Last updated on November 4, 2024 at 05:45 am

If intranets were important to organizational functions before the pandemic, they became a vital component during and after the pandemic receded.

With the digital evolution of the workspace, the company intranet now provides several key functionalities to the daily workspace operations to make tasks easier. For example, the intranet makes access to information quicker and easier for the employees and makes real-time collaboration possible without hindrance.

Although intranets may seem like relics of the past, they are necessary for companies that rely on information sharing, content management, and other activities for daily work.

Additionally, companies implement several handy features into intranets today to make them more contemporary and functional and boost productivity. Let’s understand these features and how an intranet can positively impact workspace productivity.

What is a Company Intranet?

A company intranet is a web portal or a dedicated internet network that is only available to company employees. It houses all the resources you need to start work on your desk—it is your digital workspace that lives on the company network.

The intranet facilitates software, tools, employee portals, and more to help you work efficiently.

For a company to have a successful intranet, however, it is important to understand how it impacts productivity and expenses. In a recent report by PRNewswire, it was found that companies waste about $18 million in SaaS spending because of redundancies – something that can be avoided by simply managing the intranet and the services deployed over it better.

On the upside, an Ivanti Digital Employee Experience report highlights that high-quality digital experiences (including intranet) positively impact employee productivity, according to 97% of responding CIOs.

Let’s examine the ten essential intranet features that can help you maximize employee productivity.

10 Intranet Features That Boost Employee Productivity

Your company intranet is the carrier that aids digital transformation by providing a good foundation for pan-organizational connectivity. Below are the ten must-have features that augment employee engagement and productivity as well:

1. User-Friendly Interface

A user-friendly design for your intranet interface ensures high adoption rates and employee satisfaction from using this company resource.

For example, document-sharing features on the company intranet make the experience extremely user-friendly. It eliminates the need for employees to constantly switch between windows and apps to collaborate over the network.

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An intuitively designed intranet drastically flattens the learning curve, empowering employees to navigate company resources easily. A fluid UI helps recruits quickly access onboarding resources and start working.

All of this contributes towards enhanced employee productivity.

2. Effective Search Functionality

When you launch the Internet, the first thing you do is search for what you need using keywords. The same concept applies to company intranets. Company repositories house many documents, services, tools, and other resources employees need to complete daily tasks.

To reduce the time employees spend searching for tools, make the intranet search function easier and more customizable. Provide filters, tags, categories, predictive text, keyword highlighting, and other features that help employees quickly find what they need and return to work.

3. Resource Repository

Scispace research, even though done in 2017, revealed that the handy availability of resources in the workspace had a positive impact on job satisfaction and performance.

A resourceful work environment helps companies promote a culture of productivity where all the necessary tools and information are ready for the employees to peruse. Resource repositories are crucial intranet features that facilitate quick access to information and promote productivity.

Leverage Content Management Systems to create resource repositories and disseminate company resources over the intranet efficiently.

4. Metrics and Analytics

Enhancing employee productivity is not only about facilitating tools and resources over the intranet. Employers need to track the impact of these features to measure how impactful the services are in improving productivity.

As such, it helps to monitor employee behavior in real time over the intranet to track their activity and performance levels. These metrics and analytics include several KPIs, such as content engagement, user adoption rate, and more. Understanding these metrics helps you understand how well your employees are adopting the intranet and how efficiently they can use it.

5. Multi-Device Access

The modern workforce is not limited to their desks to get work done. Set your workforce free by implementing mobile-based intranet apps that allow employees to access company resources from any location.

Employees gain the power to get work done from anywhere, enhancing their productivity and job satisfaction simultaneously. The essential tools and resources remain within reach, whether traveling, working from home, or away from the premises.

For example, employees traveling on a bus can still access training modules using company intranet apps on their mobile phones.

To ensure the intranet works well on mobile devices, it must be optimized and configured properly.

6. Easy and Secure Workforce Sign-In

Believe it or not, access controls also impact employee productivity. The data or service governance protocol you set across your organization is deployed over the intranet.

It is essential to provide easy sign-in mechanisms to the workforce, not to restrict their access to the resources they need to get a job done. Seamless and secure intranet sign-ins facilitate quick switching between apps on the intranet, catalyzing high productivity.

7. Internal Directory

Organizations frequently execute cross-vertical projects that require cooperation and collaboration between several teams from different departments. To enhance productivity in such situations, the intranet should include an employee directory that puts all the associated team members within reach of each other.

Insight: 40% of respondents in a Yahoo! survey admitted that poor internal collaboration reduced employee productivity.

Employee directories facilitate an interconnected work environment where employees can quickly gather the right team members based on role, skills, or other parameters.

8. Content Management System (CMS)

CMS integration is necessary for organizations to structure their resources and unify everything. It also makes it easier for employees to access information. A robust CMS for the intranet allows employees to create, modify, and customize the digital content they use on company networks.

This includes training materials, documentation, policies, reports, etc., quickly at the click of a few buttons. A smooth intranet-CMS integration facilitates quick access to relevant resources from the company’s repository.

CMS integrations also offer monetary benefits to organizations, according to the State of CMS Report 2024. 61% of respondents experienced a boost in ROI by implementing headless CMS.

9. Social, Communities, and Employee Recognition

A company intranet need not be a serious space for work. It is essential to provide a digital environment for employees to socialize beyond work and form communities, groups, and forumston share knowledge.

Consider setting up features such as employee recognition and shoutouts on the intranet to help boost motivation at work. Share employee success stories and acts of kindness on the intranet to foster a positive work environment and propagate the desired work culture.

It has a tremendous impact on employee productivity as it allows employees to take a meaningful break from work and refresh their minds with other members on the intranet.

10. Notifications

The intranet serves as a communication tool around the company. If you want to inform your employees of the latest events, changes, or other updates, you can leverage the intranet’s real-time capacity to set up notifications for them.

While emails do the job just as well, your employees may or may not check each email the company sends them.

With the intranet, you can configure push notifications to ensure your employees receive and read important messages.

For example, for a software update or maintenance exercise, push notifications come in handy as they help employees prepare in advance for the offline time—they help them prevent adverse effects on their productivity.

Bonus Feature #1: Calendars and Events

Empower your remote workforce by equipping your company intranet with calendars and events. Make resources like SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) videos, training, and more available over the intranet for easy access.

You can also provide a company calendar on the intranet that shows all the important dates and events, which employees can view and download.

Bonus Feature #2: Employee Texting System

Uninterrupted communication is key to boosting work productivity by enabling team members and key talents to get in touch with each other instantly.

Consider deploying a robust employee text messaging system on the intranet to help employees collaborate. This network can also help you reach your employees with critical, time-sensitive messages, improve connections, and enhance employee engagement.

Intranet Challenges That Impact Employee Productivity

An intranet (like SharePoint) can equip your organization with productivity enhancements. However, the implementation isn’t free from its own set of challenges. When deploying an intranet and selecting its features, keep the following challenges in mind:

1. Information Overload

One major challenge that impacts employee productivity is the availability of too much information. Research states that information overload has a negative impact on the workplace, leading to poor decision-making, cognitive pressure, and decreased productivity.

Not implementing a robust information management system can cause the intranet to create confusion when employees try to search for something over the network, which can greatly hinder employee productivity.

2. Lack of Training and Support

It is essential to provide initial training when implementing a new intranet solution. This helps employees familiarize themselves with the new platform and ask important questions before the real work begins.

Lack of proper training may unnecessarily steepen the learning curve, negatively impacting productivity. Employees may even avoid using the new intranet when there is insufficient support.

3. Bad Design

It is essential to architect the intranet to serve the organization’s needs. Out-of-the-box solutions may not be the best design choice, creating bottlenecks or usage difficulties that impact productivity.

For example, access to tools or information may not be readily available to employees, causing delays in work completion or task progress. This may also contribute to employee frustration.

4. Hidden Costs

Hidden costs are different than budget constraints. While you may be able to find all the requisite features for your intranet within budget, hidden costs may emerge as you use those services and tools.

It is essential to first have a detailed discussion with your vendors to understand the usage of the intranet, its features, and add-ons before signing on.

5. Scalability

IYocannottotreconfiguressre your intranet according to fluctuating needs. The implementation will be of little benefit to your company.

It is a smart move to choose a cloud-hosted solution that provides flexible growth plans and delivers high availability regardless of network traffic. Make sure you consider all your integration requirements and gauge intranet capacity before implementing it.

High-Performance Intranet Solutions for Your Workforce: theEMPLOYEEapp

To make the intranet effective and work in favor of your goals, you need to add features that are current and meaningful for the modern workforce.

The EMPLOYEE app offers you a mobile-first intranet that has a dedicated information hub for easy access to resources. You also get handy features like a directory, calendar, and several integrations that help enhance employee experience by connecting them with the rest of the organization effectively.

theEMPLOYEEapp also lets you track employee and admin activity using real-time insight through a dedicated analytics portal.

Discover more such modern-day intranet features on the EMPLOYEE app website today.

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