The Science of Employee Engagement: How an Intranet Makes Better Employees

Many scientific studies have demonstrated clear benefits for businesses with an engaged workforce. Engagement, which is the intersection between being happy and being motivated, is a strong indicator of employee satisfaction.

Employees who are engaged in their work are more productive, more likely to work for longer periods of time, and more likely to stay with the organization. Engaged employees understand what it takes for an organization to be successful. They want to be involved in the company’s success, and they’re willing to do what it takes to get there.

However, studies have also shown that the majority of employees in the U.S. are not engaged in their work. A 2014 Gallup poll found that only 31.5 percent of workers were engaged in their jobs, with 17.5 percent actively disengaged. In addition, millennials were the least engaged generation at work, with only 28.9 percent feeling a sense of engagement.

With engagement lacking in the majority of employees, and engagement such a crucial metric for the workforce, what can your company’s intranet do to improve your workers’ sense of engagement?

Creating a Culture of Engagement

High engagement levels will make a huge difference for your organization’s bottom line. Engagement has a greater impact on workers’ performance than any corporate policies, perks or rewards. More and more businesses are interested in measuring their employees’ engagement and giving them tools to make them more engaged. In particular, companies are interested in appealing to millennials, many of whom are used to being constantly online and connected and who want to replicate this availability in the workplace.

How can your company create a culture of engagement? There are many soft factors that might help your workers feel more engaged:

  • Bring new employees on board and up to speed quickly.
  • Provide career coaching to employees and have check-in conversations about their career trajectory.
  • Help employees understand your company’s bigger picture and its short-term and long-term goals.
  • Be as transparent as possible when making decisions.
  • Make good hiring decisions; hire people who are competent and will integrate well with your current employees.
  • Give rewards for strong performances.

Engagement via Intranet

Your company’s intranet can be a catalyst to help achieve higher employee engagement. A good intranet will provide a unified platform, a one-stop shop for all collaboration inside your organization. Your intranet should be a conduit for communication and learning, where you can read news, make comments, post documents and inform others about your activities.

A good intranet also provides your employees with flexibility, which is one of the key factors of engagement. The more flexible employees’ working conditions, the more engaged people are. Your intranet should enable your employees to work remotely, from anywhere and at any time.

Your intranet needs to support bilateral feedback, rather than unilateral posting and consuming. When people are able to react to what they see by commenting, liking and rating, their engagement levels rise. A good intranet should also increase transparency, giving people insight into the decisions being made and perhaps giving them a voice in the process.

Above all, this generation of intranet is focused on the social experience of users. Over the past few years, the award-winning intranets have been those with strong social, interactive components that were essential to the user experience.

Final Thought

Companies can increase engagement for their employees by focusing on three goals for their intranet:

  • Learning and sharing knowledge
  • Planning and collaborating
  • Doing work

By making your intranet a powerful, well-designed hub for all three of these activities, your workers will be more efficient and more engaged, reaping benefits for your bottom line.

Topics: Uncategorized
Daniel Cohen-Dumani

Daniel Cohen-Dumani a Partner and Market Leader of Microsoft Solutions and Services at Withum. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of computer science and software development. He is a frequent speaker at SharePoint conferences and user groups, and a recognized SharePoint and Office 365 subject matter expert.