Several steps are involved in creating a company intranet to meet the organization’s unique needs. While these steps may vary based on the organization’s needs, some processes are a given.
Here's a step-by-step guide to creating a company intranet that employees will enjoy using:
Start with answering questions like, what problems are you trying to solve? What are the company’s values and priorities? Is improving communication and enhancing collaboration a must-have or a need-to-have?
Identify the specific features and functionalities your intranet should have that would answer the questions in step 1. This may include document sharing, news feeds, project management tools, social features, etc. You can also get input from employees to ensure you address the actual needs, not perceived ones.
Decide whether to build the intranet from scratch or use an existing platform or intranet software. Popular intranet platforms include Assembly, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and various content management systems (CMS) like WordPress.
Create an intuitive and user-friendly navigation structure. Organize content logically and make it easy for employees to find what they need. Consider using categories, tabs, and search functionality. You can also curate the design to represent the look and feel of the company through brand logos, fonts, and colors.
Implement role-based access control for both confidentiality and accessibility. Permissions ensure that employees only have access to the information and features relevant to their roles. This is crucial for maintaining security and privacy.
Start adding relevant content to the intranet. Content comprises the information and features you’d like to access in your intranet. It includes company policies, documents, announcements, employee profiles, and other information relevant to your organization. Some common features include tools for collaboration, communication, and project management.
Testing, getting, and implementing feedback before launching the intranet is important. Once you're confident in your intranet's functionality and usability, it’s launch time!
Building a company intranet is an ongoing process that requires monitoring and continuous updating. So, success ultimately depends on your ability to adapt to changing requirements and user feedback.
Intranet development mistakes are more common than we think. However, they’re all part of the learning process when developing a company intranet solution. But knowledge is power, and learning what mistakes to avoid is the best way to learn from the mistakes without making them!
Don’t neglect employee input and feedback in the design and development process. You miss out on the dynamic and wholesome perspectives needed to build an intranet that meets their needs and preferences by neglecting employee input.
Another mistake is overloading the intranet with unnecessary features and information, making navigation overwhelming and challenging for employees to find important information.
Failing to align the intranet with the company's goals and objectives can lead to a disconnect between the intranet and the overall strategy.
Not providing adequate training and ongoing support for users can lead to low adoption rates and a lack of understanding of the intranet's capabilities.
Not considering future growth and scalability can result in an intranet that becomes easily inefficient and costly to maintain as the organization expands.
Focusing solely on functionality and neglecting the user experience can result in a clunky interface that frustrates employees and limits its usage. Easy navigation, mobile accessibility, and user-friendly terms are some features to consider.
Skipping thorough testing or doing inadequate tests can lead to technical issues, bugs, and performance problems that may become challenging after launch.
Avoiding these common mistakes in intranet development requires planning, involving staff, scheduling regular maintenance, and a commitment to meeting your organization's and its employees' evolving needs.
Building a company intranet that your employees will enjoy using can move from an aspiration to a strategy that can be actualized. You're not just building a digital workspace but creating a community of engaged employees.
A well-crafted company intranet isn't just a tool; it reflects your organization's commitment to its employees, clients, and growth. You can turn your intranet into a tool your employees love by focusing on simplicity, user-friendliness, functionality, practicality, and scalability.
With the right intranet, you'll see increased engagement, more efficient workflows, and a team that’s excited to collaborate and innovate.
Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.
Explore GuideYes, at Assembly, security is a top priority. Each quarter, we have ongoing security work that is everyone’s responsibility. While we maintain a strong security posture, it was important for us to prove to our customers that we do everything we claim to do. This led us to pursue a SOC 2 Type II report that would provide evidence of our compliance with industry gold-standard security practice.
There is study after study showing that employee recognition leads to increased engagement. This in return creates an environment where employees are happier and more motivated which increase productivity and reduces voluntary turnover significantly. In order to filled critical roles, companies tend to spend nearly twice the value of an annual salary. Assembly is an investment in your employees that supports your bottom line.
Yes, we will offer contracts for companies with longer-term agreements to help larger customers have more certainty around future costs.
The minimum agreement term is a 12-month subscription.
We do and for FREE! Any new customer needing further support to get started with Assembly to ensure you're set up for success can request custom onboarding support. Improving your employee experience is about much more than just using our amazing software; it’s about transforming your business to create a workplace that people love. That’s much easier to do with the personal support and advice from our passionate people experts.
At the time of redemption (when your employees exchange their points for a paid reward) you'll pay face value. If a reward is a $10 Amazon gift card, your cost will be $10. All paid rewards are billed for on a monthly basis.
The good news is that you don't have to pay for rewards upfront because we only charge you when points are redeemed, not when they're earned.
We offer discounts or educational or charitable organizations. In order to secure a discount, you'll first need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.
For all other organizations, we are willing to consider longer-term agreements in exchange for discounts. To set up annual plans or longer, you will need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.
If you're on a month to month plan, you can go here and cancel anytime. If you're having concerns or need help setting up your account for success, you can always book a demo with a customer support specialist.
If you're on a longer-term custom plan, you'll need to reach out to your customer support specialist to cancel your account or email us at support@joinassembly.com.
Great question! You can customize your core values to match your organization's to boost and track alignment. You can change your currency from the 🏆 emoji (our default) to any emoji of your choice. You can swap our logo for your own. You can also set up company culture rewards such as, "Lunch with the CEO," "Buy a book on us," and so much more!
While we recommend a peer to peer set up where anyone in your organization can give or receive recognition, you can set up Assembly however you want. If you need to limit the people who can give or receive recognition, that's perfectly fine and can be done from your Admin, here.
Assembly connects to the tools your employees use every day to offer an easy, seamless experience with minimal change management.
Assembly has integrations with HCM/HRIS systems like ADP, Google, Office 365, and Slack. We also integrate with communication tools like Slack and Teams so you and your employees can access Assembly wherever they work now.
That depends on the company's permissions set up. That said, over 90% of the employees on Assembly's platform are recognized on a monthly basis. That means nearly every employee across all of our customers are receiving regular recognition from their peers, managers, or leadership. We're extremely proud of this.
They are not required. You can use Assembly without having rewards set up. However, we don't recommend it if you intend to have a high adoption and usage rate. You can always keep the costs down by offering internal culture rewards that are fulfilled by you internally.
No, you can remove allowances from anyone or everyone. It's up to you but we do recommend using points whether they're worth a real dollar value or not. Companies that use points have a much higher engagement rate even if those points don't exchange for real dollars.
Please schedule time with an expert and we will help you to get all your questions answered