Top 7 HR Intranet Features for a Connected Workplace

If there’s one thing that the rise of remote work has taught us, it’s that maintaining a connected workplace requires the right digital workplace technology.

There are several different types of communication tools that HR teams can use to promote employee engagement and strengthen company culture. But a modern intranet is by far one of the most versatile. 

From onboarding new hires to conducting performance reviews, there’s no shortage of HR functions that a high-quality intranet can help optimize, streamline, and automate.
Looking for an intranet solution that will offer all of these benefits and more? Start by learning these seven most important features for HR intranet software.

Why do HR teams need to adopt an intranet?

According to Gallup, only 32% of employees in the United States report feeling engaged at their place of work. If that’s not bad enough, 48% of employees surveyed say they’re actively seeking a new job. 

Given stats like these, it’s easy to understand the challenges human resource departments face when it comes to promoting a positive employee experience.

If you want your team members to feel engaged and satisfied, making them feel connected to the company and their colleagues is an essential place to start. And this is an area where a modern intranet really shines!

With the right employee intranet, HR professionals can share updates on company policies and other important news and collect employee feedback. It’s also an excellent way to conduct personalized onboarding processes and streamline a wide range of other HR initiatives. 

In addition, social intranet platforms offer forums and community spaces where employees can engage with one another and form team bonds that solidify the company culture.

To make sure you choose a platform that will fit your requirements, be sure to get the ebook on choosing the right intranet for your organization.

What are the key benefits?

A modern social intranet can offer a wide range of benefits for HR managers and the employees they oversee, including noteworthy advantages like:

• Streamlined HR processes: A company intranet can save HR staff a lot of time by streamlining (and, in many cases, automating) HR processes like onboarding new employees, conducting performance reviews, and distributing HR content.
• Keeping employees informed: An intranet serves as a convenient and effective way to share information across an organization, keeping employees informed on things like company updates and HR policies.
• Making employees feel more connected: A company intranet allows employees to engage with company leaders and their colleagues, making them feel more connected and boosting employee engagement.

What are the challenges of adopting an intranet?

While the right intranet solution can offer a broad range of benefits to HR teams, adopting an intranet platform often presents a few common challenges. For example, many intranet platforms are clunky and outdated, making it difficult to get employees to actually use them.

Even if you choose a modern and employee-centric platform like Workvivo, you may still have to put a little effort into ensuring widespread adoption. Working to clearly explain the platform's benefits and providing ample training on how to use it will go a long way toward achieving employee buy-in.

Measuring your intranet’s success is another key objective that can often be a little tricky. However, a solution that offers advanced reporting and analytics features will make this a lot easier by providing deep insights into how employees are using the platform.

Key features of HR intranets

There are a lot of different intranet solutions available for organizations to choose from, but not all of them offer the same features and functionalities. To choose an HR intranet that will empower your workforce and meet your business needs, here are the seven most important features to look for.

1. Employee self-service tools
One standout feature of quality HR intranets like Workvivo is the helpful employee self-service tools that they offer. These tools allow employees to access essential HR services and resources without relying on assistance from HR staff.

From requesting time off to accessing company policies, employee self-service tools enable employees to perform a range of tasks anytime and from any location. Not only does this provide convenience and improve the accessibility of HR services, but it also frees up HR departments to focus on requests that need a more hands-on approach.

2. Document sharing and management
An HR intranet can simplify how your organization shares important documents like employee handbooks, policies, and compliance materials. As a result, organizations can achieve better uniformity and consistency company-wide.

Features like version control and the ability to track changes to documents can also help organizations keep their documents accurate and up to date. And advanced security features, like data encryption and access controls, ensure the sensitive information in these documents doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

3. Centralized communication tools
Nearly half of all employees report that ineffective communication hinders their productivity. If you want to level up your company’s internal communications and give employees ready access to information, an intranet solution with centralized communication tools can be a big help.

Tools like real-time messaging, community forums, and personalized social feeds empower more effective communication. This boosts productivity by enhancing collaboration and improving access to key information. 

These tools also promote better employee engagement by helping team members feel more connected to their colleagues, managers, and the organization as a whole.

4. Training and development portal

With an HR intranet that offers customizable training and development portals, you can give employees access to a diverse range of learning resources, courses, and modules. This helps organizations encourage and support continuous learning and development in a convenient and accessible way.

A centralized training portal is also an effective way to keep accurate records of employee progress. HR departments can track professional development without hunting down and analyzing reports from disparate systems and training programs.

5. Custom reporting dashboards

Data-driven decision-making is a cornerstone of effective HR strategies. However, collecting, organizing, and analyzing data can be a complex process.

The custom reporting dashboards that corporate intranets like Workvivo offer make these processes easier by providing easy access to HR metrics and insights. 

These dashboards streamline data aggregation, visualization, and analysis. This saves HR teams countless hours while providing invaluable insights into workforce trends, performance, and engagement.

6. Access information on mobile devices
Employees aren’t spending their workdays under the same roof anymore. With remote and hybrid work models becoming increasingly common, the need for systems that are remotely accessible has never been more evident.

An HR intranet that offers a mobile app and a responsive design lets employees access communication tools, news updates, and other resources regardless of where they are. This fosters a more agile and connected workplace and ensures that employees never miss key information just because they’re out of the office.

7. Performance management systems
Creating a transparent, centralized performance management system is key to improving performance. When employees can easily track their progress and performance reviews, they have a much better understanding of what’s expected of them. It also helps eliminate biases and ensures a fair evaluation process.

With the right intranet solution, organizations can create performance management systems that are centralized, accessible, and fully transparent. In addition to promoting fairness and accountability, these systems also make it easy for HR managers to analyze performance data and integrate feedback loops.

Connect your team, remote or on site, with an intranet platform from Workvivo

Whether your company employs on-site, remote, or hybrid employees, an HR intranet is a powerful way to keep them connected and informed. 

But you should look for a modern intranet solution that offers advanced features like custom reporting dashboards, mobile accessibility, and employee self-service tools. These tools will empower employees and help HR departments streamline their workflows.

Leading intranet platform Workvivo offers all of the cutting-edge features that HR teams need to boost employee engagement and productivity. Plus, Workvivo’s interface is polished, user-friendly, and accessible from anywhere.

See how Workvivo’s industry-leading intranet solution can equip your team with all the tools and resources they need to succeed – sign up for a free demo today!