An Employee Experience Platform to Unite Them All? Microsoft Viva Arrives

Microsoft has been creating headlines around the world with an epic global launch of Microsoft Viva, its employee experience platform (EXP). Ben Whitter, Author of Human Experience at Work, and CEO of HEX Organization, reflects on Microsoft’s entry into the EX-market and what it potentially means for the future of work. 

Outside of small pockets of excellence, the HR/EX tech market has very rarely managed to pique my interest and imagination. I enjoy the marketing, energy and communities around certain products, yet many of these products or platforms focus almost exclusively on very narrow and specific aspects of EX. That is not a bad thing – there are many exceptional platforms out there that make a positive contribution to the performance of the EX. The challenge is that they are often sold as the complete EX solution or platform, without ever being anywhere close to that title. It’s a problem because technology can be poorly positioned as the cure-all for employee experience. 

Another important aspect to EX technology is that the focus is not always where it should be. The employee experience, in many instances, has been overrun with technology solutions and vendors all working on different parts of the puzzle. To employees, this has been especially bewildering as they try to navigate far too many apps and platforms during the course of a normal working day. To leaders, it’s a been a bit of challenge to manage and deliver the value that such technologies promise. It’s all got a bit too much. One company I came across had several hundred technology solutions across the EX. Employees were confused and so was the company. Fragmentation is delivered at the expense of focus – this is one of the notable problems Microsoft is attempting to solve, and if they do it, I’m sure they will attract many more fans as a result.

I’ve often said that there are only a handful of companies around the world that could ever build an integrated employee experience platform, and Microsoft is one of them. In just one day, Microsoft 365 users take part in more than 30 billion collaboration minutes, which is very helpful when creating a platform that flows with the daily rhythms of work. So, I was intrigued to learn more about Microsoft Viva and its capabilities across the EX.

 Connecting employee experiences

The promised land for EX technology is a platform that helps people to effortlessly connect to the things that help them to be successful in life and work. That’s the bottom-line. Indeed, it’s the only line that matters when thinking about productivity, human performance, and wellbeing. If the technology in a business is not directly helping people to deliver their best work, and to live their best life, then we do really need to question buying decisions.

Companies that win in the market are decisive and focused – it’s exactly the same with the employee experience. I talked about this in my book, Employee Experience. At the heart of the holistic employee experience (HEX), is the Truth – a company’s purpose, mission, and values. Technology platforms are there to enable and reinforce this Truth for each unique brand every day and in every way. If a company’s technology is clunky, cumbersome, or a chore to use, this will not contribute to a positive experience in work. In fact, quite the opposite and it will seriously hinder progress.

That’s why the scale and scope of the connectivity across the Microsoft eco-system is as exciting as it is powerful; the full power of Microsoft 365 is behind Viva, which brings together a variety of mission critical elements of EX including communications, knowledge, learning, resources and insights. The initial start point for the platform includes Viva Connections, Viva Insights, Viva Learning, and Viva Topics.

There’s no doubt that EX technology within companies has historically not been joined up in any meaningful way. Viva offers an answer to this and it will be interesting to see how it develops to add even more value across the holistic employee experience in the future. The platform itself is feature rich and covers many important aspects of organizational life.

• Through Viva Connections, Microsoft has created a digital environment that helps people to communicate, access curated and branded content, and access a personalised feed of relevant information.
• Viva Insights brings an edge to time management through privacy-protected analytics, data, and insights that are designed to support the wellbeing of the workforce and support people to focus on the things that matter most to them.
• Viva Learning is a power-house for experiences that educate, train, and develop people. The combination of LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, and an organization’s own content is potent, and the integration of other leading learning providers makes this is a rich and diverse learning environment.
• Finally, Viva Topics, which is like an AI-powered Wikipedia, gets relevant company information to people fast.

 Getting personal

Building on the strong foundations of Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365, this new platform feels like a natural step to take – to create more seamless integration between the various elements of Microsoft technology and also the third-party technology that companies have already invested in. The big emphasis here is a much more personalised approach to the employee experience. Viva has the ability to enable people to curate and connect to experiences that make a difference to their work at any given moment.  

What this means for the future of work

The global pandemic has created gaps between people and companies, and collectively, we need to keep pushing boundaries around what is possible in the digital space. Keeping in mind that technology is driven by human-beings, companies that have strengthened relationships with their people during this challenging period of time have fully embraced and supported the human experience in all that they do.

If we’re talking about an EX-platform, companies need to think more holistically about the quality of the experiences people have within and beyond work. Leveraging human-centred and experience-driven technology is always a wise move that has the potential to make a powerful impact on the experience of work, and Microsoft Viva offers a glimpse of the future that we’re all now co-creating. I’ll be watching its development with a keen eye like everyone else who has an interest in helping people thrive at work.

You can read more about Microsoft Viva here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-viva

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About the Author

Ben Whitter, author of Human Experience at Work (2021) and Employee Experience (2019), is the CEO of HEX Organization and the Founder of the World Employee Experience Institute (WEEI).

Ben was recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the top management thinkers in the world to watch in 2021 for his ‘compelling’ EX research. Ben is best known for pioneering and popularizing the concept of employee experience worldwide. He shares his work & research through popular keynotes, advisory services, coaching and the global HEX Practitioner programme.

His work has reached 18 million people, inspired the first EX conferences, and has been featured in publications including The Times, The Telegraph, Forbes, The Financial Times, The Economist, MIT Sloan, Thomson Reuters, and many more.

Ben Whitter is a prolific global speaker on human and employee experience topics and has introduced his ideas to audiences in more than 30 countries. He is a frequent advisor and strategic coach to the World's top companies and helps them to develop experience strategies that deliver exceptional business and human outcomes. 

You can work with Ben and his team, access his thought leadership, explore partnership services, and join the HEX Nation here at: https://www.hexorganization.com/hex-nation