If you’ve kept a close eye on business tech trends, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the intranet is a standard piece of software for the modern workplace. If an organization doesn’t have one, they more than likely have a couple kinds of software that streamlines key intranet functions, such as internal communication, knowledge management, collaboration, and engagement.
With the booming developments in AI, the shift towards remote and hybrid structures, and the growing push towards people-centric workplaces, today’s organizations need a secure platform that centralizes everything they need to connect employees anywhere, at all times. An intranet responds to these needs by providing flexible options to distribute information, centralize content, enable real-time collaboration, and build upon a people-focused culture.
Research shows that implementing the right kind of business technology improves key areas, such as:
- Internal communication
- Productivity, especially for frontline and deskless workers
- Employee retention
- Customer experience and satisfaction
- Employee engagement and morale
In this post we compiled the most current intranet statistics as well as studies that highlight ways an intranet supports the modern workplace by addressing many challenges employees and employers face. Each study is organized by specific goals that organizations turn to the intranet to solve.
Top Company Intranet Benefits
As technology has advanced, so have the ways workplaces communicate and collaborate as cohesive units. This has made the role of intranets imperative to internal operations and success. What was once a static piece of software predominately used for a people directory, today’s intranet software supports numerous organizational goals, including engagement, internal communication, knowledge sharing, even customer support.
- Organizations that installed social media tools internally found a median of 20% increase in employee satisfaction. – Deloitte
- Improved communication and collaboration through social technologies could raise the productivity of interaction workers by 20-25%. – McKinsey
- Organizations with strong online social networks are 7% more productive than those without. – Deloitte
- 87% of respondents agree that intranets facilitate strong communication. – Simpplr
Accelerates onboarding time.
Onboarding new hires plays a pivotal role in an organization’s success because it’s the first official experience a new employee will have to start learning the skills they need to be successful. It’s also one of the first interactions they have with the company’s culture and fellow employees.
For the employer, onboarding requires a lot of time, resources, and money. In fact, it can cost up to $4,000 to train a new employee. A company intranet helps workplaces streamline the entire process by moving materials they may need, such as training packets, employee handbooks, videos, and files, into one workspace. A successful onboarding program needs to be efficient and comprehensive, which is why an intranet can be an important tool.
- When intranets are effectively used, organizations can decrease employee onboarding time by an average of 20%. – Forrester
- 89% of employees report higher engagement following an effective onboarding process. – BambooHR
- 69% of employees surveyed at an organization were more likely to stay with their current employer for up to 3 years if they had a good onboarding experience. – SHRM
- 42% of employees who willingly left their job reported that their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job. – Gallup
- 27% of US workers quit their jobs in 2023. – SHRM
- The cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary. – Gallup
Improves access to information.
According to Gartner, workers spend an average of 18 minutes looking for one file. Today’s organizations have a lot of information and sometimes, this can lead to an overload of internal tools. In the era of advanced technology, some workers experience confusion about where certain information is stored and how to locate it. The goal of a modern intranet is to centralize content and information into one hub so that employees can work more efficiently and waste less time retrieving the information they need.
- Improving employee access to information and tools could save organizations roughly $2 million a month for every 4,000 employees. – CFO
- Fortune 500 companies lose $31 billion from not sharing knowledge within their organization every year. – CFO
- The average worker spends 20% of the workweek tracking down information and people to find answers. – McKinsey
- 83% of respondents say they have problems accessing the data they need to do their jobs. – CSO Insights
- Workers spend an average of 18 minutes looking for one file. – Gartner
- 27% of employees and 38% of managers feel overwhelmed by too much information. – Gartner
Supports remote and hybrid work environments.
Research shows remote work is on the rise, with less than 30% of knowledge workers in offices daily. However, without the proper technology, remote teams will struggle to collaborate, feel connected to their team, and do their jobs efficiently. Intranets respond to these challenges by providing accessible resources, engaging communication channels, and a platform to connect, fueling a smooth workflow that adapts to numerous workplace environments.
- Stanford conducted a study in 2020 and found remote employees were 5% more productive than in-office employees. By 2022, they found that remote workers were 9% more productive, which they correlate to workplaces better understanding remote best practices and investing in the right technology to support it. – Stanford University
- 58% of workers have the option to work from home at least one day a week, 35% have the option 5 days a week, and 87% will say yes to flexibility with workplace option. – McKinsey
- 90% of organizations have embraced a range of hybrid work models that allow employees to work remotely from off-site locations (including home) for some or much of the time—and 4 out of 5 employees who have worked in hybrid models over the past 2 years want to retain them. – McKinsey (2023 The State of Organizations)
- 77% of deskless workers want better technology to help them in communications, operations and logistics, onboarding, and training. – Emergence
- 25% of deskless workers see the lack of purpose-built technology as one of their major obstacles at work. – Skedulo
Elevates internal communications.
Without a doubt, internal communications is the number one challenge and complaint from employees. Communication between employees is also the driver behind everything important in your workplace—employee engagement, knowledge sharing, collaboration, and employee morale.
Empower your team with seamless communication. Informed with company news, aligned with objectives, and collaborating effectively, projects start to fly, productivity soars, and employee morale thrives. Modern intranets bridge communication gaps, helping build a connected and engaged workforce – the key to a successful organization and preventing disengaged employees.
- 57% of employees feel that they are not given clear directions, and 69% of managers report generally not feeling comfortable communicating with their employees. – HBR
- The cost of inadequate communication results in a wasted $4,200 per employee per year. – SHRM
- 46% of respondents believe their organization does not invest enough in communication technology. – Gallagher
- 96% of people think the businesses they deal with could improve when it comes to communication and project management. – Project.co
- 74% of employees feel they are missing out on company information and news. – Gallup
- 72% of employees do not fully understand their company’s strategy. – IBM
Provides more effective internal communication tools than email.
While the topic of email certainly falls under internal communication, we think it deserves its own stand alone section because it’s prominent in the modern day workplace and also a huge productivity barrier.
Many leaders agree that email is not the most efficient channel for many types of internal communication. When email is your number one source, employees waste time searching through cluttered inboxes, messages get missed, and, frankly, there are far more direct ways to move projects forward. Here enters a significant intranet benefit: replacing email with more effective internal communication tools.
- Employees spend 28% of the workweek managing emails. – McKinsey
- Removing email from the work environment would free between 7-8% of workers’ time for more productive tasks. – McKinsey
- The average employee spends 3.6 hours daily searching for information. – Coveo
- Employees spend, on average, at least two hours a day (25% of their work week) looking for the documents, information, or people they need to do their jobs. – The Harris Poll
- 77% of companies believe email is no longer a viable tool for effective communication. – Deloitte
Increases collaboration and employee productivity.
If your organization is made up of a group of people, your employees collaborate every day. In order to work together, people need to bounce ideas off of each other, delegate tasks, and ask questions. This is how employees innovate, complete projects, and grow within your company.
This is also why you want a clear strategy when it comes to enhancing collaboration, so teams are aligned to the tasks at hand. By leaning on a intranet software, you can bring together the actual tools teams need to work on projects and streamline project management so everyone stays on track with business objectives.
- 97% of employees and executives believe a lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a task or project. – Visix
- Highly aligned companies grow revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable than their unaligned competitors. – LSA Global
- To solve problems, employees need “the ability to leverage knowledge across the enterprise with online, seamless, integrated and intuitive collaboration tools that enhance your employees’ ability to work together.” – Deloitte
- ~40% of respondents point to complex organizational structure as a cause of inefficiency, and a similar proportion cites unclear roles and responsibilities. – McKinsey (2023 The State of Organizations)
- When Cisco implemented new collaboration tools and internal processes for their 80,000 employees, they saw:
- A 9x return on investment
- Saved $691 million in fiscal year 2008
- Increased productivity by 4.9%
Strengthens company culture and employee engagement.
Effective internal communication + a strong company culture = higher engagement, employee motivation, and productivity. When employees are engaged, they work with a purpose, which shows in numerous studies where engaged employees outperform companies with disengaged workers.
Your intranet can be a powerful tool for spreading your company goals and uniting your workforce with your company culture. Give your brand a digital identity that users can tap into from any location. By empowering a culture that people want to be a part of, you also empower a workplace where people want to stay.
- 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a “distinct workplace culture is important to business success.” – Deloitte
- Workplaces with strong culture saw 4x increase in growth revenue. – Corporate Culture and Performance
- Profits are 23% higher with an engaged workforce. – Gallup
- 36% of employees are engaged in the workplace, and 13% are actively disengaged. – Gallup
- An actively disengaged employee costs their organization $3,400 for every $10,000 salary, or 34%. – Gallup
- Organizations with highly engaged employees achieved twice the annual net income compared to organizations with employee disengagement issues. – Kenexa
- According to the O.C. Tanner Institute, a positive culture increases engagement, performance, and retention:
- 4x more likely to have “highly engaged employees”
- 7x likely to have employees who are innovating and high performing
- 11x less likely to experience layoffs in the past 12 months
- “80% of executives rated employee experience very important (42%) or important (38%), but only 22% reported that their companies were excellent at building a differentiated employee experience.” – Deloitte
- Employees who are engaged and aligned with their workplace culture are 36% more productive. – ThriveMap
- 86% of workers who claim to experience omni-connection also reported upgrades to their company’s technology and skillsets, allowing them to work in new ways. – Accenture
- Companies with highly engaged employees, facilitated by effective intranets, outperform their peers by 147% in earnings per share – StaffBase
Shines a light on employee recognition.
The key to improving both employee satisfaction and employee engagement is by celebrating your employees’ accomplishments and making them feel valued. In fact, employees want recognition.
Positive reinforcement fuels performance and loyalty, driving a more engaged workforce. Axero’s intranet tools make recognition a breeze. Celebrate team & individual wins publicly, igniting a passion for shared goals among employees – the key to boosting employee productivity within your organization.
- 63% of employees said not being recognized for their achievements is the biggest issue with leadership. – Interact/Harris Poll
- When recognition is part of the workplace, employees are 2.2x more likely to go above and beyond. – Great Place to Work
The bottom line.
These intranet statistics underscore a compelling narrative: intranets are not just tools for connectivity, but catalysts for boosting productivity, fostering culture, and enhancing employee engagement.
Intranet platforms like Axero offer a holistic solution, ensuring that whether an employee is in an office or halfway across the world, they remain aligned with the company’s ethos and objectives.
As we peer into the future of work, the conversation shifts from the ‘why’ of intranets to the ‘how’—how can organizations optimize their digital workplaces to adapt to evolving dynamics? The time is now; not only do leaders need to recognize the profound benefits intranets bring, but they also have to continually refine their strategies in alignment with emerging trends.
