Intranet, SharePoint, Workplace by Facebook, Slack, or Office 365? The opportunities and challenges of the digital workplace have given internal communicators a wide range of choices for their intranet and workplace strategy. Have a look at our slides and learn how an employee app fits into the mix.

1. How an Employee App Fits Best
with Your Intranet and
Digital Workplace Strategy

2. Frank Wolf
Co-founder
Staffbase
The Employee Experience Platform
“How can we better connect
with all employees?”
➜ Founded 2014
➜ 45 employees
➜ Offices in Germany and
U.S.
➜ 200+ customers
➜ 20+ partners

3. What is the “digital workplace” (and the intranet)?
“The collection of all the
digital tools provided by
an organization that
allows its employees to
do their jobs.”
From The Digital Renaissance of Work

4. Why does the digital
workplace matter?

5. What are the
requirements
for a digital workplace with a
great employee experience?
What is the best
technology
setup to meet these needs?
Part 1 Part 2

6. 1. What are the main use cases for the digital workplace?

7. Communicate to Many (EXPLAIN)
Corporate (e.g., strategy) news
Crisis management
Management blog
Location + business unit news
KPIs and reporting
Mandatory updates (e.g., policies)
Audience specific updates (e.g.
management channel)
Topic-specific updates (e.g., safety, HR)
Employee recognition
Learning and best practices
Support employee events and town hall
meetings
Peer-to-Peer
Ask the organization
Events (e.g., share pictures)
Share your story
Blackboard / buy and sell
Team coordination
Gather Feedback (LEARN)
Pulse survey
Audience specific surveys
Feedback on new products, campaigns,
customer questions, pain points, etc.
Gather new ideas and assess areas for
improvement
Workplace-Centric
Employee Handbook
Phonebook
Find experts
Safety and emergency rules
Contact information
HR (benefits, policies, templates, etc.)
Learning and onboarding content
Domain-Centric
Shop-window content — anything that
other teams need from a team (e.g.,
sales deck)
Team-internal presentations, how-to
guides, process charts, and knowledge
base for domains like Sales, Service,
Production, Development, etc.
Company Level
Process documentation and policies
Certifications documentation
Human Resources
Recruiting
Performance management
HR operations
Employee development and learning
Employee surveys
Employee self-services
CRM (Customer Relationship Mgmt.)
Marketing
Sales
Customer Service
Channel management
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
Accounting & controlling
Development
Production and distribution
Supply chain management
Quality management
Projects (start – end)
Document-based collaboration
Document repository
Manage meetings (calendar, etc.)
Manage tasks
Share team status
Discuss questions
Project planning and cost / time
estimations
Reporting
Onboarding
Teams (continuously running)
Document-based collaboration
Document repository
Manage meetings (calendar, etc.)
Manage tasks
Share team status
Discuss questions
Workflows
Ad-Hoc Teams (aka communities)
Lightweight document repository
Share ideas and best practices
Discuss questions
User generated knowledge base (wiki)
Communication Knowledge Processes Collaboration

8. CommunicationKnowledge
Processes Collaboration
Strategic priorities are shifting.
Knowledge
Collaboration
Modern Organizations
Labor division as key
source of competitiveness
IT is secondary
Stable workforce
Rationality at work
Ethics of duty
Postmodern Organisations
Knowledge as key
source of competitiveness
Centralized IT
Flexible adjustment of the
workforce
Innovativeness at work
Ethics of virtues
Hypermodern Organisations
Managing change as key
source of competitiveness
Decentralised IT
Rapid adjustment of the
workforce
Creativity at work
Ethics of perceived responsibility

9. Why digital communication becomes so important.
Millennials are now the largest
group in the U.S. labor force.Generations
Engagement
Motivated employees understand
their contribution to the company's
success.
Deskless
Employees
More than 70% of employees
do not work at a desk.
New challenges . . . . . . meet limited channels.

10. Communicate to Many (EXPLAIN)
Corporate (e.g., strategy) news
Crisis management
Management blog
Location + business unit news
KPIs and reporting
Mandatory updates (e.g., policies)
Audience specific updates (e.g.
management channel)
Topic-specific updates (e.g., safety, HR)
Employee recognition
Learning and best practices
Support employee events and town hall
meetings
Peer-to-Peer
Ask the organization
Events (e.g., share pictures)
Share your story
Blackboard / buy and sell
Team coordination
Gather Feedback (LEARN)
Pulse survey
Audience specific surveys
Feedback on new products, campaigns,
customer questions, pain points, etc.
Gather new ideas and assess areas for
improvement
Workplace-Centric
Employee Handbook
Phonebook
Find experts
Safety and emergency rules
Contact information
HR (benefits, policies, templates, etc.)
Learning and onboarding content
Domain-Centric
Shop-window content — anything that
other teams need from a team (e.g.,
sales deck)
Team-internal presentations, how-to
guides, process charts, and knowledge
base for domains like Sales, Service,
Production, Development, etc.
Company Level
Process documentation and policies
Certifications documentation
Human Resources
Recruiting
Performance management
HR operations
Employee development and learning
Employee surveys
Employee self-services
CRM (Customer Relationship Mgmt.)
Marketing
Sales
Customer Service
Channel management
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
Accounting & controlling
Development
Production and distribution
Supply chain management
Quality management
Projects (start – end)
Document-based collaboration
Document repository
Manage meetings (calendar, etc.)
Manage tasks
Share team status
Discuss questions
Project planning and cost / time
estimations
Reporting
Onboarding
Teams (continuously running)
Document-based collaboration
Document repository
Manage meetings (calendar, etc.)
Manage tasks
Share team status
Discuss questions
Workflows
Ad-Hoc Teams (aka communities)
Lightweight document repository
Share ideas and best practices
Discuss questions
User generated knowledge base (wiki)
Communication Knowledge Processes Collaboration

11. Who What
Access and Devices
(example)
Numbers (example)Target group
Knowledge Worker
(Digital)
Process Worker
Non-Desk Worker
Temporary Worker
External Partners
and Contractors
Other
Development, IT, Management,
Sales, Marketing, etc.
Spend a lot of time in projects.
Full access to internal company
network and email.
Personal devices + company
mobile + company desktop
25%
Accounting, Field Service, HR
Operations, Purchasing,
Production Planning, etc.
Mainly repetitive process tasks.
Sometimes involved with
projects.
Full access to internal company
network and email.
Personal devices + company
desktop
30%
Driver, sales clerk, factory
worker, construction worker,
nurse, warehouse worker, etc.
Wide range of tasks, often
customer-facing.
No access to internal company
network and email.
Only personal devices
40%
Warehouse workers or seasonal
sales and service staff
No access to internal company
network and email.
Only personal devices
5%
Agencies, suppliers, etc. All types from above.
Partial access to company
network and email.
Personal devices + partially
company desktop
200 overall, 100 with company
desktop and access to network
Job candidates, alumni, etc..
Basic information about the
company and current events.
No access to internal company
network and email.
Only personal devices
9000 alumni + 300 job
candidates
2. What are the main target groups?

12. Knowledge Worker
(Digital) Process Worker
Non-Desk Worker
Processes
Who needs what?
TARGET GROUP Communication Knowledge Processes Collaboration

13. Non-Desk Worker
Driver, sales clerk, factory
worker, construction
worker, nurse, warehouse
worker, etc.
Wide range of tasks; often
customer-facing
No access to internal
company network and
email. Only personal
devices (mobile + desktop)
are used.
Communicate to Many
(EXPLAIN)
Corporate news
Explain the strategy - why?
Management blog
Location + business unit news
KPIs and reporting
Mandatory updates (e.g., policies)
Topic-specific updates (e.g., safety,
HR, etc.)
Employee recognition
Learning and best practices
Support employee events and town
hall meetings
Peer-to-Peer
Ask the organization
Events (e.g., share pictures)
Share your story
Blackboard / buy and sell
Gather Feedback (LEARN)
Pulse survey
Audience-specific surveys
Feedback on new products,
campaigns, customer questions,
pain points, etc.
Gather new ideas and assess areas
for improvement
Workplace-Centric
Employee Handbook
Phonebook
Find experts
Safety and emergency rules
Contact information
HR (benefits, policies, templates,
etc.)
Learning and onboarding content
Domain-Centric
Team-internal presentations, how-to guides,
process charts and knowledge base for
domains like Sales, Service, Production,
Development, etc.
Shop-window content — anything that other
teams need from a team (e.g., sales deck)
Human Resources
Employee development and
learning
Performance management
Employee surveys
Employee self-services
Communication Knowledge Processes Collaboration
These uses cases might
be implemented step by
step!

14. Part 1 summary: The digital workplace strategy + roadmap
Knowledge Worker
Process Worker
Non-Desk Worker
Step 1 Step 2 Step 4 Step . . .

15. What are the
requirements
for a digital workplace with a
great employee experience?
What is the best
technology
setup to meet these needs?
Part 1 Part 2

16. Selecting technology I: Best of breed wins
Better user experience
Better strategy for BYOD (personal devices)
More flexibility mid- and long-term
Less shadow IT

17. OLD approach
What do we already have?
Is there a long-term tech strategy in place?
Which tools can cover use cases?
Which use cases need to be integrated
really well?
NEW approach
Which use cases need to be integrated really
well for a great employee experience?
Which use cases need to be easily available
for personal devices (BYOD)?
Which use cases need to be available for
company mobile devices?
What do we already have?
Is there a long-term tech strategy in place?
Which tools can cover use cases?
Selecting technology II: User-centered wins

18. Accessible via App Store
Branded app
No repeat logins required – only
initial login needed
Use cases that employees care
about
Automatic personalization
based on user profile (location,
business unit, job profile, etc.)
Push messages to alert about
important updates
What does easily available
mean for personal mobile
devices?
Easy mobile access is hard
to achieve.
Responsive intranets don’t
work.
That's why there will be
just “the ONE front door
intranet” app.

19. Personal +
company
devices
Communicate to many (EXPLAIN)
Corporate (e.g. Strategy) news
Crisis management
Management blog
Location + business unit news
KPIs and reporting
Mandatory updates (e.g. policies)
Audience specific updates (e.g.
Management channel)
Topic specific updates (e.g. Safety,
HR,..)
Employee recognition
Learning and best practises
Support employee events and town hall
meetings
Peer to peer
Ask the organization
Events (e.g. share pictures)
Share your story
Blackboard / buy and sell
Team coordination
Gather feedback (LEARN)
Pulse survey
Audience specific surveys
Feedback on new products, campaigns,
customer questions and pain points,...
Gather new ideas and areas for
improvement
Workplace centric
Employee Handbook
Phonebook
Find experts
Safety and emergency rules
Contact information
HR (benefits, policies, templates,...)
Learning and onboarding content
Domain centric
Shop-window content - anything that
other teams need from a team (e.g.
sales deck)
Team-internal presentations, how-to
guides, process charts and knowledge
base for domains like Sales, Service,
Production, Development,..
Company level
Process documentation and policies
Certifications documentation
Human Resources
Recruiting
Performance management
HR operations
Employee development and learning
Employee surveys
Employee self services
CRM
Marketing
Sales
Customer Service
Channel management
ERP
Accounting & controlling
Development
Production and distribution
Supply chain management
Quality management
Projects (start - end)
Document-based collaboration
Document repository
Manage meetings (calendar,..)
Manage tasks
Share team status
Discuss questions
Project planning and cost/time
estimations
Reporting
Onboarding
Teams (continuously running)
Document-based collaboration
Document repository
Manage meetings (calendar,..)
Manage tasks
Share team status
Discuss questions
Workflows
Ad-hoc teams (aka communities)
Lightweight document repository
Share ideas and best practises
Discuss questions
User generated knowledge base (wiki)
Communication Knowledge Processes Collaboration
Mobile isn’t a feature. It’s a strategy!
Company
devices and
internal
network

20. EmailKnowledge Base Team chat +
conferencing
Teamrooms +
documents +
workflows
HR, CRM, ERPCommunities +
networking
Custom
solutions
Technology stack for a modern digital workplace.
Front door intranet/communication hub
Workplace-
centric
knowledge
Few to
many
comms
Peer-to-
peer
comms
Gather
feedback
Domain-
centric
knowledge
HR services
+ ERP link
Personal +
company
devices
Company
devices and
internal
network
Easy external
access is a key
part of the
product.

21. Teams
Mainly for knowledge workers
High frequency
Extremely easy
Less governance
Frequent notifications
Teamwork integrations
Where to start a conversation and share updates?
Company-Wide and
Targeted Audiences
Medium frequency
Show up on every home page
Findable afterwards
Roles for central and local editors
More governance (e.g., push messages)
to control notifications
Automatic personalization
Employee self service integrations
Communities
Medium frequency
More discoverable and sharable
Better for discussions
Some governance
Frequent notifications

22. Not just an (employee) app but a communication hub and
the front door intranet.

23. Example: Viessmann
7200 users ▪ 17 locations ▪ 8 languages ▪ 40 news channels ▪ 3000 posts per year

24. Front door intranet/communication hub
Workplace-
centric
knowledge
Few to
many
comms
Peer-to-
peer
comms
Gather
feedback
Domain-
centric
knowledge
HR services
+ ERP
services

25. The key challenge for organizations is managing change —
therefore communication and collaboration are the top priorities for
the digital workplace.
An Employee Experience focus aimed at target groups and mobile
will lead to an entirely new approach. Mobile isn’t a feature. It’s a
strategy!
Communication is a key process with high demands on
accessibility, personalization, and editing control, making an app
really effective in large and distributed organizations.
An Employee App is a communication hub and the front door
intranet that works great with mobile but also on desktops.
Summary

26. Thanks for joining.
See you next time!
www.staffbase.com