Hythe Group was looking to modernise its capabilities around internal communications and processes. Communication was inconsistent, sharing of information and news was ad-hoc, and it was hard to know where to find company controlled documents. In parallel, they wanted to start improving how the company obtained feedback on satisfaction and performance from its employees.

Hythe Group required a new employee communications platform – one which would improve how information was shared across the business, and would act as a central hub where employees could find the resources they needed to do their jobs.

They initially considered finding a developer to create an intranet, before quickly concluding this would mean reinventing the wheel. Some research revealed that packaged intranet solution would be a better option.

Hythe Group advised the CompanyNet team they were committed to Microsoft 365, with all staff licensed for the platform, but knew they could be making better use of this investment. They had started using Microsoft Teams over other video conferencing platforms, and had a desire to move towards better-organised, cloud-based storage with OneDrive and SharePoint Online, rather than traditional network shares. 

Given the size and nature of their business, CompanyNet suggested Hythe Group consider Microsoft Viva Connections as the solution. A new employee communications platform built on top of Microsoft Teams and SharePoint online, the CompanyNet team strongly believed Viva Connections would tick all the boxes for the team at Hythe Group.

David Thackray, Group Head of IT and Telecommunications at Hythe Group, commented, “what drew us to CompanyNet was their introduction of Viva Connections to the mix. We’d narrowed solutions considered down to SharePoint-based intranets, that had a UI layer over SharePoint to make it easier to configure.

Viva Connections not only provided a comprehensive platform that met Hythe Group’s requirements, but it had the added advantage of being closely integrated with Microsoft Teams and the wider Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

Hythe Group employees can now access their new Viva Connections platform through a dedicated tab on Microsoft Teams, as well as in the Microsoft Teams mobile app, or even through a standard or mobile web browser. Better still, the platform is designed using a mobile-first philosophy, and provides excellent accessibility and user experience out of the box. 

“Most of our people are not office based,” explains David, “so it was a top priority that the platform be accessible from wherever they work and on whatever device they require. Viva Connections  ticked that box.”

The site is now well on its way to becoming the go-to place to find information, documents and to engage with employees across the business.

Hannah Postma, Hythe Group Content Marketing Manager, said, “We wanted the site to be as useful as possible from day one, with interactive functions like the ability to comment and like posts, just like you do on Instagram or Facebook. We still have a long way to go, but so far, we have been updating the news regularly and we are starting to gain traction in sharing company-wide information quickly, and easily.”