The intranet was just a knowledge base of corporate information in the past. Traditional intranet platforms never took off, no matter how much companies tried to facilitate employee engagement and communication via intranet platforms. If you asked a group of employees how much they communicate and collaborate via the intranet, it would probably be minimal. However, lack of employee-centric functionality and poor user experience were the primary reasons why most traditional intranets fail.
Thanks to the advancement in technology and the increasing need for better collaboration, today’s modern intranet is more than just a knowledge base – it is critical to employee success and benefits both the workforce and business. It provides employees access to the right information from cluttered files and documents.
A modern intranet can raise employee productivity by encouraging communication and employee collaboration. In addition, it helps enhance sales by improving employee engagement and saving a lot of money that enterprises can lose due to poor communication. In short, the best intranet software has the power to exponentially increase your employee experience and help you achieve your business goals.
Like everything in the universe, an intranet has its own pros and cons. Let’s delve deeper into it:
Pros of intranet –
- Easy storage of files and information: Every organization relies on information and documents. Employees have to go through several documents and files floating among email threads, Google Drive, or hard drives on laptops and desktops. However, an open-source corporate intranet software acts as a repository for all your employees, making it easier to store and access all the necessary files. Not only does this save a lot of time but also help enhance employee productivity.
- Enhance communication among employees: Traditionally, businesses have used different communication channels to communicate with their colleagues and reach different departments of the company. Moreover, office employees could get access to updates regularly, but remote employees had to rely on onsite notice boards or emails to get the updates. However, with modern, cloud-based intranet platforms, all employees will be on the same platform. Therefore, they need not use different communication tools to interact with their colleagues and get updates instantaneously, regardless of their location. As a result, it helps enhance communication and employee engagement.
- An effective content management system (CMS): In the past, intranets just had a welcome page with sparse information about the company. However, today, intranets have evolved and include special features like discussion forums, blogs, and social media features. As a result, now employees can share their thoughts and messages or organizational updates via social intranet software. CMS intranet helps enhance internal communication and share across the organization.
Cons of intranet
- Information is difficult to find: Traditionally, intranets keep information in an outdated format, making it difficult for employees to find the right information they need. Moreover, whenever employees used the open-source intranet platform to find the information, they got outdated information as publishing information on the intranet can be time-consuming. So, it negatively impacts the employee experience. If you want your intranet to become a workforce hero for your employees instead of a nightmare, make sure you regularly update the information and keep the information in a structured way.
- Poor user interface: There is no point in investing in an intranet platform that is difficult to navigate. Your employees won’t use it if they don’t find the relevant information. In order to ensure all your employees use the intranet, make sure it has a user-friendly interface and can be optimized as per your needs. Apart from this, make sure it is mobile friendly and can be accessed via smartphones, regardless of the employee location.
The Bottom Line
Now that you know why you should use an intranet and what can make intranet platforms a nightmare for your employees, we hope that you will be able to choose the best corporate intranet platform for your workforce. All the Best!