SharePoint enables organizations to find solutions to common business problems using ready-made web parts and applications. Your unique business scenarios will determine the type of site and web parts that will be used.
Review the example story below to learn more about the site creation process. Use the stories to see how different types of roles and departments within any organization can work together to meet the needs of their users and business objectives. Understand the site creation stages - plan, build, and manage - and the types of tasks in each stage. Then, get started creating your SharePoint site.
Consider using and customizing the New hire onboarding site template to quickly get started.
More inspirational resources:
-
See what's possible with the SharePoint look book
-
Get step-by-step site creation instructions with Guided walkthroughs
-
Read more SharePoint site creation stories
Scenario: An organization needs to create a space for new employees to learn more about the organization and new hire tasks
Tom is a departmental human resources (HR) manager who sees an opportunity to improve the on-boarding experience for new hires. Currently his organization shares an excel spreadsheet with some links to common resources, and hiring managers are responsible for new hire on-boarding. Both recent new hires and hiring managers have expressed dissatisfaction with the current on-boarding process.
New training site:
Scenario goals:
-
Help new employees on-board successfully to the department
-
Improve new employee performance and time to productivity
-
Improve new employee retention
-
Increase new employee engagement and satisfaction
Steps to create the site:
Plan the site - 1 day
Tom meets with hiring managers to ensure the new hire experience is aligned with the goals of the organization and the departments the new hires will join.
It's decided that Tom will build the site, and hiring managers will contribute to the site's content strategy and maintenance. One hiring manager identifies a recent new hire to act as a champion for the new site. Other hiring managers and HR members make plans to contribute to the new hire site regularly.
Tom starts by gathering all the content new employees need to know about the company, culture, department systems, processes, policies, and benefits.
Build the site - 2 days
Tom decides to use a SharePoint communication site to centrally manage on-boarding documents, training materials, and social connections that can be easily accessed and all in one place.
-
Using the Document library web part, Tom creates files and folders organized by region, role, and benefit types
-
Using the List web part, Tom creates a new hire checklist for the hiring managers and the new employee
-
The site includes a Yammer Conversations web part that allows employees in the department to share experiences, grow their network, ask questions, and give feedback about the new employee on-boarding process
-
New hire welcome videos were created by the leadership team and posted using the Microsoft Stream web part
Manage the site - Ongoing
-
Tom plans a launch event that celebrates the new site and schedules training sessions for new hire managers and champions to be able to contribute to the site over time
-
To get feedback and measure the impact of the new employee on-boarding process, Tom creates a survey using the Microsoft Forms web part
-
Monthly, Tom reviews and shares the site usage and analytics with the leadership team and hiring managers
Results:
-
Increased new employee retention within department from 75% to 90% in one year
-
Improved new employee engagement by 10% in one year
-
Increased hiring manager's satisfaction and confidence in the new hire on-boarding process
-
Decreased the amount of time and resources spent on-boarding and training new hires
More site creation inspiration:
Apply and customize SharePoint sit templates
Guided Walkthroughs: Creating sites
Microsoft 365 productivity library
