British Airways (BA) is using search technology from internet giant Google to enable staff to access information on its intranet more easily.
The airline has installed a Google Search Appliance so that employees can browse 30,000 intranet pages, using the same design as Google.com.
Alan Huish, BA’s employee self-service programme manager, says the technology is part of a programme to encourage staff to access important information themselves, including staff training manuals, payslips and internal communications.
‘The intranet is the primary source of information for our 48,000 employees and is particularly important for frontline staff who travel the world and do not have access to an office computer,’ he said.
Huish says staff satisfaction of employee self-service has risen from 60 per cent to 78 per cent since the technology was applied, and efficiency has improved because information is more readily available.
‘We have matched the way people search the intranet at work to the way they search the internet at home,’ he said. ‘It also aligns our customer and employee self-service goals.’
Butler Group senior analyst Michael Azoff says Google has the expertise gathered from its consumer service to significantly improve BA’s search engine, delivering cost and efficiency savings via reduced administration.
‘Google’s search facility is an efficient and speedy tool with a clean, simple interface that is easy to use,’ he said. ‘It has removed the need for other means of sourcing information.’
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