When it comes to software or technology in general, we’re used to change. We expect – and even demand – regular updates, fresh and exciting features, new releases. In order to remain relevant, it’s vital to stay ahead of the game: and our corporate intranet must do the same. Here are the top demands for your intranet: and the features that deliver on them.

2. 9 things your
corporate intranet
must do
Considering an intranet? Here's what you need to know.

3. When it comes to technology, we’re used to
change. We expect – and even demand –
regular updates, fresh and exciting features,
new releases.
9 things your corporate intranet must do

4. 9 things your corporate intranet must do
When it comes to technology, we’re used to
change. We expect – and even demand –
regular updates, fresh and exciting features,
new releases.
To remain relevant, it’s vital to stay ahead of
the game: and our corporate intranet must do
the same.

5. 9 things your corporate intranet must do
But. There’s a balancing act.

6. 9 things your corporate intranet must do
When it comes to software, we can add as many bells
and whistles as we like: but if the tool doesn’t perform
its core job, it’s doomed to fail.
Do those ‘nice to have’ or on-trend features actually
support the core goals and requirements of a
corporate intranet?
But. There’s a balancing act.

7. We’ll explore the 9
things a company
intranet must do in
order to provide value
to a business – and
the features and
functionality that
support those goals.

8. 01
Help get work
done NOW.

9. 01
Help get work
done NOW.

10. We’ve discovered there
are three top reasons why
a user visits their intranet.
The common theme?
They are all user-centric,
and functional.

11. When we look at this more closely, we
can see that at the most basic level an
intranet is there to help solve problems.
Typically these problems tend to fall into
one of four categories…

12. Communication Information Collaboration Business
processes

13. Communication
To receive top-down
communications
about their team,
organization, or
particular projects,
and to communicate
with others
Information
For example, seeking
out a HR policy,
company
documentation, or
perhaps policies and
procedures required
to fulfil their roles
Collaboration
For example,
finding a colleague
who can support on
a particular task, or
to team up with
others on a project
Business
processes
Such as booking
a leave of absence
or submitting
expenses

14. To serve its core purpose,
therefore, an intranet needs
a blend of tools that answer
each of these categories,
connecting users to the
people, information and tools
they need to solve problems
as efficiently as possible.

15. What intranet
features help users
to get work done?

16. People directory and
organizational chart
At the heart of every business is
its people.
Bringing together employees and
enabling them to find and connect with
one another is essential; a
comprehensive People Directory that
has the option to pull data from multiple
sources, and to add rich information
such as hobbies, interests, languages or
qualifications, provides the answer.

17. Workflow and forms
Simple-to-build digital forms.
This tool empowers organizations to
streamline critical business processes,
such as submitting expenses, with
automated workflows.
A user-focused design means even
non-technical people can create
simple, easy-to-build forms: keeping
that principle of efficiency, by
removing the need for IT or a
specialized intranet administrator.

18. Integration functionality
An intranet can’t do every job within a
business; nor should it try to.
There are a large range of specialized tools and
platforms available for different processes and
functions; a successful intranet must bring these
together in a centralized, streamlined way,
acting as a gateway to the digital workplace.
Integration functionality allows a corporate
intranet to become the ‘go to’ location for staff,
who can then access all their essential tools,
applications and platforms from one place,
using a single login.

19. Content management
An intranet is the center point for
business information.
The ability to upload, create and access
different types of content with an easy-to-use
CMS is crucial.
Interact combines a user-focused content
management system with tools such as
tagging, keywords, page findability scoring
and the ability to assign pages as a ‘Best Bet’
for particular search terms, ensuring the most
relevant content appears at the top of search
results. Review dates and version control keep
all intranet content current and up-to-date.

20. Enterprise search
Ensure staff find exactly what
they’re looking for
Putting the right content into the hands
of employees by providing a powerful
and comprehensive search across all
your intranet content and cloud storage
systems is key.
If your users can’t find what they’re
looking for, your intranet loses its
relevance.

21. Get the right content, to the right
people, in the right format.
02
Focus on
your users

22. Organizations are, by nature, diverse. While your
company is the collective, it is made up of individuals –
each with unique roles, requirements, skillsets and
objectives to achieve.

23. So, when it comes to your intranet strategy, it is critical to focus
on user needs, rather than business needs alone.
Identifying the key stakeholders for your intranet, and their
needs, is fundamental to its success.
Organizations are, by nature, diverse. While your
company is the collective, it is made up of individuals –
each with unique roles, requirements, skillsets and
objectives to achieve.

24. There are four common
types of community in an
organization.
Each requires different tools to
achieve their objective. An
intranet should cater for each
unique group and their needs.
Content on an intranet found also
find people, creating a tailored,
personalized digital employee
experience for your employees.

25. What intranet
features focus on
delivering a tailored
user experience?

26. Persona grouping
Segregate your audience and
tailor communications
Create dynamic, multi-criteria
groups of users to deliver truly
targeted communication – for
example, to send a training event
alert to all staff who manage 2
employees or more, but haven’t
completed Manager Training.

27. Tailored
homepages
Display relevant information, widgets
and content for specific groups to
ensure those users have a personalized
user experience from their intranet.
For example, have new starters log
into a purpose-built homepage for the
initial weeks of employment to ensure
they receive vital information relevant
to them, and deliver greater value
from the intranet.

28. Personalization
Personalization focuses on
the individual end-user.
Using algorithms and machine learning,
it sets out to understand real-time intent
and respond by pushing content
accordingly.
Interact can learn and analyze user
behaviors and interactions with the
intranet, using those insights to promote
relevant content through Suggestions,
search, and recommendations.

29. Serve a strategic purpose within
your organization.
03
Align with your
business objectives

30. If it doesn’t deliver value, it will soon slip off the
management priority list – and at best become redundant,
or at worst, removed from the business altogether.
Without strategic direction and alignment
to the wider objectives of your business,
your intranet won’t deliver value.

31. Ask yourself these simple questions. If you can’t answer them,
it’s likely your intranet won’t benefit your company:
What are your long-term, strategic
objectives as a business, and what role
could – or does – your intranet play in
achieving those?
Is your intranet aligned to the objectives
of each individual business unit?
How do you measure the success of
your intranet? Do you have benchmarks
in place to gauge ongoing performance?
Do you have the buy-in of senior
management for your intranet?
Do you regularly review your objectives?

32. Empower all staff to work: no matter where they are.
04
Cater for mobile,
frontline, and remote
workers

33. of the global workforce, which is
approximately 3 billion people, already
performs physical or deskless work.

34. People need to be able
to work on whatever
device they are on,
wherever they are.

35. Think about the needs
of your company.
What will people want to do on
their mobile? How can we support
them with working on-the-go?
Will they be able to access vital
information or applications
without restriction?

36. How can an
intranet support
the frontline?

37. Mobile App
Meet the demands of all
employees, regardless of location
or device.
Native mobile apps for iOS and
Android ensure critical tools,
contacts and information are
available without any compromise on
functionality or user experience.

38. From San Diego to South Sudan, we've heard terrific
feedback from colleagues about the capabilities we
gained in our intranet. It's rare to find a platform
that satisfies the requirements of every department,
but leaders across the organization agree Interact
has been a smart choice.
Rachael Stewart
“

39. Broadcasts
Reach staff when it matters most.
When staff are dispersed and
hard-to-reach, reaching them during
times of need or crisis is critical.
Interact’s Broadcasts feature
functions as an employee alert
system to distribute urgent, point-
in-time information across multiple
channels including SMS, push
notification, email and the intranet,
ensuring critical messages are seen.

40. Provide value to your employees: the consumer,
the customer of your intranet.
05
Deliver a great
user experience

41. This can cover everything from usability and
accessibility to performance, ergonomics and the
information architecture.
A well-designed intranet combines a visually
appealing interface with a deep understanding of
employee experience. It puts users first and
serves a defined purpose in the business.
One of the key defining factors of
well-designed software is the user
experience, or UX: how your users
feel when interacting with it.

42. Ultimately, an
intranet supports
employees to do
their jobs.

43. Failing to pay
attention to the user
experience when
selecting and building
your corporate
intranet can result in
poor adoption.

44. How can an intranet
deliver an outstanding
user experience?

45. Social features
Utilize tools and functionality your
employees are already confident with
Social media now dominates the
consumer software market. Tapping into
functionality your staff already use daily
in their personal lives can make for easier
adoption and a more intuitive experience.
This can include @mentioning,
#hashtags, newsfeeds, commenting,
liking, emojis, sharing and more.

46. Easy-to-use CMS
Contributing content to your
intranet shouldn’t require an
IT degree.
Your employees should be able to
‘pick up and play’ with your intranet,
and not need to go via IT every time
they want to add content.
An intuitive rich text editor that
enables them to build beautiful pages
quickly and easily is an idea solution.

47. A user-focused information
architecture (IA)
Ensure users can find what they need efficiently.
Taking time to understand the journeys your users
take to find what they’re looking for is crucial.
A well-designed information architecture utilizes
user research to determine what content should be
on your intranet, where it should live, how it will be
navigated to, how it will be tagged or marked up to
ensure it is found, and what governance needs to
be in place to prevent your intranet from becoming
a ‘document dumping ground’.

48. Communicate who you are and unite staff
behind your mission.
06
Help create and
embed your
organizational culture

49. Organizational culture, although an
almost intangible concept, is now
recognized as one of the most important
aspects of a successful business.

50. However, in a digital age where many of our staff are
dispersed across different locations and connected almost
exclusively by their devices, creating and communicating a
common culture is a huge challenge.
Organizational culture, although an
almost intangible concept, is now
recognized as one of the most important
aspects of a successful business.

51. of CEOs/CFOs believe culture is one of
the top five value drivers for a business;
91% believe improving corporate culture
will increase an organization’s value.

52. What role can a
corporate intranet play
in embedding your
organizational culture?

53. Brand and purpose
Who are you, and what do you
stand for?
Giving your intranet its own internal
brand provides a sense of identity
and instils pride and ownership
among staff.
Use it to promote and embed your
mission and values, to communicate
CSR efforts and give insight into the
different areas of your organization.

54. Onboarding
Create a lasting first impression
The first few weeks can be make or
break, and heavily influence a new
recruit’s perception of their company
and colleagues.
Facilitate training, streamline the
mandatory admin processes, connect
recruits to their peers and give insight
into the culture with tailored new
starter intranet homepages.

55. Rewards and
recognition
Celebrate success and make
staff feel valued
Create a positive culture by showing
appreciation for your staff through
your intranet. Peer-to-peer recognition
tools and blogs or news for top-down
recognition help shine a light on those
people making a difference, showing
how they’re contributing to the overall
success of the organization.

56. Share business
news and direction
Feel every individual feel part of
the collective
A successful culture is dependent on
each individual contributing to
shared goals and objectives.
Help connect staff to the bigger
picture with regular company
updates, publishing of performance,
and by communicating change.

57. Since the launch of our new intranet, there has
been a significant increase in the number of
employees who agree or strongly agree that they
receive adequate communication about changes
happening at Piedmont and the company’s
future plans and directions.
Kelli Newman
“

58. Provide a platform
for leaders
The biggest influencers on corporate
culture are those at the top
If your staff are dispersed, work
remotely, never visit HQ – how do you
give visibility of your leaders? Intranet
blogs, vlogs or news areas put your
leaders in the same digital space as your
staff; having them engage with staff –
by liking, commenting, replying –
embeds that connection even further. South East Water Customer Services Director, Steve George, uses
the power of the selfie in his weekly diary on the intranet to share
updates, give recognition, and connect with staff.

59. Hearing from the boss makes a difference
to how staff define purpose in their work
– one of the increasingly important
components of employee engagement.
Source: Gallup
“

60. Give staff a voice
Empower staff to contribute
and be heard
An intranet isn’t a one-way, top-down
tool. It’s a powerful platform for two-
way communication and ensures staff
can add their voice to the decision-
making of a business, no matter who
or where they are.
Use tools such as discussion forums,
pulse surveys, commenting and user-
generated content to get staff ideas,
feedback, and issues heard.

61. Break down siloes
Reduce isolation and connect
staff to one another
Staff often default to their own
departmental siloes, which can cause
a sense of disconnect from the
organization.
Utilize intranet communities to bring
staff together: by purpose, shared
interest, project, event and more,
outside of their departmental lines.

62. An intranet is ultimately for, and about, your employees.
Enable them to make it their own.
07
Allow staff to self-
serve: decentralize your
intranet

63. A platform that requires IT support to add any piece of
content or make simple changes will quickly fall into disuse.
Give your intranet TO your employees and empower them to
build their own areas to collaborate and post content.
Adoption is the number one
indication of success for any intranet.

64. of organizations are “somewhat satisfied” with
their intranet system. Fewer than 5 percent of
respondents reported being “very satisfied” with
their company’s intranet.
Source: IntraTeam

65. Today’s organizations
are also more agile
and interlinked than
ever before.

66. Today’s organizations are also
more agile and interlinked than
ever before.
This shift away from ‘hierarchal’ structures to more
collaborative networks where roles, interests and skills can
be moved to where they’re needed calls for a multitude of
different spaces that can be tailored to the needs of the
individuals who use them.

67. What features must
your intranet have
to enable staff to
self-serve?

68. Easy-to-build
communities
Enable staff to create their
own project spaces, with no
IT involvement.
Collaborative communities exist
outside department boundaries.
Enable staff to build and personalize
their own working spaces on your
intranet, with the tools and features
they need to achieve their goals.

69. Simplified workflow
and common processes
Reduce internal tickets and empower
staff to complete common tasks via
your intranet
Automate business-critical and repetitive
processes through your intranet, giving
power to employees while reducing the
burden on internal resource. Whether
submitting expenses or booking a leave of
absence, staff should be able to complete
daily tasks without help.

70. User-generated
content
Get staff contributing to and
owning your intranet
Tools including blogs, polls,
forums, social features: these all
empower staff to self-serve in
creating and sharing content that
will help them perform their jobs,
share their experiences, and
provide support to their peers.

71. Today’s digital landscape is a complex ecosystem
with an ever-growing choice of apps. Improve the
digital employee experience with your intranet.
08
Serve as the heart of
your digital workplace

72. We can now work from anywhere, at any time. We
can choose our own apps and tools to suit our needs.
We can connect with colleagues across the
boundaries of timezone or location.
Today, we can work without boundaries.

73. The explosion in our technical ecosystem is creating a
disjointed digital experience. What app do I use for what?
Where is information stored? Why am I duplicating
content across different platforms?
We need to relieve the technology fatigue facing our
employees.
However…

74. The average enterprise is clocking over
500 applications as part of its technology
stack and projections are putting the
value of the enterprise app market at an
eye-watering $287.7 billion by 2024.
“

75. How can an intranet
support a better employee
digital experience (DEX)?

76. The intranet
should serve as the
center of your
digital workplace.

77. Provide a gateway to
your digital workplace
Simplify the employee journey through
your digital workplace
With Single Sign-On, staff can use just one
set of credentials to access multiple
applications in your business.
Integration with your document management
tools or even simple ‘quicklinks’ to
frequently-used apps or content areas all
serve to bring together your people, tools
and information, from one place.

78. Nothing in your business stays still for long.
Neither should your intranet.
09
Keep evolving and
growing with your
business

79. In the fast-paced technological world we live and operate in
today, your intranet can’t afford to be complacent. It must
continue to grow with your business.
Technology is continuing to
develop and innovate at a rapid pace.
Your intranet should be no different.

80. Choose a
provider at the
front of their field
An intranet provider who can demonstrate
both stability and innovation in terms of
their product roadmap is crucial.
If they continually invest in improving,
developing and evolving their product,
you can be confident your intranet is
ahead of the curve.

81. Revisit your
objectives and
performance
Regularly evaluating how your intranet is
delivering against your original objectives and
against your overall goals will ensure it continues
to serve its purpose.
An intranet isn’t something we push the ‘go live’
button on and abandon. It should improve, adapt
and evolve, just like the rest of your organization.

82. There are a huge variety of tools and applications
available to facilitate communication and
collaboration.
The perfect intranet?

83. There are a huge variety of tools and applications
available to facilitate communication and
collaboration.
The intranet is a collective, a facilitator, a portal
that brings together all these different tools,
features and applications. In today’s marketplace,
it is more relevant and valuable than ever before.
The perfect intranet?

84. For questions or more information about Interact….
Thank you!