If Your Intranet Feels Like a Notice Board, It’s Time for an EXP Upgrade

What makes an intranet truly resonate with employees? Can it retain a disengaged employee? We uncover the core desires that drive engagement and a thriving workplace culture: intuitive access, personalised content, genuine two-way communication and powerful collaboration tools.

Picture this, you are in charge of your company’s internal communication and Employee Value Perception metrics. So naturally you invest time, money, and resources into your company’s internal communication platform, the ‘intranet’. It was meant to be the go-to place for the employees, a place you can measure the ‘pulse’ of how the employees perceive their company. A place for connection, communication, and a thriving culture.

Instead, it becomes a ‘digital graveyard’, rarely visited, an inventory of company facts and files.

Is employee engagement failing miserably?

Sound familiar? If yes, it should not come as a big surprise. Because this is more than just a failed IT project; it's a symptom of a larger issue. The Gallup State of the Workplace Report 2025, paints a dreary picture too.

Employee engagement in India, sits at a lowly 30%* with an even lower regional percentage of thriving employees at 17%. A significant 49% of Indian employees are actively watching for or seeking new job opportunities, and 30% report experiencing daily stress.

What these stats are pointing at is a truly disengaged workforce, that is not just less productive, but also more prone to turnover and less connected to the organisational vision.

Think of an overhaul

Yes, it’s definitely the time! The underlying reasons for disengagement often mirror the failings of a ‘traditional intranet’: a lack of relevance, poor usability, one-way communication, and a failure to genuinely meet employee needs.

In many ways, a declining intranet is also a litmus test for a failing internal communication strategy.

To engage you must think of the intranet as an ‘Experience’

It is time for a mindset shift. Let's, for a moment, stop thinking of it as a static "intranet" and start seeing it as a living, breathing Employee Experience Platform (EXP).

At TIC, our two decades of work with industry legends like the Tata group, Hindalco Industries and more, has taught us that transforming a traditional ‘intranet’ into a thriving community EXP actually rests on a few core principles. This goes beyond just ‘maintaining’ said platform; it's about consistently building it and making it useful, and alive and engaging.

Building an EXP people will actually use

So, how do you combine the technical ‘engine’ with the human ‘engagement’ to create a platform that employees genuinely want to visit every day? Focus on making it a thriving and evolving space.

1. Make it a daily destination

An EXP should feel less like a corporate notice board and more like a dynamic community hub. The content should stay fresh, relevant, and invite interaction.

• Instead of: A dry list of company announcements
• Try this: A vibrant newsfeed with a mix of essential updates, project wins, and employee spotlights. A ‘Kudos Corner’ where peers can give shout-outs, or a weekly video message from a leader discussing a recent success.
• Instead of: A static repository of HR policies
• Try this: Interactive FAQs, ‘how-to’ guides for common tasks, and forums where employees can ask questions and get answers from peers and experts.

2. Make it personal and relevant A one-size-fits-all approach guarantees disengagement. An engineer on the shop floor has vastly different needs from a marketing manager at the head office.

• Instead of: Broadcasting the same information to everyone
• Try this: A personalised dashboard. The engineer sees critical safety updates and production targets, while the marketing manager sees brand campaign updates and market insights. When people feel the platform is built for them, they have a reason to keep coming back.

3. Make it really interactive and fun Who said work can't have moments of fun? Gamification is a powerful tool for turning passive consumption into active participation.

• Instead of: Hoping people read a new company policy update
• Try this: Launch a short, fun quiz on the key takeaways. Feature a leaderboard showing the top scores or departments.

This simple act of turning a chore into a challenge can boost readership and retention dramatically. Think wellness challenges, photo contests, or ‘bright idea’ submission campaigns with small rewards.

As Saurabh Thakare, Senior Content Writer at TIC, with nearly a decade worth of experience in internal and external communications, puts it:

“The idea is to not see internal comms as a broadcast to send updates. It is about creating a space where people keep coming back, to participate, respond, and feel seen. The moment it starts to feel like a static notice board, it loses relevance.”

4. Make it effortless and intuitive

Your employees use sleek, fast, and user-friendly apps in their personal lives every day. Your internal platform is being judged by the same standards.

• If your EXP is slow, clunky, or doesn't work well on a mobile phone, you've already lost the battle. Technical health is the foundation of the user experience. Regular bug fixes, speed optimisations, and a mobile-first design are non-negotiable.

We can help you build this thriving culture

• EXP strategy and consulting: Define clear objectives, develop a compelling content strategy, and craft a roadmap for your EXP's continuous evolution.
• Content management: Ensure your EXP always has fresh, relevant content, supported by robust governance frameworks.
• Employee engagement solutions: Design and implement tailored strategies, from gamification and personalisation to fostering user-generated content and promoting leadership involvement.
• Leadership involvement: Every great EXP showcases invaluable leadership inputs. And the key is to align them for even more engagement.
• Employee surveys and feedback: Design and implement employee perceptions and expectations of organisational needs.

An engaged EXP is a strategic result of planning and continuous effort, and a deeper understanding of what your employees need. Its value as a critical tool for internal communications and driving overall business success cannot be overstated.

Ready to turn your EXP into the beating heart of connection, collaboration, and culture?? Get in touch with us!

*Gallup State of The Global Workplace Report 2025