Social Intranets and Employee Engagement:

An HR Solution for Meaningful Morale Building

Download the white paper

Too often HR teams are tasked with improving employee engagement, but with only limited resources and support. Similarly, HR departments often have only small roles in intranet projects because these projects are seen as technical rather than strategic.

Low employee engagement is not a simple problem to fix. It requires lasting attention and shifting attitudes. Enter the social intranet.

A social intranet’s fundamental value is that it gives every employee a face and a voice. This shift in internal communications results in a show of respect and trust that can foster meaningful and lasting improvements in employee satisfaction. Summer picnics and annual recognition programs on their own don’t cut it, and will never offer the authentic and persistent value of a social intranet (what is a social intranet?).

Included in the white paper

• Research: Extensive references to research from Gallup, Aon Hewitt and other renowned organizations.
• Expert insights: Interviews with experts from the fields of employee engagement and HR, internal communications and social intranet design.
• Real-world examples: Stories from companies experienced with social intranets.
• Screenshots: Examples from several companies’ live social intranets.
• Best practices: A meaty list of best practices for implementing a social intranet aimed at improving employee engagement.

Download the white paper

Why this paper? Why now?

Over years of learning from our clients about their real-world experiences of launching and using social intranets, we’ve identified a clear pattern: One of the greatest benefits from a social intranet is increased employee engagement.

While increased employee engagement can be tough to measure, its value has become more and more fully researched, defined and proven. Now that companies like Gallup have long-term, quantitative data about the business benefits of highly engaged workforces, it’s time to officially recognize the marriage between social intranets and employee engagement.

However, our interest in the topic is personal and runs much deeper. At ThoughtFarmer, beyond fostering employee engagement because it helps people achieve more, we simply feel it’s the right thing to do. A respectful and caring workplace can enhance every aspect of employees’ lives, from their family time to their health and well-being.

We all strive to sustain a work-life balance and create an enriching work environment and, fortunately, the software we make helps to support that.

Download the white paper

Register now (free)

Webinar overview

Social intranets provide tools for dispersed teams to collaborate online, but without strong people management practices a team can’t get the full benefits.

In this webinar we’ll hear about the practical and honest rules of thumb for managing globally dispersed teams and then we’ll look at real-world examples of how teams can use social intranet features to collaborate effectively.

Presenter: Professor of international business

Presenting on the rules of thumb for effectively managing remote teams will be Dr. Kent Glenzer, Professor in Organizational Behavior and Development at the Monterey Institute for International Studies (MIIS).

Kent has spent several decades working in international development and nonprofit management, has travelled and lived globally and most recently was the Director of Learning, Evaluation and Accountability at Oxfam America, an international nonprofit focused on finding lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and social injustice.

You can connect with Kent on LinkedIn.

Co-host: International facilitation expert

This webinar will be co-hosted by Nancy White, a consultant to businesses and international nonprofits and co-author of the book “Digital Habits: Stewarding Technology for Communities.” Nancy brings a critical perspective based on her extensive experience as a facilitator for both online and in-person groups around the world.

Nancy is a “technology steward, designer and builder of online interaction spaces (events, teams, learning groups)” with extensive work with “web 2.0” tools. She specializes in facilitation of distributed work, learning and community groups (presenter, writer, teacher, coach, facilitator, rapporteur).

You can connect with Nancy on Twitter.

Register now (free)

This is a special addition to our regular Social Intranet Summit Webinar series, which usually takes place the third Wednesday of each month at 10:00am Pacific. Sign up for our newsletter to hear about future webinars.

The winners were unveiled at the 2011 Social Intranet Summit. Today, we’re pleased to announce the winners to the world.

Best-looking intranet

Winner: WATG, Newport Beach, California

Who they are: Renowned destination design firm WATG has designed some of the world’s most famous hotels and resorts, from The Atlantis in the Bahamas to the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Why they won: Just like their projects, WATG’s ThoughtFarmer installation is well-designed. It employs a neat, minimalist aesthetic that complements the stunning photography.

Honorable Mention: Fortis Business Media, Nashville, Tennessee

Who they are: Fortis produces newsletters, videos, software, books, and directories to attorneys, human resources professionals, and other business executives.

Why they won: The name of Fortis’s intranet, “The Pub”, rolls right off the tongue so that users have incorporated its usage into the office vernacular — and it’s also a play on their core business of publishing. The look and feel is comfortable and inviting, taking design cues from an old English pub.

Most Innovative intranet

Winner: KWL Consulting Engineers, Vancouver, Canada

Who they are: Kerr Wood Leidal specializes in water engineering for municipal infrastructure and resource development. They are employee-owned and strive to maintain an open, collaborative environment.

Why they won: Like many firms, KWL periodically refreshes the mobile phones of employees. Using ThoughtFarmer, they held an open auction for dozens of smart phones and raised money for charity. They created a page for each phone, then let employees submit their bids by using ThoughtFarmer’s commenting features. The highest bid submitted before the deadline was the winner. In the words of Jonathan Funk, the intranet project manager, “In the end, we found a great new way to use our ThoughtFarmer intranet and raised $4230 for the Ronald McDonald House charity.”

Honorable Mention: Farm Bureau Bank, San Antonio, TX

Who they are: Farm Bureau Bank offers its banking services to members of the Farm Bureau, a U.S.-wide organization that strives to build strong, prosperous agricultural communities.

Why they won: Farm Bureau Bank created a “Shout-Outs” section on their ThoughtFarmer intranet. It’s a place where employees can publicly thank (or “shout-out”) a fellow employee or even a department for assisting with work-related issues. This kind of public recognition enhances employee engagement, which is a critical function of FBB’s ThoughtFarmer intranet.

Best Collaboration on an intranet

Winner: ACRONYM Games, Burnaby, BC, Canada

Who they are: ACRONYM Games in Vancouver designs popular video game titles like Family Guy Online, Wipeout The Game, and Monkey Island.

Why they won: Prior to publishing a game, ACRONYM does “smut and copyright reviews” to make sure the game’s assets comply with the appropriate standards. Prior to ThoughtFarmer, they were forced to do this via lengthy and confusing email chains. Now it’s done entirely in ThoughtFarmer using image galleries, commenting and version control.

Honorable Mention: Design Continuum, Boston, MA

Who they are: Continuum is a global design innovation firm. They design services, brand experiences and products. Some of their best-known innovations include the Reebok Pump, the Swiffer Sweeper and Pampers Pull-ups.

Why they won: Continuum has made extensive use of ThoughtFarmer’s custom profile fields to help them locate experts. Their employee profiles capture employees’ skills and attributes, from visas held to languages spoken to social style. According to Brendan Mullen, Continuum’s IT Director, “If I’m looking for a French-speaking PHP expert with a current visa for China, I can do that with a few clicks. In an organization with offices on 3 continents, that’s huge.”

Winner of the iPad Draw

All entrants were automatically entered in a draw for a new iPad 2. We were amused that the name we drew meant that our shipping charge would be almost as much as the iPad itself! Congratulations to our client DFDL Mekong in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Look for the next ThoughtFarmer Best Intranet Competition in late 2012!

On Wednesday, February 1st at 8:30 AM Pacific / 11:30 AM Eastern join ThoughtFarmer Analytics Lead Bryan Robertson for the webinar.

Gathering good web analytics can be tough, especially  for social intranets. Intranet Statistics, an intranet-specific web analytics package developed by the team in Vancouver, comes with every installation of ThoughtFarmer and provides highly detailed data about intranet usage.

In this webinar learn how to select the right data, assess it in the right way, and go from being a “reporting squirrel” to an “analysis ninja.”

• Topic: Using Intranet Statistics to Improve Your ThoughtFarmer Intranet
• Time: Wed, Feb 1st, 8:30am Pacific / 11:30am Eastern / 4:30pm UK
• Length: 45 minutes
• Host: Chris McGrath, ThoughtFarmer Co-Founder
  
• Presenter: Bryan Robertson, Analytics Lead
• Registration link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/951185760

Register now (free)

You can view a video of last month’s Client Webinar, “Using the ThoughtFarmer Integration Kit (TIK)”, on the ThoughtFarmer Helpdesk website. The ThoughtFarmer Client Webinar series is the first Wednesday of each month.

Did you miss the webinar? No problem – we have a full recording.

In this webinar Andy Jankowski, Founder of Enterprise Strategies and Global Director at the Intranet Benchmarking Forum (IBF), combines current Positive Psychology research with his many years of experience working with intranets to explore the link between intranets and employee happiness.

Andy’s presentation was inspired by Tony Hsieh’s best selling Delivering Happiness Book and Jenn Lim’s groundbreaking Delivering Happiness Movement, and is a live repeat of his popular session from the 2011 Social Intranet Summit.

Follow ThoughtFarmer on Twitter or subscribe to our newsletter to learn about upcoming webinars, white papers and other nifty material on social intranets and employee engagement.

[sniplet marketing]

Andy’s presentation is a live repeat of his popular session from the 2011 Social Intranet Summit.

Extract of the presentation

Inspired by Tony Hsieh’s best selling, Delivering Happiness Book and Jenn Lim’s groundbreaking Delivering Happiness Movement, Andy combines current Positive Psychology research with his many years of experience working with intranets to explore the link between intranets and employee happiness.

Register now (free)

Hear about Andy’s presentation topic in his own words:

For a little more info about the webinar see the slideshow from Andy’s presentation at the Social Intranet Summit:

The Social Intranet Summit Webinar series is every third Wednesday of each month at 10:00am Pacific. Sign up for our newsletter to hear about future webinars.

Listen to Shel Holtz’s podcast on content curation for internal and external audiences.

We do apologize for not having the webinar recording as promised. We are working diligently to address the issue that ruined the audio recording for this webinar so we can ensure all our future webinars are recorded and available after the shows.

Upcoming webinars & events

Follow ThoughtFarmer on Twitter to hear about upcoming webinars, case studies and other social intranet material, including the upcoming January 18th webinar with Andy Jankowski on The Science Linking Intranets to Happiness.

The webinars with Shel and Andy are part of our Social Intranet Summit Webinar series: The third Wednesday of every month we provide an online live repeat of a session from the 2011 Social Intranet Summit in Vancouver (SISV).

On Tuesday, December 13th at 10:00 AM Pacific join ThoughtFarmer and Shel Holtz, Principal of Holtz Communication + Technology, for a truly helpful webinar: Surviving your intranet’s content crisis: content curation on the social intranet.

Shel’s presentation is a live repeat of his keynote speech from the 2011 Social Intranet Summit.

Extract of the presentation:

There’s no shortage of talk about content curation on the web, but it has a place on your intranet, as well. With search functions suffering on many intranets, well curated content can make a huge difference in the value of the intranet. Employees who take the time to curate both internal and external content based on topics they care about can make it easier for their colleagues to find great content, spark more collaboration, and drive use of other internal social tools. In this session, Shel Holtz will dig into the content curation trend and explore some ways it can be applied to internal communications and employees’ day-to-day online activities.

Register now (free)

The Social Intranet Summit Webinar series is every third Wednesday of each month at 10:00am Pacific (this particular webinar is a slight exception to this recurring schedule).

Jeff Pennal, ThoughtFarmer Software Developer

ThoughtFarmer clients are getting excited about the new possibilities offered by the ThoughtFarmer Integration Kit (TIK), our new advanced suite of customization tools that allows even more ways to extend your intranet’s functionality. This month’s Client Webinar will provide a detailed look at how the TIK is set up and how to use it: Using the ThoughtFarmer Integration Kit (TIK).

On Wednesday, December 7th at 10:00 AM Pacific / 1:00 PM Eastern join ThoughtFarmer Software Developer Jeff Pennal for the webinar.

The TIK allows intranet managers to move information into and out of ThoughtFarmer, enhance ThoughtFarmer with new functionality by embedding your code into page templates, create dashboards showing content from external systems, provide single-sign on to services that provide a remote authentication API, and more.

• Topic: Using the ThoughtFarmer Integration Kit (TIK)
• Time: Wed Dec 7th, 10:00am Pacific / 1:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm UK
• Length: 45 minutes
• Host: Chris McGrath, ThoughtFarmer Co-Founder
  
• Presenter: Jeff Pennal, Software Developer
• Registration link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/638109041

Register now (free)

See this short video demo to get a sense of the opportunities for integration that the TIK offers:

Last month’s Client Webinar, “Getting the Most Out of ThoughtFarmer 5.0”, is now available online. The ThoughtFarmer Client Webinar series is the first Wednesday of each month.

Deane Barker

This Wednesday, November 16th, at 10:00am Pacific, join ThoughtFarmer and Deane Barker, Content Management Practice Director at Blend Interactive, for an insightful webinar: Overcoming the Fear: What C-Level Execs are Afraid of When it Comes to Social Intranets.

Deane’s presentation is a live repeat of his session (one of the most highly rated) from the 2011 Social Intranet Summit.

Extract of the presentation

Let’s face it, the biggest hurdle to overcome with a social intranet is often pure fear. The C-level can be hopelessly gunshy about employees displaying the slightest about of intranet-sanctioned social humanity. The idea of a social network behind the firewall wakes them up in a cold sweat at night. Where did this fear come from? And can it be overcome?

Register now

Hear about Deane’s presentation topic in his own words:

For a little more info about the webinar see the slideshow from Deane’s presentation at the Social Intranet Summit: