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The power of Viva Engage – a voice for all 

The core business case for Viva Engage is that it gives every employee a voice.  

This was the resounding consensus when we asked the best in the business to tell us what they believed to be the business value of Viva Engage.  

The platform also breaks down hierarchical organisational structures, destroys business silos and gives employees direct access to connect with their leaders.  

SWOOP Analytics contacted about 40 people we believe to be the world’s experts in managing and facilitating Viva Engage networks as part of the research into our 2024/25 Viva Engage Benchmarking Report*. We asked a series of questions, starting with:


In your experience, what’s the core business value Viva Engage
brings to your organisation? What was the business case?


Almost everyone replied that they launched Viva Engage (previously Yammer) because they wanted their employees to have a voice, and in doing so, feel connected with their colleagues.  

Fiona Roberts, Senior Digital Engagement Manager at Westpac NZ, sums it up nicely.  

One of the benefits of giving employees a platform where their voice is heard is the direct link to employee engagement, and the trust that can be built on Viva Engage between leaders and their employees.  

Sally Jackson, Senior Manager, Content and Channels, at National Grid, says Viva Engage is also an open collaboration platform where leaders have the opportunity to communicate (both ways) with teams, and be authentic in their communication style.  

Another important point Sally makes is the need to adapt workplace communications to younger generations who have grown up in the digital era, a task Viva Engage achieves.  

Evita Puccio, Senior Communications Manager, Internal Engagement, at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, said Viva Engage is used across the bank to enrich the employee experience. She also talks about the importance of using authentic voices.  

Andrew Clarke, Manager, Employee Social Media Communications at Air Canada, said the core business value Viva Engage brings to Air Canada is its ability to foster real-time collaboration, information, and knowledge sharing among its 40,000 employees, and connect colleagues around the globe.  

Air Canada’s workforce is primarily mobile, either reporting to work at their airport or in the sky.  

Sean Zintl, Global Intranet & Channels Manager at Sage, said before Yammer was launched in 2020, they had consistently heard from colleagues that top-down communications were performing well, but there was no platform to connect directly with one another around business objectives and topics of common interest. You could comment on intranet news articles but the feedback from colleagues was that it felt restrictive.  

Rajinder Pryor, Head of Business Partnering at Network Rail in the UK, says Viva Engage allows colleagues to connect despite their role (whether it by frontline or office-based), their shift work and their dispersed geography.  

Cecile Kozinski, Global Brand and Communications, Channel Owner – SPICE+ and Viva Engage at Schneider Electric, said after carefully analysing all the other digital channels, the decision was made to launch Viva Engage back in 2018 with the impetus to improve employee engagement. 

Schneider Electric uses Viva Engage to leverage internal campaigns and to create a buzz around campaigns using strategically curated topics, hashtags and engaging leaders to maximise the reach (seen) and engagement (reactions and comments). 

Kevin Crossman, IT Manager and Content Collaboration Service Owner at Juniper Networks, and Microsoft MVP, says the core value of Viva Engage is the visibility and discovery of messages and activities. He says the feed and ability for users to naturally discover activities happening around the company is valuable for inclusion and awareness.  

Another benefit is reducing the number of emails across the organisation by using Viva Engage for announcements, leadership updates, and community building.  

For the Queensland state government Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), Yammer was launched in 2014 with the primary goal of fostering collaboration, driving innovation, and facilitating knowledge sharing across the department.  

However, as TMR’s work environment changed, so too did Yammer, now Viva Engage.  Leonie Challacombe, Principal Advisor (Digital Culture) at TMR, said; 


Microsoft Viva Engage Adoption and Training Consultant Bernie Murtagh also highlights the financial business case for adopting Viva Engage. As it’s already included in the Microsoft 365 licence, most organisations are paying for it whether they use it or not, making it a cost-effective solution to modernise internal communication.  

Bernie says there’s so much more to Viva Engage than cost savings.  


Bernie points out another key business case for Viva Engage - the enhanced connection between leaders and employees.  

 

Stephen Adam, Senior Communications Advisor, Digital Experience and Solutions at NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, brings with him the experience of a successful migration to Viva Engage from Workplace from Meta.  

When the state government department migrated to Viva Engage from Workplace, Viva Engage was positioned as the place for staff to connect, collaborate and share, with a strong focus on two-way communication and engagement.   

Importantly, Stephen says success has nothing to do with the actual platform – Viva Engage or Workplace – but from people building direct connections with their leaders, and each other, and sharing stories and updates with the authentic person at the heart of the conversation. 


*The experts contacted by SWOOP Analytics for this research are people who have been top performers in our previous benchmarking studies and recipients of a SWOOP Analytics Award for Outstanding Collaborative Performance or nominated by peers for the annual SWOOP Analytics Community Manager Award.