Case Study
Console Energy Incorporated
Developing a Communication Portal for Employees
Overview
CONSOL Energy corporation required a smart digital solution to create, manage, circulate and archive important information to their employees. They needed a system that would streamline their communication process. KGC Solutions developed a solution using Microsoft SharePoint. KGC created a Communication Portal so that various alerts, announcements, dates, and events can be messaged out effectively and efficiently to employees
Background
CONSOl Energy is a publicly owned corporation and is one of the leading energy companies in the United States procuring and exporting high-BTU bituminous thermal coal. They own and operate several longwall mining operations and has one of the largest export terminals on the Eastern seaboard. CONSOL’s corporate headquartered in Canonsburg, which is a suburb outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the company has been in business since 1860. As the energy industry fluctuates and varies with the current economy, CONSOL also evolves.
In order to accommodate their various operations centers and growing workforce, corporate office relied on keeping up to date with communications by sending multiple email blasts throughout the week along with informational flyers that would be posted in various lunchrooms reminding employees for specific events and dates. However, it was noted that information in the email blasts was overbearing and was becoming lost. Many employees were not informed, and this caused a conundrum with the IT department.
Project
Step one was to analyze the types of messages and communications that was being circulated. After reviewing several examples of all staff and corporate emails, we discovered that the messages could be categorized as CORPORATE information and INDUSTRY information.
Corporate information would be messages about benefit enrollment periods, payroll deadlines, IT systems upgrades, community benefits and outreach programs, messages from executives, and company outings. CONSOL also had a need to relay sensitive information if a fellow employee had a death or illness in their family so that managers and other employees can be supportive in a time of need. Industry information would consist of economic or political news in the energy industry, safety updates and resources, and recent developments in the mining sector.
Step two was to conduct an analysis on the existing solution, gather requirements for the new solution, and determine which existing components would be replicated and new features that would be an enhancement to the new solution.
Step three was to create an employee portal using a modern SharePoint page as the landing page. This modern page would be the application where company workstations and tablets will be directed to
Results and Benefits
Problem: The IT department needed a solution that would assist to create, manage, archive and circulate important information to employees in a well-organized manner. They wanted to limit the use of sending “all-staff” emails as a tool to send messages to their employees.
Solution: KGC Solutions specializes in creating custom business solutions by using various Microsoft tools and products. After analyzing information in the discovery phase and gathering system requirements, a creative solution, using Microsoft SharePoint, was implemented.