The Company Where All 110 Employees Have A Blog
At Macaw all employees have their own internal blog. They get it when they get their network, intranet and e-mail account.
Not only do they have blogs -- they use them. 90 percent of the 110 employees are internal bloggers.
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Macaw is a Dutch company specialized in building internet solutions based on Microsoft technology. The company was founded in 1994. When Lisette Hoogstrate, marketer at Macaw, told me that they all have blogs - and that almost everyone use them - I didn't believe her. But it's true.
- Of the 110 employees 90 percent blogs, although some are a lot more active than others. The core group of active bloggers consists of about 25 Macaw employees, Lisette writes in an e-mail.
The blogs are mainly used to share knowledge about technical issues or solutions. But also fun stuff, politics, current events or pictures appear as blog entries. The internal blog system started because of one employee who believed in the idea and wanted to give it a try.
Developers blog, the CEO blogs, the financial manager blogs and, as the screenshot tells us, Lisette herself blogs. Apparently all these posts start conversations too. To 1,509 posts there are 4,155 comments.
As you know, I believe in blogging. But even I couldn't help asking if it really is effective for Macaw. All this writing, reading, commenting -- isn't it too time consuming?
- I can't say it is effective in the sense that we have statistics to prove it. I do know that everyone appreciates the blogs and the possibility to share thoughts and ideas with your colleagues. One of Macaw's core values is openness, which is of course greatly promoted this way. It might take up time that could otherwise be spent on a client projects. On the other hand, you might save someone time by providing a solution to a problem he or she is experiencing. I'd say the time spent and the time gained balance out pretty evenly, Lisette writes.
Check out their external blogs too!