Moat is a leading housing association in South East England that currently manages over 20,000 homes and employs around 370 staff.
Like all organisations, when the pandemic first hit in March 2020, Moat looked to find ways for its people to keep working at a distance. Despite there being a new intranet in the pipeline, the pandemic marked a shift in the way Moat’s staff worked, and created a need to be more digitally connected, providing information at its people’s fingertips.
Overhauling the intranet
Moat had been using a stagnant intranet that pointed employees to some key documents and a link to Yammer, but little more. The company knew that it needed to overhaul its intranet, the effects of the pandemic provided a clear focus as to what Moat needed from a new intranet – a platform that was simple and flexible to use, and which could be quickly updated to provide information, interaction, collaboration and support.
“Out intranet was a one page website that acted like a virtual bookshelf. It allowed no interaction between colleagues and was rarely updated”, says Abby Reader, Digital and Design Officer from Moat.
An agile intranet was needed for storing all resources, broadcasting latest news, bringing employees together and keeping everyone connected. So, Moat consulted with its workforce through surveys and discussion groups before creating a project team comprised of employees from across the business, to work together to create the most effective and engaging intranet that catered for a wide variety of business needs.
Moat used the Engage platform from Sorce for building its new intranet due to its ease of use, ability to be tailored to Moat’s needs and the friendly and approachable customer support. With guidance from the project team and in partnership with Sorce, the intranet took just two months to build and went live in September 2021.
Reader says, “From the first day of going live, it was clear that our new intranet was light years away from our old, tired one. It was vibrant, collaborative and really welcoming – a great reflection of our Moat culture.”
Ensuring connection and belonging
Moat’s intranet quickly became the ‘go to’ for everything - documents, policies, news, updates, opportunities, interaction, recognition and advice. For the first time, there was a usable central hub for everything employees might need when working either remotely or in the office.
Reader says “When people are working flexibly, it’s crucial to find other ways to keep them connected to the organisation and also to their colleagues. The intranet is a vital means for us to bring everyone together and living and breathing Moat’s values.”
Supporting agile working
The intranet has quickly become the virtual heart of Moat and has supported its transition to hybrid working. With almost 600 log-ins per day, employees are using it from their laptops and will shortly be able to access it from an app on their mobile devices.
Reader says, “Our intranet has helped to streamline hybrid working. It really doesn’t matter whether you’re working in the office, at home or out and about in one of our neighbourhoods, everyone has what they need at their fingertips.”
The future
Moat continues to add to and improve the intranet. In fact, there will never really be an ‘end’ to developing the system.
Reader adds, “The intranet has had a huge impact on our internal communications. We’ve gone from having a static and basic intranet to creating a digital headquarters. And because it’s so easy to make changes and add content, we’ll be able to provide regular, transparent, informative communications to ensure our people remain our greatest asset.”
