Building a business-critical intranet that drives results company-wide

For many organizations, the intranet is an afterthought, a nice-to-have tool for sharing announcements or photos from the latest office party.

But for forward-thinking companies like Florida Capital Bank, the intranet has become something much more powerful: a business-critical system that connects every employee, streamlines communication, and saves time across every department.

We hosted a webinar featuring an intranet success story where Corinne Kirtland, Account Executive at ThoughtFarmer, and Anita Speck, Managing Director of Marketing at Florida Capital Bank, shared how ThoughtFarmer helped to transform the way the bank’s employees access information, communicate, and collaborate — all through their new intranet, The HUB.

The full webinar recording can be viewed here, or you can check out the summary below.

Why modern intranets are business-critical

Companies often underestimate the role of their intranet. 

When an organization lacks a modern effective intranet, three common pain points tend to emerge:

1. Change management chaos

Policies and processes are constantly evolving, but without a centralized place to track updates, employees waste time asking, “Where’s the latest version?” or “Who changed this policy?”

2. Knowledge buried in emails and shared drives

Without a single source of truth, employees dig through inboxes, outdated folders, or desktop files labeled “final version_v3.” This not only drains productivity but also increases the risk of using incorrect information.

3. Miscommunication and information overload

When information flows from every direction — emails, chats, meetings, and shared drives — it’s easy for messages to get crossed or missed entirely. 

A well-built intranet eliminates these problems by giving every employee a clear, searchable space for the knowledge and tools they need to do their jobs.

Why SharePoint often falls short as an intranet

SharePoint is often mistaken for an intranet platform, but it was designed as a document management and storage tool, not a communication or engagement hub.

While it can store and share documents, turning it into a true communication hub often introduces new challenges. The biggest challenges include:

• Complex to build and maintain. Creating an intranet on SharePoint requires specialized technical skills, and publishing content often depends on IT.
  
• Content buried in folders. Information gets lost in deep folder structures, making it difficult for employees to find what they need quickly.
  
• Siloed sites and disconnected tools. Teams create their own spaces, leading to multiple versions of the truth and inconsistent information.
  
• Hidden costs add up. Although it appears free, customization and maintenance can cost up to eight times more than expected once you factor in consulting and admin hours.

This iceberg graphic drives the point home: license fees are just the tip. Below the surface lie implementation, consulting, and maintenance costs that make “free” anything but.

A more practical alternative is to consider out-of-the-box intranet solutions that require minimal IT resources, empower content owners, and deliver faster time to value

The risk of status quo and not investing in an intranet

Intranets aren’t just fun for birthdays or shoutouts. They’re mission critical to business success.

When companies delay building or upgrading their intranet, the impact ripples across every department:

• Executives are challenged with ensuring employee alignment on strategy and lack visibility into whether communications are read.
  
• HR struggles with paper-based onboarding and benefits processes.
  
• IT spends time maintaining shared drives instead of focusing on strategy.
  
• Frontline teams make costly errors because they can’t find the right information.
  
• Internal communications teams can’t track who’s actually reading their updates.
  

Florida Capital Bank’s challenges

For Florida Capital Bank, communication and consistency had become major challenges.

“Structurally, we were almost two different companies,” said Anita. “We had a mortgage division and a bank division, but we needed to work together.”

As remote work expanded, silos grew deeper. Employees struggled to find policies or forms. Announcements were getting lost in email. Even with Microsoft 365, there was no true central source of truth.

Their old intranet made things worse. It was outdated, required IT involvement for every update, and even relied on a paper phone directory. 

“It would take weeks to get anything updated from IT,” Anita recalled. “People started making their own paper directories just to get by.”

The marketing team decided to lead the change. They needed something out-of-the-box, easy to manage, and fast to implement.

Finding the right intranet solution

Anita’s search for a new intranet started the way most searches do — with Google. After comparing seven platforms, the team narrowed it down to two finalists.

What led Anita to choose ThoughtFarmer was the team and their responsiveness. “Corinne really heard all our pain points. Within seven working days, she had a sandbox demo ready for us to try,” said Anita. 

Getting a hands-on trial site made all the difference. “Salespeople can always oversell stuff,” Anita explained. “But being able to go in, touch it, and see how easy it was to brand and make updates — that sold me.”

The HUB was implemented in just 8–10 weeks, with a small committee consisting of Anita, the IT Director, and the Technology Strategist Director. “ThoughtFarmer’s team kept us on track every step of the way,” Anita said. “They felt like part of our team, not just a vendor.”

The HUB: Where connection meets efficiency

When The HUB launched, it became an instant success across the company.

1. A single source of truth

All forms, policies, and procedures are stored in one place, saving employees hours of searching.  Branches now have a single source for everything they need, and the quick links section on the homepage is everyone’s favorite.

2. Better communication, fewer emails

Instead of sending company-wide emails, departments post announcements directly to The HUB. They  reduced the number of emails drastically. It’s the main source of truth for communication now.

3. Streamlined processes

Florida Capital Bank moved supply and business card requests into online forms. It keeps a log of who ordered what and when and eliminates ‘Did you get my email?’ confusion.

4. Empowered HR

HR can now broadcast required documents and track who’s read and signed them. They can pull reports on who’s completed the reading, making compliance so much easier.

5. Stronger branding and marketing alignment

The HUB houses all brand assets, logos, and guidelines, eliminating repetitive logo requests. It’s self-serve now, so everyone knows where to find what they need and that they’re using the right version.

6. Engagement that drives connection

While The HUB focuses on productivity, it also celebrates culture. Employees use polls, shoutouts, and even a pet gallery to stay connected, striking a nice balance between business-critical and community. 

The results

Since launching The HUB, Florida Capital Bank has seen measurable improvements across departments:

• Employees save time daily by finding what they need faster.
  
• Communication is clearer, and engagement has increased.
  
• HR workflows are faster and more auditable.
  
• The marketing team spends less time fielding requests and more time on strategic initiatives.
  
• Company-wide morale has improved through visibility and recognition.
  

Lots of information at my fingertips. No more hunting on network folders within folders” — Florida Capital Bank employee

“The HUB has helped us work as one company,” Anita said. “Our mortgage and bank teams now understand what each other are doing, and it’s made a huge difference in alignment and connection.”

Lessons learned from Florida Capital Bank

Anita shared key advice for any organization planning a new intranet project:

1. Decide who will own it. “Determine who’s going to manage it,” Anita said. “It shouldn’t just sit in IT. We lead it from marketing, and that’s made all the difference.”
   
2. Build for the user. “Don’t build it because it’s functional for you. Build it for how your employees are going to use it.”
   
3. Choose the right partner. “We saw ThoughtFarmer as a true partner, not a vendor. Their support team felt like an extension of our marketing team.”
   
4. Keep it fresh. Regular updates, polls, and posts ensure that The HUB stays relevant and widely used.
   

Building an intranet that drives results

Florida Capital Bank’s story shows what’s possible when an intranet becomes the backbone of communication and collaboration.

A business-critical intranet doesn’t just connect employees , it connects strategy, information, and culture. 

If your intranet feels outdated or underused, it might be time to reimagine what it can do for your business. 

Ready to see what a modern intranet can look like for your workplace? Book a ThoughtFarmer demo and you can get a free trial site to see just how easy it is to use.