Six ways a social intranet can benefit employees in the digital workplace

Digital work requires an upgrade in communications software

In the digital and hybrid age, we have revisited how, when and where we communicate at work, effectively re-evaluating every aspect of our professional lives. We now tend to spend a lot more time outside of a traditional busy office environment, without many of the in-person meetings that formed the foundations for collaborative working. With this huge change in environment, the old communication tools we used to tick along with no longer cut it. 

In this piece, we’ll explore how a social intranet can impact employees through 6 key benefits.

#1. Creating meaningful connections for professional development

In the digital workplace, getting to know our colleagues, their roles and how to best work as a team can be increasingly challenging. An intranet offers an open forum for news, company updates and messaging, allowing employees to stay in the loop and feel included in team-wide and company-wide updates. If your employees are up to date on news and engaged in company progress, their work likely will reflect this, as they are clear on changing goals which can have a positive effect on quality of work and output.

One of the biggest advantages to a social intranet is that it allows teams to make genuine connections in the remote working environment, with real-time messaging. For businesses, understanding employees' professional goals, building their skills and supporting them to progress in a company benefits everyone involved. 

#2. Building relationships for support and growth

In addition to professional benefits, we all do our best work when we know who we’re working alongside and feel safe and supported. An online staff directory helps employees to know who’s who, and instant messaging functions means information can be exchanged in real-time, avoiding silos. Offering tools that improve communication allows relationships to develop, which has benefits across the company as a whole, as teams can work more collaboratively and support each other towards their goals. 

#3. Establishing company culture

One of the biggest disadvantages to working in the digital sphere is the challenge of creating impactful company culture. We’re used to in-person staff socials and team-building days. Now in the hybrid world, making time to socialize and get to know the team outside of the office, but avoiding Zoom and engagement-fatigue is no easy feat.

An intranet software offers an extensive list of ways to share updates to private or shared channels. It also allows space for employees to lead in creating culture, with forums for idea generation, user polls, discussion boards and newsfeeds. It also offers space for events, online and in-person, blending the workplace worlds to offer something for everyone.

#4. Improving employee satisfaction by recognizing great work

We know that employees that feel listened to tend to be happier at work, especially when they can see the impact of their work on the teams and the wider world. Recognizing achievements in an open forum results in employees feeling valued. Peer-to-peer reviews and rewards are huge advantages of a social intranet as they allow team members to celebrate successes and show their appreciation for hard work. 

#5. Developing a more collaborative team

Employees can be more productive when everything is in one place, organized and easy to access from any device. If employees are the beating heart of a business, keeping them connected, with the tools to work together is paramount to success. A sense of community and shared goals can be maximized on an intranet, with a centralized information base and user-generated updates towards targets.

#6. Attracting top talent in the future

Having an established intranet sets a precedent, it demonstrates that exceptional employee communications is top priority. For prospective team members, this is a demonstration of the value put on employees in a business. For new hires, seeing that a business appreciates its workers and wants to create a safe space for them to grow personally and professionally can be a key benefit.

Improve employee experience and engagement with a social intranet

If the employees, both individuals and teams, are the spokes of the business wheel, an intranet should be the hub, a central platform where communication and ideas can manifest, an open forum for exchange. With a well-developed social intranet at the core of your business, benefits for employees can be limitless.

To find out how a modern social intranet can transform internal communications, talk to our experts today.