Improved communications, efficiencies, and connections were the driving forces behind Giftcraft’s decision to implement an intranet. Thanks to MyHub’s platform, the company now has connected and informed employees and more time and resources to invest in other critical business areas.
We caught up with Senior Human Resources Manager Fernando Brandt to learn more about Giftcraft’s MyHub experience.
Background
Located in the beautiful Canadian city of Brampton, Ontario, Giftcraft Ltd is a leading wholesale provider of fashion and lifestyle products to suppliers throughout Canada and the US. Giftcraft’s extensive product range includes everything from candles and soaps to jewelry and kitchen and garden accessories.
“The Giftcraft difference is that everything is designed and developed in-house,” Fernando explains.
The company has been in business for over 85 years and has around 300 employees across North America.
Challenges
- Overreliance on paper and email systems
- Too much time spent locating information
- Distributed workforce
Fernando joined Giftcraft about six years ago and was struck by the company’s reliance on paper and email systems for communication. “We still used bulletin boards dotted around the building for posting paper announcements,” Fernando declares.
Furthermore, he says employees wasted too much time searching for information and updates. Often, the information they accessed and shared wasn’t current. “When it comes to company policies, for example, different versions of the same document were in circulation at different times,” says Fernando.
Giftcraft has always had a remote workforce with around 120 employees working in the US. Fernando said these workers often felt disconnected from the head office. However, the pandemic brought into sharp focus, an urgent need to develop a sense of community across the board and keep people in the loop with communications.
“We knew we needed something digital that would be accessible to everyone regardless of where they were,” Fernando advises.
Fernando had experience using company intranets in his previous employment. He knew that an intranet platform could address Giftcraft’s challenges.
Solution
- A company-wide intranet platform accessible 24/7 to all employees, including remote and hybrid workers.
Fernando and his HR team demoed a few intranet platforms before settling on MyHub. “The selection came down to pricing, service, support, and ease of use. And MyHub was top of the list,” reports Fernando.
Thanks to his previous experience, Fernando had a good idea of what he wanted from intranet software. “We already had a visual representation of what we needed with menus and sub-menus,” he says. Fernando adds that the MyHub team quickly translated those ideas into a functioning site.
“Implementation was easy and seamless, and we were able to go live pretty quickly,” he advises. Fernando singled out MyHub’s customer support. He says any challenges that cropped up were quickly resolved, and the MyHub team managed expectations well.
Fernando also liked MyHub’s customization options. “We wanted to be able to manipulate, adjust, and update the content regularly,” he reports. With MyHub, he can customize the software’s look and feel.
Fernando says that his favorite MyHub feature is the homepage, which is designed to resemble a newsletter. “We have regularly changing highlights pulled from the news section embedded in the home screen to keep things fresh,” he says.
Giftcraft has also created a spotlight feature focusing on different employees. Fernando says this has allowed staff to get to know more about their coworkers in a fun way. “It’s helped people stay connected and become familiar with colleagues they may not normally interact with,” he declares.
Results
- Streamlined communications
- More time and resource-efficient
- Improved company culture
Fernando is delighted with the MyHub platform and says it’s made a big difference. Everyone knows to jump online to find out about the latest news. “Now we can point people to the intranet for things like the employee directory, work charts, calendars, and service requests. In the past, this would eat up a lot of our time in HR, or they simply weren’t available,” Fernando reports.
The platform has freed up the HR team’s time. He reports that the extra resources have been redirected into other business-critical areas and initiatives.
Furthermore, he says the intranet has made employees more aware and knowledgeable about company policies, procedures, and each other. “Ultimately, it has enhanced the sense of community and our people have access to important information in real-time,” advises Fernando.
Giftcraft has been using its MyHub intranet since 2022. Now that the platform is well and truly embedded in the organization, Fernando is looking to expand and leverage other features, like surveys and pulse checks.
The company hasn’t looked back since implementing MyHub.
Fernando concludes, “It’s efficient, cost-effective, and intuitive for users and administrators. It’s a no-brainer.”