Hello lonely. Let’s get you feeling productive
Microsoft’s latest take on employment engagement, Viva, is aimed at cheering those working remotely with only Office and Teams for company. The company has a chequered history when it comes to employee relations. While it may speak of a desire to «help employees grow and learn,» misfires such as the vaguely creepy Productivity Score have left observers pondering the motives of those using the company’s tooling. Enter Microsoft Viva. No, not the clapped out old Vauxhall that you, a parent or a grandparent learned to drive in (or the more recent exercise in badge engineering), but a set of tools targeting «Engagement, Wellbeing, Learning and Knowledge.» The move is a recognition of the shift to remote working over the last year, where some employees might rarely meet their colleagues or managers face to face, if at all. «Viva brings together everything an employee needs to be successful, from day one, in a single, integrated experience directly in Teams.» Of course it is. Microsoft 365 users generate more than 30 billion collaboration minutes in a single day, according to the Windows giant, which also laid claim to 115 million daily active users in Teams by Autumn 2020. Microsoft noted that organisations spend over $300bn a year on employee «experience», from development and training to benefits and wellbeing. The company would very much like a larger piece of that action.
