Employee content creation lets teams and individuals publish and collaborate

Social functionality was a top priority for MasterCard’s new intranet, MC Central, which was launched after two years of planning. 

Even though the launch of MC Central was deemed a success companywide, employees expressed a desire for better ways to connect with the company’s strategy and objectives. 

For the 6,000 employees at MasterCard at the time of the launch, the best way to make that connection was with more two-way communication facilitated through the intranet’s social software, including work collaboration tools, communication of what was happening with the company’s external social media efforts, better search functionality, and even more internal social media capabilities. 

At the heart of the launch was the Activity Stream, similar to Facebook’s News Feed, where employees post, share, like, and comment on content, engage in conversations, and collaborate on work topics. While global news remains a fundamental element of the intranet, the addition of community, project, and team sites made the intranet more relevant, converting it into a “must-visit” resource. 

The campaign to raise awareness of the value MC Central offers employees included a name-the-intranet contest, training videos, in-person training, information sessions, collateral materials, and photo booths. Mobile access means the intranet is accessible from wherever an employee is working. And these highlights just scratch the surface! 

Remember: MC Central served a population of 6,000 employees (grown to 8,000 today), yet it attracts 1.2 million page views each month. Employees have posted more than 8,000 times to the Activity Stream, and nearly 70 percent of employees have completed their profiles. 

For their work building a truly collaborative and social intranet, we recognize MasterCard’s Susan Warner, Elyse Cuttler, Heidy McIntyre, and Mary Lester with Ragan’s 2014 Employee Communications Award for Best Social Intranet.