Traditional work and culture models in the new hybrid and remote working system cannot provide the flexibility that employees need to work effectively and in a new type of teamwork. Companies therefore need to use tools that provide a new employee experience (EX) that fits in with the current hybrid working environment, thereby strengthening employee loyalty. Strategies to deliver new employee experiences should focus on well-being, team cohesion and trust are the key to success and catalysts for creativity, innovation and flexibility.

Human Resources teams can build out their own integrated employee experience in several areas, here are the three most important areas to look.

1. The needs of individuals and teams are the first

EX strategies empower individuals and teams to feel a sense of ownership of their fulfilment, growth and success, and increase the impact of leaders through learning, support and privacy-protected insights. It builds simple and easily replicable habits at all levels of the organisation, creating a transparent culture for employees based on fairness, empathy, trust and caring. By using EX, better connections can be created within the company, allowing employees to work anywhere, anytime and anyhow. EX puts learning and development at the forefront, and by creating simple and repeatable habits and routines within the organisation, it reinforces workplace engagement and success.

2. Consistent, mission-focused investment in people to improve business performance

A supportive culture plays a big role in transforming EX into an exercise of culture change. Prioritizing investments in people, irrespective of the business environment, is what brings more profit, more satisfied customers, and more engaged employees. Organizations with highly engaged employees have 23% greater profitability.

3. Excellence in EX directly leads to business outcomes

To achieve a balance between employee interests and organisational success, managers need to have confidence in their employees' attitude to hybrid work and their productivity and rethink their employee programmes and recruitment strategies. For 85% of managers, it is a challenge to be confident that their employees are productive. Only 12% have full confidence their team is productive. This causes employees to overwork themselves, which translates into extra stress within the workplace, while 87% say they are productive at work. 76% of employees would stay longer with their company if they could benefit more from learning and development support, so prioritising employee learning and growth would strongly increase loyalty to the organisation, with EX playing a particularly important role.

Microsoft Viva is the first integrated employee experience platform (EXP) that helps every person in an organization connect, engage, learn, and grow no matter how or where they work. Viva brings together all the tools employees need to be successful in today’s world of work into one unified solution that enables connection, insight, purpose, and growth. It strengthens the organization’s culture and mission and enables organisations to take ownership of their growth and success, and empowers employees and teams through learning, support and culture-driven insights. Viva is built right into Microsoft Teams and experienced through Microsoft 365, so employees can find what they need, when they need it. Viva is easily customizable and extensible, accessible from anywhere, and integrates with the tools that organizations already use.

Some benefits of choosing Microsoft Viva integrated EXP

• Microsoft Viva is the only employee experience platform that fully taps the power of the Microsoft Graph to help you turn workplace data and insights into competitive advantage.
• Microsoft Viva’s unique, integrated experiences work across Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and third-party apps, so you can engage people naturally within the flow of their work.
• Built on the Microsoft 365 Cloud, Viva is a secure, extensible platform for developing custom solutions for your business.
• Microsoft Viva can spark meaningful connections between people at work and help individuals in organizations become better versions of themselves.
• Microsoft Viva brings together a wide range of EX capabilities in the flow of everyday work and can take a pulse on the insights and analytics, increase employee productivity and engagement, and improve the processing of services and benefits.
• Forrester’s Total Economic Impact study shows a 327% ROI with Microsoft Viva over the course of three years, by reducing onboarding time to full productivity by 50%, improving productivity via a 75% reduction in content- and expert- discovery effort, enhancing employee satisfaction and well-being and reducing employee attrition by 20%, and improving business outcomes and incremental revenue.

If you would like to know more about Microsoft Viva integrated employee experience platform and you want to see the benefits your organization might gain using Microsoft Viva, contact us and ask for a counselling with one of our Microsoft experts.