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Parenting can be really daunting if you need to manage a home and work at the same time.
It's hard to balance work and family - especially if you're a single parent or sharing parenting with your ex, the choices you have are more limited and you’ll have less support in making those choices.
You may not always feel in control but there are things you can do and think about to help manage the balance between work and home.
Recent surveys reveal that many parents are eager to make changes so they can work more flexibly, because they know that having time with their children is important.
Fortunately, across many industries remote working and flexible arrangements are no longer the exception.
Progressive companies offer cloud based intranets that can be accessed 24/7 from a tablet, PC or smartphone. Staff no longer need to be tied to their desks in the office, as a mobile friendly intranet means they can still be connected and productive whether they are working from home or the office.
The benefits of an intranet are often overlooked.
At a first glance, we probably think we know the main goals: communication, accessing information, finding colleagues. The classics. But the truth is that intranets offer a broad range of features and functionality, which can be applied in a variety of ways.
Staff can stay connected using the in-built social features of the intranet and have open discussions and provide updates. The Leadership team can also post their comments and stay in loop with the updates.
Even though people are working from home they don't have to lose out on knowledge and latest trends. Intranets allow organic knowledge sharing to grow as the person-person connections increase and deepen across the company.
Knowledge experts are more visible and it’s easier for people to connect with them. As a result the company’s knowledge can grow rapidly as employees share their independent learnings.
No matter where they are in the world, employees can collaborate and stay in touch. This helps to build a strong company culture - where company news, events and new learnings are shared.
An intranet is a rich pool of information, there is everything from social committee updates to online forms. Manage documents on the intranet where employees can update them and staff can download the most updated version.
Everyone has access to the employee recognition page/channel where management or staff can recognize a team member or an employee’s work.
Recognition is crucial to effective employee engagement.
Intranets with a good integrated chat feature and hashtags make discussions easy.
The ‘reply all’ email messages can be avoided and productive conversations can be made. It is easier to keep everyone informed and get feedback thus reducing frequent meetings.
In a single platform, the company intranet provides employees access to all tools and information they need to get the job done more efficiently. Staff can utilize the intranet for the following tasks amongst many others:
It may seem, working from home can cut you off from the office environment but an intranet can get you connected and improve employee engagement.
Engaged employees are happier, more productive, and less likely to leave.
Collaborative workspaces on the intranet enable more joint working across the business and help to break down any departmental silos.
Teams can work together on daily tasks or on long-term projects.
These collaborative workspaces enable staff to share files, conduct multiple conversations and reference pertinent data.
Also, helping employees to gain a sense of the bigger picture through the office intranet is another important consideration.
Employees having a firm idea of how their work helps colleagues and the company overall can raise their motivation levels. As the company culture comes to life on the intranet, it is easier for employees to understand and be a part of it, stay connected and get feedback from their managers.
An intranet is, undeniably, a significant investment!
Executed correctly, an intranet has the potential to accelerate business performance and transform how you work, delivering unexpected benefits in places you may not even have thought of.
