WARTSILA points its Compass in the right direction

By Pia Niemi

The Wärtsilä global Intranet – Compass – just celebrated its second birthday. Before Compass was introduced, Wärtsilä had more than 50 uncoordinated intranets. Different technologies were in use which resulted in difficulties when training content producers. No general search engine could be utilized and there was no common branding applied. A strong Wärtsilä spirit internally was hard to reach as colleagues were spread around the globe and didn’t feel a one-company mentality. Each intranet was separate so finding information was difficult and time consuming. There was also a risk that same information would be found in several intranets but no one could ever be sure if the content was correct and up to date. Additionally it wasn’t possible for Corporate Communications to send common messages effectively and in a crisis situation there was not an easy solution to reach all intranet users simultaneously. All this lead to a high total cost.

The basics of Compass and the project

The platform used in Compass is MS SharePoint 2007. Global content is available in English but the approximately 50 local sites can also choose to publish content in the local language. The basic rule applied during the project was to “keep things simple” and concentrate on the needs of the user. Ownership of Compass is in Corporate Communications and the project itself was also led by Communications. The core team consisted of representatives from the businesses and other functions.

Old versus new reality

One of the major changes in Compass – compared to the old corporate intranet – is the navigational structure. The organizational based navigation was abandoned and instead content is grouped according to what Wärtsilä does and how things are done. This especially helps newcomers - unless you have worked in the company for several years, you cannot know which issue or item belongs to which business/function. Not following the typical organizational structure on the company intranet also helps to prevent silo thinking.

Benefits for the employees

Finding information on Compass is faster and easier. Audiences are better targeted; for example, the front page of Compass is personalized according to the user’s business and country. As employees in 70 countries can use the same global Compass, team spirit has now increased at Wärtsilä. Using the same technology also makes it easy to train content producers.

Compass has made new collaborative tools like discussion forums available which has enhanced internal branding. A year after the launch electronic work spaces were taken into use as an ‘additional service’ in connection to Compass. These workspaces have quickly gained a lot of users.

Benefits for Corporate Communications

Common messages and relevant information can now be shared via Compass, particularly when it comes to Senior Management. Interaction between the intranet and the internal employee magazine has brought more possibilities to internal communications. From a technical point of view,  the platform also enables stronger use of internal resources since many tasks that were usually  handled by external consultants are now being handled  in-house. This brings quite a lot of flexibility in utilizing the intranet and developing it.

So how did we do it?

The success factors of the project include a motivated team, constant dialogue with internal stakeholders and project management – decision making and expectations management in particular. Using a sufficient amount of time for the vendor selection phase was also a key to the success of the project. In-depth interviews with the two best vendor candidates in addition to scoring them, was time well spent. Sufficient training materials and strong focus to implementation  also played a big role.

Several training sessions were organized for Compass’ key users both on site and via e-meetings.  The training continued even after Compass was up and running, with the group also having its own workspace where information and ideas are shared and feedback is given.

Of course, the Compass project couldn’t have succeeded without the commitment and support from Management. Getting their buy-in required being present in the business management teams and “selling” the new intranet. Repeating the same key messages over again to different target audiences was also crucial for the success of the project.

Learning points

One of our primary takeaways from the project is that you can always communicate more and the relationship with IT could be even tighter. In a company like Wärtsilä, we should not forget that we have a big proportion of colleagues who do not work in front of a computer everyday. So ensuring that there are enough machines available in production facilities is important, as well as emphasizing the role of manager communication. While we now have a well-functioning intranet, face-to-face communication should never be underestimated.

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Pia Niemi is Senior Manager of Internal & Online Communications for Wärtsilä Corporation, Communications & Branding in Helsinki, Finland.