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The city of Baden has been relying on the ahead platform for its internal communication since May 2024. The city of Baden is the most populous municipality in the canton of Aargau with over 22,000 residents. As a major economic and cultural centre, the city of Baden plays an important role in the region. Baden's municipal administration provides a wide range of services for the population of Baden and the region.
Around 750 employees work in the city administration in 9 departments and at various locations. Of these, there are around 25% non-desk users: employees without their own workplace or employees who are on the move.
Initial situation
The city of Baden was faced with the challenge that the life cycle of its existing Sharepoint intranet solution was coming to an end. This prompted the Marketing and Communication, Digital Transformation and HR departments to look for a new solution. The following challenges were to be overcome with the new solution:
A cross-divisional project team was put together and a successor solution was sought. In a race between three providers, the team ultimately decided in favour of ahead. The migration of the existing content to ahead, in which ahead provided active support, was of great importance, as was the newly created content concept for ahead.
Solution
With the switch to ahead Intranet, which is based on mobile first, the challenges could all be tackled. And this in a record of time.
The new intranet was launched in just three months between kick-off and the go-live date.
The following focal points revolutionise the ahead intranet of the city of Baden:
Usability
In ahead, a clear distinction is made between current content (news) and long-term content (pages). This makes it easier for users to find their way around and important content can be found quickly. As part of the intranet project, the existing content was tidied up: only truly relevant content was migrated and new content was created. This was done in such a way that it can be found easily not only via the navigation, but also via the search function. All important tools, such as the time recording tool, GEVER and IT support, can be accessed with a single click via the quick links.
Identification
The co-brand identity is ensured with ahead. Thanks to the customisable design, the likeable naming "inside.baden", a customized URL and a "baden ist" app icon, employees quickly feel at home. In addition, the values, visions and legislative goals of the city administration can be clearly communicated via the integrated company compass.
Social intranet
Social dialogue is encouraged with various elements. In theStory section, all employees have the opportunity to share content from their day-to-day work with the entire city administration, as is familiar from the most common social media platforms. This promotes bottom-up exchange. Through reactions and comments on news, stories and pages as well as the community "marketplace", engagement on "inside.baden" was surprisingly high.
The go live of the new intranet was clearly communicated with the help of an internal campaign, including a competition. The competition invited employees to share their insider tips as part of a story. Whoever received the most likes won a breakfast for their team. This launch generated a great deal of interest in the new intranet and many interactions right from the start.
Benefit
This success story is a prime example of how internal communication can be organised in public administrations and how employees can be supported with the right tools and communication strategies. With ahead, they have not only optimised communication, but also fostered a stronger sense of belonging among their diverse workforce.
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