"We knew we had won when HR started to build their on-boarding class [for new employees] around Hello," said Smith. This year 5,000 new employees will begin their employment via Hello.

Smith said a change management strategy was vital to learn to work together differently and that education centered not on the tools but the concepts.

The company defined its internal social strategies, aggregated data from existing sources, listened to users, and kept departments such as legal and HR clued in.

"The Feedback Box is the most critical thing we have," says Smith. Users whose ideas are incorporated into Hello are credited on the site.

Smith says adoption was aided by building tactical strategies, tapping into existing communities and managing new communities visibly and openly, and creating examples of how work can be done.