The Difference Between Employee Intranet and Employee Advocacy

Effective communication and engagement within an organization are essential. Two tools that play crucial roles in fostering this internal cohesion are employee advocacy platforms and employee intranets. While they may seem similar at first glance, these tools serve distinct purposes and offer unique benefits. 

What is an Employee Intranet?

Definition and Purpose

An employee intranet is a private, internal network used to facilitate communication, collaboration, and access to company resources among employees. 

The intranet serves as a centralized hub for information, providing employees with the tools they need to perform their roles effectively.

Benefits of employee intranet

• Centralized Information. An intranet provides a single source of truth for company information, reducing the time employees spend searching for resources.
  
  
• Improved Collaboration. Tools for communication and collaboration help teams work together more effectively, regardless of location.
  
  
• Enhanced Productivity. Easy access to necessary information and resources can significantly boost employee productivity.

What is an Employee Advocacy Platform?

Definition and Purpose

In short, an employee advocacy platform is a tool designed to enable employees to share company-approved content on their personal social media channels.

The primary goal is to amplify the company’s message, increase brand visibility, and leverage the collective reach of the workforce to drive engagement and trust among external audiences.

Benefits of Employee Advocacy Platforms

• Increased Brand Reach. One of the most immediate benefits of employee advocacy is the substantial increase in brand awareness and reach. Employees collectively possess networks vastly more extensive than those of the brand itself. These personal networks comprise connections who trust their recommendations and personal testimonials more than corporate advertisements. 
  
  
• Enhanced Credibility and awareness. Content shared by employees is often perceived as more authentic and trustworthy than content directly from the brand. Leveraging your employees’ extensive networks to spread your content will get your message to a new circle of reach and create next-level awareness around your brand. Remember that your employees are someone else’s ex-college buddy, best friend, family member, relative, or friend of a friend, so their recommendations are perceived as more trustworthy than public ads paid for by faceless corporations. So much so that 34% of companies with employee advocacy programs report improved brand loyalty (Hinge).
  
  
• Employee Engagement. Implementing an employee advocacy program can also markedly enhance internal engagement. Employees who are engaged in advocacy programs often feel more connected to the company's mission and values, seeing themselves as active participants in the business's success. This increased engagement typically results in higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates, which is also a massive cost for companies.

The Difference Between Employee Intranets and Employee Advocacy Platforms

Understanding the nuanced differences between employee advocacy platforms and employee intranets can help organizations utilize these tools more effectively. 

Purpose and Audience

Employee intranets are designed primarily for internal communication, collaboration, and information sharing within an organization. 

An employee intranet's primary audience is the company’s employees, and it serves as a centralized hub for accessing company documents, resources, policies, and internal communications. The goal of an intranet is to streamline internal workflows, improve productivity, and foster collaboration among employees.

In contrast, employee advocacy platforms are focused on leveraging employees' personal networks to amplify the company’s external communication efforts. 

The primary audience for these platforms includes employees as well as external stakeholders such as customers, potential customers, industry influencers, and potential recruits. The main objective is to enhance brand visibility, credibility, and engagement through the authentic voices of employees.

Functionality

Employee intranets typically offer a wide range of tools and features aimed at improving internal operations. These include content management systems for storing and organizing documents, communication tools such as message boards and internal chat systems, collaboration tools like shared workspaces and project management applications, and employee directories for connecting with colleagues.

Employee advocacy platforms, on the other hand, are equipped with features that facilitate the sharing of company-approved content on social media channels. 

These platforms provide content curation and distribution tools, allowing employees to share blogs, articles, and other company-related content easily. They often include social media integration to streamline the sharing process, gamification elements to incentivize participation, and analytics to track the reach and impact of shared content.

Implementation Strategies

Implementing an employee intranet involves significant change management efforts to ensure that employees adopt and effectively use the new system. This process often includes comprehensive training programs, ongoing support, and regular updates to keep the intranet relevant and useful.

In contrast, implementing an employee advocacy platform focuses on training employees to become brand advocates and educating them on the importance of their role in the company’s marketing efforts. This typically involves creating a content strategy, providing easy-to-use tools, and incentivizing participation through gamification and recognition programs.

Conclusion

Both employee advocacy platforms and employee intranets are essential tools for modern organizations, but they serve different purposes and audiences. Employee advocacy platforms are geared towards external engagement and brand promotion, leveraging employees' personal networks to amplify the company’s message. In contrast, employee intranets focus on internal communication, collaboration, and resource management, acting as a central hub for employees to access the information and tools they need.

By understanding these key differences, organizations can better implement and utilize these tools to achieve their strategic goals. Effectively leveraging both platforms can lead to enhanced brand visibility externally and improved operational efficiency internally, driving overall business success.