Modern intranet - Corporate Intranet: Definitions & 10 Reasons Why You Need It

Do you have questions about corporate intranets? What are the most common corporate intranet features?

We discuss the evolution of the modern intranet and explain the 10 main reasons why you need to invest in an intranet now.

What is a corporate intranet?

Corporate Intranet Definition

A corporate intranet is an internal website accessible to company management and employees. The company's physical server may host the website. In many cases, corporate intranet solutions are cloud-based models.

The primary function of the intranet is to organize the information each employee needs to perform their work and ensure it is readily available. It also allows data to be easily shared internally between everyone working for the company, regardless of location.

Corporate Intranet Features

The best corporate intranet is an internal social network since it easily connects users to share interesting content.

Corporate intranet examples may include the following:

Page Builder: A page builder tool to generate individual onboarding pages for new hires is essential. It will be used to update the company intranet pages when employees reach career milestones.
Company Directory: It is difficult for all employees to know each other personally in an enterprise company. The intranet allows users to search for colleagues by name, job title, department, and location. The user can find the contact information and a brief biography in the search results.
Search Function: The intranet should include a search function so users don't waste time looking for templates of commonly used documents, such as contracts, reports, case studies, etc. The search function should show users whether the document they seek is in an email attachment or a file in the content management system (CMS).
Company News Feed: The company-wide news feed keeps everyone informed of company and industry events.

Evolution toward Modern Intranet and Employee Experience

At one time, an intranet was an internal website used for employee communication. It was mainly used for top-down communication: Executives or the Human Resources Department would use it to make announcements to employees, including vacation and leave of absence policies. Individual departments posted company news as features on the intranet, including changes within the company, new hires, etc.

In the last decade, corporate intranet software started to change. Employees would see the intranet homepage when they logged into the company system. Collaboration with other employees began to play a more significant role in employees' work. Staff was now expected to search for documents they needed electronically instead of looking them up in a filing cabinet.

The traditional intranet has been transformed into a digital workplace. Whereas previously, you would look up a colleague's phone number externally, now your intranet can list the correct handle on Google Workspace or Microsoft Teams.

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Importance of Tech Stack and Integration

Each company needs to address software development as technology continues to advance. Companies use software to manage their intranet platforms. They must keep up with technological advancements to automate and improve their operations. Software functionality and scalability depend on the tech stack the development team uses. Choosing the best technology stack option means the software application will satisfy most employees' needs now and in the future.

Intranet ROI

Thinking about a new intranet platform? This free whitepaper explains the potential impact of an intranet and how to track ROI.

10 Reasons Why a Corporate Intranet is Important for Companies and Employees

The following 10 corporate intranet ideas explain why deploying an intranet solution will benefit players on both sides of the desk: the business and its staff. Please read below to discover more.

1. If you name the intranet, it becomes part of the company culture.

Your company culture is the atmosphere or vibe employees encounter when they come to work. Remote employees feel it when they log into the intranet software to start work from their preferred location. When you brand the platform by naming it, you make the intranet part of your company culture and give it an identity.

What should you name your company intranet? Ask your employees! Suggest they choose a name that reflects something about your business. They could also go in a completely different direction and decide on a name they find interesting. Check out this list of example intranet names for inspiration.

2. The early intranet adopters will contribute content and become your brand ambassadors.

Be on the lookout for employees who are incredibly enthusiastic about the intranet. They are the ones who jump on board right away and are leading discussions, and asking to contribute posts for other employees to read. These employees are "talking up" the intranet during coffee and lunch breaks and sharing how happy they are to have these collaboration tools. See the 20 Internal Communication Tools your Company Should Have.

Once you identify these employees, make them your community leaders. Recognize them by making them "User of the Month" on the company homepage. These employees will become your brand ambassadors, sharing positive messages about the company on social media and their network.

3. Q&A forums on the company intranet are convenient for employees to get questions answered.

Employees have questions, especially when learning how to use the corporate intranet, taking on new projects, or having recently started working with the company. A specific Q&A forum is an efficient place to ask questions. Employees can also see whether their particular question has already been answered.

Essential questions that are often accessed can be placed in a Q&A forum. Employees can go directly to those areas to get the information they need. These forums aren't meant to replace managers in the digital workplace. Employees should always feel free to consult with their manager or team leader if they have questions or concerns not covered in the Q&A forums.

4. It makes files and documents accessible through the intranet's search function.

Every work team will need to access files and information to complete its duties on the job. The intranet document management system can store files and documents, customer records, legal forms, contracts, compliance documentation, and many other forms of content. Employees can easily search for e-books, training materials and videos, safety videos, and more. They spend less time searching for items they need, which increases productivity.

Employees who are uncertain of a document or file's specific title can type one or more keywords to help their search. They also have the option of searching by author or document type. A system that tags email attachments will also be helpful to employees searching for specific documents using the intranet search function.

5. The company intranet is a powerful internal communications system for collaboration.

When used by your employees for meaningful conversations, the intranet is an awe-inspiring collaboration tool. It can be used for group messaging, one-on-one chats, and discussion threads. Employees can comment on blog posts to provide feedback and share their thoughts with coworkers and management.

This ease of communication is an essential social feature of the corporate intranet. The options for holding discussions go far beyond sending emails back and forth between employees. Instead, colleagues can communicate quickly in a personalized way.

Team Collaboration Benefits and Examples

6. It allows the company to advertise job openings and hire internally first.

When positions become available, they are first advertised within the company. The company saves on the cost of posting ads on job boards. Candidates who apply for jobs from within the corporation already understand how the company works. They have already proven themselves stellar candidates who can quickly move into another position.

Employees interested in being considered for promotions or making a lateral change within the company should be encouraged to check out the internal job board on the intranet. It will give them details about the openings.

7. The intranet is an effective management tool for providing training videos to employees.

Videos are a highly effective way to train employees. They offer a combination of visual and verbal instructions for staff and are always available when employees need a refresher.

For example, LumApps Play is a video management tool that is embedded in the platform. LumApps Play gives you a place for secure video handling and a way to manage download and access permissions securely.

The videos can be used as part of the onboarding process to welcome new employees. Everyone goes through the same company training on how software such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are used in the corporate document management system. New hires can refer to the training videos if they have questions after their initial training.

8. It creates a sense of community and improves employee engagement.

Features like the events calendar can be used for posting photo albums from team activity gatherings for all employees to see. These actions show employees that the company cares about them; the employees featured in the images feel special and that they are someone who should be celebrated.

The corporate intranet should be a place that gives employees the impression that it's okay to have a work-life balance. Photos of content unrelated to work (as long as they are work-appropriate) are acceptable to post.

Most importantly, for remote teams: the images allow team members to put faces to names. Suppose remote workers have yet to have the opportunity to meet in person. In that case, photos will let them feel they get to "know" their fellow team members in a more casual setting.

9. The intranet creates wonderful opportunities for executives to get closer to their employees.

Traditionally, communication between the executive suite and employees was from the top down only. The company intranet creates opportunities for executives to be transparent with staff through blog posts and other types of communication.

Employees get to know the executives through these less-formal writings and can leave comments and suggestions. The executives can get to know employees too. The employees are more likely to be engaged in their work, and the entire employee experience improves.

10. It's an excellent way to help remote teams feel connected.

If your business has remote teams, helping everyone feel connected may be one of the corporate intranet solutions you seek. Encourage team members to post photos of themselves and their pets. Ask them to post videos of themselves enjoying their hobbies or telling a joke.

Encourage remote team managers to start team meetings with team building exercises at video meetings so that people can get to know each other. Choose some fun ice-breaker activities that all the participants will enjoy.

The corporate intranet can connect all employees, regardless of location. Its features will build stronger work relationships with a happier company culture.

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Corporate Intranet: Definitions & 10 Reasons Why You Need It