Most people are familiar with this situation: you search the intranet, your email inbox or the file share for specific information – and simply cannot find anything. Even though you know for sure that the document, guideline or form is there somewhere. Unfortunately, it is impossible to locate. The problem often lies not with the information itself, but with the search.
An example: A colleague searches the intranet for ‘business trip form’. The search returns zero results. The reason: In the system, the document is called ‘travel expense report. Anyone unfamiliar with this exact wording is out of luck – because the search does not recognize synonyms, related terms, or offer any helpful suggestions.
The result: wasted time, frustration – or a question to the team (‘Does anyone know where to find the business trip form?’), which costs even more time.
Or another case: An employee is looking for a previous project presentation. He remembers roughly the year and the topic – but the search returns dozens of results, unsorted and with no option to filter by time period, file type or department. After ten minutes, he gives up and recreates the presentation. The file is there in the system, just impossible to find.
A multitude of departments, tools and data sources exacerbate this problem. The amount of information is enormous – and without a clear structure, intelligent search functions or useful filters, daily work becomes a test of patience.
And if even long-standing employees struggle to find certain content, how are new colleagues supposed to cope? Especially since, in the age of remote working, it is no longer a matter of course to simply pop down the corridor and ask, ‘Do you know where I can find this?’
What is often overlooked is that poor search functions not only cost nerves, but also money. Every single day.
Even small delays add up over weeks and months, with a direct impact on productivity, quality and motivation among employees at all levels of the hierarchy.
What is needed is an intelligent system behind the search field that ‘understands’ the user, or an always-available virtual assistant that you can simply ask questions. For example: ‘How do I apply for parental leave?’ or ‘Where can I find the template for project reports?’
An intelligent assistant should not only provide correct answers without hallucinating, but also deliver directly relevant links, documents, contact details or process pages.
Technically speaking, it has long been possible for employees to find information quickly. There are sophisticated search solutions that can be easily connected to existing portals, the intranet or other internal data sources. And there are professionals who have specialized in making knowledge findable within companies for many years – including all the tricky issues such as:
If all this is possible, why should companies develop their own solutions, which often cost a lot of time and money and ultimately fall short?
Poor search is more than just a technical flaw – it slows down everyday work, frustrates employees, and creates hidden costs that should not be underestimated. Anyone who takes their digital working environment seriously should therefore focus on improving one thing above all else: the findability of information. This is not a ‘nice-to-have’ feature, but a decisive factor for efficiency, employee satisfaction and economic success – especially in times of remote work, growing complexity and increasing employee turnover due to the impending retirement of experienced baby boomer professionals.
After all, knowledge is only useful if you can find it – and those who find it faster can also act faster and better.
