Financial services companies have a tricky balance to strike when it comes to handling data. Laws and regulations often mean they need to store extensive records of transactions and customer communications, sometimes going back years. Employees need to be able to retrieve this information at a moment’s notice — but IT needs to make sure it’s securely stored and not vulnerable to hackers.
The solution to these two conflicting needs? An employee intranet.
No, not one of those clunky, old-fashioned, on-premise set-ups that were a pain to use. What you need is a modern, well-designed cloud intranet that can securely store your data while allowing your employees to find information in seconds. A platform that can act as the single source of truth for your organization — and even help your teams to build connections and collaborate from a distance.
Interested? Read on for our full business case for the financial services intranet.
Implementing an intranet can be a big investment, so you need to know that it will be worth it. Here are a few of the ways a financial services intranet could benefit your organization.
The financial services industry has historically been slow to adapt. But thanks to the pandemic, many financial institutions have had no choice but to embrace remote work, and they’re not going back now. Financial services companies now need tools that allow their employees to collaborate, communicate and connect from a distance — like a modern cloud intranet.
When files are saved on local desktops and passed back and forth as email attachments, things can easily get confusing. Messages can be lost, and employees can end up doubling work and wasting time. With an employee intranet, however, documents are automatically synced to the cloud, and colleagues can work on them simultaneously. That means no more frantically searching your downloads for the right version, and no more wasted time.
The average financial services employee has access to some 11 million files from their very first day on the job. Naturally, this represents a huge security risk. With a modern intranet, you can set specific, granular permissions and strictly control who can see, create, and manage which content. This makes content governance simple and keeps your sensitive information safe from the wrong eyes.
When employees have to waste time searching for information, productivity takes a nosedive. But with a finance intranet, employees have access to everything they need in one central and easy-to-access location. That means they can easily find the information they need, communicate with their colleagues, and collaborate on projects, all within one platform.
In this new world of remote work, many employees feel isolated and disconnected from their organizations. A modern employee intranet can help you spread your company culture far and wide, forge connections across cyberspace, and bring everyone together.
All intranet providers are different, and not all intranets are well-suited to financial institutions. Here are some of the key features to look out for when you’re shopping around for an intranet solution.
Financial services companies deal with a lot of sensitive information. That means that you need to ensure any intranet solution you choose is capable of keeping your data safe. There are many different security standards that an intranet provider could adhere to, but a good idea is to look out for ISO 27001 certification. This certification shows that a company’s security processes and protocols have been assessed by an external auditor and found to meet strict international standards.
Employees in financial services companies often need to access files, documents, and records, which may date back several years. This can result in a lot of wasted time if your intranet doesn’t have a powerful universal search function.
Solutions like Happeo allow you to search across multiple locations all at the same time. This means employees can quickly turn up the information they need, whether it's on the intranet, in a shared drive, or on their local desktop.
In finance, strict control over who has access to what information is crucial. You need to choose an intranet solution that helps you ensure information is only visible to the people who need to see it.
Look for intranets that allow you to set custom permissions for every page, channel, or piece of content. This gives you full control over who can see, create, and edit the information contained in your intranet. Some solutions (like Happeo), even allow you to do this semi-automatically by setting permissions based on your Google groups.
Like other industries, a large part of the financial services sector has switched to remote or hybrid work since the beginning of the pandemic. And while this has its advantages, it can also make it difficult for employees to understand who their coworkers are. That’s why a comprehensive, searchable people directory is a really useful feature to look for in your intranet solution.
Modern intranets allow your employees to search for colleagues across your entire organization by name, role, email, location and more — so they’ll always be able to find the person they’re looking for. With Happeo, you can even send your colleague a message or jump on a call right from their user card.
When an organization deals with a lot of content, keeping everything fresh and updated is a big job. Thankfully, your employee intranet can help take some of the load off — if you opt for a solution with strong lifecycle management features.
For example, Happeo will alert you if a Page is going stale, and you can even set it to automatically archive Pages after a certain period. This helps you to prevent expensive mistakes by ensuring your employees are always working from the latest information.
When employees work away from the office, internal communications can be a struggle. And your intranet could be the tool you need to bring everyone together. For example, in Happeo, you can create Channels and Pages for company news and for specific teams and departments.
This means you can segment your communications so that they’re more targeted, and avoid overwhelming your employees with content. Content reactions and comments make it easy for employees to respond to your communications, and read notifications let you know if your message is getting through.
Remote employees sometimes feel disconnected from their colleagues. That’s why social collaboration features are a must when you’re choosing an intranet platform. These include things like collaborative Channels where employees can communicate, collaborate and share ideas.
But it’s not all about work, and the best solutions should also allow your people to connect, chat, and have fun. There’s no limit to the fun Channels you can create to connect your teams together: how about one dedicated to employees’ pet photos, for example?
Every employee is different, and the way they use your intranet will be different too. Make sure they get the best out of it by choosing an intranet solution that’s customizable according to their needs and preferences.
For example, some solutions let users personalize their home pages and news feeds. This gives them easy access to the most important information, without distracting them with clutter, and makes using your intranet a more personal, more enjoyable experience.
Intranet analytics are your most important tool for assessing whether a solution is working for your organization. With a modern intranet, you’ll be able to see a bird’s eye overview of essential data points like the number of active users, and how different Channels and Pages are performing.
You’ll then be able to dive deeper into the details of exactly how, where, when, and why people are using your intranet. This lets you better target your communications to ensure everyone is engaged.
Finding the right financial services intranet can be tricky, as you need to balance fast access to information with the strictest security protocols — and, ideally, add in some opportunities for collaboration and connection too.
Happeo is a modern intranet solution with a range of features that make it a great choice for financial institutions. First, Happeo’s people directory and auto-generated org chart make it easy for remote employees to get to know their colleagues and understand how everyone fits together. Collaborative Channels provide a space for employees to communicate, share ideas, and even get to know each other.
With Happeo, there’s no more hunting through emails or wondering which attachment is the most recent one: Happeo’s platform will become your organization’s single source of truth. And the Universal Search function means employees are never more than a few clicks away from the information they need.
Plus, Happeo is proud to be ISO 27001 certified. That means we adhere to super-strict security protocols and have the appropriate people, processes and technology in place to keep your data safe.
Want to know the best part? Happeo’s ramp-up time is industry-leading, and you could be launching your financial services intranet in as little as 6–8 weeks.
Ready to get started? Book your free, personalized demo to find out more.