STIHL HUB: MORE THAN JUST AN INTRANET

Outdated intranets on different systems - lacking in intuitiveness and modernity 

No common intranet for the entire STIHL Group 

Development of a holistic concept to integrate all subsidiaries worldwide

Integration of decentrally created content from different editors while maintaining administrative control (role distribution) - incl. targeted playout and aggregation to the subsidiaries

New intranet based on standard SharePoint Online 

Addition of novaCapta assets to personalize the home page, including nC Quick Start and nC Welcome 

Creation of SharePoint templates for worldwide use and brand recognition across the group 

Specific intranet packages for the systematic development of the STIHL Hub, including additional topics, areas and countries

Visually appealing, clearly structured intranet with simple, intuitive usability 

Enabling and motivating departments and topic managers to provide content easily and quickly independently 

Analysis capabilities of the intranet enable identification of relevant topics and KPIs 

Medium-term: Reaching all employees worldwide and promoting exchange and open dialog through transparency of contact persons and feedback via comment function

‟Up to now, we as Corporate Communications have compiled information, processed it and made it available to our employees on the intranet. Our wish was to give our departments the opportunity to independently present their area company-wide and thus be able to generate their own content. At the same time, we wanted a holistic concept that not only included the German headquarters, but could also

be flexibly applied to our subsidiaries worldwide,“ says Isabel Mayer, project manager for the intranet relaunch at STIHL AG, describing the requirements for the new intranet. The intranet was to be implemented in the existing Microsoft 365 structure. The choice therefore fell on a SharePoint-based intranet - without any additional add-on.

After an intensive analysis phase, STIHL had a precise overview of existing intranets and systems worldwide. An easily adaptable concept was required in order to provide a holistic approach for the decentralized, international corporate group. The structure and navigation were analyzed and defined in advance for the overall hub to enable uniformity and recognition.

Two Hub sites were set up for the roll-out, which can be accessed via a simple switch. The overall intranet is called STIHL Hub - in addition to the Stammhaus (head office), the Group also went live. The STIHL Hub | Group is the place where news are published and updated. The STIHL Hub | Stammhaus acts as a beacon

project that other countries can follow. Based on the headquarters intranet, countries are able to have their intranet provided as a template. Country intranets are also included under the STIHL Hub | Group and can be accessed via the simple switch. The STIHL Hub | Group is defined as the standard start in all browsers for all employees worldwide.

Departments that expressed interest in having their own presence on the new intranet were gathered, trained and empowered in advance. As a result, the new editors can publish their own news in their own areas, both across departments and locations. In addition, they can trigger a workflow if the news should be displayed on the homepage. Corporate Communications can use drag & drop in their editorial board to determine which (submitted) news should be displayed at which position on the STIHL Hub home page and provide feedback to the editor via comments. In this way, Corporate Communications, as the intranet owner, can control news for the Group as well as for the headquarters. 

Intranet packages were created so that the various departments can take action in a coordinated framework. This toolbox contains, among other things, templates for creating specific pages as well as news. STIHL-specific metadata is stored in all templates. A consistent structure promotes recognition and orientation - no matter where worldwide employees are within the STIHL Hub. This is how STIHL established the decentralized creation of news and optimized the news workflow within the company.

The CopySiteTool is a provisioning tool developed by novaCapta. It allows Corporate Communications to create additional specific intranet packages for countries, sites and areas as required, while maintaining an overview of all intranet sites at all times. In addition to the SharePoint standard, further novaCapta assets were used. These enable the personalization of the start page: nC Welcome for the personal greeting and the nC Quick Start for setting your own relevant topics and links. 

In the future, the new STIHL intranet will be accessible to all employees from anywhere at any time. The holistic, company-wide intranet concept can be adapted and expanded for other countries and subsidiaries at any time. Despite all the individualization, Corporate Communications is and remains the owner of the Group-wide home page and sets the standards that must be adhered to during implementation.

Download Case Study STIHL AG PDF (DE)

Download Case Study STIHL AG PDF (EN)