See how a financial services company revamped their internal communications by moving from SharePoint to ThoughtFarmer, boosting efficiency, employee engagement, and building a stronger company culture. Background DUCA Financial Services Credit Union, a leading financial institution in Ontario, Canada, is dedicated to delivering top-tier financial services to its members. Established in 1954, DUCA has grown from a single branch credit union in Toronto to an organization with 19 branches across Southern Ontario, serving over 93,000 members. With a commitment to excellence in member service and deep-rooted community involvement, DUCA continually strives to enhance its operations and overall member experience. Over time, the complexity of DUCA’s internal communications grew. With employees spread across branches and a hybrid workforce of both in-office and remote workers, maintaining cohesive and efficient communications became increasingly difficult. When a SharePoint intranet misses the mark Before transitioning to ThoughtFarmer, DUCA relied on SharePoint for their intranet needs. While functional, SharePoint proved to be cumbersome, costly to update and maintain, and not user-friendly. The SharePoint intranet was plagued by a siloed and complex upload process, making content sharing time-consuming and resource heavy . Different departments needed individual updates, which often bogged down the communications team with requests, slowing overall productivity and efficiency. We found our previous intranet solution to be a real thorn in our side. It was difficult to use and manage. We had to do everything individually for each team leading to a lot of inefficiencies and frustration,” explained Katrina Ferro-Longo, Manager of Employee Communications and Events at DUCA. With its cumbersome interface and lack of interactivity such as commenting, liking, and recognition, SharePoint also hindered the creation of a connected culture. ThoughtFarmer intranet on point DUCA, with a strong focus on company culture, community involvement, and member satisfaction, sought to improve internal communications and boost employee engagement. This led them to search for a more engaging and user-friendly intranet solution. Their journey to replace SharePoint led DUCA to ThoughtFarmer, an intranet platform known for its intuitive design and robust feature set that’s built to centralize knowledge, streamline communications, and build company culture. The impact of their new intranet was immediate. After years of SharePoint, DUCA experienced: Clean and organized interface: ThoughtFarmer provided a visually appealing and intuitive layout, making it easy for employees to navigate and search. Ease of content management: ThoughtFarmer allowed for quick and easy content creation and updates, reducing dependency on the communications team, and speeding up the delivery of time sensitive information. Interactive capabilities: ThoughtFarmer enabled employees to like, comment, and interact with posts, leading to a more engaged and collaborative environment. Enhanced company culture: ThoughtFarmer’s interactive features, such as liking, commenting, replying, and sharing posts, built a sense of community and collaboration, helping DUCA build a more connected and inclusive workplace culture. DUCA’s transition from SharePoint to ThoughtFarmer marked a significant shift in how they managed, maintained, and interacted with their intranet. Improved efficiency Before ThoughtFarmer, the DUCA team often struggled with SharePoint’s usability. Uploading documents, managing updates, and finding specific information took too long, particularly for branch employees who needed quick access to serve members effectively. ThoughtFarmer’s user-friendly interface and powerful search capabilities have drastically improved efficiency. Employees can now create and upload content on their own and find the information they need almost instantly. Enhanced engagement and culture With their new ThoughtFarmer intranet, DUCA has modernized the way teams interact with each other and with the company’s content. The ability to like, comment, reply and share posts has created a more interactive and engaging environment. For example, when the CEO posts an update, employees can now engage directly by leaving comments, replying to others, and receiving responses, creating a more open and transparent culture. This level of interaction was impossible with SharePoint, where content was static and lacked dynamic engagement. Effective recognition Employee recognition through ThoughtFarmer represented a significant shift in DUCA’s employee recognition program. Where recognition was often private and limited, ThoughtFarmer brought the ability to publicly acknowledge colleagues to the forefront. Everyone is encouraged to recognize their peers for embodying the company’s values. And now, this recognition is visible for everyone to see and celebrate, creating a culture of appreciation and positivity. This public acknowledgment not only boosts individual morale but also promotes the values and culture that DUCA strives for. Empowered employees By moving to a user-friendly and easy to manage intranet, DUCA has empowered their team and removed previous bottlenecks. With SharePoint, the communications team was often inundated with requests to upload and manage content. Now, with ThoughtFarmer, individual teams have the autonomy to handle their own content. This has freed up the communications team to focus on more strategic initiatives while giving employees a sense of ownership over their contributions. Better communication Good communication is key for any organization, especially in financial services where information changes rapidly. With ThoughtFarmer, DUCA was able to step up their game and deliver noticeable results. Important news and updates are now disseminated in real-time, with notifications ensuring no one misses critical information. An end-of-week newsletter, linking back to articles on the intranet, has replaced the overwhelming number of emails that used to clutter employees’ inboxes. This new streamlined approach ensures that information is centralized and easily accessible across the organization. Professional services made transitioning easy The transition to ThoughtFarmer was carefully planned and executed with expert support from ThoughtFarmer’s Professional Services team, including: Customized setup: The Professional Services team worked closely with DUCA to tailor the platform to their specific needs. This customization ensured that the intranet aligned perfectly with DUCA’s organizational structure, workflows, and strategic goals. Comprehensive training: ThoughtFarmer provided detailed training sessions tailored to different roles within DUCA. These sessions included live demonstrations, tutorials, and workshops, ensuring that all employees were well-prepared to use the new platform. Ongoing support: After the initial rollout, ThoughtFarmer continued to deliver exceptional support to the DUCA team. This included periodic refresher sessions, updates on new features, continuous technical support, and ongoing strategic input to ensure the new intranet remained effective, engaging, and up-to-date. “The ThoughtFarmer team was incredibly patient and professional,” said Katrina Ferro-Longo, Manager of Employee Communications and Events at DUCA. “They guided us through each step of the process and made sure we were comfortable with each step before moving on.” This thorough and collaborative implementation partnership was key to the successful launch of ThoughtFarmer at DUCA, setting the stage for improved efficiency, enhanced internal communication, and a growing company culture. Building culture and collaboration with ThoughtFarmer DUCA’s move to ThoughtFarmer has been a game changer, enhancing internal communications, employee engagement, and culture. The user-friendly platform has given all team members the ability to create and share timely content, improved workflows, and created a more connected and collaborative environment. With ThoughtFarmer’s fully integrated and intuitive search, DUCA has restored their team’s faith in search results and drastically reduced the time team members spend managing and searching for information. As DUCA continues to grow and evolve, ThoughtFarmer has quickly become a critical tool in supporting their strategic goals and maintaining a strong, unified company culture. “The improvements we’ve seen with ThoughtFarmer are remarkable. Our employees are more engaged, our communication is more effective, and the overall efficiency of our operations is so much better,” stated Katrina Ferro-Longo.