As a leader, you recognize that a thriving workforce is essential for organizational success. 

Intuitively, you know that employee wellness and engagement are not just buzzwords, they are essential for the success of your organization in today’s business world. According to the Gallup and Workhuman report From Praise to Profits: The Business Case for Recognition at Work engaged employees are more productive, creative, and loyal than their disengaged counterparts. They also report higher levels of satisfaction, happiness, and well-being.  

On the other hand, Gallup estimates that employee disengagement costs the overall US economy as much as $350 billion every year in lost productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and health care costs. However, let’s consider what each company loses per year: at least $2,246 per disengaged employee.  Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges and stressors for employees, such as remote work, isolation, burnout, and uncertainty. These statistics suggest it is more important now than ever for leaders to prioritize employee wellness and engagement as a strategic business object. 

Microsoft Viva, Microsoft’s Employee Experience platform built on Microsoft 365, offers powerful tools to enhance engagement, streamline communication, and drive productivity. In this blog, we’ll explore how Viva can transform your organization by focusing on three critical positive business outcomes: 

1. Elevate Employee Engagement 

Why Does Employee Engagement Matter? 

Engaged employees are more committed, innovative, and productive. They contribute their best work, collaborate effectively, and stay loyal to the company, which in turn reduces the cost of onboarding new employees when dissatisfied ones exit. Microsoft Viva facilitates engagement through providing various applications that: 

• Provide personalized gateways within Microsoft Teams that bring together news, announcements, and resources. Through this integration, it creates a sense of belonging and keeps employees informed without adding the fatigue of context switching. 
• Give employees insight-driven features that encourage peer recognition, feedback, and social connections, recognizing employees’ efforts fosters a positive work environment. 
• Empower and encourage individuals and Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to share their expertise and thought leadership. When employees feel heard and valued, engagement soars. 

2. Boost Productivity 

Providing a Link Between Engagement and Productivity 

Engaged employees are more likely to be productive. They spend less time working in silos, recreating existing materials, and more time working collaboratively, building upon the successes of others. Microsoft Viva enhances productivity by: 

• Providing data-driven insights into work patterns, helping employees manage their collaborative time and protect their focus time effectively. Leaders are provided team and organizational insights to help optimize workloads and identify areas for improvement. 
• Streamline goal setting and alignment across the business, reducing manual effort and mis-communicated objectives. Clear goals align employees with organizational objectives, driving productivity. More about this in the next section. 
• Providing a platform that centralizes learning resources, enabling continuous skill development, and socially driven collaborative learning. Well-trained employees, up to date on the latest technology and skills, are more efficient and more likely to grow with the company. 

3. Strategic Alignment 

Beyond Shiny Apps: Aligning with Organizational Goals 

You may have noticed that I have not mentioned Viva apps by name. That is intentional. Deploying Viva isn’t just about novelty; it’s about strategic alignment and desired business outcomes. Here’s how: 

• Before implementing Viva Goals, Viva Pulse, or any other modules within the Viva suite, assess your organizational employee pain points. What challenges do they face? What motivates them? How well are your organizational goals being met, and what are the roadblocks? Prioritize these needs, evaluating cost and effort against strategic impact, then address these needs to ensure successful adoption. 
• Tailor Viva to your organization’s unique context. Customize goals, feedback mechanisms, and learning paths based on organizational needs and priorities. When employees see “What’s in It for Me”, they engage more actively. 
• Regularly evaluate the impact of Viva. Monitor engagement levels, productivity metrics, and turnover rates. Adjust strategies as needed to stay aligned with your goals. Use this insight to be transparent with how the organization is monitoring and adjusting based on these insights to get employee buy-in and a stronger engagement. 

Leadership’s Role in Employee Engagement 

As leadership, it is not always your job to be in the trenches. With the Employee Experience, your number one job is to provide top-down alignment across business efforts to ensure the technology we are deploying meets the strategic alignment required to drive our business forward. What does this mean? 

• Creating organizational objectives that can be communicated across the business, so everyone knows how to align their time and efforts. 
• Engaging through use of a Leadership Corner, Ask Me Anything/Q&A, or Town Hall in Viva Engage, we provide an example that using “social tools” is acceptable. 
• Directly showcasing career mobility paths and corporate training courses, showcasing that we value an employee’s educational journey as an acceptable use of time. 
• Communicating (and showing) that it is acceptable to set boundaries in our calendar to block out focus time or schedule our work-life balance. 

In the project nomenclature, you will often be an “informed” and often “consulted”. However, you will always be responsible for ensuring those making direct decisions have authority to act and strategic guidelines in which to make those decisions. 

My Closing Perspective  

Microsoft Viva isn’t just a suite of tools; it’s a strategic investment in your people. By putting employee needs first, nurturing engagement, and aligning with organizational goals, you’ll create a team that’s not only more productive and satisfied but also resilient. 

Remember, it’s not about deploying shiny apps—it’s about creating meaningful experiences that empower your employees to thrive.