Building An Employee Engagement System

Taken from the third edition of the Create Inc. Brand Book "Culture: The Force Behind Strong Brands", Developer Jimi shares the process of creating and implementing our bespoke intranet. 

The system was designed to streamline processes but ended up impacting culture in equal measure.

As a creative Web Developer, I’m always looking at different ways of using systems to solve problems. During my first two years at Create Inc., we updated project management and HR systems a couple of times. Yet despite rigorous testing to find features that would better serve the team, the same hurdles were apparent. Our team struggled to find the information they needed quickly.

Though individual systems were effective in managing the day-to-day running of the business, they didn’t talk to each other.

Some data was located in one system, and some in another.

As a result, our internal operations had inadvertently created frustration and inefficiency. 

Bespoke Vs Out-of-the-box

HR and PM tools are sellable because they attempt to cover as many operational bases as possible. The best ones were either simple and easy to use, but unable to communicate with each other; or they were enterprise level systems requiring a degree to understand, and years to embed. 

We didn't need another corporate tool; we needed a system that complemented how we worked without replacing what we already used. It needed to present the data more effectively, to make it easier for employees, and the business as a whole. 

So, I built an intranet.

One of the first things I wanted to establish was a way to improve visibility. I used the API data from both our PM and HR tools to display project timelines vs absences so that the pipeline and bottlenecks were more visible. We then identified the information required by each team so that I could create multiple views that supported everyone.

A customisable dashboard further supported this, as employees could choose the information that they needed to access.

Employee advocacy was promoted by connecting personal LinkedIn profiles and articles on our website so they could be easily shared.

For encouraging personal learning and development, employees were able to add and review books, podcasts and webinars to their profile, sharing key takeaways for others to see. 

With innovation at the heart of who we are, I created a section where prototypes and ideas could be posted. Employees could vote on the ideas they liked, encouraging collaboration to help push ideas forward.

During the process of building the intranet, we discussed how we would encourage the use of it, alongside the other systems the team were using. That’s where I introduced gamification.

This gamification rewarded employees for engaging with the intranet. Points were awarded for actions such as sharing business suggestions, giving colleagues kudos, receiving kudos, posting content on LinkedIn, attending industry events, and work anniversaries. These points add up to earn badges and a businesswide leaderboard was used to celebrate and reward top performing employees.

What started off as an operational project, intending to streamline our internal processes, soon became a significantly cultural one that helped raise team performance, morale, collaboration, and alignment. 

Summary 

The business challenge we set off to solve isn’t an isolated one. Many of the brands that we work with struggle to find internal systems that support their unique way of working, culture, and ambitions.

Internal systems are at the heart of every company and how we engage with them has a significant impact on culture. What this project taught me was that operational solutions cannot be embedded without culture in mind. A culturally engaging system boosts operational efficiency without trying. 

Our intranet has become the companion to our working day - making the tasks we do easier, more engaging and rewarding. All of which have directly impacted business efficiency and results.

Enjoyed this? Check out more articles and insight about how brand and systems can support your business' culture in Brand Book Vol.3.