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Intranet Case Study
Engage intranet software improves engagement and efficiency at NEU
National Education Union (NEU) stands up for the future of education by bringing together more than 450,000 teachers, lecturers, support staff and leaders working in maintained and independent schools and colleges across the UK.
Combining the expertise and experience of both ATL (Association of Teachers and Lecturers) and the NUT (National Union of Teachers), the National Education Union is the UK’s largest education union. They are an effective and powerful voice, championing everyone who works in education.
Location:
UK
Industry:
Membership organisation
Employees:
500
Location:
UK
Industry:
Membership organisation
Employees:
500
The challenge
To improve employee engagement and streamline processes. To bring the whole organisation together in one central location, making the intranet less London centric by engaging all employees at nine other regional/ Wales offices up and down the UK. To launch a new site with a fresh, modern look and feel within a short time frame to meet deadlines to communicate important news about an up and coming amalgamation.
The solution
With an imminent amalgamation, a new member of the team taking on responsibility for the intranet and the need for a modern and more engaging site, the decision was made to launch a new intranet (initially for the NUT but with a long-term view in mind), using the latest Engage technology. Effective search is crucial to Abbeyfield staff and it was also important to get the look and feel right. The Abbeyfield communications team wanted to make it easier to add content and also introduce more 2-way communications in the form of blogs. Mobile access was also required for those staff who do not have access to computers.
“My vision for our new intranet was to create an information highway that would improve the way that information was shared and stored. Information needed to be easily accessible to all employees and it was essential that everyone felt connected across all regional offices. We had a very short space of time to achieve our goals.”
Siji Abiodun
Learning and Development Manager
The new site, named ‘NEUS’, is modern, dynamic and highly engaging. The introduction of regional/wales office pages that include staff details, location details, photographs, contact details etc. has helped to give those employees who are not based in London a voice and a presence on the intranet.
The deadline for launch was met; all communication, including all news about the amalgamation and updates from the Joint General Secretaries are now delivered via the intranet. This ensures that everyone, regardless of location, receives the same information at the same time. Employees are now able to access all the information they need quickly and easily. The resources tab provides immediate answers to questions and access to pressing needs. Time has been saved across all departments, notably in Human Resources as employees can find the answers to many of their questions themselves via NEUS.
Employees can access information such as policies and procedures, health and safety information, Wellbeing materials, Learning and Development Course dates as well as internal job vacancies. All employee events, such as staff briefings are promoted on NEUS.
“Engagement has been encouraged using a number of different methods. One great example is our ‘Getting to know you’ article on the home page. Every week we showcase a different member of staff. They talk about their work/life balance, about things they like to do in their spare time outside of work. This is the on NEUS, people love reading and learning about their colleagues.”
Siji Abiodun
Learning and Development Manager
The launch strategy for the new site was a phased approach. Phase one being to take all the existing content from the old site and go live with the new look and feel using latest Engage technology. Phase two was to then address suggestions from employees across the organisation. This interesting approach to launch meant that all employees quickly found their voice, expressed their opinions and got involved by giving constructive feedback.
The results
Since the launch of NEUS there has been an increase in employee engagement, previously disengaged users are now taking a keen interest in the site, regardless of their office location. Many processes have now been streamlined resulting in improved efficiency. The intranet is now fresh, modern and dynamic.
“We are delighted with the improvements in engagement and increased efficiencies that we have seen since the launch of our new Engage intranet. We have achieved our goal of ensuring that everyone within the organisation has a presence on the site regardless of office location. It looks great, with a fresh and modern design.
Our relationship with Sorce has gone from strength to strength, the projects management, technical support and professional services teams have all played an important part in helping us to get to where we are today. The training provided by Sorce has enabled us to become a selfsufficient site. We are looking forward to making further development to NEUS in the future.”
Siji Abiodun
Learning and Development Manager
