Small Business Home
Small Business Home is a single-page employee landing page for company context, current updates, policy links, benefits guidance, events, coworkers, and help. Use it to give office and frontline staff one clear starting point, then connect each live section to an approved source.
Every employee gets a seat — priced per employee in Communications & Intranet, quoted with this template ready.
Rolled out to every employee at AutoZone (125,000), PetSmart (50,000+), A.S. Watson and Raley's (20,000) — and at larger retailers we are not permitted to name.
Built for: Retail and multi-location stores · Hospitality and food service · Small manufacturing businesses · Professional services firms
Overview
Small Business Home is a single-page employee landing page designed to orient people and point them to trusted company resources. Its worked example uses Northstar, a fictional multi-location employer, and includes an opening welcome, company context, a connected company news feed, policy links, benefits guidance, upcoming calendar events, coworker search, and a help and ownership note. The sample does not assert real company facts, plan details, employee records, or event listings.
Use this page when employees need one recognizable starting point for finding updates and moving to the authoritative source for a policy, benefits question, event, or colleague lookup. The news feed, calendar, and employee directory are live sections that require their respective sources to be connected; they are not populated sample content. Confirm that each source is approved and that its audience and displayed information are appropriate. Replace fictional company copy and verify every destination before publishing.
This is an orientation page, not a policy repository, benefits eligibility decision, employee transaction, or local site guide. Keep policy and process details in their authoritative home and link to them here. Do not use the page to imply that all employees share the same policy scope, benefit access, or event visibility. It is also not a substitute for a staff directory if no approved directory source is available. Assign an owner to review the page when its content, connected apps, scope, or support route changes, and provide a real correction and help path before launch.
Standards & compliance context
- The template itself does not establish legal compliance; review linked policies and benefits information with the responsible company owners and preserve any location or role qualifications.
- Check the published page and connected sections against WCAG 2.1 AA, including keyboard operation, heading structure, accessible link names, and text contrast.
- Use an approved employee directory source and confirm that displayed employee details are appropriate for the page's intended audience.
- Keep policy and process information in its authoritative source, and verify links and support routes before relying on this page for employee guidance.
General regulatory context for orientation only — verify current requirements with counsel or the relevant agency before relying on this template for compliance.
What's inside this template
Welcome to Northstar
This opening identifies the page as a shared starting point and directs employees toward the resources it brings together.
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A shared starting point for Northstar employees at every location. Find company updates, trusted policy information, benefits guidance, upcoming events, and coworkers in one place. Northstar is a fictional company; this page is a worked example.
About Northstar
This context explains the fictional multi-location example and reminds page owners to publish approved company information and link to authoritative sources.
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A fictional example of a multi-location employer Northstar brings together office and frontline teams across several locations. This home page is designed to give colleagues the same clear route to company information, whether they are checking in from a desk or between shifts. The company details on this page are illustrative sample content, not verified facts. Replace them with approved company information before publishing. For a policy or process, use the authoritative source linked from the relevant app rather than creating a second copy here.
Company updates
This connected feed gives employees a route to current posts from the Communications source.
Company policies
This section directs employees to the authoritative Policy Hub and calls attention to location-specific scope.
Benefits information
This section points employees to current benefits information while making source confirmation and eligibility checks explicit.
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Start in the Benefits app for current plan information. Confirm available content, eligibility, and any enrollment handoff before publishing; no plan details are asserted in this example. Find benefits guidance Open the Benefits app to review the information available to your role and location. If your question is not answered there, use the confirmed benefits support route.
Upcoming events
This live Calendar section provides a place to find events after the approved Calendar source is connected.
Find a coworker
This connected directory section helps employees search for coworkers by name or job title, subject to approved display settings.
Help and page ownership
This section identifies the need for a confirmed support route and a page owner who reviews changes and corrects outdated content.
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For benefits, policy, or workplace questions, use the support route confirmed by Northstar before this page is published. This example does not invent contact details or promise a response time. The page owner should review the content when company information, app connections, policy scope, benefits guidance, directory settings, or support routes change. Ask the page owner to correct outdated content.
How to use this template
- Replace the fictional Northstar description with approved company context and confirm which employee groups and locations the home page serves.
- Verify the Policy Hub and Benefits app destinations, then confirm policy scope, benefits content, eligibility information, and the appropriate support route with their owners.
- Connect the Communications news source, Calendar source, and approved employee directory, and check that each displays content suitable for its intended audience.
- Assign a page owner and confirm who reviews company copy, coordinates source changes, and receives correction requests.
- Preview the page on desktop and mobile, test each link and live section, and check keyboard navigation, heading order, link labels, and contrast before publishing.
- Review the page when company details, source connections, policy or benefits scope, directory settings, or support routes change, and correct or remove stale content.
Best practices
- Keep the opening description short and explain who the shared home serves, especially when office and frontline employees use it.
- Treat Northstar and its company details as fictional sample content, and replace them with approved facts before publication.
- Link to one authoritative home for each policy instead of copying policy text into the landing page.
- Confirm the locations and employee groups covered by policy and benefits links rather than implying universal applicability.
- Connect the news feed, calendar, and directory to approved sources and test what employees can see before launch.
- Publish only benefits guidance and eligibility details confirmed by the responsible source owner, and include a real support route.
- Name a page-owner role and provide a correction path so employees know how to report outdated information.
- Check the page against WCAG 2.1 AA, including keyboard access, meaningful headings, descriptive link text, and sufficient contrast.
What this template typically catches
Issues teams running this template most often surface in practice:
Common use cases
Frequently asked questions
Who is the Small Business Home page for?
It is an orientation page for employees who need a shared route to company information, including colleagues working at different locations or away from a desk. The Northstar company description is fictional sample copy, not verified company information. Replace it with approved details and explain any location or role limits that affect access to policies, benefits, or events.
How often should we review and update the page?
Review it whenever company information, policy scope, benefits guidance, connected sources, directory settings, or support routes change. The page identifies its owner as responsible for review, but does not specify a review interval. Set an internal cadence that fits your change process and check that connected updates and event sources remain appropriate.
Who should own and maintain this home page?
Assign a named role, such as an intranet or internal communications owner, to maintain the page and coordinate changes with the teams responsible for policies, benefits, events, and directory data. Confirm who can approve company-specific copy and who handles corrections. Add the confirmed support route before publishing; the example intentionally does not invent a contact.
Does this template make policies or benefits available to every employee?
No. It provides navigation to a Policy Hub and Benefits app but does not establish eligibility, access, or which rules apply in each location. Confirm audience, location, and role scope with the authoritative policy and benefits sources before publishing. Keep detailed policy content in its authoritative home rather than copying it onto this orientation page.
What sources must be connected for the live sections?
The news feed needs the appropriate Communications source, the calendar section needs an installed Calendar source, and coworker search needs an approved employee directory source. These sections are not populated with sample updates, events, or employee records. Confirm that each source is connected and that the directory fields shown are suitable for the intended audience.
Can we customize the page for multiple locations or employee groups?
Yes. Replace Northstar's fictional description with approved company context and clarify which policies, benefits information, and events apply to each audience. Use links to authoritative sources for local or role-specific details instead of duplicating them here. Keep the shared home focused on orientation and avoid implying that content is personalized unless the installed experience actually supports it.
What is a common publishing mistake to avoid?
A frequent pitfall is publishing placeholder navigation or sample company statements as if they were verified, current information. Another is treating a policy link as proof that a policy applies to every location. Validate destinations, scope, source connections, and the support route before launch, and assign an owner to correct stale content.
How is this different from sending updates by email or building a page from scratch?
Email can announce an update, but it is easy for employees to lose the message and harder to use as a stable starting point for policies, benefits, events, and coworker search. This template brings those destinations together while leaving live content to its configured sources. Compared with an ad-hoc page, it also makes page ownership and source setup visible; it does not replace those source systems.
Does the template ensure legal compliance or accessibility?
No template alone establishes legal compliance, policy applicability, or accessibility conformance. Review the content and linked authoritative materials for relevant local requirements, and check the finished page against WCAG 2.1 AA, including keyboard access, headings, link labels, and contrast. Have the appropriate company owners confirm the final copy and audience scope.
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Rolled out to every employee at AutoZone (125,000), PetSmart (50,000+), A.S. Watson and Raley's (20,000) — and at larger retailers we are not permitted to name.