The Intranet: Is it the primary source of information for ev3 employees? Melanie Anderson

“The key word of the new era of internal communication is intranet.” Howard and Sun 2000

The Situation  Ev3 is a five year-old company with over 300 employees located in Plymouth, MN and at 100 locations throughout the U.S. in field sales  ev3 intranet has been in place for 3 years

Research Question Is the intranet the primary source of company information for ev3 employees?

Typical Barriers to Use  Awareness of the intranet  Accessibility to the intranet  Usefulness of information available  Intranet navigation skills  Alternative sources of information?

Methodology  Web-based survey link ed to 402 U.S.- based employees  14 questions  Opportunity to add comments

Results 208 responded – 52%

Who Responded?  47 from sales – 50 % of sales team  30 from manufacturing – 30% of manufacturing team  Largest respondent groups were those who have little access to the computer while at their job.

Frequency of Access  How often do you access the ev3 intranet? ~76% said they access it daily  I use my computer daily while at work. ~97% said they use it daily

 82% rated as very useful What is the most useful method that the company uses to deliver information to you?

What are the most valuable types of information found on the intranet?  69%: phone directories  64%: paid time off requests  51%: operating procedures  45%: employee benefit forms

 Do you think the intranet is easy to use? ~ 84% said yes  When you visit the intranet, do you find what you are looking for? ~64%: almost always ~18%: sometimes ~ 3%: don’t use the intranet

If ev3 offered training sessions on how to locate information and navigate the intranet would you attend? ~61% very likely or likely to attend a training

What would you like to see on the intranet that is not currently there? ~ 46%: online job training ~40%: pay-stub information via a secured password setting ~36%: want links to booking travel online ~35%: want electronic purchase orders

Research Question Is the intranet the primary source of company information for ev3 employees? NO

What I Learned  ev3 employees prefer company information delivered to them via  There is an interest in navigation training.  Intranet is easy to use  Employees would like more electronic forms  Phone directories are popular!

Melanie’s Recommendations  Create communications that direct employees to access the intranet for further information  Convert paper forms to electronic forms accessible through the intranet  Provide training on intranet navigation  Offer online travel booking through the intranet

QUESTIONS?