How evm transformed its culture with Haiilo

Energieversorgung Mittelrhein AG (evm) is the largest energy and services provider in Southern Germany, employing over 1,000 people and spread out over 14 locations. The company provides renewable electricity, natural gas, heating solutions, solar panels, heat pumps, drinking water, and telecommunications services to both private and business customers.  

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The Challenge

Before introducing Haiilo, evm faced multiple internal communication challenges.

An Outdated Communication Landscape

The previous intranet was static, difficult to navigate, and didn’t offer a mobile app. Information was spread across numerous channels including email, telephone calls, shared drives, and informal conversations.

• Information was difficult to find.

• Content quickly became outdated.

• Transparency across the organisation was limited.

• Communications were fragmented and across different products.

Goals for a New Approach to Internal Communication

Insights from employee surveys and focus groups made it clear that the new platform needed to be more than just a replacement for the old intranet. It needed to actively support organisational transformation.

The key objectives were:

1. Improve internal communication through a single central entry point.

2. Enable mobile access so frontline and non-desk employees could stay informed at all times.

3. Create a central knowledge repository where information could be easily structured and found.

4. Integrate important applications and processes into one ecosystem.

5. Support cultural and communication change while increasing employee participation.

“With the introduction of Haiilo, we achieved our goals: nobody remembers the old intranet anymore, and nobody misses it.”

Marcelo Peerenboom, Head of Corporate Communications at evm

Why evm Chose Haiilo

evm needed a modern intranet capable of addressing these challenges while supporting the company's vision for internal communications.

Requirements

The new platform needed to provide:

• Intelligent search to improve digital productivity and knowledge discovery

• Targeted communication channels for relevant information delivery

• Personal user profiles to make expertise visible

• Virtual collaboration spaces for teams and departments

• Mobile accessibility so everyone could participate regardless of location

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Why Haiilo Stood Out

Compared with competing providers, Haiilo impressed evm through:

• Intuitive design and a mobile-first design

• Built-in instant message functionality

• A timeline for modern news and dialogue

• Democratised publishing tools allowing departments to create content independently

• Attractive and intuitive design

• Extensive experience within the energy sector

• A fast launch approach with a clear roadmap for future expansion

The platform not only met technical requirements but also aligned with evm's vision of a more open and dialogue-driven culture.

Implementation: Launching "pia"

evm launched its whitelabeled Haiilo platform, pia (Platform for Information & Exchange), on 24 October 2018.

A Smooth Go-Live.

“Our go-live ran smoothly. There were hardly any issues or questions. It proves both how intuitive Haiilo is and how well our communications campaign prepared employees.”

Marcelo Peerenboom, Head of Corporate Communications at evm

Haiilo as a Catalyst for Change

In 2024, evm faced another major transformation: a change in executive leadership.

The organisation moved from a three-member executive board to a two-member leadership structure while pursuing an ambitious goal of becoming a driving force behind the energy transition in Southern Germany.

This required:

• More dialogue and participation instead of top-down communication

• Development of a modern and open culture

• Strong alignment between strategy and change communications

Because Haiilo was already established across the organisation, evm could use the platform to communicate transparently, create dialogue opportunities, and actively involve employees throughout the transformation.

Haiilo became the central communication platform supporting both leadership change and strategic realignment.

How evm Uses Haiilo Today

Transparent Leadership Communication

One standout initiative is "Cocoa with Christoph", an informal discussion series where CEO Christoph Hesse answers employee questions live through Microsoft Teams into Haiilo.

Employees can join, ask questions, and engage directly with leadership.

Sessions are recorded and published on immediately on pia through Haiilo’s teams' integration, allowing everyone to access them later.

Similar formats now exist with other senior leaders.

Result

Greater transparency, stronger leadership visibility, and more direct employee engagement.

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Strategy Communication

evm's corporate strategy, “compass.30”, is communicated openly through a dedicated section within pia.

The strategy page includes:

• Engaging visuals

• Blog articles

• Weekly progress updates

• Project milestones

• Strategy teasers on the homepage

Result

Employees remain continuously informed and experience strategy as an ongoing conversation rather than a one-off announcement.

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Dialogue and Culture Change

pia has transformed the communication culture at evm.

Previously, all information flowed through the communications department, which reviewed content and distributed it in a weekly email.

Today, business departments publish their own news directly within the platform.

The communications team now acts more like a coach and gardener, supporting content creators rather than controlling content.

Additional formats include:

• Video updates ("pia News")

• The internal "Flurfunk" podcast

Result

Content is more timely and representative of the entire organisation allowing for engagement and aligning with internal change.

Employees feel better informed and more actively involved.

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Multi-Channel Communications

With Haiilo’s Studio evm has been able to target and communicate with all employees through different communication channels such as email, Slack, Teams, push notifications and digital signage.

This means employees can get relevant and useful information for them, so importnant announcements never get missed.

Result

An integrated communications ecosystem where Haiilo serves as the central orchestrator.

Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing

Haiilo also serves as a central knowledge hub.

Digital Workspaces

Teams use workspaces as a single source of company truth to:

• Collaborate on projects

• Share documents

• Hold discussions

• Store outcomes centrally  

This reduces reliance on fragmented tools.

Expertise Discovery

Personal user profiles make employees' skills and expertise visible across the organisation, making it easier to find subject matter experts.

Result

• Fewer information silos

• More transparency

• Better collaboration

• Faster knowledge finding

Results: How Haiilo Changed Internal Communications at evm

The impact was immediate.

In the first year following launch, more than 700 employees used the platform daily. The intranet generated over 1,800 visits per day, with users spending nearly 15 minutes per visit on average.

Current data from 29 September 2025 shows continued strong engagement:

• 2,655 visits per day

• 817 unique daily users

• Nearly 9 minutes average session duration

• 4.9 actions per visit (page views, downloads, outbound links, and searches)

• 8,761 page views

• 1,129 internal searches

However, the most significant outcomes extend beyond usage metrics.

Business Impact

Information silos have been eliminated
Departments now publish content directly instead of relying on a central communications bottleneck.

Employees are better informed
News is published in real time rather than bundled into a weekly email digest.

A cultural shift has emerged
Communication is more accessible, transparency is embedded into everyday work, and hierarchical barriers have noticeably diminished.

Employee adoption is extremely high
Nobody misses the old intranet.

Today, Haiilo serves as the communication backbone of evm, connecting information, dialogue, and collaboration across the organisation.

“Our role has changed completely, from censorship to gardening. Information used to flow through us; now we maintain the platform, support users where needed, and empower departments to publish content themselves.”

Marcelo Peerenboom, Head of Corporate Communications at evm

Lessons Learned and Future Plans

According to evm, several key lessons emerged from the project:

1. Leadership changes can create powerful opportunities for transformation.

2. Leaders need communication guidance, and strong leaders listen to their teams.

3. Culture change starts at the top, from formal hierarchy toward a more open and approachable culture.

4. An intranet with two-way communication helps eliminate information silos and create transparency.

5. Making people visible is essential. Employees should be placed at the centre of the digital workplace.

6. New dialogue formats should be actively encouraged and embedded in the intranet.

7. Transparency requires sharing processes openly, including strategy development.

8. Successful intranet projects involve IT from the beginning and are run as joint initiatives.

Haiilo remains the heart of internal communication at evm and continues to evolve alongside the organisation's needs.