Organization Name: Ministry of Health, Long-Term Care
Industry: Government Ministry
Web references: http://health.gov.on.ca/en/
Who are they?
With an annual budget of around $50 billion Ontario’s Ministry of Health, Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) is one of the largest public entities in the country. With a focus on improving the well being of all Ontarians the ministry employs thousands of professionals who use their skills to create, maintain and improve upon public policy.
MOHLTC and the Social Media Intranet
As one can imagine there are many politically sensitive portfolios and issues that crop up periodically. These issues require immediate and decisive action from MOHLTC. Agile attention means that MOHLTC employees must be engaged and informed.
But how do you ensure that employees are able to share files, read information and interact in a safe environment? And how do you add social media while sticking to the confines of proprietary information? You do that by creating a secure intranet. What exactly is an intranet though? It’s a computer network used to share information within and organization. That makes it different from an extranet or public facing network – which is basically the internet as most people experience it.
What are intranets?
The rollout
Intranets have become more common in the corporate world. But like any work initiative there has to be significant employee engagement in order to make it work. MOHLTC revamped their intranet by first requesting a content review from the division stakeholders. Content was revised for clarity and relevance. At the same time the existing site was redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up and a robust content management system (CMS) was added for the assigned content editors. New features like interactive galleries, integration with all provincial ministries, event scheduling and blog integration all add up to the promotion of divisional engagement within the ministry.
The blogs are the key to having a truly social intranet. Employees on every level are able to interact informally in a more relaxed environment with the added assurance that their opinions will turn into something fruitful. Other extranet social media tools like Facebook and Twitter run the risk of exposing sensitive materials that could result in public relation issues.
Lessons for others
- Review all content when redesigning your intranet.
- Include relevant and concise information.
- Keep the intranet agile and current by using popular tools.
- Research all options and embrace only those that are right for you.
Submitted by: Richard Barrett, Web Communications Project Manager, MOHLTC
Author Contact: info@hypergraphik.com
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Programme Director
References:
2014 Intranet Design Award Winners
Why Your Business May Need Internal Social Software