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A well-organised modern intranet will provide the tools to connect employees to company news and develop stronger relationships. It will help your people work productively to reach their full potential. We look at the benefits of various intranet functions for business areas such as Human Resources, Operations and IT.

What are the benefits of an intranet?

Applying an effective internal communication strategy is an ongoing challenge for remote and geographically dispersed organisations. Many employees report being isolated and disengaged, with 74% feeling like they miss out on important company news and updates.

With an intranet, you can store all your policies and documents in a centralised location where employees can easily access them. This way of information sharing is more efficient than searching through old emails, making it easy to refer back to files at a convenient time. 

Gallup found that highly engaged work teams are 21% more profitable. Maximise employee engagement by curating an intranet experience that meets each user’s unique needs and interests. Communication should be targeted and personal. 

Find a balance of providing enough information to keep employees connected to the business while also ensuring they receive resources tailored to their role and location. You can further optimise your intranet by creating sub-sites for individual departments, dependent on your specific organisational needs. 

An intranet is an asset for every department within your business – enhancing workflows in areas such as Marketing, Human Resources and Finance as well as supporting leaders to deliver effective internal communications. In this article, we will explore how an intranet makes it easier for end users to complete their work.

Company News

  • Executive Team:  Share important company updates such as upcoming social events, charity fundraisers, new clients, customer feedback, product launches and more. Connect all employees with the milestones and successes of the business and increase employee morale by being transparent about performance metrics.
  • IT:  Keep everyone informed about system outages, communicate planned maintenance, track helpdesk requests, send reminders about license renewals and more. 
  • Operations:  Access relevant internal, industry and competitor updates to ensure operations align with overall strategic priorities and the current business environment.

Quick Links

  • Human Resources:  Identify the most frequently viewed policies and ensure they are visible, such as diversity and inclusion policies, absence procedures and holiday request forms.
  • Marketing:  Establish a designated location to store brand guidelines, templates and best practices. This ensures people across all roles, departments and offices are working consistently with the same materials.   
  • Finance:  Easily access expense forms, invoices, and links to payroll and pension platforms. Enhance decision-making by highlighting where to find up-to-date budgets and forecasts.
  • Operations:  Streamline business activities by linking to stock management forms, inventory trackers and suppliers. Also, provide tools for effective project management such as shared calendars and task lists.

Document Management

  • Executive Team:  Leaders can shape the company culture by updating mission and value statements and promoting initiatives such as improving environmental sustainability.
  • Human Resources:  Upload key organisational policies i.e., an employee handbook so people can independently find answers.
  • Organisation-wide: Increase engagement by fostering a culture of collective knowledge sharing and coordination. Workers can efficiently find the right information contained in department sub-sites. 

Discussion Forums

  • Executive Team: Leaders can start informal conversations to share ideas and answer questions, moving away from a top-down communication structure and encouraging participation at all levels. This is also a great opportunity to collect regular real-time feedback with pulse surveys.
  • Organisation-wide: Open up communication between separate areas of the business to create fulfilling team bonds and inspire cross-departmental collaboration and innovation. 

External Sharing

  • Human Resources: Only 12% of employees are satisfied with their company’s onboarding which is linked to low employee retention and satisfaction. Use your intranet to welcome new starts and control what information they have access to in preparation for their new role.
  • Marketing: Securely share materials for marketing campaigns with external clients or freelancers. 

Learning and Development Hub 

  • Human Resources: Dedicate a section of your intranet to hosting high-quality training courses to position it in the flow of work, making learning a strategic priority. Also simplify how you update learning records and record certifications and licenses. 
  • Executive Team: Managers can support their team’s career growth by assigning specific training courses to help them accomplish their goals. 
  • Organisation-wide: Training should be a core part of everyone’s regular workload. Investing in continuous skills development is vital for employee engagement and low turnover rates. 

An intranet is a powerful and versatile tool that transforms how your business operates. It facilitates multidirectional communication, increases productivity and amplifies employee voice. By implementing an intranet, you can break down silos between teams and departments, encouraging your employees to work together to achieve better business outcomes. 

Start learning about the intranet development process here or schedule a consultation with one of our Microsoft experts for more detailed information. You can also keep up to date with our latest insights on LinkedIn or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.