Many intranets and employee apps fail at the very first hurdle: the initial login — some employees don't even log into the intranet or employee app.

Especially if the use is voluntary or the information continues to be published elsewhere (e.g. e-mail, notices), many lack the motivation to even deal with the topic. In addition, 87% of all employees have little or no emotional connection to their company (Source: Gallup Engagement Index 2022), meaning that interest in company news and information is very low.

But even motivated employees can postpone the topic until tomorrow and only log in for the first time after a while, as changing habits is difficult and takes time. For large and decentralized organizations, it can also take a while for word to get around about the new intranet or employee app.

All of these factors mean that adoption takes time and can completely fail for some employees. Basically, the longer the intranet or employee app is live, the harder it becomes to get people excited about it. The key question is therefore: How do you get all employees to log in to Just Social as soon as possible at the start?

Onboarding: online & offline

To solve this problem, we carry out the onboarding appointments mentioned in the implementation plan via video conference: this allows a large number of employees to take the first steps. If the first login takes place and, ideally, the Just Social app is also installed on the employees' mobile devices, that is more than half the battle, because from then on, users receive notifications about new news, etc.

Onboarding employees without IT equipment is a bit more difficult, so that video conferences on your own computer, etc. are not possible. For these people, onboarding must take place either via shared monitors or in person, for example as part of larger face-to-face events or within departments or teams.

In the latter case, the onboarding appointments must be taken over either by the respective managers (e.g. department or team managers) or by members of the project team — or by both together. First has the advantage that it scales better and usually motivates managers for Just Social. The second advantage is that the members of the project team can ensure that the onboarding appointments actually take place and that all important information is provided. The third combines both advantages and is therefore — as far as the size and resources of an organization permit — highly recommended in our experience.

Continuous onboarding

In addition to onboarding at the start of Just Social, it is important to clarify at an early stage how the ongoing onboarding of new employees will take place after the launch. For this reason alone, the above-mentioned decentralized onboarding approach involving department and team leaders is advisable in order to win them over as continuous advocates for Just Social. You can find out more about onboarding new employees under People Stories.