I am often surprised by the amount of people I talk to who KNOW they need an intranet in their organization, but aren’t able to articulate the advantages of an intranet to a business.
This may not seem like a big problem – but let me tell you why it is:
Being able to articulate your “WHY” for any project (to yourself and others) is usually the difference between success and failure.
A GREAT INTRANET CAN MEAN SUCCESS OR FAILURE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION.
And in this article, we’re going to explain the top five (5) advantages.
1) An Intranet Can Be A Tool To Shape Culture
There’s no doubt about it : company culture is what drives or kills employee engagement. If you proactively manage a strong corporate culture, communicate your vision to employees, and are consistent in your execution, you’ll find employee engagement follows.
And WHAT does employee engagement lead to ……?
INCREASED SALES!
In fact, I’ve seen this model turn failing companies completely around. Engaged employees find it easier to be successful, provide better customer service, and generate more revenue. And don’t be fooled – every employee from the janitor to the CEO plays a role in serving the customer.
And guess what: 50 of the worlds top retail experts released a study predicting that customer service will be a top priority by 2020, and a majority of the businesses who don’t prepare for this change will die off.
So how does an intranet help this?
Intranets are an INCREDIBLE way of better connecting employees, effectively communicating, ensuring consistency in documents and files, and overall being a “culture hub” for your business.
2) An Intranet Makes Your Organization More Agile in a Changing World!
Before you understand this specific advantage of an intranet, you need to understand Moore’s LAW. Most people know about Moore’s Law, if you don’t know what it is, here’s the one-sentence basic definition:
” Every two years, technological capabilities double. “
Not only does it double, it hits an “exponential point.” Here’s an example of what I mean:
Imagine starting with a dollar and doubling it every two years. At first, you’re making jumps from $1->$2->$4. You barely notice the change. But after 25 cycles, you’re going from $8Mil->$16Mil->$32Mil, now that’s noticeable!
Doubling 1 Penny (Engynn Intranet)
Here’s the important takeaway:
Well, many people (including me) believe we’re at the point where technology is making such drastic changes (and in turn changing customer service expectations and affecting our culture), that whole industries are being turned upside down. We’ve seen it with companies like blockbuster or the cab industry in just the last 10 years, and that was the tip of the iceberg.
How might an intranet help?
Your business needs to be agile, communication needs to be fast, and once decisions are made – consistency is key across all channels. An intranet is the perfect communication tool to ensure your workplace is connected, and all documents and resources are kept in one place! A customer on Engynn can develop a new policy, post about it on their intranet, ensure all policies are replaced, post new training, all with a simple tool.
3) An Intranet Helps Guarantee Consistency
By 2020, the most important customer service factor will be experiences. The newest generation of consumers has made it clear that they’re all about experiences when doing business!
Here’s just one great example:
Starbucks has been a powerhouse for years, really gaining steam in the second half of the 2000’s. Do they even advertise? Is their product really that much better than their competitors? The answers are objective.
But here is what’s inarguable:
companies like Starbucks have gained success by focusing on a consistent customer experience! Every time you enter a Starbucks you can expect consistent product, great customer service, and a wonderful experience. The experience is what sells – and the key is consistency!
So once again, we ask: what does this have to do with intranets?
An intranet is a tool for consistency. It’s about creating a hub where employees can access consistent information whether it’s information about sales, job descriptions, documents and policies, event info, training, and more.
Ask yourself:
if a manager needed to access the latest job description, safety memos, or write-up policy – how sure are you they’ll get the most recent version? As odd as this sounds, ALL of this plays a role in a customer’s consistent experience. You absolutely NEED to conciously control and be consistent in every aspect of your companies operational procedures, training, communication, and everything else to deliver a consistent experience to customers.
4) An Intranet Will Save You Money
I love talking about the efficiencies of intranets both in time and cost savings, but it’s a bit of a rabbit hole – so I’ll keep it short and to the point.
Here are the top ways an intranet will make you more efficient.
First – Employee Engagement saves turnover costs: We’ve already talked about how intranets can help shape employee engagement. But did you know beyond increased revenue, you’ll be saving HUGE in employee turnover? Peoplekeep wrote a great article about this in 2016.
Secondly:Intranets Improve On-boarding: An intranet is a great tool to assist new employees in their on-boarding journey. Whether it helps them get to know the business better, understand who key people are, get to know their co-workers, and access relevant training. Onboarding is a HUGE cost to businesses and any improvements made in this area can lead to cost savings.
Third:Intranets Replace Other Tech: An intranet can actually replace many of the business tools you already use. In fact, many of our clients have drastically reduced their server costs by placing all company files directly on our doc cloud. In fact, you could theoretically replace much of your email system with Engynn’s messenger tool.
Engynn Intranet Dash
5) Obvious Advantage: Maybe It’s Time To Join The Future?
I say this tongue in cheek:
it’s about time to finally join the future of the connected workplace.
Millions of businesses are starting their intranets and creating connected workplaces because they know how critical the advantages are. Not every business is the same, you may find an intranet serves your business completely different than some other businesses. But now is the time to get started and see how creating a connected workplace will help your business transition.
In Conclusion
This list is not extensive by any means, however it contains some of the largest advantages of intranet software to your business. There are many more!
If you’re interested in getting started for FREE, sign up today!
