Adrienna May posted several tweets with the hashtag #IntranetNow discussing the need for a communications hero and joking that being always on one's phone must mean they are popular, without providing additional context in the tweets.
At Halfords the biggest challenge we face with our Intranet is the cascade of information to all colleagues.
With over 300 garages and 2000 colleagues less than half of these will receive our weekly newsletter, policy changes and business updates.
This is because as you can see from my second photograph the reception area where our computer is located will only be seen by one maybe 2 members of the team.
Our technicians/ MOT testers and apprentices are based back of house in the garage.
Now as you an imagine when we release new information via we are relying on our front of house team to have the conversation and cascade the information.
Oh and to also find the time to do this between…customers, phone calls and other daily tasks that's must be completed.
So as you can imagine messages are often lost or slightly changed.
We held listening groups across the business and the UK all fed back the same comments…
With the top answer as …you guessed it…” I didn’t know” “ I wasn’t aware of this “
Now we brainstormed and trailed different options such as …..printed documents sent through the post but this takes time and incurs a cost.
Team conference calls but this requires taking colleagues time from the job and somebody is always on holiday!
We tried what's app groups however they run the risk of no restriction of a whole diversity of chat topics.
However one thing we all agreed on was that sending information through to someone's mobile device was definitely the way forward.
Since approximately 95 percent of households in the United Kingdom (UK) own a mobile phone, a figure that has remained constant since 2015. We all have high-powered mobile devices within arm’s reach at all times, the true game-changer in a company's communication.
The intranet will suddenly become more comfortable and the information will literally be at your fingertips.
As we were already a happy customer of Oak we simply called the support desk and explained our challenges and were blown away with the options we had available but yet had not explored.
The support team talked me and my team through the features and how they would work to benefit Halfords. We can securely offer each and every colleague a mobile app to the company's intranet therefore becoming the one stop shop for all messages, policy's, compliance, training, incentives and not forgetting a moderated social outlet.
Each colleague receives a letter posted out to there home address detailing how to locate the app from the play store / app store along with there unique QR code to login and the benefits from doing this.
Naturally we expected a little push back from colleagues regarding using their own personal mobile however we have overcome this by clearly mapping out the advantages that the app will bring.
Oak also offer SSO ! We have linked our platforms that are used for training or to our automotive guidance portal directly through the app. Our colleagues can access these at any time of the day regardless who is on the reception computer during the day!
We can also target communications to specific teams , groups or job roles for example recently we needed to alert all our MOT testers of recent DVLA changes we can not only contact them directly but also feature a disclaimer so we can monitor who has read the information. A fantastic measuring tool.
By using a mobile app for our Intranet at Halfords Autocentres we are not only industry leading but we can reach every single one of our colleagues, with the right information at the right time.
Thank you