When TD Bank set out to overhaul its intranet, the challenge wasn’t just technical - it was human. With 12 landing pages, 40 separate sites, and over 150,000 documents, employees were experiencing what Abby Webster, AVP of Colleague Digital Experience, called “learned helplessness.” Navigating the system required insider knowledge, and frontline staff often struggled to find answers while customers waited.
In the latest episode of Fresh Perspectives, Abby shares how TD Bank flipped the script by putting employee experience at the heart of their digital transformation. The result? TD Central, a SharePoint-based platform that now handles over 1 million daily visits and serves 95,000 employees across multiple countries.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- End users first: TD Bank prioritised the needs of employees over the convenience of content editors. “The maintenance piece is a few people managing the site. The end user is the majority,” Abby explains.
- Conversations over complaints: Instead of just collecting feedback, Abby’s team asked deeper questions like “What does your day look like?” to understand the real context behind frustrations.
- Smart budgeting: Rather than requesting new funds, TD Bank redirected existing upgrade budgets to support their cloud migration, positioning the project as modernisation, not expense.
- Automated personalisation: Using nightly HR feeds, the platform dynamically adjusts content based on location and role changes, no manual group maintenance required.
- Build vs Buy validation: TD Bank prototyped their own SharePoint intranet before committing to a vendor, ensuring they understood the complexity and could negotiate effectively.
- Phased rollout strategy: The team used existing landing pages to segment the rollout, reducing risk and allowing for targeted communication.
- Celebrate small wins: Even minor improvements were shared widely, reinforcing momentum and showing employees that their feedback mattered.
🎧 Why It Matters
TD Bank’s transformation is a masterclass in user-centred design at enterprise scale. By listening deeply, planning strategically, and communicating relentlessly, they turned a frustrating legacy system into a beloved productivity tool.
Whether you're leading a digital workplace initiative or rethinking your intranet strategy, this episode offers practical insights you can apply today.
👉 Listen to the full episode here: Podcast - How to build a people-first intranet in SharePoint
