Highlights
- We led Aspire, with both in-person and online workshops, through a process to understand how collaborate and communicate currently and build their vision for a modern digital workplace. This approach resulted in higher buy-in and sense of investment among employees.
- We delivered an intranet built on a secure and stable SharePoint environment, utilizing the power of the Microsoft ecosystem, at a fraction of the cost of a custom-developed intranet
- After launch, we have provided training, technical support, and change management consulting to help ensure a smooth launch and higher rates of adoption.
Background
Aspire is a private, non-profit human service and educational organization, with a multi-state footprint. Aspire provides treatment and supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, allowing them to live more fully and more independently in their communities. Aspire’s network of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), Agency Services employees, partners, and affiliates spans Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
Aspire identified the need to update their current Intranet with a structured, governed, and modern approach that enables 1,100 employees — 650 of which are Direct Service Professionals working in various Children and Adult programs in Residential, Educational or Foster Care settings — across all 5 states quick and efficient access to the information they need to feel aligned and empowered.
Solution
We kicked off this project by hosting the Aspire team at our headquarters in Lowell. During the full-day workshop, we learned about Aspire’s culture, key user types, and their long-term vision. Further conversations online helped determine the intranet site structure, home page layout, departmental pages, and Active Directory requirements. We also compiled a Roadmap defining the future state of their digital workplace.
StitchDX then worked closely with the Aspire core team to design and implement an intranet solution that provided a communication platform for the quick and efficient sharing of information with and among all employees and the board. Key benefits include:
- The speed, security, and uptime of a SaaS solution built on top of the Microsoft ecosystem.
- A dynamic home page with sections for news, events documents, and feeds to keep employees informed. Just as importantly, the home page includes interactive spaces where users can welcome new hires and celebrate each other’s hard work through giving kudos. They can also easily view Aspire’s social media feeds.
- The ease and efficiency of a customized content entry that allows for content owners to add content to one site and “publish” to many sites simply by selecting relevant content tags.
- A more visual and intuitive company directory experience for employees across all five states to quickly find and contact fellow employees by name, department, job title, expertise, or location.
- A deeper and richer search experience that returns not just a list of documents and folders but people, groups, and other important information in a well-organized display so users can find what they need in less time.
- A customized workflow that seamlessly displays new hires on the front page, providing a fun welcome to new employees and promotes Aspire’s culture.
After initial deployment, StitchDX ran and recorded video training sessions focused on administrative tasks for the core team and on content contribution for a wider group of department content administrators.