At De Walvis's National Intranet Symposium, Joanne from E-commerce company De Bondt shared her inspiring story: how her organization made the step from “no intranet at all” to the successful social intranet Allies by Embrace. In front of a full house, she talked about the choice for Embrace, the implementation, the launch and the plans for the future. Allies has now been in use for more than a year and is ready for the next phase.
Embrace wins mini competition
Joanne Stegenga, project manager at De Bondt, explained how, after a thorough evaluation, the organization chose Embrace as a social intranet partner. In a mini competition, two other intranet vendors and Microsoft SharePoint were critically compared. The decisive factors? Embrace Social's user-friendly setup and functionalities, which perfectly suited De Bondt's needs. But Embrace offered more than just a traditional intranet: the platform facilitates interaction and collaboration, making employees feel truly connected.
About De Bondt
De Bondt is a Dutch family business, founded in 1972, and active as a wholesaler of creative supplies, with a focus on haberdashery, yarns and wool. The company stands for reliability, professionalism, service orientation, forward-thinking and sympathy in all its activities. With more than 50 years of experience, De Bondt supplies high-quality products to retailers worldwide and supports the crafting community with inspiration and innovative solutions. Today, they use their social intranet “Allies” for efficient communication with their employees.
Implementation, Going Live, Challenges and Solutions
During the implementation, Joanne worked closely with Embrace using an agile approach. The process ended with a festive go-live, which was enthusiastically received by the employees. As with any major change, some challenges emerged after going live. The biggest challenge was involving production staff in the social intranet. Because they did not work in front of a computer every day and did not want to download the mobile app to their private phone, an alternative approach was needed. Embrace and Joanne worked together to reach this group, for example by showing news reports via narrowcasting on screens on the production floor.
Phase 2: Integration with Microsoft 365 and PowerBI Analytics
After the successful adoption of the intranet, it is time for the next phase. Joanne has ambitious plans, including integrating Microsoft 365 to further increase productivity. We are also working on data-driven work with Social Analytics Pro, with which De Bondt can monitor and improve the use and impact of communication. Learn more about how Social Analytics Pro works here.
AI Integration to Support the Management Team
An important step in future planning is the further involvement of the management team (MT) in the social intranet. This is a proven way to increase intranet adoption. Joanne noted that MT members often have trouble posting due to a lack of time. With the AI integration, this threshold is lowered. AI tools can help them formulate messages and optimize communication, allowing the MT to contribute more effectively and quickly. Learn how AI can help you work smarter and faster.
Looking Back on a Successful Session
Joanne's session was not only informative, but also interactive, with many valuable insights and positive energy. Thanks, Joanne, for this inspiring presentation! We look forward to the next steps in our partnership with De Bondt.
About National Intranet Symposium 2024
On November 5, 2024, the National Intranet Symposium took place at the NBC Congress Center in Nieuwegein, organized by communication agency De Walvis. The event provided a practical, accessible opportunity for professionals to share knowledge and keep up with the latest developments in the field of intranet and digital workplaces. Participants were able to attend various sessions about the future of online internal communication, including the use of new technologies such as AI.
The symposium focused on organizations looking for a new intranet platform as well as professionals who want to improve their existing platform.
Embrace was present as a sponsor again this year. During the event, we presented our latest developments in the field of Embrace Social. The annual symposium also provided plenty of opportunities for participants to exchange experiences with peers and other organizations, providing valuable insights for their own intranet strategy.
Want to know more? Then check out De Walvis's website: de-walvis.nl/intranet symposium
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