What is an Employee Portal? | Unily (2024)

Promoting a great employee experience within your company starts with giving employees quick, easy, and straightforward access to company information. An employee portal provides this in abundance. It’s a one-stop shop for everything your employees need to do their job well.

In its most basic sense, an employee portal will lead to intranet software as an invaluable knowledge management solution that can be tapped into whenever necessary, ensuring your employees can always find the information they need. The best part? According to a study published in Health Science Reports, there are significant positive relationships between job satisfaction and knowledge management processes. The best examples of employee portals will lead to Employee Experience Platforms (EXPs), which go further than being simply a collection of information and actively engage employees through marketing-grade campaign functions and other innovative capabilities.

But what is an employee portal? Why are they so useful for your enterprise? Are there any benefits of an employee portal? Let's find out.

Defining an employee portal

An employee portal isn't just a webpage or an app; it's a digital key to a more streamlined and engaging work experience. It serves as a pivotal tool in the modern digital workplace, transforming the way employees interact with company information and processes. Essentially, it’s a web-based platform designed to simplify access to crucial company information like human resources services, critical communications, company policies, sales data, collaboration tools, and so much more.

An employee portal should be easily accessible to everyone, from frontline workers relying on mobile phones and digital signage to those in the office or working from home on desktop devices. It should be a comprehensive online space that empowers employees by allowing them to update personal details, check payroll and benefits, dive into training and development materials, stay in the loop with company news, and more — all from one centralized location.

Its primary aim is to significantly boost employee satisfaction, alignment, and productivity by providing a convenient and efficient way to engage with company information and resources.

Why use an employee portal?

An employee portal stands as the linchpin for company documents, operations, communications, and more. The benefits of an employee portal include streamlining operations and amplifying workplace engagement. By offering a unified, centralized platform, employees can easily access indispensable information that helps them execute tasks vital to their role while also remaining in contact with their colleagues and enterprise leaders.

This level of communication is vital. According to Grammarly, annually, US enterprises incur a cost of $12,506 per employee due to miscommunication. An employee portal enables better communication and collaboration, while also facilitating training and development with access to onboarding and upskilling resources at every stage of the employee journey. Additionally, it can provide real-time company news and updates, ensuring employees are always in the know.

Unlike traditional company intranets, which may have been created in-house or on legacy software, an out-of-the-box employee portal has the potential to scale with your business. In Unily’s case, it does this by operating in the cloud, allowing employees from anywhere in the world to instantly access company information. Content auto-translation capabilities also assist with overseas expansion, allowing people of any language to engage with colleagues from around the world.

Ultimately, these features foster a workspace where tasks flow seamlessly, further boosting productivity and satisfaction.