The 2021 award-winning intranet storybook - INTx Inspiring stories from the winners of this year's Interact Excellence Awards - Ragan Communications
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The 2021 award-winning
intranet storybook
Inspiring stories from the winners of this
year’s Interact Excellence Awards
INTx
AWARDS
2021
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Contents
The Nominees 6 Best Stakeholder 40
Meet the Judges 8 Winner – Home-Start 42
Best UX 11 Highly Commended – Easterseals Southern California 44
Winner – British Red Cross 12 Highly Commended – Medvivo 45
Highly Commended – Indeed 14 Best Offline Worker Strategy 47
Highly Commended – The NBA 15 Winner – Servpro Industries Inc 48
Best Intranet Launch 16 Highly Commended – Medvivo 50
Winner – UK HealthCare 18 Highly Commended – Sheetz 51
Highly Commended – The NBA 20 Best DE&I strategy 52
Highly Commended – Checkmarx 21 Winner – AllianceBernstein 54
Best Essential Intranet 23 Highly Commended – AMS 56
Winner – Servpro Industries Inc 24 Highly Commended – Priory Group 57
Highly Commended – iRhythm Technologies Inc 26 Best crisis comms 59
Highly Commended – Co-operative Bank 27 Winner – Sheetz 60
Best Success Story 28 Highly Commended – Servpro Industries Inc 62
Winner – British Red Cross 30 Highly Commended – Your Housing Group 63
Highly Commended – Servpro Industries Inc 32 Judges’ Awards for Innovation 64
Highly Commended – Easterseals Southern California 33 Indeed 66
Best Use of Digital Media 35 Queens Cross Housing 68
Winner – Your Housing Group 36 Happy Money Inc 69
Highly Commended – IIE - Institute of International Education 38 Conclusion 70
Highly Commended – UK HealthCare 39 About Interact 71
2 3
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
The 2021 Interact
Excellence Awards
From the vantage point that mid-way through 2021 allows,
we can reflect on the incredible achievements we’ve made as
communicators and business leaders over the past twelve months.
Through unprecedented turbulence, and their stories hold valuable
we have seen organizations insights and lessons that will shape
galvanized by their digital workplace, future strategy: and have, no doubt,
and by the tools and tech that allow supported those organizations in
them business continuity in the adjusting and managing the change.
midst of such global chaos. Trends including mobile and
accessibility, digestible content
The disruption, changes, and formats, organizational restructuring,
innovations made over the past year increased remote working, and the
are reflected in the following entries: aggregation of tools and knowledge,
stories that showcase the very best in are being forcibly pushed through
human endeavor, determination, and at speed to support productivity and
perseverance. And, what stands out ensure long-term survival.
above everything is our fundamental However, one thing is clear: the with the help of intranet software.
need to connect with one another, As we find some way of living safely digital workplace has never been Let me take this opportunity to
regardless of location or restrictions. amid the virus, questions surround more critical. As a crucial link recognize those in the driving seat
the future of work, the new normal between employee and organization, of delivering that response: the key
This year’s entries were submitted and the role of our bricks and mortar intranets are now at the forefront of players at the forefront of digital
in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, offices. digital workplace strategy and being workplace innovation.
tested like never before.
This is a celebration of the
The following stories demonstrate indomitable spirit displayed in
success in all forms: from global businesses across the world, and
corporations to smaller scale non- should act as inspiration to push
profits, all finding a way to provide our digital workplace plans and
support, communication and a ambitions to the next stage.
driving force in such uncertainty
Kris Morrison
VP, Customer Success, Interact
4 5
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
The Nominees
6 7
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Meet the Judges Amrit Nijjar Steve Crescenzo
United States
As an Inclusion and Belonging Manager, Through his work as a consultant, writer,
Amrit believes if people have a true sense of speaker, and seminar leader, Steve has
Entries to the 2021 Interact Excellence Awards were assessed
belonging, they will truly excel in their roles. been voted the #1-rated speaker at the
by our seven-strong panel of global intranet, communications, International Association of Business
and diversity experts. Previously an award-winning engagement Communicators World Conference seven
and communications professional with over times.
Bringing a wealth of experience and We are proud to present their 15 years of experience, Amrit helps embed
insight to the table, our panel has recommendations and feedback, Inclusion and Diversity action plans within With his wife and business partner, Cindy
independently evaluated and scored collectively identifying those her company. Crescenzo, he teaches the popular workshop,
each entry to determine those who organizations that stand at the Internal Communications Masterclass.
exemplify the best in their category. forefront of internal communications.
Simon Dance
United Kingdom
As the CEO of Interact, Simon has a long
Cindy Crescenzo Andrew Marr history of working within the content
United States technology arena.
Cindy Crescenzo is the President of Andrew is a consultant with ClearBox With a reputation of spearheading
Crescenzo Communications and brings Consulting, reviewing numerous SharePoint innovation and driving change inside
over twenty years of experience to the and non-SharePoint-based intranet products Interact, Simon’s approach is key in creating
communications industry. in ClearBox’s industry-leading reports. ongoing enhancements and solutions to
help communicators inform and connect
Cindy has worked with hundreds of Before joining ClearBox, Andrew worked their greatest asset: their people.
communicators around the world, including with organizations that include AkzoNobel,
3M, Bayer, Lockheed Martin, Target, and Barclays, Financial Times, and Shell as a
Wells Fargo. freelance consultant.
Andrew Wright Rohini Mukherji
Australia
Andrew Wright is the founder of the Rohini is a seasoned integrated
Worldwide Intranet Challenge (WIC), communications expert with fifteen years’
the world’s largest intranet and digital experience in Canada and China.
workplace end-user satisfaction study.
Rohini is the co-host of a podcast
An intranet and digital workplace called ABCDEI, focused on diversity, equity
consultant for over fifteen years, Andrew and inclusion. Rohini is also the marketing
has completed projects for organizations of chair of the Canadian Public Relations
all shapes and sizes from all industries. Society Foundation.
8 9
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best User
Experience
A great and innovative UX can be the difference between
a successful intranet and a failure. Organizations that take
pride in their intranet’s design often have a strong handle on
their brand identity and permeate this ideology throughout
the platform.
User experience influenced design employee that uses the intranet.
is a reflection of the overall business A frictionless process, that
strategy. Intranets can use UX to encourages usability and
become a central touchpoint for how functionality, is essential. It must
employees interact with each other also reflect the interface design and
and how they represent the business. brand. For a UX to be successful,
it must consider the user journey,
A successful UX encompasses the and make it simple to access content
end-to-end interaction of every and other information.
10 11
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
The Result
Best UX: Winner
1 st
British Red Cross The team started a project to solve these issues and make sure their
intranet supports people to be effective, efficient and do their job well.
They made some fundamental changes to the set up and pages within
Who is the British Red Cross? RedRoom:
The UK body of worldwide have been responding to people in
1500+ out of date pages removed
humanitarian network, the British crisis for almost 150 years. In 2020,
Red Cross, was founded in 1870. the British Red Cross turned 150 years
14 unused team sites removed
Currently they have 4000 staff old, and they relaunched ‘RedRoom’,
and 10,000 volunteers, and the team their intranet. 100+ unviewed pages removed
What did the British Red Cross do?
Staff feedback was incredibly positive and overall usage of the intranet
Since RedRoom was launched in 2015 2. Information was complicated skyrocketed after RedRoom was relaunched. Their new look includes a more
the British Red Cross has changed and and used lengthy language user-friendly homepage, improved search functionality, an application bar
evolved, with competing priorities. The British Red Cross realized and a new mega menu.
Shrinking resource meant that they weren’t talking to the user,
this once key channel had become rather they were writing content
“
unfocused, difficult to navigate and in a way that was difficult to
no longer met user needs. understand. The project was user focused from the outset, having
identified the three key issues stopping people having
This needed to change. Internally, 3. There was a one-size-fits-all a good experience. There’s good evidence they put user
they identified three key issues that approach and didn’t use data to needs first with a simple approach “every page to help
were stopping users from having target content or help people
staff and volunteers complete the task they need to do, in
a good experience: navigate
There needed to be better design the most straightforward way possible”. This is really the
1. Navigation was based on how decisions based on data and user only entry that seems to have taken a serious approach
the organization works, not targeting. to user-centered design and therefore create a UX that
what users need works for employees.
Different teams took different
approaches and navigation was Andrew Marr - Clearbox
based on directorate and team
structures rather than user logic.
It didn’t focus on tasks that people
needed to complete, which made
it bulky.
12 13
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best UX: Highly Commended Best UX: Highly Commended
Indeed The NBA
Who is Indeed? Who is the NBA?
Launched in November 2004, Indeed countries. It is co-headquartered The NBA is a global sports and Basketball Association, NBA
is the world’s number one job site, in Austin, Texas and Stamford, media business built around G League and NBA 2K League.
with over 250 million unique visitors Connecticut with additional offices four professional sports Its programming is available in 215
every month from over 60 different around the world. leagues: the National Basketball countries and territories in more than
Association, Women’s National 50 languages.
What did Indeed do?
What did the NBA do?
In an ongoing commitment aligned what was not needed. After filtering
more closely with the Indeed values, through 38,000+ blog posts, The NBA’s employee intranet, out overhaul. Home Court was
the organization wanted to make microblog posts, pages, and forum Home Court, was originally created redesigned in step with the NBA’s
its intranet name more inclusive. questions, the content was migrated on SharePoint. There were many Visual Identity Guidelines, giving
Indeed’s internal technologies needed into a structure that was backed by limitations to this process. After birth to a refreshed look and feel.
to meet the needs of a rapidly growing proper UX. the NBA refreshed its visual identity The new UX showcased the NBA
global company. in the summer of 2017, it became brand and was much more visually
The UX was reviewed and improved clear that Home Court was also due appealing.
The team set about on an intranet through tree testing by employees not only for refresh, but an inside-
audit, migrating their content to representing all functions.
new intranet ‘Huddle’, and removed
The result
With the full support of the The team gathered feedback via
The result
organization, the NBA sent emails, surveys and set up Home Court “tech
Early feedback post-launch has Now, they measure several KPIs on a hosted site scavenger hunts and led tables” at company gatherings.
been very positive. Huddle has won monthly basis to continue to improve “lunch and learn” tutorials.
plaudits for both user experience and the platform:
usefulness to working life at Indeed.
Active users User satisfaction
Profile completion Search terms and best bets
News content views
14 15
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Intranet
Launch
One of the first challenges an intranet team faces
is launching and embedding a new intranet into the
culture of the organization.
Each organization will have its own However, the endgame of all these
approach to launching their intranet, different launches will be the same.
depending on the vision, strategy and A successful launch will ensure users:
culture of the workplace.
Are excited and engaged
Are informed about what is happening, and when
Understand the value of the intranet
Know what the intranet can be used for, and how it will impact and improve
their day-to-day roles
Adopt and continue to engage with the intranet from day one, and beyond
The Best Intranet Launch Award successfully over the past year has
celebrates those intranet projects that required overcoming even more
have created a considered, strategic challenges, as businesses adapt to
approach. Launching an intranet new ways of working.
16 17
Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
The Result
Best Launch: Winner
1 st
UK HealthCare Thanks to the hard work put into
promoting the system, feedback
of the employee engagement results
are still ongoing but performance
from the launch was overwhelmingly metrics look very positive.
positive. In particular, employees
pinpointed the treasure hunt as a While The Loop was a minimal viable
Who is UK HealthCare?
particularly effective introduction product launch, the team are excited
Established in 1957, the medical center With more than 50 research centers to The Loop. to build more features on the platform
at University of Kentucky is one of and institutes, UK researchers
and for it to become an essential part
the US’s finest academic medical are discovering new knowledge,
In terms of objectives, the team of life at UK HealthCare.
centers and includes the University’s providing a rich training ground
exceeded their goals in the first six
clinical enterprise, UK HealthCare. for current students and the next
months of the launch. Their tracking
generation of researchers.
“
Well done on a comprehensive and measurable launch
What did UK HealthCare do?
strategy. The targeted delivery of communication,
While an in-person launch of the A treasure hunt was launched within
including the identification of content builders as a key
intranet, The Loop, was going to be the intranet that included the chance
impossible with COVID restrictions, to win prizes. The rules of the hunt audience , was the key tactic that won my vote.
the team decided to create a multi- involved completing mandatory Andrew Wright - Founder - Worldwide Intranet Challenge (WIC)
faceted virtual launch. reads, filling out personal profiles,
and sharing an intranet page with
This involved: a colleague.
Weekly e-newsletter These little tasks enabled employees
to explore the infrastructure and
Staffed tables distributing
functionality of The Loop in an
giveaways
engaging, gamified way.
Digital signage
Email blasts
Flyers and posters
Poscards to employes’ homes
Videos
18 19Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Launch: Highly Commended Best Launch: Highly Commended
The NBA Checkmarx
Who is the NBA? Who is Checkmarx?
The NBA is a global sports and Association, NBA G League and Checkmarx is a cyber security doubling in employee size in one
media business built around four NBA 2K League. Their programming company launched in 2006. year – Checkmarx decided that
professional sports leagues: the is available in 215 countries and Checkmarx is known for reliability investment in a new comms platform
National Basketball Association, territories in more than 50 languages. and trust in the cyber security world. was necessary to keep up with its
Women’s National Basketball With a large recent growth – nearly expansion.
What did the NBA do? What did Checkmarx do?
Since 2013, the NBA’s employee NBA. The NBA relaunched Home The build up to the launch of the The second week saw a Where’s
intranet, Home Court, lived on Court in July 2019 on a brand-new intranet CheckIN was a carefully Waldo game where users were
SharePoint. Senior level leaders platform with overhauled navigation, orchestrated event. A schedule of encouraged to find gamer phrases
announced the new site and its an updated look, vastly improved emails and a video were created to hidden throughout the system. This
enhancements, demonstrating it search – and the ability to log in from build awareness and anticipation. provided a fun, engaging introduction
was supported by every level of the anywhere, anytime. to the new site.
Each email introduced a new section
of the site, providing digestible
The result
information for the user.
The launch of the new site has been a But the team know there is a lot
success, with high engagement levels more to come and, buoyed by these
The result
among all staff. initial achievements, look forward to
developing Home Court further. Analytics give a clear indicator of The team are now focusing on
The first batch of metrics exceeded the success of this carefully planned a peer-to-peer recognition system,
expectations, and these rates have launch. Active user percentages are a market place for employees to resell
maintained since. exceeding expectations, and high items locally, and other community
engagement rates indicated ongoing pages to connect employees further.
usage of CheckIN.
20 21Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Essential
Intranet
For an intranet to be successful, it needs to be fully embedded
into the heart of the organization. From its launch, the intranet
team and stakeholders need to work hard to make it an
essential, critical part of the daily running of the business.
For an intranet to really “work” Those organizations which explore
within an organization, it needs to the functionality of their intranet
be regarded as the first port of call system to the limits are what the
for anyone seeking information Essential Intranet Award celebrates.
on business challenges, processes, Businesses who have turned their
protocol, and information. For this system into a means of addressing
to happen, there is a need for a blend business-critical problems, driving
of functionality that will align with change or innovation, and supporting
business objectives. top-level business objectives.
This ultimately improves how the
An intranet should offer the organization serves its customers,
communication, collaboration clients, or beneficiaries.
and business process tools that
support and aid employees and their
work. This will, of course, differ
from business to business. And its
functionality will also evolve and
change, just as the organization
develops over time.
22 23Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Essential Intranet: Winner The result
1 st
ServPro Industries Inc From launching a new line of business have access. During Convention,
in just weeks to hosting a week-long SERVPRONET saw record traffic,
Convention virtually, Servpro pushed and the feedback received from
the limits of their intranet. In 2020, franchisees was phenomenal. More
the sharp increase on site visits and than 98% of franchises participated
Who is Servpro Industries Inc?
page views demonstrate the success in the virtual event.
Servpro Industries Inc are an teammates. Servpro specialize in fire of this hard work.
emergency response company with and water clean-up and restoration, While COVID restrictions forced the
over 1,900 franchises across the providing localized services as well They were able to reach a much larger organization to live stream these
United States and Canada. They have as large scale disaster recovery. audience by hosting the Convention events, it has been so successful, that
over 15,000 franchise and corporate event on SERVPRONET where all all future events will be held with
members of the Servpro community a virtual option.
What did Servpro Industries Inc do?
Every summer, Servpro holds a week- embedded chat function, engaging
long convention for franchisees. The users and encouraging them to be
“
event includes three general sessions, a part of the conversation.
over 40 workshops offered at multiple We thought Servpro was by far Best in Show. It has it all:
times, receptions and dinners, an The Convention content area hosted Multimedia content, interactivity, mobile, innovation . . .
awards night, and other networking 40 unique, pre-recorded workshops just a great intranet. Congrats!
events. each on an individual page. Each page
had huge engagement with high user Steve Crescenzo - CEO at Crescenzo Communications
ServPro decided to recreate the event visits and interaction.
virtually for 2,500 attendees across
six time zones. They arranged this In total, there were twelve live events
through their intranet, SERVPRONET including remote interviews, panel
in less than two months. discussions and an awards show.
Throughout viewers were able to
In total, Servpro streamed 12 live ask questions on an embedded chat
events including remote interviews, function, encouraging them to be part
panel discussions, and an awards of the event.
night show with live talent. During
live events, viewers were able to
ask questions in real-time with an
24 25Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Essential Intranet: Highly Commended Essential Intranet: Highly Commended
iRhythm Technologies Inc Co-operative Bank
Who is iRhythm Technologies Inc? Who is Co-operative Bank?
iRhythm Technologies Inc is a digital learning capabilities. Through its ZIO The Co-operative Bank is a UK-based Articles of Association. Its values and
healthcare company redefining the platform, physicians can diagnose retail and SME bank built on Co- ethics are not just the foundation of
way cardiac arrhythmias are clinically many arrhythmias quicker. ZIO has operative values. It is the only high the business, but they also connect
diagnosed by combining wearable analyzed 2 million patients and has street bank with a customer-led ethical colleagues and customers.
biosensing technology with cloud- been featured in 30+ peer reviewed policy incorporated into the Bank’s
based data analytics and machine- publications.
What did Co-operative Bank do?
What did iRhythm Technologies Inc do?
Co-operative Bank’s intranet ‘The Buzz’ At the intranet launch, colleagues,
Before launching its intranet After months of preparation, the team is integral to their everyday lives and particularly key stakeholders, were
‘ZioPulse’ over a year ago, all forms settled on May 2020 for an intranet colleague culture. Colleagues access encouraged to write blogs. From there
of communications to the 1,300 release date. However, the COVID-19 the intranet daily to view process The Buzz has grown into a hive of
employees were sent via email. The pandemic meant there was a new maps, scripts and information. They activity with an average publish rate
need for a better communication urgency to find a way to communicate can quickly read key communications of five blogs a day.
process was vital, and even more so to all employees whilst remote working. across the bank and locally within their
when the COVID-19 pandemic came So, ZioPulse was rolled out six weeks areas; efficient access to information
unexpectedly in early 2020. in advance. has greatly increased.
The result The result
ZioPulse was targeted to launch in May ZioPulse is a major component of life As The Buzz has grown over the last now grown to around 130 colleagues
2020, however with the unforeseen at iRhythm Technologies Inc, and is eighteen months, so has its content. with varied access and responsibility.
pandemic and the importance to instrumental to connecting More colleagues have wanted to be The Buzz has adapted and evolved
communicate with the company, the its dispersed workforce. involved in the maintenance and to deliver user-generated content,
intranet went live on March 31, 2020. production of the content. This training videos, and provides the tools
community of intranet editors has colleagues need to do their jobs.
It was a huge success. In the first six
months, the site received an influx of
unique visitors, and an active user rate
of 99%.
26 27Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Success
Story
What makes the ultimate intranet success story? Success
comes in many different forms, but in this case, it ultimately
means the platform achieves its purpose. This can mean
uniting a disparate workforce, driving employing engagement
or increasing sales.
As intranet teams all over the world improve the business as a whole.
will know, success isn’t in making a Which is why this award exists: to
system go live. It’s about the ideas, celebrate those organizations who
the hard work and the overcoming have taken the software and ran with
of challenges to meet the needs of the it. Whether it’s managing remote
organization. Particularly during the working during the pandemic,
Covid-19 pandemic, intranets have maximizing employee engagement or
become essential for employees and using a feature to transform working
business alike to succeed in their daily processes, these are the best stories of
undertakings. those companies who accomplished
a defined aim and delivered a specific
We’ve seen some incredibly inspiring success story within their business.
examples of intranets that have
become the heart and soul of the
business – to the point where users
cannot imagine not having one as part
of their working day. These intranets
not only help the workforce, they
28 29Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Success Story: Winner
1 st
British Red Cross
Who is the British Red Cross?
The UK body of the worldwide all over the world. In 2020, the British
humanitarian network, the British Red Red Cross turned 150 years old, and
Cross, was founded in 1870. Currently relaunched ‘RedRoom’, its intranet.
it has 4000 staff and 10,000 volunteers,
and the team respond to people in crisis
What did the British Red Cross do?
Three areas of the intranet, the The task list was set to improve design,
RedRoom, needed reviewing: the user-
unfriendly navigation, the complex
reduce the number of out-dated pages,
and build a navigation that worked
The result
language, and the lackluster design. around the habits of users.
The archiving and removing of Employees have commented that the
obsolete team sites, and pages, intranet was an important part of life
With a focus on equipping employees Training programs were set up to
have helped the site to become less at the organization, and the hard work
with the information needed to do encourage authors to publish more
unwieldy, and improved search. undertaken by the team has made it
their jobs, and a space to find news and content, and use a house style guide
an invaluable resource.
celebrate wins, they set about creating that would improve readability for
The new design has introduced a
a site that would provide more of a role every user.
much more user-friendly homepage, The intranet team continues to build
in daily working life.
with an app bar, access to useful sites, on its success, and find ways to make
and a new mega menu. RedRoom bigger and better.
“
This has boosted unique page
Sometimes less is more. The strategy to simplify how
views and visits, and there has been
content is written and presented was a winning one. excellent feedback from every corner
of the organization.
Andrew Wright - Founder, Worldwide Intranet Challenge (WIC)
30 31Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Success Story: Highly Commended Best Success Story: Highly Commended
Servpro Industries Inc Easterseals Southern
California
Who is Servpro Industries Inc?
Servpro Industries Inc are emergency and Canada. They have over 15,000 Who is Easterseals Southern California?
response company with over 1,900 franchise and corporate teammates.
franchises across the United States Easterseals Southern California provides 2,800 employees serving more than
support and resources to help people 14,000 individuals across nine counties
living with disabilities. It currently has from San Diego to Ventura.
What did Servpro Industries Inc ?
After launching their intranet in March Cleaned. They built a new content
What did Easterseals Southern California do?
2019, it quickly became the go-to area to store relevant information and
source for all things Servpro. As a result included experts to update in real-time. Easterseals Southern California To encourage employees to explore
of the COVID-19 pandemic, Servpro This business-wide launch would never wanted its intranet to be engaging and the intranet and use the new features,
launched a new viral pathogen cleaning have been possible with an intranet. functional, and the content easy to find. Easterseals Southern California created
program called Certified: Servpro It needed to include social features an online safari-themed scavenger
that invited employees to connect hunt.
with each other, such as Shout Outs
The result
and service line discussion threads,
Following the release of COVID Servpro made more than $300 million and a celebration of organizational
communications, the Certified: Servpro in COVID-related cleaning in 2020, achievements.
Cleaned content area had twice as thanks in large part to the Certified:
many page visits as any other content Servpro Cleaned program and its
The result
area during launch week. hosting platform, the SERVPRONET
intranet. The hard work put into the intranethas The response internally was extremely
helped make it an enormous success. positive. Navigation, accessibility
and the user experience were all
The launch video was a hit, and a highlighted as being vastly improved.
tour around the intranet gained high
engagement rates.
32 33Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Use of
Digital Media
Digital media in the workplace facilitates enhanced social
interaction and empowers employees across multiple
global locations. It connects people and provides them with
information sharing, giving them greater access to content
and the tools they need to do their job.
An intranet should make all of It builds a workplace community,
these things easier and encourage allowing employees to unite in their
engagement and innovation. Siloed similarities and educate others,
teams and difficult usability cannot bringing a diverse and culture-rich
be present, or it hinders employee environment to the workplace.
progress rather than enabling it.
When done correctly, digital media
Thinking outside-of-the-box, whilst gives employees the opportunity to
supporting business objectives and be heard, and connects them like
leadership decisions, is key to any never before.
organization’s digital media strategy.
34 35Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Use of Digital Media: Winner
1 st
Your Housing Group
Who is Your Housing Group?
Your Housing Group is a new people of every demographic.
generation of home providers. Responsible, caring and creative; Your
Spanning over 20 sites and covering Housing Group take pride in doing the
a range of work types, their staff are right thing for the right reasons.
committed to supporting vulnerable
What did Your Housing Group do?
Using the intranet, Youggle, Your Housing Group wanted
Your Housing Group were able the senior team to be visible so
to communicate efficiently with that updates could be shared as
colleagues throughout the COVID-19 transparently as possible. They
pandemic. They connected with each launched Director Videos, which
other through internal content and became a popular method of internal
shared mandatory updates about communications. Accessibility is a
Government guidance. key focus for Your Housing Group, The result
so subtitles were added to every video
Utilizing text messaging through shared. They also created dedicated Your Housing Group wanted to be After issuing an internal survey in the
Youggle kept employees informed employee ‘Wellbeing Hub’, which is responsive and supportive to every summer, the reaction was extremely
about the ever-changing COVID now one of the most visited parts of one of its colleagues, and to make the positive. 79% of employees responded
landscape. Since March 2020, 109 the intranet, with over 15,000 views. messaging its own rather than simply and 91% of colleagues said they would
COVID-related text messages were repeating advice released by the UK recommend Your Housing Group as a
sent to keep colleagues in the loop. Government. The team deployed a great place to work. Comments from
strategy of ‘doing the right thing for the survey highlighted how grateful
our people’, which was made possible employees were of the pandemic
“
by Youggle. support, and how they always felt in
This captures not only what the company has done for the loop, up-to-date and reassured.
employees during Covid in an emotional way, but also
has that very fun component showing all the different
ways you kept employees engaged. Excellent job.
Steve Crescenzo - CEO at Crescenzo Communications
36 37Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Use of Digital Media: Best Use of Digital Media:
Highly Commended Highly Commended
IIE - Institute of UK HealthCare
International Education
Who is UK HealthCare?
Established in 1957, the medical center and includes the University’s clinical
Who is IIE?
at University of Kentucky is one of the enterprise, UK HealthCare.
IIE is a non-profit organization 180 countries. With over 600 US US’s finest academic medical centers
within the international education and international employees, the
industry. It has 17 offices worldwide IIE has been leveraging the power of What did UK HealthCare do?
and manage more than 200 programs international education since 1919.
with participants from more than The launch of UK Healthcare’s In its place, the team worked tirelessly
intranet, The Loop, was about to to implement e-newsletters, virtual
launch just as COVID hit. As a result, treasure hunts, digital signs, and
What did IIE do?
all face-to-face promotion and videos and create cross-company
engagement initiatives were cancelled excitement and interest in this.
After launching in 2016, ‘Eddie’ the The IIE Communications team
and had to be delivered virtually.
intranet quickly become a consistent worked on ways to make Eddie more
and reliable place where employees engaging by using digital media
could access all the required to get employees more involved The result
resources, as well as their benefits and connected. The team started
and employment information. As a investigating different uses of the Thanks to the hard work that has engagement. They achieved the goal
global organization, Eddie’s forums intranet, such as online town halls gone into the intranet, UK HealthCare of target communications, realized
and blogs help keep IIE’s community and webinars, where employees are enjoying 90% positive feedback full workforce adoption and saw a
together. share knowledge and best practice. on polls and gains in employee significant growth in network activity.
The result
After going into lockdown due engaging way. As IEE celebrate their
to the COVID-19 pandemic, the intranet’s fifth birthday, they now use
Communications team posted content more digital media business-wide,
and video through the intranet. Using and encourage employees to get
video instead of text messages was a involved and produce more user-
great way of connecting thoughtfully generated content.
in a coherent, empathetic, and more
38 39Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Stakeholder
The foundations of a successful intranet lie in the buy-in
and support of key stakeholders within the organization.
Stakeholder support acts as a license without this must-have stakeholder
to a lot of things: it can secure support soon suffers as a result.
financial backing, but it can also Adoption and engagement rates
remove obstructions in getting the quickly drop, and the system is
resources and expertise needed rendered obsolete.
to build the best system for your
workforce. Therefore, the aim of the Best
Stakeholder Award is to highlight
Not only this, but stakeholder the work stakeholders do to deliver
support also galvanizes the holy grail successful and inclusive digital
of all intranet launches: employee workplaces that engage the entire
adoption at every level across your workforce.
organization. An intranet project
A good internal stakeholder helps with many aspects of an intranet project,
such as:
The recognition of the value of an intranet
The removal of cultural blockers to adoption
Adoption and engagement through the examples set by top-level
A reduction of timescale and budget complications
Assistance with planning and strategy
The continued development of the intranet in line with organizational
objectives
40 41Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Stakeholder: Winner
1 st
Home-Start
Who is Home-Start?
Founded in 1973, Home-Start is a Volunteer support is at the heart of
charity with a local community Home-Start’s work, and 13,500 home-
network of trained volunteers and visiting volunteers support over
expert support that help families with 27,000 families and 56,000 children
young children through challenging across all four nations of the United
times. Kingdom.
What did Home-Start do?
With news of immediate shutdown Home-Start’s CEO, Peter Grigg,
of offices across the United Kingdom began to record regular update The result
in March 2020, the Home-Start videos to keep the network informed
team had to work fast to ensure of the latest key messages from the During a crisis, it’s the actions of leaders that really make a difference. When
the workforce of online and offline senior leadership team during the people needed reassurance, guidance and facts, Peter delivered this kind of
workers were immediately updated pandemic. The videos helped to meaningful leadership via his videos. And with the help of these broadcasts,
with an action of plan via its intranet, build @Home’s reputation as the @Home played an invaluable role during the pandemic, with webinars
@Home. go-to place for important, reliable explaining the furlough process and advice for volunteers to carry out their
information. The videos have been work while social distancing.
But in a high-alert situation such as very well received and a year on,
the pandemic, the internal comms Peter is still recording regular video A recent comment from a local Home-Start Chair of Trustees sums up the
department needed support from updates. importance of @Home at the organization:
senior level to lead teams.
“
“I am now an intranet groupie and want to congratulate you all at
Home-Start UK for making it so much easier to reach and especially for
“
Thank you so much Peter for all the support, advice and everything you are doing to support us all during this emergency.”
positivity you and the team have offered over the past
few months . It’s been great watching your videos and
reconnecting with HSUK in a personal way. The intranet
is a great resource but your videos just make that extra
bit more special.
Home-Start employee
42 43Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Success Story: Highly Commended Best Success Story: Highly Commended
Easterseals Southern Medvivo
California
Who is Medvivo?
Who is Easterseals Southern California? Medvivo is a private company based in operates 24/7, with a workforce of
the UK contracted by the NHS to deliver approximately 400 offline and online,
Easterseals is an American 5013 network of 73 local Easterseals in the Integrated Urgent Care services part time and full time, seasonal and
nonprofit providing resources to more communities nationwide, along with for the Bath and North East Somerset, permanent workers.
than 1.4 million people living with four international partners in Australia, Swindon and Wiltshire areas. Medvivo
a disability in the US. Its inclusive Mexico, Puerto Rico and Canada.
services are provided through a
What did Medvivo do?
As the pandemic hit, Medvivo had to The employee recognition program
What did Easterseals Southern California do?
readjust operations. As an organization has seen average use rise by 75%, and
The organization knew that in order to pre-launch video teasing the safari that puts patients and service users as engagement initiatives like quizzes,
grab the attention of its employees, it tour, and the other a welcome video the focus, its intranet, Webvivo, was competitions, and playlists has seen
would need to create fun and engaging hosted on the homepage. Wearing positioned as the tool everyone could daily use increase. Forums have been
content. For launch, this took the form full safari suit, he played a pivotal role freely use to connect, communicate, fundamental in allowing people to
of a safari-themed scavenger hunt. in showcasing the intranet in a fun, and collaborate. communicate and share experiences
playful and engaging way. while apart.
Leading by example, the CEO was
the perfect role model to present one
The result
Medvivo holds its intranet responsible been able to connect so effectively with
The result
for allowing the organization to engage each other during difficult times. This
Feedback on the site and the launch safari tour within the first two weeks with its stakeholders so successfully has made Webvivo the virtual home for
has been overwhelmingly positive. of launch. The feedback from the safari over this past year. all Medvivo staff.
The launch video received nearly tour guide was extremely positive with
1,000 views, or about 40% of staff, and comments on how fun and engaging The platform, and its stakeholders have
around 400 employees completed the the content was. created a space where workers have
44 45Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Offline
Worker Strategy
Around three-quarters of our employees are non-desk
based. Whether they are driving vehicles, working
in factories, customer-facing, or have little access to
technology, connecting these workers is a big problem
faced by organizations.
Offline workers represent a large section of our customers’ workforces, and
huge strides have been made to find ways of engaging with these groups.
A successful strategy that reaches out to hard-to-reach workers will include:
Why content needs to be seen and understood by everyone
The different ways communications are shared
Accessible and agile ways for workers to access the intranet
Recognition of the advantages of engaging these groups of employees
Observations of how these workers have changed the way they work
since engagement
The Best Offline Worker Strategy hard-to-reach. This award highlights
Award recognizes creative or the innovative and enterprising ways
innovative intranet campaigns that that organizations have used to include
have overcome those barriers to all their members, not just the desk-
engage staff who are traditionally based.
46 47Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Offline Worker Strategy: Winner The result
1 st
Servpro Industries Inc With the sheer amount of effort put SERVPRONET has become a critical
in over the past eighteen months, part of operations, helping the
Servpro reached intranet traffic organization stay connected and
milestones. In 2020, it saw a 57% informed in times of uncertainty and
increase in site visits and a 27% will continue to be a vital component
Who is Servpro?
increase in pageviews year over year. in the growth and success of the
Servpro is a 24-hour emergency the pandemic, Servpro was on the company.
fire and water clean-up specialist forefront of COVID cleaning and
business, with over 1,900 franchises bioremediation and, thanks to its
“
across the United States and Canada intranet SERVPRONET, was able to
and more than 15,000 franchise roll out communications to the “Great addition to ensure we can access critical
and corporate teammates. During entirety of its workforce. information on the go!”. Loved the look of their mobile
app as well. Well done!
What did Servpro do? Steve Crescenzo - CEO at Crescenzo Communications
Two major events posed huge The corporate team created and
challenges to the company: the dispersed new research, program
pandemic and Storm Uri which guidelines, training materials, and
affected Texas and neighboring states national account partnerships via
bringing the largest call volume the intranet, SERVPRONET.
during a storm event in the company’s
history. The team were able to update
changing information in real-time
With the majority of franchise and add new resources as they
teammates considered frontline became available, all in one dedicated
workers, they needed a more space. To connect to offline workers
accessible way to access the latest further, an app was launched to keep
guidelines and constantly changing users connected on the go.
information during both scenarios.
48 49Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Offline Worker Strategy: Best Offline Worker Strategy:
Highly Commended Highly Commended .sheetz
Medvivo Sheetz
Who is Medvivo? Who is Sheetz?
Medvivo is a private company based in operates 24/7, with a workforce of Established 70 years ago, Sheetz has Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia,
the UK contracted by the NHS to deliver approximately 400 offline and online, become one of America’s fastest- Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina
the Integrated Urgent Care services part time and full time, seasonal and growing, family-owned and operated the organization is still growing, adding
for the Bath and North East Somerset, permanent workers. convenience retailers. With 600 about twenty new and rebuilt stores
Swindon and Wiltshire areas. Medvivo stores and over 21,000 employees in every year.
What did Medvivo do? What did Sheetz do?
As a fast-growing organization, the As COVID hit, and the majority of the Because Sheetz remained open procedures, FAQs, and a Sheetz official
comms team soon realized that the workforce went remote, Medvivo made throughout the pandemic, over 21,000 update category where daily COVID
increasing number of workers out in the most of the mobile app version of employees remained working in store, updates were posted.
the field were running a very real risk the intranet, setting up categories for distribution centers and remotely.
of feeling disconnected. quickly getting up to speed with the The intranet, BOB, was already Broadcasts were deployed, pinging
latest business, clinical, health and popular, so the platform was used to important messages from the company
wellbeing matters. host the COVID-19 Resource Center. president to workers’ cellphones,
This area included info on COVID pay and encouraging users to visit the
and benefits information, Operations Resource Center.
The result
and Support Staff guidelines and
The comms team has created an and those on the road to remain happy,
intranet that works for every type engaged, productive, and continue to
The result
of worker, helping those who are feel part of the Medvivo family via the
shielding, those who are patient-facing mobile intranet app on their cellphone. Executive teams continued regular Overall, there was a 13% increase
store rides during the pandemic to in site visits and a 27% increase in
ask questions and speak to frontline page views year over year. And while
workers. Videos from senior-level these numbers may not be the largest
employees in-store were shot and increase, it shows the success of the
posted on the intranet to keep up intranet, as employees (even frontline)
engagement. already visit BOB daily to get their
information.
50 51Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best DE&I
strategy
Diversity, equity and inclusivity (DE&I) is under the microscope.
The ongoing discussions, reflections, and protests sparked
over the past couple of years should act as a reminder to look
at our own organizations and see how we measure up.
Are we practicing balance and After all, an intranet is the system
equality in our recruitment, that connects everyone together,
development, and management supporting communication,
of people – or are we letting our collaboration, and a sense of culture,
employees, and the wider community, regardless of where the employee is.
down? If so, what can we do within
our own businesses to support And as an internal comms tool, an
fairness, transparency, and equality intranet can support a DE&I strategy
in the workplace? in many ways – from broadcasting
data to providing translation tools
Needless to say, using software like an for a multi-lingual business, building
intranet won’t solve the bigger issue, a diverse workplace culture that
but it can enable a business to move embraces differences and promotes
forward with its agenda, and support inclusion.
employees to drive change from
within.
52 53Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best DE&I strategy: Winner
1 st
AllianceBernstein
Who is AllianceBernstein?
AllianceBernstein is an benefit plans, foundations, public
investment management firm. employee retirement funds,
The company provides investment pension funds, endowments, banks,
management services to U.S. insurance companies and high-net-
public and private employee worth individuals worldwide.
What did AllianceBernstein do?
Using its intranet, The Loop, as The organization’s many ERGs are at The result
its main engagement platform, the heart of its diversity and inclusion
AllianceBernstein publicizes firmwide efforts and are constantly promoted The success of AllianceBernstein’s entry in this category is down to its
achievements in diversity and on The Loop. unwavering stance on DE&I.
inclusion, such as its recent honor
as an Investment News Diversity And all this hard work is led from Recently, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation released the 2020 results for
Champion. the top as CEO Seth Bernstein the Corporate Equality Index. AllianceBernstein received a score of 100 and was
regularly composes messages to recognized as one of the best places to work for LGBTQ equality.
The DE&I team has also built a new AllianceBernstein staff addressing
“
Racial Justice and Anti-Racism Library national events that are impacting
“Across the globe, we are committed to creating a dynamic, diverse,
on the intranet which has been visited colleagues and opens up difficult
and inclusive workplace where our colleagues feel empowered and
more than 1,200 times. conversations.
valued,” said CEO Seth Bernstein. “We will continue to uphold our firm’s
“
values and ensure that diversity and inclusion remain critical parts of
The DE&I effort from this company is nothing short of AllianceBernstein’s identity.”
amazing! I not only love the community groups, but also
just the overall education to others on the site about
those groups and what they mean to the company
as a whole.
Cindy Crescenzo
54 55Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best DE&I strategy: Highly Commended Best DE&I strategy: Highly Commended
AMS Priory Group
Who is AMS? Who is the Priory Group?
AMS is a global total workforce an age of constant change by building, Priory Group is a provider of mental The My Priory website was initially
solutions firm founded in 1996. It re-shaping, and optimizing workforces. health care facilities in the United created as a rapid launch resource in
enables organizations to thrive in Kingdom. The group operates at more response to COVID-19 in June 2020.
than 500 sites with over 7,000 beds.
What did AMS do?
What did the Priory Group do?
Activity around DE&I at AMS used to into both the individual strands of
be static but with a dedicated section DE&I and region specifics. This again While My Priory was a rapid launch team established a range of diversity,
on the MyAMS intranet homepage, it feeds back to AMS’s objectives to unite in the wake of the pandemic, it was inclusion and team network areas.
is now seen as fluid, with news, events, as one whilst also paying attention to quickly recognized as a necessary
and articles being added frequently. distinctions and creating a meaningful comms tool relevant to every member These network areas include the
personal experience. of the organization. Alongside hubs LGBT+, BME and Women’s networks
This area provides an overall picture focused on news, wellbeing and – and are central to representing
of DE&I at AMS whilst also delving employee recognition, the intranet minority areas within the organization.
The result The result
As the organization progresses towards They also use the People Stories section Having already enrolled thousands of network areas to contain relevant
its corporate DE&I agenda for 2021 to give a voice to the authentic stories users, the team and colleagues across information and useful resources.
and beyond, the DE&I area of MyAMS that employees have in the business Priory continue to develop these key
is continually being developed. around DE&I as well as the continual
The team has recently used the promotion of key dates in the calendar.
forum functionality to run a photo
competition for Autism Awareness
Month.
56 57Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Crisis
Comms
As we’ve learned over the past eighteen months, every
organization is vulnerable to crises. But how we respond
and communicate in the height of a crisis can set us apart
from our rivals.
When a crisis strikes, we need to The Crisis Comms Award recognizes
react accordingly to protect our those organizations who have
organization. But failing to instill a empowered staff, kept them
proper internal crisis management informed and successfully used
plan is a huge risk that could further their intranet as part of an effective
compound the crisis. If our staff crisis management plan.
aren’t informed, issues escalate
quickly – even catastrophically. In a time of need when getting
information flowing is critical,
An intranet is a powerful internal communications should
communications tool that brings only rely on the best tools and tech
your people together when it available. As demonstrated in the
matters. Utilizing it effectively and following stories, an intranet can
thinking outside the box – both be a powerful platform to support
prior and during a critical situation effective crisis management.
– can encourage a calm, informed,
and supported workforce.
58 59Best intranets of 2021: the award winners Best intranets of 2021: the award winners
Best Crisis Comms: Winner The result
1 st
.sheetz
Sheetz While always a large part of working life at Sheetz, launching initiatives like
the #GoodVibes campaign to boost morale at the beginning of the pandemic
has helped cement BOB as the keystone of the organization.
Who is Sheetz? With an increase in site visits and page views, the success of the intranet is
encapsulated in feedback from a Sheetz training manager:
Established 70 years ago, Sheetz has During the COVID pandemic, Sheetz
“
become one of America’s fastest- was classed as an essential business,
growing, family-owned and operated and remained open to serve the “BOB was the port in the storm of COVID-19 for our company… Timely,
convenience retailers. community. meaningful communications to impacted teams provided relief in the
ever-changing landscape.”
What did Sheetz do?
Being a 24/7/365 convenience retailer, positioned as the ideal tool for
Sheetz was mindful of its role in the people to connect on and receive
COVID response. With concerns over up-to-date info.
protecting the public, its employees
and all 600 stores, a COVID leadership From reassuring messages from
team was formed: a cross-functional company president Travis Sheetz
group of senior leaders and safety to guidelines on minimizing
experts who met daily to review transmission, the intranet was
developments and needs across the the go-to COVID resource. To find
board. the right info more efficiently,
various personas were included
With over 21,000 employees to in the navigation to better target
consider, their intranet BOB was communications.
“
It’s so inspiring how you’ve connected so many
employees during one of the hardest crises of our time.
We love how your leaders were 100% authentic in their
communications with employees. The effects of this type
of leadership communication shows in the passion and
enthusiasm of your employees!
Cindy Crescenzo
60 61You can also read
