At the summit, pros in internal communications, IT and HR shared groundbreaking research, innovative strategies and transformative best practices that explain how to use the latest intranet innovations to benefit your organization and employees. Every session is packed with insights into intranet technology’s future and actionable best practices you can start implementing today.
Read on for some of our favorite summit highlights and links to each full session!
State of the Intranet: Results from Simppler’s 2024 Intranet Impact and Evaluation Study
“Our research says a resounding ‘yes.’ Giving your people a great way to access all the things they need to do at work through technology is absolutely going to pay off.” ~ Jordan Katz, Chief Insights Officer at Simpplr
Listen in as Chief Insights Officer Jordan Katz and Carolyn Clark, VP of Corporate Marketing and Employee Experience Strategy, dive deep into findings from Simpplr’s 2024 Intranet Impact and Evaluation Study. They offer expert analysis on:
- The leading cause of employee frustration and why it’s driving higher levels of employee disengagement
- The performance metrics that show how a company intranet can improve revenue, profitability, employee well-being, engagement, productivity and more
- What employees think and feel about the introduction of AI tools into the workplace
“All you have to do is increase productivity by a small amount, and you’re going to see a substantial increase on everything else,” Carolyn said. “When people are productive, they’re not as frustrated. They’re not agitated by all the complexity, which results in happier employees, connected employees, more revenue.”
Want to learn more? Get your free copy of the executive summary of the State of the Intranet and Future of Employee Technology report.
And watch the full video of this enlightening session.
Unveiling Your Digital Gem: Driving Adoption of Your Revolutionary Intranet
“We wanted to have fun with this. We wanted it to grab attention. We wanted to get employees on board and engage them in a different way.” ~ Susan Horn, Director of Internal Communications & Culture at OneSource Virtual
Want to create buzz around your intranet launch? Get inspired by OneSource Virtual’s success story. Susan Horn and Bayley Carnes, leaders of the Internal Communications & Culture department, share the lessons they learned while launching their Simpplr intranet, OSV Central.
- Walk through the process of a successful intranet launch — from choosing the right software to strategically leveraging video to announce the new platform.
- Get a list of ideas for how you can trigger early user adoption and employee engagement.
- Watch the hilarious intranet launch video that was awarded Best Video Content by Simpplr.
“You want your intranet to be your single source of truth,” said Bayley, Manager of Internal Communications & Culture. “It should be the one-stop shop and the internal face of your company. For us, OSV Central is the first place employees go on a day-to-day basis to access new news, information and events.”
Merging Two Companies & Cultures with an Innovative Intranet
“We needed a space conducive to building a unified corporate culture. This is very important, especially with two companies with such different cultures already trying to merge.” ~ Keith King, Communications Manager at Uber Freight
When Transplace and Uber Freight merged, it came with a clash of corporate culture and company technology. See how Keith King, Communications Manager at Uber Freight, successfully led his team to merge culture and tech to create one “single town square” on Simpplr’s intranet.
- Learn how Keith’s team designed and deployed a strategic plan to integrate two distinct organizations into one cohesive unit.
- Walk through the challenges Keith’s team faced and the solutions they developed to lead to a 95% intranet adoption rate.
- Discover the strategies and initiatives the team is using for continuous improvement and expanding employee engagement even more.
“They really thought strategically about their intranet and not just the role that it plays in being a great place to search for things, but also about the impact that it can have for your highest level strategic focus,” said Davin Wilfrid, Director of Customer Advocacy at Simpplr.
Key Trends for 2024: Intranets and the Digital Workplace
“We really need to think about how we’re bringing AI into the workplace, and where it can deliver magic and a force multiplier effect and less on the mayhem and mistakes as we bring them into our intranet stacks and broader digital workplaces.” – Cheryl McKinnon, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research
With ever-expanding data, analytics, personalization and AI features, intranets and digital workplaces evolve quickly. If you want to use new trends and technologies to provide an improved experience for your employees, listen to this conversation with Cheryl McKinnon, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. She details the trends leading to higher intranet engagement and satisfaction.
- How to consider the needs of individual employees to design more tailored and useful personalized workspaces
- The three biggest trends shaping the future of intranets and digital workplaces (including the four M’s of artificial intelligence your organization needs to know)
- How to continue to keep up with changing employee expectations to increase intranet satisfaction and engagement
“For the system to be able to identify and use AI to then create alternative methods that will resonate with that individual more based on their learning style. I get so excited about that kind of possibility for the future,” said Carolyn Clark.
Look Ahead: The Future of the Intranet and AI
“AI is going to be a huge, huge, impactful advancement in technology that is going to influence the way we think about intranets going forward.” – Bala Kasiviswanathan, Chief Product & Customer Experience Officer at Simpplr
Generative AI is a transformational business phenomenon that is disrupting the way we communicate, create and connect. Simpplr’s Chief Product & Customer Experience Officer, Bala Kasiviswanathan, tells us what we need to do to keep up and make the most of new AI technology. He defines where AI is going and the three pillars your organization needs to embrace to prepare for the use of AI in the workplace.
- Learn how to adopt an AI-first approach that is responsible, configurable and secure.
- See how AI can turn employee data points into actionable insights.
- Understand why user experience will always be the foundation of any AI system or tool.
“Technology for technology’s sake is not that useful,” Bala said. “But when technology is brought together with the ingenuity of people and humans, that is where really the magic happens.”
Collaborating with Intention: Intranet Stakeholder Panel Discussion (IT, IC, HR)
“When I think about this trifecta, it’s probably one of the most critical elements in all companies because when you really get down to the roots of it, we’re all centered around the experience of the employee.” – Emily Feliciano, VP of Information Technology at Netflix
A successful intranet requires collaboration from three departments: IT, IC and HR. Find out how this powerful “trifecta” can partner to build a more engaging and useful organizational intranet. The panel features voices representing each corner of the trifecta. Hear from Emily Feliciano, VP of IT at Netflix; Carolyn Clark, VP of Corp Comms at Simpplr; and Lee Ann Karr, Chief People Officer at Independence Pet Holdings, to learn:
- The unique contributions of IT, HR and internal comms in intranet management and governance
- What each department must bring to the table to build a strong “trifecta” partnership
- How departments can effectively engage each other to promote better communication and collaboration
“The trifecta is the ideal state. That relationship and partnership is so important, especially as we think about the employee experience and how we want to support our organizations every day,” Lee Ann Karr said.
How AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah Humanizes Executives to Propel Engagement
“There has to be an engaging piece that will keep people involved and make people wanna hit that like button.” ~ Sergio Avila, Internal Communications Manager for AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah
Are you struggling with content ideas that interest your employees? Learn from one of the best. Davin Wilfred, Director of Customer Advocacy at Simpplr, talks to Sergio Avila, Internal Communications Manager for AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah, about his strategy for creating content that led to a 41% increase in comments and likes.
- See an example of how AAA lays out its intranet home feed to catch attention and drive employee engagement.
- Watch a clip of their award-winning series, “Behind the Blocks,” which was named Best Leadership Content by Simpplr.
- Get tips and inspiration for how you can elevate your intranet content and use it to connect executives and team members.
“I’ve always been good at telling stories, and that’s what I still rely on today as we communicate to our employees because that is a huge part of it,” Sergio said.
Mastering Measurement & Analytics: Intranet Best Practices for Internal Comms
“We highly, highly recommend using your data to show off your good work and to tell the story of just how big of a difference you’re making every single day.” – Jackie Berg, Head of Research & Business Development at Brilliant Ink
Analytics can be intimidating, but data shouldn’t scare you off because it’s one of the most powerful tools for telling stories and proving value to key stakeholders and executives. In this session, you’ll learn how to overcome analytics uncertainty as Jackie Berg, Head of Research & Business Development at Brilliant Ink, walks you through the process of building a compelling story with your intranet data.
- Learn how to interpret and utilize intranet data to clearly communicate complex information to stakeholders.
- Discover practical data visualization techniques that transform raw data into compelling visual stories.
- Watch a live step-by-step PowerPoint slide makeover to learn how to improve your own data presentations.
“You have really important and really compelling data to share,” Jackie said. “We just have to get past that mental block of feeling intimidated.”
Intranet Superstars: Best of Simpplr 2024
“These are all organizations that demonstrate what it means to be the best of the best in 2024.” ~ Davin Wilfrid, Director of Customer Advocacy at Simpplr
Customer Advocacy Director Davin Wilfrid joined Amanda Pham, Sr. Marketing Specialist, to showcase winners of Simpplr’s Intranet Superstars customer contest. Read the blog post and check out the session video to learn how organizations of all sizes, in myriad industries, are using their intranets to drive innovation, foster engagement, and strengthen company culture!
“I’m absolutely thrilled we had an opportunity to shine a light on all the work our customers have put into their intranets,” Amanda said.
That’s a wrap
Many wonderful technology and communications experts took time out of their days to share insights with us during the Intranet Innovations Virtual Summit. We’re grateful to everyone who shared their expertise and experience. Their insights inspire us to better leverage intranet technology and use it to continue to improve employee experience, engagement and satisfaction. We hope you enjoy the sessions and can turn each lesson into a practical action plan for improving your own intranet technology!