Open and interactive communication calls for fit-for-purpose tools

Mehiläinen is a leading private-sector provider of social and health-care services, with more than 540 offices in Finland and more than 1.3 million customers annually. Mehiläinen has a staff of more than 22,300 employees and private practitioners.

Reliable digital tools are critical for the success of the company’s expansive business concept. Mehiläinen uses its intranet as a centralised source of information on the company’s harmonised procedures, strategy and objectives. It is used by more than 20,000 people altogether.

Mehiläinen has been using an Office 365-compatible SharePoint-based intranet solution for several years. A needs assessment led Mehiläinen to choose an off-the-shelf intranet solution called Valo, which was supplied by what was then Blue Meteorite (now Advania).

‘We have always had the same contact person and a good relationship overall. Advania’s experts are seasoned professionals and easy to work with’, says Mehiläinen’s Communications Specialist Tiina Kohonen.

Intranet upgrade on users’ terms

Mehiläinen set out to upgrade its intranet environment in 2020. The goal was to make the system more user-friendly and the navigation more straightforward in order to make content easier to find. The priorities of the development project were identified with the help of a user survey. Migrating the content to the new environment went off without a hitch, and users have been happy with the new system.

‘The project was a great success thanks to Advania’s help. We got all the changes done that we wanted, and the content migration process worked like a dream. We have an excellent relationship with Advania. I especially appreciate how quickly Advania’s experts respond to our enquiries and how well they know our set-up’, Tiina Kohonen says.

Digital work tools and a culture of open communication

Internal communication is becoming increasingly important in a large organisation like Mehiläinen. The company’s digital infrastructure now features a wide range of Microsoft 365 tools, including Planner task management, Stream corporate video-sharing and Power BI interactive data visualisation. Mehiläinen’s intranet is based on off-the-shelf Valo software and uses a Lux operating system. The company’s internal communication set-up is also supported by Microsoft Teams as well as Slack and Yammer instant messaging applications.

Mehiläinen’s Communications Specialist Tiina Kohonen is pleased with the set-up:

‘We want our internal communication system to foster openness and interaction. We want people to ask questions and express opinions. Digital services and tools, such as our intranet, need to encourage this. User-friendly tools not only make work more straightforward but also improve information sharing across the whole organisation.’