Put employees first!

The past few years have radically changed how people view the working world. Never before have people asked so clearly and so publicly just where, how, and above all why work is to be performed. Jobs and workplaces have become more digital, and employees’ requirements with regard to digital workplaces have grown more demanding. Even as digitalization gathers pace, people’s importance as a knowledge resource, point of contact with the customer, and thus a crucial economic factor has been recognized. New approaches are needed in order to leverage this.

All over the world, companies large and small are thinking about how to ensure a positive work experience for their employees: the employee experience. Especially as people increasingly work together digitally, companies are turning their focus to their employees’ requirements. What is important to them? How are they coping with the new alignment? What are their requirements and wishes for the workplace, especially the digital workplace? What makes them happy and makes them feel a sense of connection with the company? 

What that means for companies, in turn, is that it is important to make the employee experience a strategic priority and put people first. That’s the only way to ensure employee satisfaction and productivity – and, ultimately, customer satisfaction as well. Their loyalty toward the company is also boosted. In the current war for talent, there’s no time to sit back and relax based on the successes of past years. The whole idea is to generate a competitive advantage.

To make focusing on the interests of employees a success, it is crucial to use efficient tools. That’s where Microsoft Viva comes in: I vividly recall when Microsoft announced the first employee experience platform for the hybrid era, in 2021. The digital community – and I was no exception – had high expectations for Viva, and I hope I’m not getting ahead of myself when I say they were exceeded. 

My colleagues at Campana & Schott and I are fans of Viva. True, keeping up with and setting digital trends is in our DNA as an international management and technology consulting firm, but ultimately, a tool still has to convince us personally and deliver added value for our customers before we are willing to use it. Viva is not a program in its own right. Instead, it brings existing services together in MS Teams as an interface in a new way. Because the platform can be integrated into existing HR systems, learning management systems, content providers, and workflows as an add-on, it has become an integral part of our internal actions and our customer business. These days, the Viva suite comprises six different modules, combining the components of communication, knowledge, learning, resources, and insights in the work environment. They all work together but can also be implemented individually.

But the Viva modules alone do not improve the employee experience. Doing that requires various things, including targeted communication, organizational restructuring, and, often, also adjustments in management behavior. In our role as an award-winning Microsoft partner, we are your experts when it comes to all aspects of identifying demand, implementation, supporting a large-scale Viva rollout, and all the changes needed to accompany these activities. To us, the employee experience is more than a passing fad. In the long term, it is the key to the company’s success.

At the "Kommunikationskongress 2022" we will be represented with an exhibition booth and take you on a journey into the Viva world with our own demo environment. We look forward to giving you initial assessments for the use of the modules in your company.

You can find more information here.