Kathy Davis, Communications
As the agency’s project team tasked with creating a new WSDA intranet website for employees works through technical issues, they are also reaching out to staff, gathering input about the most important features and topics to build into a new site.
To that end, the team encouraged all agency employees to complete a survey last month seeking input, and 141 (19%) WSDA employees responded.
Most respondents indicated they had no difficulty accessing the site. Only three said it was too difficult to access or that it does not work on mobile devices. Although the survey was open to all employees, it may be that staff who are unfamiliar with the agency’s intranet, or those who do not access it due to network or other issues, did not take this survey.
The project team plans to do more research into employee preferences, and will soon organize a series of focus groups to gain insight beyond the survey results. In particular, the team wants to know what would draw current non-users to the site and make it valuable to them.
Results by the numbers
One-quarter of the survey respondents said they looked at the intranet every day, and 61% said they did so regularly. Just under a quarter said they seldom or never looked at the site.
More than three-quarters (76%) said they used intranet resources either daily or regularly.
Among the list of site resources currently featured on the homepage, these were the top ones survey respondents said they used most:
- Forms and Publication (76%)
- Human Resources (61%)
- Policies and Procedures (58%)
- Contacts and Org Charts (46%)
- Information Technology (39%)
- Travel (37%)
- Divisions and Programs (37%)
- Payroll (28%)
When asked to choose the top five resources they would likely use on a new intranet site, the results largely mirrored current usage. Forms, Human Resources, Policies and Procedures, IT, Contacts, and Travel topped the list.
More than one-third (37%) said they currently use division (and program) pages on the intranet. The number of respondents who checked a “programs under X division” box as likely to use in the future ranged as follows:
- Food Safety – 19
- Commodity Inspection – 11
- Pesticide Management – 9
- Plant Protection – 5
- Animal Services – 1
The primary barrier respondents cited to using the intranet was that information is too difficult to find, followed by information being out of date and not relevant to “me or my work.”
Support was high for making improvements to the site. For instance, nearly three-quarters of respondents requested keeping information up to date. Ease of finding info (70%) and navigation (58%), as well as a search function (65%), were also top requests.
In the comments, survey respondents reinforced many of the question choices. Several comments expressed frustration with confusing navigation and content being outdated.
In general, these survey results point to making a new site:
- Easier to navigate and search.
- Featuring certain topics most prominently.
- Keeping all content current.
If you have questions about the survey or additional input about a new intranet, send comments to Kathy Davis, internal communications coordinator.
To learn more about the intranet rebuild project, see earlier blog post titled “New agency intranet website being planned.”
In summary: As the agency’s project team tasked with creating a new WSDA intranet website for employees works through technical issues, they are also reaching out to staff, gathering input about the most important features and topics to build into a new site. To that end, the team encouraged all agency employees to complete a survey last month seeking input. Read about the survey results and next steps in this Insider blog post.
