Mole Valley District Council provides services to around 80,300 people, covering an area of 100 square miles. Almost two thirds of residents live in Dorking and Leatherhead whilst the remainder live in the villages that are now linked into 13 parishes. The Mole Valley District Council has 41 councillors from the district's 23 wards. Six county councillors represent Mole Valley divisions on the Surrey County Council. The District Council employs 330 staff that provide a variety of different services, from waste and recycling to telecare, and planning officers to parking attendants.
The website and intranet are hosted in-house and content is managed using GOSS iCM (intelligent Content Management) from GOSS Interactive. The intranet has recently seen a complete revamp that was developed and deployed by Mole Valley's IT and Communications Teams.
- Following a review of Mole Valley's internal communications, the Council decided that a new, interactive intranet was needed.
- Mole Valley selected GOSS Interactive to develop and deploy the new intranet.
- Thanks to the flexibility of GOSS iCM (intelligent Content Management), Mole Valley was able to design templates for the new intranet and undertake all programming in-house, saving the local authority approximately £76,000.
- In October 2008, 'Molly' won a Gold Award for the Home Counties South Best Website/Microsite category at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations - PRide Awards 2008.
- A 2007 staff survey showed that 87 per cent of staff were happy with the way they receive information through Molly. Because of this success Mole Valley is now starting work on re-designing its website - again, completely in-house, using GOSS iCM.
Communications breakdown
Prior to May 2007, Mole Valley District Council relied heavily on 'all-user' emails to communicate with staff. The 'intranet' that was in place was not user-friendly, consisting of a page of links that were frequently out of date. Many of the emails that were sent out went unread. Attempts were made to keep staff informed via a bi-monthly newsletter, available in hard copy and PDF format, but there were frequent complaints as this information quickly became dated. In the autumn of 2005, a staff survey highlighted the need for improved and timely internal communications. As a result of this survey, Louise Bircher, Customer Service and Communications Manager for Mole Valley District Council, set out the following objectives;
- To significantly improve internal communications across the Council in an easily accessible, up to date format.
- To develop the intranet as an essential business tool by making it 'the' definitive place to go for current information, news and policies.
- To save paper and space by moving many paper-based forms and internal documents online.
- To devise and implement an effective on-line method of two-way communication between the Chief Executive and staff.
Why GOSS?
The web team at Mole Valley were already familiar with the flexibility and power of GOSS iCM so immediately chose it as the system to power the new Intranet. The site brief was very specific and the team knew exactly what they wanted to achieve with regard to design, functionality and content. Creating 'real' web pages based on these ideas was aided by the outright flexibility of GOSS iCM. On completion near pixel perfect variations and functionality of the original design ideas had been successfully achieved.
Molly teases staff
Mole Valley District Council used GOSS iCM to design and implement the intranet in-house. Before going live, a teaser campaign was launched. It involved placing posters around the council offices stating 'Molly is coming'; progressing to a countdown of '5 days to go until Molly is here', 'Only 2 days to go ...' This proved extremely popular, with staff openly speculating about what 'Molly' was. Further measures were taken to engage remote workers once Molly was launched by ensuring that every page has a 'printer-friendly' version to allow managers to print off and circulate hard copies to those who could not access a PC at work, as well introducing web access into areas such as telecare, whose operators previously did not have access to the intranet at all.
Molly home page
The name for the new intranet, 'Molly', was decided quite late in the day. It began with research into words that begin with 'Mole' in the dictionary - there aren't many! However, 'Mole-e-cular' stood out as being exactly what they wanted the intranet to do: linking all the departments together in the same way as a molecular structure. As 'mole-e-cular' is a bit of a mouthful, 'Molly' was born.
Incentives and rewards
On 23 May 2007, the IT team launched Molly to staff by changing the landing page. Molly 'popped-up' on all PCs on login compelling users to view it.
Louise Bircher comments, "This was completely different to our previous system which staff could choose whether or not to access. It launched with a competition for staff to find a 'hidden' piece of information somewhere on the site that created a lot of interest and frustration. The winner was announced on Molly the same day. Feedback was actively encouraged and minor amendments were made immediately as a result."
The two-way feedback process is continuing, with several changes having already been made as a result of staff comments. Prior to launch, focus groups identified ideas that were implemented. Post launch feedback invited some minor changes to the information held on the front page under 'fast track links'.
All staff and management use Molly for a wide variety of messages ranging from changes to management structure, announcing the next rounders match or just saying thank you. All staff are comfortable with refreshing their browser to get the latest news and as a consequence of Molly, 'all-user' emails are banned.
To keep the pages current, a new system of 'web champions' was initiated across the Council with each department allocating a member of staff as responsible for their intranet and website pages. Training was offered on 'Writing for the Web' and focus groups were set up to test the intranet site before it went live. All information has a named content owner to whom enquires can be directed. Each page has an expiry date and as this date draws nearer, an automated reminder is sent to request that the content owner updates their pages. The day-to-day management of the front page news items falls to the Communications team who update Molly several times a day.
Features, features, features
- The intranet has quickly grown into a complex system. As well as policies, applications and work-place documents, other features now include:
- A buying and selling portal called 'Molebay', which means there is no longer a cluttered notice board in the staff restaurant
- An online question and answer system to the Chief Executive called 'Ask Darren' - a popular way of staff asking (the Chief Executive) 'difficult' questions and still getting answers to the issues that concern them
- A 'newsflash' function for urgent news items
- Live train time updates
- An online telephone directory with search facility including photographs of each staff member
- A dedicated page for internal forms, some of which can now be completed and authorised online.
- An interactive map of the district
- The constant streaming of news and information means that staff can be kept informed instantly throughout the day.
Louise comments, "Staff are forced to view the intranet, as Molly greets them as they login and nobody minds! By designing the templates and undertaking all programming in-house we have saved approximately £76,000. Although 'Molebay', 'ask Darren' and the 'telephone directory' are features that were developed outside of GOSS iCM, it demonstrates the flexibility of integrating GOSS iCM templates with other technologies, and the savings you can make."
Awarding Molly
In October 2008, Molly won a Gold Award for the Home Counties South Best Website/Microsite category at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations - PRide Awards 2008. This award category was open to both public and private sector companies/organisations.
Louise adds, "This is such a fantastic achievement when you realise that the category was open to private companies and all Councils in the area. In presenting the award, Marcella Whittingham of GMTV and Elspeth Graham of CIPR described "Molly" as an outstanding example of internal communications that provides access to corporate documents and keeps staff up to date with daily news. We were absolutely delighted that all our hard work has really paid off."
The future and Molly
Mole Valley Council adopted a creative approach, producing a site that is fun, interactive and accessible. This keeps the site fresh and interesting, keeping people engaged and wanting to know more on a daily basis. To maintain this ethos and freshness, the Molly design follows themes throughout the year based on the time of year, highlighting public events such as Remembrance Day, Christmas and Bonfire night.
Louise comments, "We have completely changed the way in which staff access information by providing one point of contact for news, corporate documents and forms. The intranet is a really personable place. The 2007 staff survey showed that 87 per cent of staff are happy with the way they receive information through Molly. Because of this success we are now starting work on re-designing our website - again, completely in-house, using GOSS iCM."
