Customer Profile
InTouch Credit Union has served its members since 1974 and grown to 93,432 members nationwide as well as in more than 20 countries around the world. InTouch has 200 employees and assets of over $1 billion (US).
Business Situation
When employees couldn’t find documents, they needed to perform their jobs and were missing critical company updates as emails were lost in their overflowing inboxes, InTouch Credit Union recognized the need for a better internal communications and document platform. They needed an intranet to centralize documents and communications.
Solution
IC provided an intranet solution that delivered robust document management, centralized communication, process automation and left plenty of room to scale and grow with InTouch Credit Union.
“I can tell you IC has more than paid for itself many times over in time-savings and cost savings our employees reap from this comprehensive resource.”
– Tim McCoy, Vice President of Marketing & E-Commerce, InTouch Credit Union
Benefits
- 100% Intranet Adoption
- Employee Reliability/Accountability
- Time Saving Delegation
- Controlled Document Management
Information and documents were scattered and hard to locate at InTouch Credit Union. Employees had difficulty finding all the resources needed for employees to perform their daily tasks. Working with a classic substitute for an intranet, a static webpage with numerous links and a directory that acted as a simple repository for information, the limitations of this system were being felt throughout the Credit Union.
That’s when InTouch Credit Union decided they needed a comprehensive intranet solution that could not only address their need for document management, but also for expense reporting, streamlining Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), onboarding new employees and internal communications. InTouch Credit Union evaluated a number of intranet solutions, including Microsoft SharePoint.
“SharePoint had a lot to offer, but ultimately it didn’t fit our needs. It was far too expensive, not to mention the additional implementation and customization costs required. We wanted a platform that was easy to work with, but also provided the flexibility to add applications and other requirements as needed. While evaluating IC, we noticed that it was built more for credit unions than other intranets we evaluated,” explained Tim McCoy, Vice President of Marketing & E-Commerce at InTouch Credit Union.
Ultimately, after evaluating different intranet software platforms, In Touch Credit Union selected IC . The IC solution fit all the initial requirements laid out for their new intranet, but also left room for growth.
McCoy commented that the final decision to move forward with IC wasn’t just about the software: “There is no way that we would have been able to have the same conversations with Microsoft (SharePoint) that we have had and could have with IC. To this day, if there is something that we aren’t sure about, it’s so easy to pick up the phone and chat with the IC Team.”
The Transition
After IC was selected, the planning stage started at InTouch Credit Union. Starting with organizing and determining what the intranet would look like, how would employees use it and how to move all resources onto the platform in a structured and easy-to-find manner.
InTouch Credit Union migrated over 1,000 documents to the intranet, as well as moving all business procedures and SOPs online. McCoy explained that the vision for the InTouch Credit Union intranet was to be a work-oriented type of site, which would become the go-to place for all information, communications and resources for employees.
“Our IT department split the role of implementing the intranet, making the senior members the Super Administrators taking care of the architecture and permissioning on the intranet and then delegating ‘junior administrators’ to manage groups and add content to Department Sites. Whenever we had a question or a snag while organizing and implementing the intranet, the IC Team was Johnny on the Spot, right there to help us with any problems we encountered,” remembered McCoy.
Strengthening Communications
Beyond putting information and resources online, InTouch Credit Union wanted to inspire their employees to communicate and collaborate through the intranet. They started with a Name Our Intranet Contest, which got employees engaged and taking ownership of their new intranet, voting to name it – InSight.
From there, the momentum of moving all internal communications online kept building, adding a blog from the CEO, a blog from the COO and the “The Throw Down”, an Employee Recognition application for managers to recognize outstanding employees for jobs well-done. All these engaging communications were prominently displayed on InSight’s intranet homepage.
Also, on the intranet home page, InTouch Credit Union instituted a What’s New feed that provides vital information on new SOPs, companywide events, etc.
Meg Yates, Senior Marketing Representative at InTouch Credit Union, described migrating internal communications on the intranet saying: “Honestly, getting communications and information online has helped hold employees accountable being up-to-date with the latest news, policies and events at the Credit Union. InSight has reduced the frustration and time spent searching for information, making our employees more productive and informed. Overall, time management with IC is better for all employees!”
Getting Involved
Moving to a new intranet, InTouch Credit Union also decided to move all their community and volunteer events online. It is a requirement that each employee volunteer for branch sponsored events every year.
By moving the volunteer events on the intranet, using Event Sites, all employees are notified as soon as a new event is posted with the event date, time and details. Plus, employees can sign-up for volunteering for the event directly on the intranet by completing a registration form online.
Yates joked about the previous volunteer registration process, “Finally our volunteer registration process creates a level playing field. Before, we would use a companywide spreadsheet and whoever was the first department to open the email and the spreadsheet would lock-in all the volunteer positions for their department, leaving the rest of the employees scrambling. Now, it is first-come, first-serve no matter which department you are in. Again, holding each employee accountable for checking InSight and staying informed.”
Tighter Controls
Before IC , InTouch Credit Union had a hard time guaranteeing that every employee was using the latest version of a policy, form or document. Even on their shared directory, there were too many folders and documents floating around, it was difficult to determine which version employees were using and if all departments were accessing the same document path.
IC eliminated the doubt and questions InTouch Credit Union had about every employee accessing the latest version of document, policy or form with strict and visible Version Control built directly into the intranet for every file uploaded.
Even when a file is being updated, the status of the document can be “checked out” until the approved version is available. IC completely eliminated employees using the wrong documents, as any document not accessed through the intranet is not in compliance and therefore should not be used by any employee.
“This simple policy of only having employees’ access and use documents that are stored on the intranet has eliminated any rogue, out-of-date documents from being used at the Credit Union. It also has saved our employees hours of time, not having to locate and confirm they are using the right version of each document. Every employee knows where to go to find the only approved version of our documents, policies and forms – they are all on the intranet,” Yates happily explained.
Permissioning for documents, policies and forms has also be incredibly useful for InTouch Credit Union, since some files should only be accessible to the Executive Team or the Accounting Department, while other files can be distributed company wide. With easy to administer file permissioning, access to the file can be set upon initial upload, based on the folder in which the document is placed or even based on access to certain areas on the intranet. This level of permissioning and intranet security has been incredibly helpful for InTouch Credit Union without having to provision separate intranet sites or shared directories.
Time Saving Delegation
Moving to IC has also been an immense time saver for InTouch Credit Union with the ability to delegate administrative responsibilities of the intranet to the individuals that use it most (e.g. the Human Resource Department and Marketing Department).
“Managing our old static intranet page and document repository was very time-consuming. We had a ton of links that needed to be updated and everything was filtered through the IT Department. With IC, we’ve delegated to departments to own their own documents, forms and sites, and now Marketing is the owner of the system. Marketing generally only spends minutes a week managing the intranet. With the old system in place, it basically required a full-time IT resource,” described Yates.
InTouch Credit Union simplifies the administration of their Credit Union Intranet, InSight, from IC through ongoing delegation ownership of pages, sites, documents and forms to keep the management of areas of the intranet with the most appropriate parties.
Engagement with Feeds
The intranet at InTouch Credit Union isn’t all business, it is also about connecting, communicating and building culture. In promoting an appreciative and informed community, InTouch Credit Union has utilized a number of applications to appreciate, educate and celebrate employees.
With the Feature Employee Feed, InTouch Credit Union features a new employee each day and shares valuable information about this employee with the rest of the InTouch Credit Union community through InSight. When each employee is featured it gives them a sense of pride and the opportunity for other employees to connect with a new face, either on the intranet or in person.
To educate employees, InTouch Credit Union also shares an IT Tip of the Day through a Daily Tips Feed on the homepage. This tip is a simple reminder or idea that benefits employees as they ramp up on new technology or more efficiently utilize existing technology. Employees quickly gain a tidbit of knowledge or are reminded of a shortcut that saves them keystrokes and time.
Through the Ideas Share Exchange application employees further engage and collaborate on the intranet providing ideas on new ways InTouch Credit Union could be utilizing the intranet. This simple virtual suggestion box allows each employee to weigh in and be heard, which has provided great improvement ideas for InSight.
Yates enthusiastically endorses this application saying: “The feedback we have gotten through Ideas Share Exchange on InSight has only improved our intranet site and has really engaged employees who have contributed, seeing their ideas in action. Plus, with the simple administration of IC, many of the suggestions only take a matter of minutes to implement.”
“Marketing generally only spends minutes a week managing the intranet. With the old system in place, it basically required a full-time IT resource.”
– Meg Yates, Senior Marketing Representative, InTouch Credit Union
100% Adoption
“Unfortunately, we haven’t come up with a way to accurately measure ROI for our intranet, because no one wants to go back and count the number of hours wasted doing things the old way. I think we would be shocked at how unproductive we were. I can tell you it has more than paid for itself many times over in the time-savings and cost-savings our employees reap from this comprehensive resource. The savings come in little ways: keystroke savings, finding documents faster and information easier. But it is also in big ways like creating referral forms for wealth management appointments and employee on-boarding procedures, all of these yields incredible time and cost savings,” McCoy expounded.
InTouch Credit Union has seen efficiencies in each department that utilizes the intranet for their Department Site, for online resources and for communication. The time and effort saved through using IC as a communication and collaboration tool has been considerable.
McCoy further explained “We recognize and know what IC has done for our Credit Union and although the impact has not been precisely measured, it has been felt throughout the organization.”
With all the resources a credit union employee needs located on InSight, 100% of InTouch Credit Union’s employees log in to the intranet each day to perform their day to-day work tasks and stay informed on all the news, events and updates at the Credit Union. That is 100% intranet adoption.
The Ultimate Intranet Partner
“Working with the IC team has been a breath of fresh air. Any questions that we have or problems that have arisen working with IC has always been quickly and easily resolved,” McCoy shared.
InTouch Credit Union and IC continue their partnership year-over-year with the goal of improving and enhancing InSight. With IC taking their learnings for InTouch Credit Union, they continue to improve the intranet offering for InTouch and other credit unions alike.
McCoy summarized InTouch Credit Union’s experience with IC exclaiming: “Honestly, IC has been a great partner to work with, we wish all our partners were as good.”
“IC has been a great partner to work with, we wish all our partners were as good.”
– Tim McCoy, Vice President of Marketing & E-Commerce, InTouch Credit Union