The Service Transformation team is working with colleagues across the organisation to improve the intranet.
Watch our short video for more information:
Why we are changing the intranet
The aim is to make the information you need more accessible and easier to find and use.
The new intranet will also:
- better support hybrid working as employees will be able to access information from personal devices or on the go
- allow employees from partner organisations, such as Essex Highways and Mitie, to access employee information and policies
- reduce the overhead on managers and support services. For example, half (49.8%) of queries the payroll team received about maternity and annual leave were simply to clarify information
What we learnt from testing
We tested the intranet with employees and found that:
- the current user experience is not logical or intuitive
- many employees and partners have limited access to important policy and employment information
- there's a lack of trust in the published information, and people feel the need to check what they find through other channels
- teams rely on colleagues who ‘know how to find things’, creating an overhead for managers and avoidable demand for support services
- search is poor, information is in a confusing mixture of formats and there are too many ‘layers’ of content
What will change
The new intranet will:
- be a trusted place where all employees and partners can find the information they need, on any device, at any time
- be easier to navigate, with an effective search and a more logical structure
- support self-service and hybrid working for all employees
- reduce the levels of management overhead and avoidable demand for support services
- evolve, adapt and improve over time
An evidence-led, standards-based approach
The new intranet:
- is being built around people's needs so that it works for everyone
- is being tested with subject matter experts and teams from across the organisation at every stage of the design
- applies the council's content standards and digital best practice to improve the structure, clarity and accessibility of information
- will be flexible, so information is always presented in the best way to meet the needs of the people who use it
- will be fully searchable, with less information hidden away in linked documents where you cannot find what you need
Continuous improvement
The Service Transformation team will support the new intranet on an ongoing basis.
The team has established:
- new governance processes
- an improved content lifecycle
- a measurement framework
This will make sure the intranet continues to improve over time.
Open by default, secure where necessary
With strong standards and governance, we can safely create a more open intranet. Most of our information will be accessible for all audiences, on any device and at any time that suits them.
Non-sensitive information will be publicly available.
All sensitive information will continue to be stored securely in corporate systems which are password protected. Links to these systems will be clearly signposted.
An open intranet will:
- remove barriers for employees and partners who have struggled to access employee information in the past
- give future employees the opportunity to see ‘how we do things here’
- reduce the time taken to manage and respond to statutory Freedom of Information (FOI) requests – a recent review found that 20% of FOI requests could have been met with information already on the intranet
When the new intranet will be launched
We will launch the new intranet in phases to reduce risk and speed up progress. During the transition people will be redirected seamlessly between the old and new intranet sites.
Private beta – March 2023
Redesigned content was built and tested with a small pool of ECC subject matter experts (SMEs) and employees.
Public beta – May 2023
In May we launched the public beta. You will continue to access the old intranet, but will be able to access the new public site for any redesigned content. Testing will continue with a wider pool of SMEs and employees.
Live beta – Summer 2023
Once the majority of content has been redesigned, the new site will effectively go live. It will become your default starting point, and you will be redirected back to the old intranet for content that has not yet been redesigned.
Full transition – November 2023
Once all content has been redesigned on the new intranet the old site will be taken down.
How to learn more or get involved
The Service Transformation team, alongside subject matter experts, will work with content on the existing intranet from February onwards.
Other ways to get updates
We run regular show and tell sessions where we share progress and give space for questions and feedback.
We also share regular sprint notes which summarise activities. Contact us on st@essex.gov.uk to be added to the show and tell invite or the circulation list.
Help us with our testing and get early access
We’re looking for more colleagues to help us with our ongoing testing. It will only take 90 minutes of your time, and you will be guided through the process by our friendly user researchers.
If you’d like to help us improve the intranet for everyone, please drop us an email to st@essex.gov.uk
