Communication & Culture

I’ve
recently been doing some research for an IBF report titled: “The inclusive
intranet: Meeting the needs of hard-to-reach staff” – soon to be released to
IBF members! So it seemed appropriate that I started this blog post while
working in a cafe today, connected up to work on my laptop and mobile
broadband, with all the usual connections to the world and my colleagues via
email, IBF extranet, Twitter, Yammer, Twirl etc.

The
ability to work anywhere, anytime is increasingly being demanded by workers
across a range of industries, and as we keep hearing – by the time Gen Y enters
the workplace this kind of flexibility is going to be expected as a matter of
course. But as well as being the product of shifting patterns of work, the ability
to connect to the tools and information needed for work is a fundamental issue
for some, hard-to-reach groups of employees. For example:

• factory workers
• retail staff
• field engineers
• building inspectors
• consultants
• sales teams
• flight and rail
  workers
• catering staff
• building inspectors
• call centre
  representatives
• insurance
  assessors.

Intranet managers looking to bridge the gap and extend
the intranet experience to such groups face a number of challenges:

• Work
  location can mean no computer access or slow connection speeds where access is available, and with the potential unsuitability of the environment restricting
  options for offering intranet access.
• Mobility
  can be an issue where staff who are frequently on the move only have limited
  access to the intranet on company premises – security fears or cultural issues
  such as trust can hold back moves to extend access.
• Job
  role can impose constraints such as computer use being seen as detrimental to
  productivity (for example, in a factory or retail environment), time
  constraints (for example, in a call centre) or even no intranet access for
  staff in temporary roles.

So,
why bother extending the intranet to these audiences? As part of the research I
interviewed five very interesting case studies – from ArcelorMittal, Boots,
Centrica, CoreMedia and Nokia – to find out about the benefits they’ve realised,
and which included:

• Better
  communication – for example, fast and effective communication to factory
  workers via intranet kiosks.
• Increased
  productivity – for example, eliminating re-entry of data by enabling data entry
  from the field via mobile devices.
• Better
  engagement – for example, enabling staff on the move to build relationships and
  make connections with colleagues.
• Cost
  savings – for example, automating key processes via the intranet and making
  them available to all employees.
• Improved
  customer service and sales – for example, enabling retail staff to track
  performance via in-store PCs and tills.
• Attraction
  and retention of talent – for example, providing mobility options to employees
  in the sales force.
• Improved
  business continuity – for example, mitigating the impact of a disaster by
  enabling remote access to critical business functions via mobile devices.

The
report also offers recommendations on how to overcome the challenges and
realise these benefits, also looking at the technology options for extending
intranet access in innovative ways. Highlights of the advice and best practice
covered in the report include:

• Not
  delivering what the intranet or communications team think that a particular
  audience need! Getting stuck in locally can be very revealing for a head office
  team who may have no previous experience of (for example) how a call centre
  representative or field engineer works. Even if this isn’t possible due to
  travel restrictions, much can be done to get a real insight to local needs.
• Getting
  senior management backing, often from a local senior manager of the audience in
  question. For many companies, extending the intranet to (for example) a field
  sales force or large factory population may be seen as an essential progression
  for the business, rather than having a hard and fast business case.
• Helping
  users who may be less familiar with computers to get up-to-speed by offering
  appropriate training and support options such as a helpline, encouraging use by
  migrating key procedures online, or training a core group of champions/
  managers to help others. A gradual approach seems to work best in most cases
  and also allows for any cultural barriers to be brought down.
• Establishing
  rigorous governance – once a previously hard-to-reach audience gets intranet
  access it can be a case of the floodgates opening and head office
  (unintentionally) bombarding them with information. In a way it’s a “champagne
  problem”, showing that the new tool has really struck a chord. Nevertheless it
  will require rigorous ongoing governance to protect such audiences from
  overload, and help head office get the best of the new channel. Having managed
  a call centre intranet myself, I know that this challenge shouldn’t be
  underestimated!

The report is packed full of practical
examples which I hope will help other intranet managers successfully navigate
the road to extending their intranets to hard-to-reach staff… coming soon to the IBF extranet.