iCIMS Hire Expectations™

I first became introduced to the idea of a company “intranet” or a “private computer network” at my last job at a local credit union. It was used as the main page for an employee to access any resources they needed to conduct work, but lacked any effort towards employee engagement. When I joined the iCIMS family, I became aware of how company intranets, or employee portals, can be useful in engaging personnel if used to its full potential. Not only can it be informative, but also encouraging for employees to get more involved within the company.

iCIMS’ own employee portal – the iWatercooler, has a weekly corporate blog update to keep employees “in the know” on what’s happening in each department, along with open discussions on clients, HR industry trends, happy hour locations and more. While ultimately reducing mass emails (which everyone appreciates!) the portal serves as a hub with all information in one central location.

In fact, the iWatercooler has had a lot of positive feedback.  Not to toot our own horn, but just this month, iCIMS received a “2011 Communicator Award of Distinction for Interactive Employee Portal” in the corporate communications category; recognizing “creative excellence” for communications professionals. iWatercooler has become a daily newsfeed for our employees, and as a bonus, has even been recognized for its unique qualities.

You can have this too. An employee portal has so much more to offer, and after experiencing it firsthand, I feel that most companies should offer a similar outlet for communication among coworkers. At the click of a button, all employees can find out exactly what’s going on in the company, including employee events, new sales that have recently been made, weekly blog updates from different departments, and so on. One great feature I would recommend you try is an open chat forum where fun after work activities can be posted and questions can be answered. There may be more than a few fellow coworkers that can answer the question, providing the most information possible. This allows everyone to work together and bounce ideas off one another in order to make a company the best they can be.

Employee portals can also help strengthen a company to be the best it can be. The thoughts, words, and feelings of all employees can be let out to fuel a positive and informative work environment. A happy worker makes a happy and successful work place. Keeping employees happy while still promoting their personalities, creativeness, and forward thinking is truly a recipe for success.