Meeting Mickey and Minnie at Melcrum's Intranet conference
By Annie Waite, North American Editor of the Internal Comms Hub, Melcrum
Disneyworld in Orlando provided a sunny backdrop for Melcrum's first Intranet 2.0 and Portal Makeover Forum last week. Leading the event was Watson Wyatt Worldwide's Global Intranet and Portal Practice leader, Michael Rudnick - who is also this month's guest expert on the Hub.
Beginning with an overview of challenges facing those in charge of their company's intranet, he listed the following most common complaints from employees:
- "I can't find anything"
- "How many times do I have to log in?"
- "Where the heck am I now?"
- "Who do they think I am anyway?"
Employees just aren't happy
Do the above comments sound familiar? One of the major points made over the 2-day event was that employees just aren't happy with their current intranet.
A 2007 report by Watson Wyatt Worldwide found that half of the employees questioned found their intranet search ineffective and half don't actually use the intranet on a daily basis. However, employees do access:
- Employee phone directory.
- Cafeteria menu.
- Expense report.
- Pay stub.
Managing user expectations
To find out what other features employees want and need, Michael says, simply look to popular external websites, such as Facebook.
While some may think adjusting their intranet design would ostracize a large section of the workforce that isn't part of social media-loving generation Y, Rudnick noted (see pic below) that plenty of Facebook's users are actually over 35.
Facebook: Not just for kids
What ideas do you have for encouraging users to return to the company intranet?
Mary Owens, director of employee communications at Motorola spoke at the event about how innovative games such as the "i'Moto Treasure Hunt" and the "TiX Ideas Stock Market" can really help engage employees with their intranet. Check out the full event review on the Hub.
Do you struggle to get funding for developing your intranet? Or even if you make back-end changes, do you find it difficult to persuade management to appreciate the positive effects of those changes?
Join in the conversation and let us know how you deal with your intranet challenges.
* FYI, Melcrum is running another similar event – the Intranet 2.0 Forum, to be held in the UK.*
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