The 20s are shaping into a significant decade for financial organizations and their financial intranets. The decade’s start propelled us into the future, with companies rapidly adjusting to a digital workplace, essentially replacing a physical, in-person one. As 2020 turned to 2021 and 2022, the need for a digital workplace became important regardless of whether employees were in the office, working remotely, or both. Simply put, workers got used to the idea that their documents, forms, procedures, and news were available on a digital platform. And financial intranet trends followed precisely that. It was a renaissance for the humble intranet, with new features of greater importance. Let’s look at what those features mean for the trends in 2023.
Financial intranet trend #1: increased personalization
The best financial intranets can be personalized to meet the needs of individual organizations, teams, and even employees. Giving employees the ability to choose how they interact with their digital workplace and internal comms will be one of the top trends of 2023. This includes employees finetuning their news feeds so they can see news most relevant to them, choosing how they’d like to receive push notifications, and more—all of which are available on IC’s intranet platform.
Financial intranet trend #2: mobile support
Some of the most powerful computers ever built are in our pockets. We use our phones for almost everything, from communications to getting the news to tracking our workouts. Employees are now expecting to use their phones at work too, and your organization needs to be ready. The next generation of the intranet lives on mobile. Your workers want to access all the critical information on your intranet right from their pockets.
This is especially important for field workers. One of our customers, Sun Peaks, uses our intranet and Push communications extension, and they’ve highlighted how important it is to reach employees at various locations throughout the ski resort. In fast-moving, physically demanding environments, like the alpines, mobile-friendly software can be a game changer.
Financial intranet trend #3: the intranet as a tool for compliance
In finance, compliance with rules and regulations is paramount. Ensuring all employees are adhering to all the many policies they need to can be an anxiety-inducing thought. But we see more and more banks and credit unions utilize their intranet as a hub for compliance, and this trend will continue and grow exponentially in 2023. With Intranet Connections’ software, you are getting an out-of-the-box solution that requires little set-up, with powerful policy management tools built right in— such as a read and agree feature and Push communications messages reminding employees to comply with your policies. Furthermore, as many of our 1,600 clients are in the financial industry, we have put together many resources, including success stories, tools and templates, and blogs on how to best utilize a financial intranet.
Financial intranet trend #4: using SharePoint and a purpose-built financial intranet together
Many organizations are wondering if they should use SharePoint, which is built into Office 365 platforms, as their main intranet—or go with a SharePoint alternative. The truth is the trends show that more and more financial organizations are using both! Financial organizations are using a basic, pre-existing SharePoint intranet for document sharing, autosaving, etc., while using a purpose-built solution, like Intranet Connections, for the employee engagement and communications aspects of their intranet—such as sharing company news, reaching employees across channels, and having a hub for forms, policies, and procedures. Best of all, you can link to SharePoint files and folders from within Intranet Connections software so that your team can work seamlessly with both solutions.
Financial intranet trend #5: more integrations mean more ease of use
The digital workplace has become increasingly ubiquitous this decade, as we mentioned. Across the finance industry, more employees are adopting remote work arrangements, and more field employees rely on mobile devices to connect with their colleagues. The key to allowing workers to excel in the digital workplace is to have a financial intranet that integrates with their preferred tools.
Integrations will allow you to streamline and boost the utilization of your intranet. A few integrations that are beneficial to your workforce include:
- A push messaging tool to reach employees on their devices and pull theminto other channels
- SSO, to increase security
- An HRIS
- Your pre-existing SharePoint platform (Office 365)
Ultimately, there is plenty of technology that can integrate to make your intranet more beneficial to your users. As we enter 2023, it’s essential to shop around and analyze which vendors offer the best integrations for your organization.
We’re here to help you stay on top of the trends
Financial intranet trends are ever evolving, but luckily, so is our software. With over two decades of experience, our team has always been able to stay one step ahead of the trends and bring tomorrow’s intranet to you today. Book a demo to see all the most significant features of 2023 in action!
