Handwerkskammer Hamburg: “HWK Intra”, the digital workplace for 260 employees

About Handwerkskammer Hamburg

Handwerkskammer Hamburg (Hamburg Chamber of Crafts) is a public-law body representing the interests of almost 15,000 member businesses with around 105,000 employees in the Hanseatic city, from roofers and carpenters to hairdressers and refrigeration technicians. It maintains the register of craft businesses and the register of apprentices, offers further training such as master craftsman preparation courses and advises businesses on energy, skilled labor and digitalization. Around 260 employees work at several locations: in the Gewerbehaus on Holstenwall in the heart of Hamburg, a building more than 100 years old, at the Elbcampus, the chamber's competence center for further training, and in smaller advisory offices. Since 2021, the chamber has relied on KenCube as its collaboration platform. Its platform is called “HWK Intra”, and in everyday work you often hear: “Did you see that in Intra?”

Kirstin Beck, quality management officer at HWK Hamburg, was a driving force behind the successful rollout of HWK Intra and continues to support it with her focus on structures and processes. Dr. Friederike Redlbacher, Manager for Digital Innovation, helps shape “Intra”. The chamber is increasingly developing into a modern, strong organization with seamless digital processes, she explains. Information should be available immediately and pleasant to read, and the time spent searching should shrink to a minimum.

Internal communication for a broad range of services

Before HWK Intra, internal communication ran mainly via email: long messages, large distribution lists, reply-all. That meant an enormous reading load, and it was hard to follow how a topic developed. In some situations, email is simply not a medium that warms your heart, says Redlbacher. Then there is the structure of the chamber itself: a large organization with an exceptionally broad portfolio, from business, environmental and recognition advice to apprenticeship advice and projects to bring more women and migrants into the skilled trades. Really exciting, Redlbacher finds, but in your own department you often hear little about it. This is exactly where HWK Intra comes in, she emphasizes: looking beyond your own area without enormous effort. Looking over colleagues' shoulders is much easier and more accessible there, for example in the forum, where new employees introduce themselves and departments share updates.

Accessible leadership communication

Management also communicates its strategy there. The aim is clear: all employees should have the opportunity to be informed. How much of it fits into their own daily work is up to each person, because the tasks are very different.

We want to be connected with each other, and that's why we need an intranet that shows this connection, that is colorful and fun to use.

Dr. Friederike Redlbacher, Manager Digital Innovation, Handwerkskammer Hamburg

A collaboration platform for many different tasks

Easy to reach thanks to SSO

The working day begins in HWK Intra, Redlbacher explains. When employees start their browser in the morning, they automatically land in “Intra”, without entering a password thanks to single sign-on*. A daily synchronization with Microsoft Entra keeps users and permissions up to date. This low threshold is very important to Handwerkskammer Hamburg. The path to information should have no hurdles. From the dashboard, quick links lead directly to time tracking or to the ai.workplace by Kauz, the chamber's AI workplace.

*Single sign-on (SSO) means that users can access all computers and services they are authorized for with login credentials stored centrally at an identity provider, such as Microsoft. Users no longer have to log in to each individual service with separate credentials.

Collaboration platform with a precise permission structure

KenCube is far more than a news channel. The chamber uses pretty much everything KenCube offers, says Redlbacher, a complete collaboration platform. Departments such as finance or the register of craft businesses run their tabs as protected wikis and store their expertise there: Does carpet cleaning belong in the register of craft businesses? How is VAT treated in which case? This is made possible by the highly differentiated permission structure, which Redlbacher particularly values. The chamber can define exactly which areas are relevant to whom. Everyone sees the news, only the respective team sees its specialist wiki.

Managing cross-departmental projects

For cross-departmental projects there is the “Collaboration” area. When e-payment is being introduced, for example, Redlbacher herself works with marketing and finance. In the “E-Payment” folder, everyone can see where the project stands. Meeting results, screenshots and links are shared there. This creates documentation of how projects develop almost in passing. That would not be possible in this form with emails or documents in a folder, explains Friederike Redlbacher.

Compliance made easy: QM manual, ISO certification and a connection to the chamber's own AI

The platform also serves as the quality management manual: all process PDFs for the ISO certification at the Elbcampus are stored there. It also contains the rules that apply to everyone at the chamber and current forms. Anyone with a question can quickly ask it via the AI workplace, because “HWK Intra” has an interface to the chamber's own AI workplace. KenCube transfers the content to the AI provider Kauz, which makes it AI-readable in a vector database. Instead of clicking through pages of search results, employees simply ask their question, for example about the home office policy or room booking, and receive the answer together with a link to the relevant HWK Intra post. The wish to find things faster has been fulfilled.

The calendar, which is used intensively, has been surprisingly well received, Redlbacher reveals. It lists member events as well as information about noisy renovation work on the buildings. That way, staff know when the joints next door are being milled out and can work from home that day. Then there are the “Top Five” most-read articles of the last seven days, job openings, the chamber's social media profiles and quick links to training offers. Content is shared in all formats: PDFs, photos, audio and video, such as training videos or the pictures from the “Meisterfeier Michel” with 460 newly qualified master craftspeople. Images simply help attract attention, says Redlbacher. A visually appealing dashboard is much more inviting to read than an endless list of unread emails.

And the employee app? In everyday work, the chamber uses desktop computers. But being able to open the platform on mobile devices is crucial in a crisis, Redlbacher emphasizes. Should the internal systems ever fail, the chamber can still reach its employees on their private devices.

In a crisis, what matters is that the intranet can be opened on private mobile devices.

Dr. Friederike Redlbacher, Manager Digital Innovation, Handwerkskammer Hamburg

The three biggest benefits: overview, collaboration, interactivity

Asked about the three biggest benefits, Redlbacher does not have to think long. First, the daily overview: every morning, the first thing she opens is “Intra”, and she sees at a glance what is new. Second, cross-departmental collaboration, which she finds simply brilliant: Which projects stand where? Third, feedback: as an editor, she can see how many people have read her own articles, and she appreciates it when colleagues give direct feedback on training posts about what was helpful. HWK Intra helps people get in touch and work on a topic with focus, she says. Tagging colleagues with the “@” sign also makes this easier, drawing their attention to interesting and relevant content.

The intranet helps us get in touch, work together on a topic with focus and move projects forward.

Dr. Friederike Redlbacher, Manager Digital Innovation, Handwerkskammer Hamburg

The result: showing what the chamber achieves and boosting motivation

On top of that, communication works asynchronously. Nobody has to interrupt their work because the phone rings. Whoever has a few minutes responds then. That makes collaboration smooth and modern, says Redlbacher. Posts are visible to the relevant group, which makes work more transparent. Perhaps the most important effect, though, is that it becomes clear how much the organization does. That not only informs, it motivates and enables people to give information, Redlbacher emphasizes. The organizational development project “Gemeinsam. Sinn. Machen.” also contributes to this. Everyone turns a small screw in the bigger picture, and ideally everything meshes together.

A living digital workplace

A digital workplace is never finished. Handwerkskammer Hamburg is working on lowering the threshold for posting even further and on winning more editors, says Redlbacher. She deliberately manages the volume of information: scheduled posts disappear automatically, and outdated content is deleted. In times of information overload, giving employees what they need is an important task.

In times of information overload, being able to deliberately manage the volume of information is an important task.

Dr. Friederike Redlbacher, Manager Digital Innovation, Handwerkskammer Hamburg

Then there is the collaboration with KenCube itself, whether for a detailed request or the complete AI integration. The answers come quickly and reliably, Redlbacher says approvingly.

What really impresses us about KenCube is the top-notch customer service. Our wishes and ideas always find an open ear, and they get made possible.

Dr. Friederike Redlbacher, Manager Digital Innovation, Handwerkskammer Hamburg