Ping: The Intranet as a Social Media Platform for Uniper Staff

Hosting over 900 communities and with an average of 35,000 visits each month from 8300 active users, Uniper's social Intranet site Ping has been helping employees collaborate effectively since its launch in 2016. Initially the network was used mainly as a news-sharing site by Company Communications, but following numerous releases it now works much more as a platform for collaboration. In addition to providing and viewing information, all our employees can talk about specific topics via groups and forums. Communities for projects, locations, different departments or global issues function as a space for discussion and interaction. These are created primarily by colleagues, who either write articles themselves or invite different teams to contribute. Providing contact partners with contact details helps people network with each other.

With the latest releases, the platform is factoring in more and more new ways of working, such as working from home. "We in the Internal Communications Team are constantly reviewing Ping's design and structure in order to adapt the network to our colleagues' current needs. Consequently, the platform is growing — Ping remains attractive and is becoming increasingly more informative," says Safa Hetzler, Vice President Management Communication at Uniper. The new customizable Ping homepage shows staff news that is personally relevant to them, such as information about the coronavirus situation, company-wide or location-specific updates, and news about any topics or projects they have opted to receive. Furthermore, in streamed live chats there are discussions about topical issues such as measures to cope with the pandemic, which staff can ask questions about directly on Ping.

The Ping Engage app enables the Intranet to be accessed from mobile devices such as a smartphone or tablet. "The modern, intuitive design of Ping and the app is reminiscent of public social media platforms. And this was exactly the idea: The chat feature encourages interaction and features for reacting to content—such as sharing, liking or commenting on posts—put active communication and collaboration at the heart of our Intranet," said Sven Rudloff, Vice President Communication Governance & Employee Communication. "It's about feedback and discussion; finding solutions quickly by working together."

New hires are told about the possibilities offered by Ping when they are onboarded, i.e. right at the start of their training. The Internal Communications Team also offers training courses where teams can learn to build pages themselves and use our Intranet to collaborate as effectively as possible. "Ping has created not only a central space for sharing information, but also a collaboration platform that is constantly evolving. The next enhancements are already on their way," says Safa Hetzler.