“Imitation is the sincerest [form] of flattery” – Charles Caleb Colton famously wrote in Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think Lately (1824). Given this, we decided to share some highly effective intranet examples you could, um…’ flatter’ them, by leveraging the incredible ideas and innovative ways they have been using their intranets.

Digging through our previous blog posts, there were a number of intranet examples we could have highlighted. However, through a diplomatic internal vote and impending time constraint, we have presented the eight fantastic intranet examples below. These gems are from our customers that have been leveraging their intranet in exceptional ways:

Intranet Example #1: Norwich City FC 

“The Dugout”

We can’t help but love the modern minimalistic style shown in this design. They make really great use of whitespace and present information in a very clean way. The large icons for commonly accessed forms like the vacation schedule are prominent and only take 1 click to get to. They always have their standings in the front and center of the homepage, so their employees can keep an eye on how the team is doing. A few of the football fans at IC suggested we also add in a league table of our own! To their dismay, it doesn’t tie in well with our company goals.

Intranet Example #2: San Diego Humane Society & SPCA

Elkie Wills, Director of Community Engagement at the San Diego Humane Society (SDHS), was responsible for planning and implementing an intranet for the SDHS. The intranet, named FEtCH, was designed to align with their current brand, as well as represent the company’s focus in finding homes for animals. In keeping with that theme, Wills created several elements on the intranet with names like, “Meow Madness”, “Most Pawsitive Player” and “In The Mews” (a rather adorable play on words for Company News).

FEtCH has become the go-to resource for information regarding career opportunities, benefits, workers’ compensation, and calendars, which can all be accessed directly from FEtCH’s homepage. In addition, an element of fun was added with the use of Online Photo Albums. The SDHS staff take hundreds of photos each week, so Wills thought it would be fun to have employees upload their photos to FEtCH and implement a photo of the week contest. Not surprisingly, this is now one of the most popular areas of the intranet. There is also an Employee Recognition feature on the intranet where employees can fill out a “High Five” form to nominate peers for a job well done. While many of our other customers term this as KUDOS on their highly effective intranets, this has proven to be a great employee recognition tool for any intranet administrator to deploy.

Another highly effective intranet feature included on FEtCH is “Happy Tails”, which shares animal adoption success stories. Employees can go onto the FEtCH intranet and check in on animals to see how they are adapting to their new home, as well as receive exclusive updates on the animal. As expected, the SDHS employees can get very attached to the animals that come in their facility, so “Happy Tails” is extremely meaningful to them.

FEtCH is a great example of a highly effective intranet because:

1. It aligns with the company brand, goals and culture
2. It has become an essential resource tool for employees
3. It enables employees to do their jobs more efficiently
4. It has increased employee engagement with elements of fun
5. It includes what’s important to employees (e.g. Happy Tails)

Find out more about the San Diego Humane Society’s Highly Effective FEtCH intranet, by reading: How to FEtCH a Better Intranet and An Interview with Non-Profit Intranet Manager, Elkie Wills.

Intranet Example #3: BC Place

BC Place underwent a major renovation period in 2009 to gear up for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This divided staff between two locations during a time when communication and unity were critical. Luckily for BC Place, Intranet Connections had the solution to their internal communication challenge – a Corporate Intranet.

To ensure all staff was on the same page when it came to renovation information, BC Place included an innovative live webcam feed of BC Place right onto the Intranet Homepage so employees could view the renovations and construction in real-time. This is an excellent way to ensure employees have the most up-to-date information about what is going on in your organization. In addition to information about the facility, the intranet included a People Directory with contact information for all the employees and their locations. This enabled employees to easily locate one another as many of them were spread out between the two locations.

Another important element added to BC Place’s intranet was their Online Forms. Employees had access to important Online Forms directly from the intranet homepage, allowing employees to access the forms quickly, increasing efficiency and productivity.

BC Place’s intranet is a terrific example of a highly effective intranet since:

1. It streamlines business processes with quick access to online forms
2. It keeps all information in one central location
3. It keeps all employees across multiple locations informed and on the same page
4. It allows employees to communicate and stay connected

Find out more about BC Place’s highly effective intranet by reading: In the Midst of Change an Intranet Case Study.

Intranet Example #4: New Seasons Market

New Seasons Market first opened in 2000 with one location in Portland, Oregon, USA. The store quickly expanded and they now have over 12 stores throughout the surrounding areas. However, with such growth also came some challenges such as ensuring employees were able to communicate across multiple locations. To address this, Reed Coleman, Internal Communications Manager, decided to spearhead an intranet initiative, which quickly and successfully became named ‘The Pantry’.

While installing the new intranet was easy, intranet adoption would be a challenge as 50% of New Seasons Market employees didn’t have email addresses or workstations, ultimately forcing communication to be solely face-to-face. Coleman introduced the innovative and unique “Intranet Kiosks”, touch-screen intranets set up in lunchrooms and meeting rooms throughout the 12 locations.

The Pantry soon became the central hub for information and resources, quickly becoming integrated into the company culture. In addition, it helped facilitate strong employee engagement with features like: “Grab & Go Easy Service Links”, a quick links tab to important information, “From Our Customers”, stories of happy customers and, “Classified Buy & Sell Exchange”, a place for employees to buy and sell items from each other.

Why The Pantry is an effective intranet example:

1. It connects all employees across 12 locations
2. It enables seamless communication
3. It eliminated sending company-wide emails
4. It improved employee engagement
5. It aligned with company culture and communicates that culture to new hires

Find out more about The Pantry and Reed Coleman’s highly effective intranet planning by reading: Building Workplace Culture With The Intranet and Your Intranet Name & Corporate Culture Go Hand in Hand.

Want More Highly Effective Intranet Examples?

Golden Valley Bank Intranet Example

Ohio Credit Union Intranet Example

West Michigan Works! Intranet Example

Summit Funding Intranet Example

Here are a few other notable mentions that we encourage you to check out to inspire further innovation on your intranet:

• Cupertino’s Intranet As a Cost Savings Tool
• RRPS Leverages Online Forms
• Dwight – The Credit Union Intranet
• Gold Coast Hospital Improves Staff Training
• Health Essentials’ Social Intranet

We love sharing customer success stories and intranet examples, but we need your help to keep ’em coming! If you have a highly effective intranet example that you would like to share with us, please comment below or e-mail connect@icthrive.com

If your business is struggling with internal communications, employee engagement, productivity or employee retention, have a look at our Corporate Intranet. It is an out-of-the-box intranet solution with over 100 features designed to help you better connect, collaborate and create.

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Editors note: This blog post was originally posted in 2014 and was updated in 2020 to include additional intranet examples.