Glasgow Housing Association builds intranet with users in mind

Glasgow Housing Association didn’t want to build a staff intranet without the staff, so in late 2010, it got everyone, from the top executives to the cleaning staff, involved. The intranet ended up being so well-used and convenient for employees that it’s the winner of Ragan’s 2012 Employee Communications Award for Best Value to Employees (Intranet).

The GHA team held more than 100 meetings with employees at all levels, asking what people used the intranet for, what employees needed but the intranet didn’t have, and what content on the intranet ought to be shared. It listened, adding features such as video sharing and blogs, based on user suggestions. The first video explained the ins and outs of the intranet.

GHA even asked employees to name the new intranet. More than 70 names were submitted, and a focus group voted on the ultimate winner, “Holmes.”

In the lead-up to Holmes’ launch, the communications and marketing teams worked together to build excitement and establish the rules of the new intranet with a series of informative, brightly colored emails.

It’s all paid off. About 88 percent of Glasgow Housing Authority’s employees visit the intranet more than eight times each day. Blog posts get an average of 1,000 views each. One post asking people to choose a charity of the year got 80 comments. GHA certainly achieved its goal of making its intranet useful, usable, and used.

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