Sodexho USA’s successful intranet is home grown – no portal solution, no content management platform. Despite the proliferation of expensive solutions, SodexhoNet (Sodexho’s home page) is a shining example of how intranet success can be delivered and measured without the benefit of an off-the-shelf solution.
SodexhoNet was the featured tour stop on today’s Intranet Insider World Tour, presented by Communitelligence.com and hosted by myself and Sodexho’s Angelo Ioffreda. Comments, questions and discussion are encouraged below…
Sodexho USA is one of the biggest companies you may not know. Sodexho USA (http://www.sodexhoUSA.com) is the leading provider of food and facilities management in North America, with $6 billion in annual revenues and 110,000+ employees. Sodexho runs cafeterias, housekeeping in the hospitality sector, grounds keeping, plant operations and maintenance and laundry services to more than 6,000 companies principally in health care, schools, and the military.
Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, Sodexho has employees spread out across and in all corners of the continent. An even greater challenge than the geographic disparity of its employees is the nature of their work. The vast majority of these employees are hourly workers who are not desktop workers with their own computers – they’re on the frontlines rather preparing and serving food, cleaning, and performing site operations. SodhexoNet is a tying bond that links most of the managers and management of this diverse and disparate group.
“The intranet is a perfect gathering place,” says Angelo Ioffreda, VP, internal communications, Sodexho USA. Companies with many thousands of employees dispersed across great regions and dozens of locations require an effective intranet. Today the intranet serves Sodexho’s managers across the world. Registered users have grown from 2,000 in April, 1999, to more than 14,500 users today.
To access the intranet, each manager pays $39.69 for annual intranet access. Surprisingly, this is not a bone of contention at Sodexho, but expected at an organization with a corporate philosophy for charging for costs incurred. The charge also benefits user managers as the onus is greater on the intranet team to deliver a winning product that is embraced. Finally, the charge also commits managers to use the intranet. If you’re paying, you better use it.
Like all effective systems, SodhexhoNet has a vision: SodexhoNet is a one-stop shop for all of our managers’ information needs and an indispensable part of a Sodexho work day.”
Accompanying the vision is some practical but key goals:
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Essential business and communications tool
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Robust, timely, relevant, accurate content
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Intuitive navigation
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Quick access
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Easy to search
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Feedback capacity
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Cost-effectiveness
SodexhoNet’s greatest strength however is its management team, lead by corporate communications.
The corporate communications team has five people including an art designer, a communications specialist/writer, the e-communications manager , e-communications specialist , and the VP. The e-communications manager and specialist are the only ones dedicated full-time to the intranet; the others contribute on a part-time basis. The eBusiness team from IT has a director, a project manager, two art designers, three programmers, and a technical trainer. They also support other IT projects.
In addition to the contributions of IT and Communications, there are well over 100 content owners-authors. Each business line has a principal content owner (e.g. health care, etc.). Each line has sub-groups (e.g. hospitals, etc.) that also contribute content.
One of the intranet’s key strengths lies in the team’s understanding that the intranet must intimately understand its target audience and constantly measure its performance. By measuring its success, Sodhexho knows where to concentrate its efforts and resources and constantly strive for improvement.
Among the many measures the intranet team tracks (for the last year measured compared to the previous year):
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User behavior and how usage is trending (those never using SodexhoNet dropped from 19% to 1%)
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SodexhoNet as a “valuable resource” to employees (from 74 to 84%)
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Registered users who visit the site monthly (from 55 to 90%)
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Most visited pages (career center, HR, health care, phone book, and search)
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Most searched terms (forms, recipe collection, performance appraisal)
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Return on investment (where possible)
One of SodexhoNet’s more innovative and successful tools is its SuperSleuth sales lead program. SuperSleuth is an intranet web page and application that encourages employees to submit sales leads and prospective clients via the intranet. The SuperSleuth intranet page generate cash rewards of up to $1000 for the person making the submission. Sodexho says it has contributed to a 100% increase in sales leads in the past year. Let me repeat: a 100% increase in company sales leads. In fact, the SuperSleuth tool has led to US$90 million dollars in managed volume (net client sales including sales by client). Proof positive of a killer application.
While the site has evolved considerably and its value has grown measurably in recent years, it hasn’t been without considerable effort and some lessons learned, says Ioffreda.
Amongst the key lessons learned:
- Create a vision
- Partner with IT (“big time,” says Ioffreda stressing the importance of a healthy working relationship with IT) – and HR
- Establish clear standards for the site
- Make end-users the center of your universe
- Incorporate real-time feedback from end-users
- Track user behavior
- Make content ‘king’
- Involve, support, and communicate with your content owners
- Develop an editorial / programming mindset
- Strive for intuitive navigation
- Improve your search and speed
- Commit to continuous improvement in product and processes
- Make your site a business tool
- Reduce costs
- Raise efficiency
- Bring in revenue
