Remove friction points with a single, shared intranet

 

Our client is a premier mining solutions enterprise. With a dedicated workforce exceeding 4,000 skilled professionals, this Mining Company has firmly established itself as a dominant force in the mining sector. Operating on a vast scale, it extends its expertise and services to discerning clients across the Asia-Pacific region.

The Mining Company had a SharePoint OnPremise intranet that required modernization to align with their “Connect” brand, whose launch coincided with the business moving to a new state-of-the-art headquarters.

So they turned to Powell and Glenfield Digital, one of our Australian technology partners, with a mission to build better efficiencies in the digital workplace through unified content service platforms. They are experts in enterprise content strategy, delivery, and distribution.

The intranet transformation aims to streamline internal processes to match their evolving business and create a common internal communication channel to share news and events, highlight company values, and for management to post messages company-wide.

Challenges

• Outdated on-premise intranet, with a look and feel that needs modernization
• Problems in finding controlled documentation with search (multiple entries)
• Requirement for better functionality for a staff directory, application centre, and other key areas
• Requirement to create one media centre for communications, with ease of content creation
• Migration of Document Control Management System from on-premise to Microsoft 365 in the cloud

 

 

Objectives

The deciding factor for the Mining Company in choosing Powell was the speed at which they could get their intranet up and running and the out-of the-box functionality it brought. Thanks to Powell Manager, the Mining Company would have a quicker turnaround and a working intranet in less time.

“Powell Intranet provides rapid deployment of rich internet templates that are responsive, with great functional pages and widgets.” Richard Sojka, Managing Director at Glenfield Digital

Powell Intranets’ out-of-the-box capabilities ticked many boxes for the Mining Company with such highlights as:

• Powell Manager site deployment system
• Powell Intranet content editing functions and favourites
• Ability to create themes and SharePoint customisation quickly
• Scalability to manage many site collections
• Core custom features kept up to date through SharePoint releases
• Easy to create custom widgets

Implementation process

The Mining Company set a deadline of 10 weeks for their intranet to be up and running and worked closely with their implementation partner, Glenfield, to define needs and set an action plan.

Results & impact 

Thanks to Powell Intranet and partner Glenfield, the Mining Company now has one centralized communication channel – Connect – accessible from an employee’s desktop, browser, or mobile.

Connect has brought cohesion to the company’s internal processes and strengthened company culture. Its benefit was demonstrated when the Mining Company launched its new HQ and used the intranet to convey crucial internal information before and after the launch.

The sleek platform reflects the Mining Company corporate image and branding. Thanks to the communications and marketing teams, it is populated with beautiful imagery and content.

“The visual content created by the Mining Company Communications team is phenomenal and complements the functionality provided at every page level”. Richard Sojka, Managing Director at Glenfield.

Connect acts as a single source of truth, making information accessible to all. Targeted content filters allow contributors to choose who they send messages to – employees or contractors. For the first time, management can share company-wide information in a dedicated space and keep employees updated and included.

End users can find information more quickly with enhanced search. Colleagues can search for each other in the new employee directory. Employees can access external apps, and IT can control access to them. HR can recognize employee contributions with ‘The Mining Company Marvels’. Departments can promote upcoming events.

Intranet features

The Mining Company has a complete intranet solution with essential features such as a staff directory, a news feed, and dedicated department pages. Glenfield also helped The Mining Company build a custom app centre and to repurpose the Powell Intranet new template for their innovative “The Mining Company Marvels”. Below are some of the most essential features for the Mining Company communications team:

 

• Our business

Up-to-date information on the company’s vision, values, and strategy.

• Working at the mining company

Information and content that supports everyday workday activities and outlines employee expectations and development opportunities..

• What’s happening

Up-to-date news, upcoming events, Managing Director announcements, webcasts, and corporate presentations.

• The Mining Company marvels

A new colleague recognition program that celebrates heroic business contributions.

• Our operations

Pages that provide content, information, and functionality relevant to site-based employee needs and preferences.

Next steps

After a successful Phase 1 launch, The Mining Company started to roll out Phase 2 of the project. This phase involves more behind-the-scenes work, further enhancing the user experience and improving document management.

1. The Mining Company communications team will work with internal departments and mining sites to build additional user-focused pages that match department and field needs.
2. They are working with Glenfield to migrate documents from the old The Mining Company intranet to the cloud. Over time, they will decommission their old, on-premise intranet.

Once Phase 2 is complete, the Mining Company can add even more to its employee intranet and leverage Powell Intranets gamification and employee engagement features such as Kudos and Employee Advocacy. The IT department is also looking at how better to manage their Microsoft Teams environment with packages such as Powell Governance available for integration.

Conclusion 

In summary, the launch of “Connect,” built with Powell Intranet by Glenfield Digital, successfully modernized the Mining Company’s digital workplace. This single, shared intranet has streamlined communication, improved access to information, and fostered a stronger company culture. The positive user feedback and high adoption rates demonstrate the significant impact of this on-time and on-budget transformation, setting a strong foundation for future digital enhancements.