7 key features of a Fortune 500 enterprise intranet

Leading enterprises need best-in-class employee experiences

Fortune 500, S&P 500, FTSE 100; all of the enterprises that make up these prestigious groups are operating at the pinnacle of business and commerce. At this level, organizations need to ensure that any potential employee experience solution is adept to connect their global workforces and addresses the unique challenges that enterprises of this scale face. Core challenges enterprise clients typically seek an employee experience platform to solve include:

• Uniting globally dispersed workforces
• Creating a central hub for highly complex organizational structures
• Delivering critical communications on a global scale
• Strategically aligning a global workforce alongside more local brand alignment
• Providing a platform for people and enterprises to address the increasing demand for social responsibility and accountability
• Consolidating technology and uniting systems from across the entire digital workplace into one

With the right solution behind it, improving the digital employee experience within the Fortune 500 can provide a vital step up on their competition. Gallup recently found that Fortune 500 organizations can realize 18% productivity gains, 12% in upside revenue, and 18% in cost savings by providing digital experiences primed for a hybrid future of work. In this same study of over 1.4 million employees, it was revealed that improving employee engagement drove increases of 10% in customer ratings, 22% in profitability, and 21% in productivity.

Keeping up with the Fortune 500

The pace of technological change is rapidly increasing, particularly among Fortune 500 companies. This comes as no surprise, as these enterprises enjoy their elite standing thanks in part to their agile nature, cultures of innovation, and willingness to adopt and adapt technology to gain a competitive advantage.

But getting to the top and staying at the top are two very different things, and maintaining that status relies on the quality of digital employee experience you can provide your people, particularly when considering the hybrid future of work. 

In Fortune’s survey of Fortune 500 CEOs, a startling callout saw 75% of CEOs agree that they must accelerate the technological transformation of their businesses to remain competitive in the post-pandemic future of work. For this large portion of the Fortune 500, the digital employee experience and platforms that power better work have become the focus of future investment, so finding the right solution is critical.

7 key features of an enterprise-scale intranet

When you’re dealing with some of the largest workforces in the world, the technology you use needs to be up the task. This means that for Fortune 500 enterprises weighing up the various intranet software solutions and digital workplace platforms available, there are a few key areas you must get right:

#1. Integrations

The larger and more complex an organization gets, the more complex its digital ecosystem becomes. Technology is the engine of innovation, but as more apps are added to an enterprise’s toolbox, the impact on employee productivity can be counteractive. How do Fortune 500 enterprises navigate the need for myriad best-in-class tools without adding digital complexity?

With more systems to manage, pay for, and navigate, the largest enterprises require a central platform that can sit at the heart of the digital workplace, providing a front door to all the business systems relied on, and streamlining the digital landscape for employees and IT managers alike. As a result, integrations are the most asked-for feature by the Fortune 500.

The productivity gains that can be achieved with an intranet at the heart of the integrations strategy are exemplified by Shell, who achieved a $42m p/a saving in faster access to tools and information after implementing a fully integrated intranet.

#2. Scalability

The largest and most successful enterprises are those best able to adapt to change quickly. Fortune 500 enterprises recognize that continuous growth is a necessity and requires continuous investment to support. As a result, these enterprises require a platform with endless flexibility and scalability.

All the impressive features in the world can’t help an intranet that doesn’t scale up to reach the breadth and width of your workforce. With turnkey platforms now well-established in the digital workplace market – many of which are specifically designed to scale up to fit the needs of any enterprise – we have years of experience with some of the largest and most complex workforces in the world to learn from and build upon.

#3. Frontline mobile solutions

With 80% of the global workforce working away from a desk, either on the frontlines or remotely, the need for consumer-grade mobile experiences has never been greater. The largest enterprises have the most critical communication needs. They also understand the critical importance of opening communication channels with frontline employees as a route to enhancing customer experience.

As a result, F500 enterprises are prioritizing the need for intranet solutions that reach the frontline, negating both licensing complications and the need for desktop-first experiences. These enterprises also recognize that mobility is expected to define the future of work, therefore finding a mobile-ready solution to connect and engage employees now will be imperative to future success.

#4. Personalized experiences

In a new chapter of work defined by decentralization and innovation, the need for timely, tailored experiences is crucial. Fortune 500 companies have been quick to recognize the power of personalization to enhance engagement and are turning to the digital workplace to capitalize on it.

This has seen a significant increase in the demand for personalization and targeting features from workplace technology that can help support relevancy and engagement in disparate workforces where mass messaging simply doesn’t work.

#5. Intelligent search

Fortune 500 enterprises acknowledge that faster access to accurate information has the potential to increase productivity exponentially. At the same time, the mass shift to hybrid work has also led to a shift in the way employees want to access information. As a result, search has become one of the most critical features of any Fortune 500 intranet.

Delivering a google-like search experience on the intranet is giving the enterprises the opportunity to upgrade the digital experience, making workplace systems as easy to use as the technology available in our personal lives.

#6. AI and automation

More than perhaps any other aspect of the employee experience, artificial intelligence represents the unbridled potential of the future of work. Automation can save enterprises time like no other feature, whether that’s with multilingual translation, sophisticated user targeting, or even intelligent chatbots that help connect your users to what they need, when they need it.

The Fortune 500 are leading the charge toward a world where artificial intelligence and the employee experience are intrinsically linked, incorporating AI into the digital workplace to bring the future of work into the present and drive the employee experience forward. When the pace of change in business and technology growing ever-faster, arming your enterprise with cutting-edge technology is the only way to futureproof the employee experience.

#7. UX and useability

Fortune 500 enterprises make up some of the largest workforces in the world, and so they know more than most the difficulties of driving the adoption and use of workplace technology. Poor user experience is the quickest way to disengage new users and run your new platform aground, hindering your digital transformation journey. 

Two of Unily's four winning platforms at Nielsen Norman Group best intranets of 2021 were from Fortune 500 companies, Johnson & Johnson and Baker Hughes. This shows the recognition both of the Fortune 500 and by the global UX institute of how crucial user experience design is in delivering world-class digital employee experiences.

Proven platforms for the Fortune 500

From the biggest earners to the most recognizable brands, Unily has established a reputation of creating, scaling, and consistently delivering meaningful digital experiences that unite global enterprises and power better work for everyone. To find out what makes a Fortune 500-ready intranet, along with all the important details behind our successes with the world’s biggest organizations, check out some of our case studies with Shell, Biogen, and more.