11 intranet content ideas to boost employee engagement

A good, modern intranet is a water cooler, town hall meeting, and workplace manual rolled into one. It’s a place where employees can find everything they need to thrive in their roles. 

But the very best intranets go beyond first-class internal communications. They also drive employee engagement, connecting workers to their roles and the wider organization. 

The content you put on your intranet has a big part to play in making this happen. Incorporate the intranet content that staff love and engagement across the board becomes much easier.

Here, we list the content that belongs on an effective and engaging employee intranet.

The link between intranet content and employee engagement

Employee engagement is the degree to which employees feel invested in their work and their workplace. Engaged employees are happier, more productive, and less likely to leave your organization.

Engagement relies on good internal communication. And, in today’s digital age, good internal communication relies on a modern intranet.

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The modern intranet is a central hub for workplace communication, collaboration, and connection. It supports an organization to:  

• Connect and align teams even when they’re apart
• Provide clear, reliable information
• Offer opportunity for two-way communication
• Streamline employee communications by putting everything in one place

This type of communication tool is lightyears from that neglected company noticeboard. Or an email inbox flooded with memos. 

But the software alone isn’t enough. You can only make a success of your intranet and your employee engagement efforts if you incorporate the right content.

Intranet content needs to be reliable and relevant. It should help to foster a sense of belonging and community. And it should spark employee interest.  

Get it right and you’ll engage employees with your internal communications and your intranet platform. This engagement then spreads further, positively impacting how teams feel about their jobs and your company.

11 engagement-boosting content ideas for your company intranet

Let’s take a closer look at the intranet content types that stand to improve internal communications and boost employee engagement. The most engaging intranet content ideas include:

• Surveys and polls
• Employee recognition
• Company policies
• Company news and updates
• Company strategy and goals
• Employee-generated content
• New hire welcome info
• Training and development resources
• HR resources
• Employee wellness initiatives
• Company values

Intranet content idea #1: Surveys and polls

When we’re actively involved in a conversation, we’re more engaged. So every effective intranet features content that employees can respond to.

Surveys and polls are an obvious choice. They’re interactive. Easy for employees to use. And really useful for leaders looking to improve the employee experience.

It’s definitely worth moving beyond the standard, annual employee survey. Regular polls and pulse surveys keep employees involved in the conversation all year round.

They also give you real-time insight into employee engagement and — if you ask the right questions — intranet content preferences.

Polling your employees makes them feel heard and valued. But your content will be less effective and engaging if you fail to follow up.

This presents another great intranet idea. On the back of a single poll, you can share feedback findings, your plan of action, and any results. All useful, engaging comms, sure to spark employee interest.

Intranet content idea #2: Employee recognition

We know that employees feel more engaged at work when they get recognition from their leaders, managers, and peers. According to recognition research:  

• 65% of employees said they would work harder if they felt management noticed their contributions
• Engagement, productivity, and performance are 14% higher in organizations with an effective employee recognition program 
• Workers in organizations that make appreciation a priority are 56% less likely to look for a new job

Praise is clearly valuable. It can make a big difference to employee morale and their sense of belonging. So another great intranet idea to add to your list is employee recognition.

You can use your intranet to showcase the successes and contributions of employees and teams. You can also celebrate milestones, like work anniversaries and employee birthdays.

Shout out the behaviors you want to see more of. And if a customer name checks an employee in a glowing review, share it on the company intranet so everyone gets to see it. 

Content tip: For an extra engagement boost, link recognition content to company values. Turn values into hashtags. Then use these hashtags in recognition posts to highlight the core company ethics employees have demonstrated.  

Intranet content idea #3: Company policies

In a modern workplace, company policies really shouldn’t live in a paper manual. Nor should they sit on a shared file only accessible to those with an office-based desktop computer.

Instead, make it easy for employees to access company policy documents by putting them on your intranet.

Now, we know employees are unlikely to be clamoring to read policy docs. But by placing them on your intranet, you make this content more engaging and effective. That’s because:

• There are fewer barriers between employees and the information they seek
• Content is searchable and findable
• Employees can trust that the information they’re getting is well-maintained and up-to-date
• You can turn written policy docs into engaging videos or interactive tutorials

Whether it’s safety protocols, a code of conduct, or brand guidelines, employees have all the resources they need at their fingertips.

With this essential info to hand, employees can feel more confident in their roles. And your organization enjoys better compliance with company policy.  

Intranet content idea #4: Company news and updates

Employees who are kept in the loop are better at their jobs. They also feel more connected to their company and co-workers.

But company updates tend to be pretty dry. So how do you deliver company news and updates that employees actually want to read?

Get leaders involved. Content from leadership tends to get a lot of traffic. So encourage your senior team to post a weekly or monthly update on the company intranet.

Use multimedia content. Present company news in a visually engaging way by using images, videos, and infographics. 

Incorporate a human angle. The employee intranet is a great place to post photos from the latest team-building event. Or a signup form for your next corporate volunteer day. Or a customer story that highlights the direct impact your employees are making.

Target your content. A well-designed intranet lets you segment your audience and filter content. This keeps your news and updates relevant to each team or department. 

Content tip: Ensure employees engage with time-sensitive updates by picking an intranet solution that allows you to send notifications, pin essential content, and request an acknowledgment receipt from employees.

Intranet content idea #5: Company strategy and goals

Company strategy and goals shouldn’t be kept behind boardroom doors.

There are lots of benefits to sharing this information with employees. When you involve employees in your strategy and goals, you help to align your organization. You also make work more engaging for employees. That’s because they:

• Understand how their work fits into the bigger picture
• Feel more involved, empowered, and motivated
• Make better decisions and solve problems more effectively

So devote some content on your company intranet to strategy and goals.

Clearly communicate your company mission. Consider giving employees updates on competitor intelligence. And help employees visualize progress toward goals with the help of eye-catching charts.

Intranet content idea #6: Employee-generated content

As we mentioned earlier, it’s easy to switch off from a one-way conversation. So the most engaging employee intranet content goes two ways.

Polls and surveys are a useful way to involve employees in your internal communication. But you can go further by giving employees the option to create their own intranet content.

They can write blogs and upload videos to the team thread. They can share employee resource group (ERG) content. And — if your corporate intranet has a newsfeed feature — you can allow them to post, comment, and like.

Intranet content idea #7: New hire welcome info

Create a dedicated intranet section for new hires and you kick-start employee engagement from a worker’s very first day.

You can provide content like your organizational structure, policy docs, checklists, and FAQ pages. You can also use your intranet to introduce new hires to the company and support them to start building connections with co-workers.  

This approach means new hires get a great introduction to your organization. They also know exactly where to look for essential info during those first weeks and months.  

Content tip: You want new hires to engage with your intranet from the very start of their onboarding journey. So offer guidance on how to use it — and how they can contribute to intranet content, too — as part of your onboarding materials.

Intranet content idea #8: Training and development resources

An employee’s learning journey goes way beyond onboarding. And we know that learning and development (L&D) contributes to employee engagement. 

According to LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report: 

• 7 in 10 employees say learning improves their sense of connection to an organization
• 8 in 10 employees says learning adds purpose to their work

You can use your company intranet to highlight training opportunities. Things like workshops, webinars, conferences, and courses.

Also, integrate your intranet with any L&D software you use. That way, it’s just a quick click and a hop from your intranet homepage to the learning materials your employees want to access.

Intranet content idea #9: HR resources

Traditionally, employees had to contact the HR team for an update on their vacation allowance. Or to access their pay stubs. Or to perform any other number of HR-related tasks. 

This was time-consuming — for both employees and the people team. And it added unnecessary friction to the employee experience. 

Now, you can put this essential content on your intranet. 

Employees can self-serve. They can book time off. They can view their shifts. They can also view and access the employee benefits your company offers.

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What’s more, employees can access all HR software from one central hub. That means one sign on, one password. And fewer support requests from employees who’ve forgotten the platform or password they need to use.

Intranet content idea #10: Employee wellness initiatives

In a Gallup survey, 63% of workers said that having a better work-life balance and personal wellbeing is important when considering which company to work for.

And in organizations that focus on employee wellbeing, employees are:

• 3x more likely to be engaged at work
• 69% less likely to actively search for a new job
• 71% less likely to experience burnout
• 5x more likely to agree strongly that they trust the leadership of their organization

To promote wellbeing and work-life balance you need to embed this ethos in your company culture and company policies. Then, highlight this ethos using your intranet content. 

Create posts that highlight wellness challenges, wellbeing tips, and mental health resources. And act as cheerleader for employees as they work toward health and wellness goals.

Content tip: Create a dedicated wellness hub on your intranet. Here, you can give employees access to all your wellness resources. Things like your gym membership benefit, phone numbers for confidential helplines, and your company’s timetable of wellness events.  

Intranet content idea #11: Company values

Only 23% of employees strongly agree that they can apply their organization’s values to their work. And only 27% strongly believe in their company’s values.

But strong values help employees build an emotional connection to your organization and find greater purpose in their work. Connection and purpose sit at the foundation of employee engagement.

That’s why using your intranet content to clarify and repeat your company values is a wise idea.

Depending on your particular set of values, you could highlight your work to support the planet or local communities. Or showcase your commitment to building a positive, inclusive workplace.  

You could also get ERGs to contribute content on topics like diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In doing so, you’ll weave your values into everyday intranet interactions, making your intranet content and your organization more engaging for employees.

A few last intranet content tips

We’ve covered the 11 different types of intranet content that help to engage employees. Now, a few points that apply to all the content ideas included above.

Keep it relevant

If your intranet solution allows it, segment your audience according to their role, department, or stage in the employee life cycle. Then target your content. That way, employees are less likely to experience information overload and less likely to switch off from your comms.  

Involve employees

Many of the intranet content ideas above rely on two-way communication. This ethos is central to employee engagement. So encourage interaction and content contribution as much as possible.

Make it easy to access

Even the most engaging intranet content will fall flat if employees can’t navigate your software. So pick an intranet solution that is easy and intuitive to use. Make employee communications hard to miss, not hard to find.

Go mobile

To make a success of intranet content and employee engagement, your intranet needs to reach every member of the workforce. For frontline organizations — and those with a dispersed workforce — that means taking your intranet mobile. A modern intranet, like Blink, works as well on a smartphone as on a desktop. 

In summary

The company intranet is an invaluable tool for engaging employees and building a positive workplace culture.

The best intranet content is useful and relevant. It offers opportunities for employee interaction. And it delivers internal communications in a streamlined, user-friendly way.

Stick this kind of content on your company intranet and you’ll create a hub that fosters engagement across the whole of your organization.

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