Intranets are designed to make it easier for employees to get the job done. Whether it’s internal communications, collaborative working, better access to information, and streamlined processes, intranets support day-to-day operations. This can all be delivered through a department intranet designed to focus efficiencies and cost savings right where they are needed most.
Setting the right structure for your intranet is vital to success. So, what’s the best way to go? Some companies opt for a departmental system, while others prefer to organize content by function. However, there is a third option. You can personalize intranet content to meet the needs of individual workers by creating a department intranet within a company site.
This post shows how creating a department intranet within an organization-wide platform makes a powerful combination. Workers can personalize their intranet experience. And they know where to go to source the information and tools they need. Departmental intranets support inter-team working, while the company intranet is the go-to resource for all things corporate.
Department Intranet: Different Audiences Have Different Needs
Whether it’s marketing, HR, or IT, your employees will need to share information and collaborate within the department only. However, departments will also want to communicate and share information with the whole organization.
A department intranet supports the needs of your staff for both departmental and company-wide data and tools. Workers are basically getting the best of both worlds. The team can communicate, collaborate, brainstorm, and share sensitive data with their departmental colleagues. And, when they need to, they can do the same with workers across other departments.
For example, workers outside the HR department need to access HR news, updates, and good practice information. They also want to know about employee benefits, performance review processes, and the latest internal job vacancies. And the HR team should be able to collaborate internally on new initiatives and share sensitive information around performance reviews.
The flexible intranet allows you to tailor access and content to deliver a personalized experience for employees.
Let’s look in detail at how a department intranet works on both the corporate and team level.
Department Intranet: Organization-Wide Benefits
Intranets offer a range of benefits that are common to departments across the business.
Improved Internal Communications
From blogs and vlogs to newsfeeds and instant messaging, the intranet supports inter-and intra-team communication. Get your important messages out quickly and efficiently to team colleagues or the whole organization.
Increased Productivity
Less time spent sourcing information, faster decision-making, enhanced knowledge management, plus secure file storage equals increased productivity across the board.
Streamlined Business Processes
Cut down on paper or email overload and eliminate errors with automated online processes. The intranet offers faster, more efficient everyday processes, from ordering stationery supplies and booking vacation leave to onboarding new employees.
Better Collaboration
Dedicated project workspaces and embedded Google Workspace or Office 365 apps make team or company-wide collaboration easy. Brainstorm, generate ideas, and problem-solve all in one space, regardless of location or geographical barriers.
Promote Company Culture
Use the intranet to develop a strong company culture. Employee profiles, staff recognition programs, onboarding, quizzes, and surveys bring to life the company’s vision and values. Use the intranet to promote your internal brand and ensure employees feel part of something bigger.
Support Remote Working
Remote working has exploded in the wake of Covid-19 and clearly is here to stay. Intranets help you promote a strong team spirit with tools that make communicating and sharing information easy. Whether office-based or working from home, team members are able to give their best.
Alongside these fantastic company-wide benefits are ones specific to different departments.
IT Department Intranet
Here we highlight a selection of ways the IT department intranet can enhance internal customer service and deliver ROI. For a more detailed discussion, check out MyHub’s IT intranet blog.
Automated Helpdesk Requests
Responding to software and hardware issues is a significant part of IT departments’ daily work. Automate helpdesk requests and customer queries on the IT intranet and do away with paper forms and phone lines. With just a few clicks of the mouse, employees complete an online form. The IT intranet then automatically routes it to the appropriate worker for action, delivering a faster, more responsive customer service. In turn, the IT intranet’s notifications system ensures the worker is kept updated on progress.
Automated workflows also provide IT managers with more oversight of the helpdesk. It’s much easier to manage bottlenecks and identify any underlying issues or trends. What’s more, the IT intranet provides valuable metrics on response times and customer satisfaction. These metrics will help you demonstrate the importance of the IT contribution.
And automated workflows will also help the internal working of the IT department. From ordering IT supplies to applying for vacation leave, streamlined online processes are more efficient and accurate. Your IT intranet will have a welcome effect on productivity and operational costs.
Self-Service Knowledge Hub
Another critical task for IT is sharing technical knowledge within the business. An employee self-service knowledge hub on the IT intranet will free up staff from responding to everyday queries. Share explainer videos, FAQs, and good practice tips on the hub. Workers can then diagnose and troubleshoot issues. And especially with a remote workforce, it’s also the perfect platform for onboarding and training staff.
Furthermore, you can use the knowledge management hub to update IT staff on new developments, project upgrades, or the latest industry news. It’s a flexible resource that serves the needs of both corporate and departmental employees.
Time-Critical Messaging
Need to alert the workforce to a network outage or system maintenance? It’s no problem with the IT intranet. Rather than sending out an all-staff email that may remain unopened, use the IT intranet’s newsfeed or IM tool. For time-critical messages, the IT intranet is hard to beat. Create a #channel on the team chat to alert staff to important announcements in real-time. And follow-up with a hot news button on the intranet’s homepage. The universal coverage of the intranet ensures all workers receive the notification in a flash.
HR Department Intranet
How can a department intranet support the work of HR within the team and across the organization? Below we highlight just a few possibilities. For a more comprehensive look, please have a read through our dedicated blog on HR intranets.
Develop A Strong Employer Brand
For most employees, their first encounter with HR is at the job application stage. The HR intranet can enhance your employer brand by supporting recruitment processes. And it will also ensure you develop a strong relationship with potential employees from day one. Use the HR intranet for all things recruitment with online processes for job applications, interview scheduling, and references. Reduce the costs associated with printed forms and mailouts. Accessible 24/7, the HR intranet provides all the answers in a central platform.
You can enhance your employer brand even further with streamlined onboarding. The HR intranet allows the recruit to seamlessly complete all the steps needed to get up and running as quickly as possible. Notify payroll, complete personnel records, and induct the new employee into the department and the organization. Use a variety of media, including podcasts, vlogs, how-to videos, SOPs, and quizzes to showcase company culture and impart knowledge. Online boarding is vital to today’s digital workplaces. And the HR intranet means you can easily onboard staff whether they are office-based or working from home.
Promote Employee Engagement
HR has traditionally taken the corporate lead on promoting employee engagement. The HR intranet has several tools that make it easier to engage staff.
Two-way communication is a key driver for employee engagement. It’s vital that staff have a voice within the organization and feel as though their opinions matter. HR intranets can set an example for the whole organization with company-wide blogs and discussion forums. And why not incorporate social intranet features such as activity walls and #channels to support ongoing dialog further.
Employee recognition is another main driver for employee engagement. Use the HR intranet to set up an employee recognition program. A feature on the employee of the month, or a news item publicizing the exceptional work of a team, will have a big impact on company-wide employee engagement.
The HR intranet also has a significant role to play in employee professional development. This is another critical factor influencing employee engagement. Promote learning and development opportunities on the HR intranet with a dedicated space. Publicize internal and external opportunities, including secondments and mentoring to online upskilling and external courses. And encourage online applications for a streamlined process.
Reduce The Admin Burden And Empower Employees
Use the HR intranet to reduce the admin burden on HR staff and maximize their time. Much of the daily work of HR departments involves responding to queries and requests for information.
Self-service tools on the HR intranet empower colleagues to resolve queries for themselves. An HR intranet information hub provides easy access to all information and knowledge. From performance appraisals and annual leave procedures through to employee benefits and wellness, workers have direct access to HR resources.
It’s a far more efficient way of working that will see improvements in the HR department’s bottom line. And by empowering workers, it will also affect the company’s employee engagement rates.
Marketing Department Intranet
As with all company departments, the benefits of streamlined processes and increased collaboration extend to marketing. However, several marketing-specific tasks are enhanced with a marketing intranet. Here we showcase some of the possibilities. More information is available in our blog post dedicated to marketing intranets.
Centralized Market Research And Customer Data
Marketing is the corporate guardian of customer feedback and client data. All departments need to have an understanding of what the customer wants together with feedback on products and services. Market research and customer data inform product development and new opportunities.
The marketing department intranet is the go-to resource for all client and customer data. The marketing intranet provides fast and easy access, whether it’s customer feedback, case studies, surveys, or research.
Often market research also involves analyzing what competitors are doing. Knowing what the competition is up to is essential for product development and refinement. And it also helps you refine your marketing for targeted audiences and develop new techniques.
It’s even possible to integrate your customer relationship management (CRM) software with your marketing intranet for an unbeatable combination. Salesforce is one of the most popular CRM platforms. An integrated Salesforce marketing intranet provides gateway access without the need for multiple screens and logins. And it can also save you money as not all marketing personnel require full access to the complete Salesforce offering. Instead, use an intranet web form to connect the two platforms allowing admin staff to access the CRM without purchasing a full license.
Idea Generation And Collaboration On Marketing Campaigns
A marketing intranet means you can more easily generate ideas and collaborate with colleagues across the business on marketing campaigns.
Use the marketing intranet’s workspace to brainstorm ideas, bounce around concepts and share insights in a marketing department workspace. Restrict access to team members only with the marketing intranet’s easy-to-use management tools. And use the project space to collaborate on branding materials in real-time with embedded Google Workspace or Office 365 apps. Most importantly, you can do away with long project meetings – a vital advantage in a remote working world.
Better Management Of Branding Materials
Safeguarding the company’s brand is a major function of marketing departments. And a marketing intranet simplifies the task. All marketing collateral and brand assets are held in one secure location. Employees can apply to use the branding materials via online approvals forms, increasing efficiency and saving your department time. Marketing retains control of all brand assets. And colleagues can be confident they are accessing the right images and latest versions.
Departmental Intranets Deliver Company-Wide Benefits
So, whether you work in marketing, HR, or IT, a departmental intranet delivers on every level. It enables you to provide the right mix of corporate and departmental content for every employee. And with increased pressure on every department to demonstrate ROI, it also offers a company-wide platform to showcase your contribution.
In summary, a department intranet offers the following advantages:
- demonstrate value for money
- broadcast your department’s achievements
- improve inter and intra-team communications
- enhance collaboration within and across departments
- deliver productivity gains and more efficient business processes.
Want to find out more about the impact a department intranet can have on your business? Get in touch with the team at MyHub. Our easy-to-setup and simple-to-manage cloud intranets will deliver on the corporate and departmental level. Sign up for a free demo or a 14-day trial and explore the possibilities today.
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