5 Reasons Why You Need an Intranet to Drive Employee Engagement in a Remote-First Culture
Fifty years ago, employee engagement looked very different than it does today. Job security was king, and a steady paycheck was enough to keep many workers content. Traditional, hierarchical management styles were the norm, and remote work was a futuristic (nearly unheard of) concept. Work-life balance was less of a priority, and long hours were often seen as a badge of honor.
And while the underlying principles of valuing and motivating employees remained, the strategies and measurements were far less sophisticated than today. Companies primarily focused on compensation and benefits rather than creating a positive and engaging work environment.
Employee engagement of today
Fast forward to today, and employee engagement looks and means something completely different, shaped by the ongoing effects of the pandemic and the rapid evolution of work. While remote and hybrid work models have become the norm, the need for connection and purpose remains stronger than ever.
Roles across various workforces and industries are far from being one size fits all, and there are many people who spend a majority of their time working remotely, or are on-the-go, in the field, and away from a standard office and desk situation. Many times, those employees fall through the communication cracks and find themselves isolated from colleagues and from necessary information.
Employees today seek more than just a paycheck; they crave meaningful work, supportive leadership, and a sense of belonging. Organizations are focusing on building strong company cultures, fostering open communication, and offering flexible work arrangements to boost employee satisfaction.
So given the changing tides of the modern workforce, it’s more important than ever to understand what employee engagement means today and how organizations can support the needs of their people.
Why employee engagement matters–especially for remote workers
Employee engagement is the emotional connection employees feel toward their work, their team, and their organization. It's also a powerful driver of productivity, innovation, and overall business success. One recent study by Enboarder found that 94% of employees are more productive when they feel connected to their colleagues. Conversely, disengagement can be costly, with disengaged employees costing $8.8T in lost productivity globally in 2023 (Hubstaff).
So how does an organization create organic engagement with their employees? How can businesses make their employees happy and encourage productivity and company loyalty simultaneously? McKinsey has some thoughts on this. They identified 9 elements across three key areas–social, work, and organization–that impacted employee engagement and loyalty.
Image credits: Happeo
The most successful organizations will do their best to support the entire matrix in order to increase productivity, develop a stronger company culture, and create one team with one purpose that is informed, aligned, and engaged.
And intranet software is one crux of this matrix that is a must-have internal technology.
The intranet as a catalyst for employee engagement
An intranet, when implemented effectively, can be a powerful tool to drive employee engagement. By providing a centralized platform for communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, intranets foster a sense of community and belonging, even in remote or hybrid work environments, in a way that no other tool or method can provide.
You need a single source of truth
Every employee needs the ability to access the knowledge and information to do their jobs. But ensuring that the information they find is correct is even more important in order to stay engaged and productive. When someone finds an answer to a question in an email or in a dusty Drive file, how do they know it’s the most up-to-date and accurate answer? An intranet provides access to the most reliable information, empowering people to make more informed business decisions. While many conversations may happen via email or chat, and brainstorming can happen in files, knowledge is not official until it’s intranet-official.
You need to understand the value of your knowledge
What does your company know? It may sound like an odd question, but the collective knowledge of your people is an invaluable resource. And where that knowledge lives can differentiate whether you capture and retain knowledge and make it a competitive advantage, or if that knowledge stays locked in someone’s head, gets deleted in an email or walks right out the door. Employee engagement flourishes when colleagues can share knowledge and learn and grow together. It provides a greater sense of value and connection to the company vision and mission.
You need internal alignment
Herding cats is rarely successful. And even if it is successful, it’s exhausting and time-consuming. Also–aimlessly wandering cats aren’t really engaged in a common goal. Intranets provide a one-stop shop to get caught up on all the most important company information, both from the top-down and horizontally across teams. This visibility breaks down silos and allows the entire business to function as one team with one purpose, and when that happens–you can serve your customers better and improve productivity at the user, team, and organization level.
You need to simplify your tech
Intranets stand as an internal magic wand, with flexibility to serve a myriad of use cases. Intranets can be leveraged for everything from onboarding and project management to internal communications software, social connection, and a content repository. With this in mind, it’s clear that a well- established intranet can help to consolidate other point solutions and create a stronger and stickier engagement with employees and reduce software fatigue.
You need to cultivate a culture of connection
The modern workforce has become pretty scattered over the past 5 years. The rule of “butts in seats” is no longer the status quo. Workers are frequently working from home, on-the-go, in the office, on the train, while traveling, or a combination of them all. It’s also more diversified, with more generations of employees working together at the same time–from Boomers to the new Gen Zs on the scene. This variety of work styles and locations, culture and connection is more critical to engagement than ever. And while smaller group chats and meetings aren’t a bad thing, your organization needs a central place for employees to connect beyond their daily teams and with the organization’s brand, mission, and vision. By fostering collaboration, recognizing achievements, and providing a space for social interaction, an intranet strengthens employee connections and aligns everyone toward a shared vision. 2 It's the digital heartbeat that keeps your company culture thriving.
How Novamex drove employee engagement with a digital home
Image credits: Happeo
Nothing says “home” like sharing food and drink with one another, and that’s what drives Novamex, a beverage company with a mission to bring the Hispanic/Mexican culture across the globe to as many homes as possible. With culture at the center of its values, Novamex has always been committed to enveloping and instilling that culture in each and every employee. From in-person onboarding and extensive cross-collaborative training to truly building relationships with all co-workers, Novamex was committed to making sure their employees felt and lived the culture of the brand and the company.
Novamex partnered with Happeo to begin building their digital home, a place that would keep their distributed employees together across 28 states and 6 countries. This includes some of the harder-to-reach employees who work in warehouses or in the field. The Happeo mobile app ensured that no one felt disconnected from the Novamex digital home.
The commitment to a strong, flavorful culture and the ability to learn and grow together has made Novamex a hallmark organization to work for, with very little turnover and happy, loyal employees. Happeo has been a core platform in protecting the flame of culture for Novamex during a difficult time, fanning that flame over time, and helping to transform the organization from the inside out.
Employee engagement is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity–for both your employees and your business. An intranet is the digital home where everyone in your organization can find what they need, feel connected to the business and each other, and do their best work every day.