Here are eight key metrics to keep an eye on adoption rates and measure engagement.

1. Number of Active Users and Usage Time

The first metric to monitor is how many employees are actively utilizing the system. Your intranet is meant to simplify and improve your company's workflow. If people aren't using it, then that may mean they prefer some other way of doing their work.

In addition, you'll want to see how long people are using it. Workers will spend more time on a system that they find value in.

Your intranet software should have built-in analysis capabilities to help you track active users and usage time. Alternatively, external performance analytics tools such as Google Analytics can track them.

2. Number of Clicks and Engagement

On a similar note, you'll want to track the number of clicks and what kind of engagement your systems are getting. The number of active users only tells how many people are logging in. It doesn't tell you how they're using your system and if they're taking full advantage of it.

For example, you can monitor the download counts in a user's digital asset management systems.

Some other metrics to follow include reaction clicks, employee comments, and article click-through rates. In addition to showing engagement, it can inform you of employee sentiment regarding content, projects, and more.

If you want to improve engagement, ask for suggestions and feedback, create a schedule of content, and encourage your employees to create new content.

3. Changes in Business Costs

Utilizing an intranet is supposed to improve your business processes and communications. As such, you should expect some reduced business costs as one of those benefits alongside increased productivity.

An intranet accomplishes this by saving on paper and printing expenses, but it also reduces business travel expenses by facilitating easier collaboration.

Measuring money saved means tracking metrics on employee time spent on administrative tasks, travel expense budgets, and more. For example, the time it takes for IT to address an employee's concerns may decrease by 40%. This allows them to move on to other tasks and get more done for your organization.

4. Top Users

One key metric that can help dictate your internal communications strategy is the top users. These are the employees who use your intranet considerably more than others and should have more experience navigating the system. When you measure adoption rates, they'll be at the top of your list.

Knowing your super users allows you to better understand what your employees like and what they don't like. They can also be used to help train new users and answer questions their coworkers may have.

5. Time Saved

Part of measuring engagement with your intranet is through productivity and time saved. These are somewhat abstract concepts, but you can quantify them through time spent on certain parts of your system. Of note, you can measure how much time is spent searching for documents, tracking the completion time of tasks, and how often they use the Help Desk feature.

If they can't easily find what they're looking for, then that's time wasted. Your intranet should facilitate faster searches and better completion times. Employees shouldn't have to waste time using the Help Desk to navigate the system.

6. Employee Satisfaction and Turnover Rates

Another of the best KPIs for communications in your organization is employee satisfaction and turnover rates.

First of all, employee satisfaction can be measured through surveys. These surveys can help you measure how employees feel about your intranet system and how it can be improved. One way to improve intranet sentiment is by creating a style guide on how content should look and sound.

If your employees aren't satisfied with your system, this may reflect in your turnover rates. Working on a complicated system without appropriate training is a miserable experience. Look at new hires and retention rates in relation to when your intranet platform was introduced to measure its effect.

7. Video Engagement and Training Stats

An important part of training new employees is using video content. If you want to measure how successful it is, you can do so by monitoring some key metrics.

What is the view count on your employee-created content? How often is their content played and do people watch them to completion?

There are ways to track how far most viewers get in a video, and you can even find out when it loses their attention. You can also encourage employees to leave feedback on the content and how it can be improved.

8. User-Generated Content

Your organization should also track the number of pages of user-generated content. Your intranet benefits from more users creating new content on your platform.

Are multiple users creating the content, or is it only your super users? Is the content high-quality and representative of your company? Does the content get a lot of clicks and shares?

Some ways to encourage more content creation include developing a style guide, regulating that content, and automating it to an extent.

Tracking Intranet Key Metrics

Investing in a new intranet platform is wasted if your organization doesn't take the time to measure adoption rates and make the necessary changes. How your employees use your system should enlighten you on how to improve it as well as encourage their productivity.

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