For a long time after Apple Canada put its employee handbook on its intranet, employees were still returning to their old booklets even though they had become hopelessly out of date.
People just preferred having the book, something in their hand they could leaf through and take home with them, says Lynne Jarjour, director of HR. At first even she felt that way. “It was nice and comfortable,” she admits.
Comfortable but inefficient.
Like all new technology, the promise of an intranet seems endless, with lofty expectations of improved, more efficient people processes. Indeed, the intranet at Apple was instrumental in enabling Jarjour to take on the role of director of HR for Apple Latin America, from her Markham, Ont. office.
However, even a technology specialist like Apple on occasion struggles with some of the difficulties that inevitably arise with the launch of an intranet. The site still looks nothing like she wants it to, but Jarjour has a hard time getting the attention of the already busy IT department, a common complaint of HR departments who have grand expectations for what they want a site to look like but are dependent on another department to deliver it.
However, employees’ unwillingness to use the site is a potentially greater problem. “If employees don’t use the system, or not in the way it was intended, it’s a waste of money because the efficiency is lost,” says Jo’Ann Alderson, president of Progressive Communications, a consulting firm that works with call centres.
“It is not about the technology, it’s about the people,” she says.
“You can have all of the computers and all of the software and hardware in place but it won’t make employees any happier if we don’t have a nice smooth implementation process in place. The technology doesn’t matter.”
By simply not producing new booklets, Apple employees were eventually coaxed online (another question companies grapple with: do you cut employees off cold-turkey from print products or do you wean them off gradually.) There are actions employers can take to try and ensure employees make better use of the intranet from day one, says Alderson.
There are common themes to employee resistance. Some feel it is too difficult to comprehend or cope with all of the change: “I’m too old for this,” is a common refrain. Taking over responsibility for maintaining the currency of information or all self-service for that matter has the feeling of extra work to staff. And the time it takes to learn how to navigate the new system can discourage users from getting started.
Like any new corporate initiative one of the keys to success is good communication.
Begin by giving employees lots of notice and building up the awareness that the intranet is coming. Buy-in has to begin at the top and senior management support should be communicated loudly and clearly.
Remind employees of how it will benefit them. While new users tend to harbour suspicions that it would still be faster to pick up the phone and call the HR department, the intranet will actually speed things up and give employees more control of their personal information. Share this with employees by bringing them together to meet and discuss the system and appoint a departmental representative who will keep co-workers informed of developments as the process moves forward.
“Make sure it is done in nice digestible pieces,” says Alderson. And do it gradually. Change takes time and too much change too quickly tends to turn employees off, she says. Besides, moving too quickly increases the likelihood of glitches — deadly for generating buy-in. The first time an employee goes online and can’t find a form she is told is there just confirms any suspicions she had that the system is no good.
There also has to be consistency in implementation. Once you begin there can’t be any backtracking or vacillation that will send conflicting messages.
Confidentiality is often a concern, with employees worried about who will have access to information. However, employees seem to have become more comfortable with the idea of protecting electronic information with passwords.
People just preferred having the book, something in their hand they could leaf through and take home with them, says Lynne Jarjour, director of HR. At first even she felt that way. “It was nice and comfortable,” she admits.
Comfortable but inefficient.
Like all new technology, the promise of an intranet seems endless, with lofty expectations of improved, more efficient people processes. Indeed, the intranet at Apple was instrumental in enabling Jarjour to take on the role of director of HR for Apple Latin America, from her Markham, Ont. office.
However, even a technology specialist like Apple on occasion struggles with some of the difficulties that inevitably arise with the launch of an intranet. The site still looks nothing like she wants it to, but Jarjour has a hard time getting the attention of the already busy IT department, a common complaint of HR departments who have grand expectations for what they want a site to look like but are dependent on another department to deliver it.
However, employees’ unwillingness to use the site is a potentially greater problem. “If employees don’t use the system, or not in the way it was intended, it’s a waste of money because the efficiency is lost,” says Jo’Ann Alderson, president of Progressive Communications, a consulting firm that works with call centres.
“It is not about the technology, it’s about the people,” she says.
“You can have all of the computers and all of the software and hardware in place but it won’t make employees any happier if we don’t have a nice smooth implementation process in place. The technology doesn’t matter.”
By simply not producing new booklets, Apple employees were eventually coaxed online (another question companies grapple with: do you cut employees off cold-turkey from print products or do you wean them off gradually.) There are actions employers can take to try and ensure employees make better use of the intranet from day one, says Alderson.
There are common themes to employee resistance. Some feel it is too difficult to comprehend or cope with all of the change: “I’m too old for this,” is a common refrain. Taking over responsibility for maintaining the currency of information or all self-service for that matter has the feeling of extra work to staff. And the time it takes to learn how to navigate the new system can discourage users from getting started.
Like any new corporate initiative one of the keys to success is good communication.
Begin by giving employees lots of notice and building up the awareness that the intranet is coming. Buy-in has to begin at the top and senior management support should be communicated loudly and clearly.
Remind employees of how it will benefit them. While new users tend to harbour suspicions that it would still be faster to pick up the phone and call the HR department, the intranet will actually speed things up and give employees more control of their personal information. Share this with employees by bringing them together to meet and discuss the system and appoint a departmental representative who will keep co-workers informed of developments as the process moves forward.
“Make sure it is done in nice digestible pieces,” says Alderson. And do it gradually. Change takes time and too much change too quickly tends to turn employees off, she says. Besides, moving too quickly increases the likelihood of glitches — deadly for generating buy-in. The first time an employee goes online and can’t find a form she is told is there just confirms any suspicions she had that the system is no good.
There also has to be consistency in implementation. Once you begin there can’t be any backtracking or vacillation that will send conflicting messages.
Confidentiality is often a concern, with employees worried about who will have access to information. However, employees seem to have become more comfortable with the idea of protecting electronic information with passwords.
