Stayokay

With this user-friendly and attractive intranet all employees are reached in a pleasant and effective way- Marieke Meijer, StayOkay

Stayokay is a hostel chain that comprises 29 hostels situated in the most beautiful locations of the Netherlands. Guests from the Netherlands and abroad can enjoy an outstanding stay against affordable rates. All 29 hostels are categorized in three separate types of destinations: Coast and water, Green Surrounding and Urban. The head office is situated in Amsterdam.

Challenge: Improving internal communication and internal customer satisfaction

The different locations of StayOkay form an advantage for the visitors, but often lead to barriers in communication amongst the employees. Moreover there are great differences between employees. Looking at it from a geographical perspective, but also when it comes to education, function, knowledge on computers and age. StayOkay requested of Virtual Affairs to come up with an interactive intranet, in order to improve employee satisfaction resulting in propagating and reinforcing the chain concept as a whole.

Approach: user-friendly SharePoint with a catchy graphical design

We implemented a SharePoint intranet for StayOkay. We also took the graphical and the functional design for our account: These two designs were fully developed in line with the company style of Stayokay. Within this uniform style distinctive accents in the graphical design have been given to the three categories of destinations that fits to the characteristics of the specific destination. Within the SharePoint platform we used MONCE-templates. The templates were customized to meet the needs of StayOkay.

Result: Intranet as a connecting link

Virtual Affairs integrated the different locations of StayOkay on a virtual level. We made this possible through a SharePoint intranet. Interactivity was the key focus in this project. The efficiency of internal communication improved tremendously and employees were now able to fit their duties into the chain concept. Employees could now share news, schedules, calendar items, documentation and ideas with each other.

Virtual Affairs served us in a proactive manner

StayOkay mentioned the following regarding this project: in our organization it’s a challenge to communicate to all our employees in a way that is effective for everyone. Due to the simplicity in use and the attractive Look and Feel of the intranet we can look back at a job well done. The news, discussion board, poll, useful links, and library options are all amongst the most frequently used features .Besides the fact that employees are very enthusiastic about the integrated “fun factor” which adds extra functionalities such as a weather forecast, photo album;  facts and figures are integrated that gives the employee insights in achievable targets.

Virtual Affairs proactively participated, also from a communications perspective. All possibilities and restrains were communicated in a clear manner and the initial design was instantly approved of. Furthermore the tight deadline that was given to the project was met. We are more than satisfied with the end results and have already welcomed numerous organizations, all eagerly to learn from the new system. “If it’s up to StayOkay the features and capabilities of the intranet will be broadened for future purposes” said Marieke Meijer, internal communication department StayOkay.