As we approach Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget this Wednesday, many organisations and employees are bracing for difficult news. The UK economy faces significant headwinds, borrowing is high, productivity forecasts have been downgraded, and working households are feeling the strain.
In times like these, a modern intranet isn’t just a communications tool, it can become a critical support system for your employees.
Here’s how your intranet can help your organisation navigate the financial crisis and genuinely support your employees’ wellbeing:
Clear, trusted updates: Use your intranet to share factual, up-to-date information on what’s happening in the wider economy, and how it might affect your organisation. When news is confusing or anxiety-inducing, giving employees a reliable source of truth helps reduce rumours and fear.
Dedicated resource hub: Create a “budget & cost-of-living” space on the intranet with FAQs, external links (e.g., government support, financial advice), and internal guidance. This makes support easy to find, and signals that your organisation is taking the situation seriously.
Senior visibility: Use your intranet news, blogs, or even video messages from senior leadership to acknowledge the challenges ahead. Transparency from the top builds trust, reduces anxiety, and shows everyone that your senior management are not ignoring the moment.
Community & peer support: Encourage discussion forums, social posts, or Q&A areas where employees can share concerns, ask questions, or suggest ideas. Sometimes just being heard makes a huge difference.
Educational content: Use your intranet to deliver bite-sized financial education, tips on budgeting, managing energy bills, or how to access financial counselling. Whether through blog posts, downloadable guides, or curated content, this kind of information can be a lifeline.
Signposting to help: If you offer benefits like employee assistance programmes (EAPs), legal/financial advice services, or hardship funds, your intranet is the perfect place to connect people to them. Highlight how and when to access support and make the process as simple as possible.
Business continuity communications: In times of uncertainty, your intranet is the place to go for up-to-date business continuity plans, guides, and updates, ensuring everyone knows how the organisation is responding.
Monitoring and feedback: Use your analytics to track what content is being read and what questions are being asked. This helps you adapt your communications and support strategy in real time.
Highlight positive stories: Share examples of teams or individuals who are helping others, who personify your organisations culture and values and are achieving great things for your organisation, whether that’s finding new ways of working, winning new business or great client feedback. Positivity and progress are powerful antidotes to anxiety.
With a challenging economic backdrop, employees don’t just want transactional communications, they want empathy, clarity, and reassurance.
Organisations that lean into their intranet as a tool for real-time support can make a real difference to retention, morale, and trust.
If your intranet isn’t yet a central part of your organisation, now is the time to rethink its role. As the Budget unfolds, what you communicate and how, could shape not just perception, but everyone’s motivation and wellbeing.
By doubling down on transparency, community, and practical support, your intranet can help people feel less alone and more supported, during the months ahead.
If you are rethinking your intranet or looking for inspiration as to how to ensure yours is at the heart of your organisation, please get in touch with martyn.green@sorce.co.uk.