Aurora Health Care connects staffers with an internal meeting kiosk

The key to a successful intranet is employee engagement. Pivotal factors will attract or repel associates, prompting or deterring participation.

Realizing those truths, Aurora Health Care in autumn 2013 launched Caregiver Connect for its 30,000 associates across Wisconsin and Illinois.

The modernized, highly inviting platform is the winner of Ragan’s 2013 Employee Communications Award for Best Intranet Design.

The retooling, using an IBM Websphere platform, was predicated on achieving four goals, the design team says:
• Brand: Highly visual content, applying Aurora brand graphic standards to unify internal and external communications.
• Content: People-focused, bite-sized for easy consumption.
• User experience: Highly organized, making it easy to find information.
• Interactivity: Enabling participation and interaction to heighten engagement.

In each and every aspect, the objectives are met with great success. The branding is reinforced with a consistent color palette and attractive fonts. 

Active participation is not only made easy by the structure but encouraged by smart, user-friendly navigation. Managers and employees alike are made to feel that their contributions are welcome. 

That interactivity encourages the posting of polls and photos, as well as stories and other suggestions. 

Hats off to the Aurora Health Care associates who have worked so hard to bring this well-conceived redesign to fruition: Annette Guye-Kordus, Amy Kesler, Don Klein, Jamey Shiels, and Josh Gall.

Want to get recognized for your hard work? Find out about Ragan and PR Daily’s award programs here: http://www.ragan.com/Awards/RaganAwardsPrograms.aspx