Since 2013, we have been investigating the state of internal social media in the Netherlands every two years. Today we are proud to publish the results of the fourth edition, in which we have further broadened the focus to internal digital media and explicitly asked questions about the impact of corona on the use of these media. Finally, in the study, we specifically surveyed respondents on four possible applications of a social intranet: alignment, engagement, knowledge sharing and collaboration.
Corona
Of course, the large-scale work from home has had an effect on the media that are used and used for internal communication and collaboration. For example, 81% of participating organizations have introduced new internal digital media. The big winner is Microsoft Teams, which has been adopted by 39% of organizations.
Social intranet as a Swiss Army knife
The social intranet is considered the Swiss Army Knife of internal communication; no internal means is used for so many purposes. At the same time, the rating is low with a 6.5 compared to other means, such as video conferencing (7.4). And perhaps there is a direct link between the two outcomes.
Furthermore, we see that the use of the intranet has increased slightly: on average, 28% of employees actively use the social intranet (posting, commenting) and 61% passively (reading, liking). In the previous study, the rates were still 27% and 55%, respectively. The fact that these figures are not higher after a period in which structural remote work has been carried out and in which the dependence on the intranet is greater, we dare to call quite remarkable.
From experimental to fundamental
Over the past year and a half, there has been more appreciation for internal communication. That has also translated into investments in New media. The respondents to this survey are also optimistic about the lasting nature of the changes over the past year and a half: almost unanimously (97%) they expect that the work will continue to be structured differently.
Now that there is more peace, it is time to reflect critically. What do we want and need to achieve in this situation? How is the internal digital media mix arranged? And what is the best way to implement specific resources so that employees experience the best possible experience? Answering those questions can help us transform the experimental changes of the past period into a new fundamental situation. As far as we are concerned, a wonderful and challenging task for the coming years.
