It seems that at least two to three times per week I am working with an organization who is struggling to understand the role that HR should play when it comes to the enterprise wide intranet or portal and how HR can use these technologies to deploy and empower a workforce.  The question of who “owns” the tool and who is making decisions on rollout is usually where the conflict occurs and the usual result is a stalemate where the organization ends up not moving forward in anyway and who is the loser in this stalemate – the workforce.

In each organization there is a corporate communication role that is responsible for information to the enterprise from the executives within that organization.  In this case, the role of corporate communication will determine a tool that best meets their needs to communicate information.  From that point, is where things get messy.

HR must play a significant role in pushing workforce facing transactions, content/collaboration tools and intelligence to the enterprise.  This can be done in one of two ways:

• The HR organization can work together with corporate communications and the IT organization to leverage the existing intranet/portal to make this happen as a single workforce facing tool
• The HR organization can create its own workforce facing intranet/portal that branches off from the corporate intranet/portal to push its content to the workforce

Both of the above scenarios work well and are used in organizations throughout the world today.  A few key things to remember about a intranet/portal deployment:

• HR must play a key role in making the intranet/portal site a true “destination” where the workforce will want to visit and “hang out” in.  This is done by truly putting content and tools on the site that add value to the workforce.  Think “What’s in it for me?” and the ME is not YOU, the ME is the WORKFORCE
• The workforce intranet/portal should be a “mashup” of all of the tools, templates, reports, transactions, systems, information that is needed by the workforce.  It should NOT be a series of links to systems that have different navigation methods, different sign-ons and left dated with stale content.  You will lose the workforce and they will never visit your destination again
• You must think of the workforce intranet/portal in “perpetual beta” meaning it is never complete.  Think about production on a daily or weekly newspaper/magazine. This is the same type of mindset you need for your workforce intranet/portal
• The workforce intranet/portal is a joint effort between HR, communication and IT.  HR can’t do this alone, but at the same time, the IT organization can’t do this alone and meet the needs of the workforce.  HR needs to lead the initiative and bring in the remainder of the enterprise to add content and value
• Enterprise collaboration tools (social networking) should be part of the workforce intranet/portal strategy.  There is nothing that drives employee engagement in organizations today as well as these new web 2.0, collaboration tools
• Look inside your closet – your enterprise more than likely already owns a toolset that you can use to make this a reality such as Microsoft SharePoint or the Oracle/PeopleSoft Portal, SAP NetWeaver Portal, Enwisen, Authoria or an ADP portal

At Knowledge Infusion we call this Digital HR and believe strongly that every HR organization in the world needs a true Digital HR strategy and mission along with resources dedicated to making this vision a reality.

Who owns it?  You do as a HR technology professional.  Who is the loser with multiple links to different systems, navigation, training courses, entering data multiple times and a prehistoric feel at the workforce – the employee who will eventually leave and go somewhere that fits their expectations regarding “keeping up with technology”

Drop me at note with questions anytime at jason.averbook@knowlegeinfusion.com

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