How Director of Internal communications transformed a OOTB SharePoint into a Custom SharePoint

About the Client

Kalsec (Kalamazoo Spice Extraction Company) is a privately held, U.S.-based leader in natural food ingredients. They specialize in developing and producing natural spice and herb extracts, colors, and antioxidants for the global food and beverage industry.

Challenges

Kalsec’s existing SharePoint intranet was built using standard, out-of-the-box (OOTB) web parts, which had several limitations:

• Low Employee Engagement: The platform lacked interactive and engaging content, reducing user participation.
• Overwhelming Quick Links and Limited Search: Too many quick links cluttered the interface, while the search functionality was insufficient for finding relevant information.
• Complex Navigation: Users found it difficult to navigate across the site, leading to a fragmented user experience.
• Lack of Branding and Personalization: The platform did not reflect Kalsec’s brand identity or support personalized content for employees.

Our Solution

At SharePoint Designs, we partnered closely with Kalsec to transform their OOTB SharePoint into a customized, modern intranet that reflects their brand and meets their unique needs. Our approach included regular collaboration to fully understand their challenges and goals.

Key Enhancements

• Intuitive Top Navigation: We designed a custom, always-accessible top navigation bar that neatly organized all existing menus and submenus, improving site structure and ease of access.
• Personalized Home Page: The revamped home page included a personalized welcome banner, dynamic news sections with tagging, and an improved search function for seamless content discovery.
• Smart Quick Links: We introduced a first-of-its-kind quick links feature, allowing users to search within quicklinks, prioritized by their department for a more relevant experience.
• Strategic Content Pages: The company strategy page was carefully crafted to reinforce Kalsec’s vision, mirroring the original strategy format for consistent internal communication.

Benefits

The newly designed intranet offers:

• Enhanced Search Functionality: Efficient content discovery with personalized filtering and search capabilities.
• Improved User Engagement: Lively, organized pages with relevant, up-to-date content to keep employees informed and engaged.
• Personalized User Experience: Tailored quick links and content based on user roles, improving productivity and satisfaction.
• Streamlined Communication: A visually appealing and brand-aligned digital workspace that fosters a connected and informed workforce.