Winner: Weber Shandwick
Weber Shandwick needed to make itself as social on the inside as it had become externally. In the summer of 2012, the agency announced it was repositioning itself around the phrase "engaging, always." While the change was neither "a repudiation of past positions, nor a reaction to a problem," according to Tim Sutton, one of the agency's key executives, in order to fully implement the new attitude, Weber Shandwick knew the change needed to be reflected on the inside and the outside of agency operations.
Weber Shandwick had three objectives: create more efficiency, increase productivity and encourage engagement. With those goals in mind, a committee comprised of senior management, HR, business development, IT and corporate communications created MyWeberShandwick (MyWS), a social intranet system that transformed the agency's internal communications.
MyWS decommissioned email distribution lists, limiting redundant requests and reducing overall email traffic. Content was much more easily found, linkable and shared through the comprehensive search function built into the new system, and Socialtext, the internal social network, provided on-the-fly workspace creation. ExpertID, a searchable people database, was the third element in the network, which expedited the time necessary to assemble the best client teams. In terms of success, the numbers speak for themselves: On Socialtext, there have been more than 19,200 signals sent, more than 420 workspaces created and more than 700 employee interactions.
Honorable mention:
- Fahlgren Mortine