Microsoft Viva Engage: what you need to know

Revealed by Microsoft in 2022, Viva Engage is the enterprise social network that promises to boost employee engagement. In this article, Mozzaik365 reviews this communication and collaboration application integrated with Teams.

Key features and characteristics, benefits for workplace engagement and a place in your corporate intranet: you'll find out everything you need to know about Viva Engage. Happy reading!

What is Viva Engage?

Viva Engage is an internal social network application launched by Microsoft in 2023. But what exactly is it? Mozzaik365 explains.

Microsoft Viva Engage: presentation

Microsoft Viva Engage is an enterprise social network, i.e. a collaborative communication platform for use by members of an organization only.

With its design and features reminiscent of Facebook social media, Viva Engage is designed to facilitate formal and informal interactions between company stakeholders. The aim is to create links between employees, managers and executives, involve everyone in the life of the organization and, ultimately, strengthen commitment to the workplace.

In practice, all companies using the Office365 suite have access to Viva Engage. The application is intended to replace the Yammer corporate social network. It uses the same infrastructure, services and rules as its predecessor. To date, Viva Engage can be accessed via Teams, and also via the Yammer application and website.

Viva Engage's key features

The Viva Engage application has several key features:

• Viva Engage is integrated into the Microsoft Teams collaborative working platform. Employees can therefore access this solution seamlessly, directly from their daily digital work environment.

🖥️ Find out more about Microsoft Teams

• Viva Engage is compatible with multiple platforms, including Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android. This multi-media support enables employees to access it from their different devices. This makes it easier, for example, to communicate with field teams equipped with mobile devices (phones or tablets).

• Viva Engage enables employees and leaders to communicate, collaborate and connect by setting up communities, publishing posts (including text, images, videos, documents and @mentions), reactions and comments, and organizing polls and virtual events.

👉 Take hybrid working to the next level with Microsoft Teams

• Viva Engage is a tool for measuring employee engagement. The platform features a number of customizable dashboards, enabling administrators to monitor employee engagement and sentiment in real time. Analysis can be carried out on a global scale, as well as on a publication, theme or campaign level. Ideal for tracking employee involvement over time, measuring the effectiveness of engagement initiatives and identifying any issues that need to be addressed.

🌱 To find out more, discover how to create an Employee Dashboard on Microsoft
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Employee engagement at the heart of Viva Engage

As its name suggests, Viva Engage is a technology designed to improve employee engagement in the workplace.

The importance of employee engagement for the company

Employee commitment is essential to the smooth running and performance of any company. An engaged employee is involved in their work, enthusiastic about contributing to the common project, and fulfilled in their professional activity. According to a meta-analysis carried out in 2020 by the Gallup Institute, the most committed employees are 18% more productive, 81% less absent, 10% better able to satisfy customers and experience a turnover rate up to 43% lower than that of the least committed workers.

The problem? According to the State of Global Workplace Report published by the Gallup Institute in 2023, worldwide, only 23% of employees declare themselves to be engaged. In France, the situation is particularly critical, with only 7% of employees considering themselves engaged in their work. This puts France in penultimate place in Europe, just ahead of Italy. There is therefore an urgent need for action, particularly in view of the cost of disengagement, estimated by Mozart Consulting at €10,070 per year per employee.

💡To go further, discover how to optimize the employee experience with Microsoft Teams

How does Viva Engage improve employee engagement?

Viva Engage is one of the solutions available to companies to combat this wave of "quiet quitting", characterized by a muted but massive loss of motivation. According to the Gallup Institute, for employees to be engaged, several criteria must be met:

• Their basic needs must be met;
• They must have the opportunity to contribute to the life of the company;
• They must feel a sense of belonging to the organization;
• The company must enable them to and develop professionally.

The Viva Engage corporate social network meets many of these expectations. Indeed:

• Viva Engage facilitates communication, collaboration and sharing. Each employee has the opportunity to initiate a discussion or respond to their peers' publications via comments or reactions. On the internal social network, employees can also join groups focusing on professional issues (customer relations, marketing challenges, etc.) or more personal interests (technology, sports, gardening, etc.). In these communities, employees can share advice or have informal exchanges. This creates a bond and boosts the sense of belonging, even when telecommuting or working in a hybrid environment.

• Viva Engage strengthens employees' sense of recognition. On social media, employees can express themselves through posts, stories (short vertical videos) or even comments. But that's not all. Employees can also take part in surveys organized by managers, asking them questions and reacting to their posts to give their opinions. Thanks to Viva Engage, teams have the opportunity to contribute to the life of the company and have their involvement recognized.

• Viva Engage enables employees to learn from their colleagues and develop their skills. In addition to communities, the social networking platform includes an "Answers" section where users can find answers to their questions. The search bar enables them to find answers to similar questions that have already been resolved. Employees can also ask a new question, which will be pushed to the relevant internal experts. Last but not least, employees can subscribe to specific topics to keep abreast of all related exchanges. The ideal way to develop their knowledge interactively.

Does Viva Engage replace an intranet?

With all its features, the Viva Engage application looks set to take on a central role within organizations. But will it make your intranet obsolete? Nothing is less certain...

Viva Engage, an intranet building block

Viva Engage could become an important building block in your Microsoft Office 365 intranet. However, the corporate social network alone is far from providing all the essential features of a good corporate intranet.

And for good reason: a complete digital work environment is not just about communication and collaboration. It's also a space for :

• Bringing together all the digital tools employees need for their day-to-day work;
• Share, store and modify files and work documents with other people;
• Easily find information, news, contacts and internal knowledge;
• Navigate between all these features in a pleasant, fluid and secure way.

💬 To go further, discover the 2023 intranet guide: definition, role, benefits, creation

Boost employee engagement with Mozzaik365's Digital Workplace

Want to improve employee engagement? Count on Viva Engage, but not only that... Boost your employees' engagement with Mozzaik365, a true Digital Workplace 100% integrated with Microsoft 365. This SharePoint extension lets you easily create highly engaging collaborative intranets.

✨ To go further, find out how to build employee loyalty?

With Mozzaik365, employees have access to :

• A Personal Dashboard which brings together in one place all the software and information that each employee needs to carry out their daily tasks efficiently and with peace of mind;

• A contribution support solution that enables employees to easily share their knowledge and build up a joint knowledge base. Valuable contributions that will enable everyone to enhance their skills, especially as they can be found in just a few clicks thanks to the advanced search.

• An aggregator of social network feeds (LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc.) enabling employees to find out about and share your company's publications on their own social networks without leaving the Digital Workplace. Your employees become ambassadors for your employer brand.

• A news wall featuring information (internal communications, blog articles, external publications, etc.) specifically selected for their interest to each user. Ideal for keeping employees informed, while combating information overload.

👉 To go further, discover our article all about the Digital Workplace | History and definition

Viva Engage: what you need to know

Viva Engage is an enterprise social network integrated with Teams, to be launched by Microsoft in 2023. This Yammer-based application is intended to replace its predecessor. As its name suggests, Viva Engage is a solution designed to boost employee engagement in the workplace. Thanks to this internal social networking platform, employees can discuss, share knowledge and create links seamlessly. What's more, on Viva Engage, employees have the opportunity to interact with their managers and executives, to get more involved in the life of the organization.

With such strengths, Viva Engage should become a highlight of your intranet, especially as the application is accessible to all Office365 customers. But Viva Engage doesn't make your intranet obsolete. This technology is far from having all the features of a genuine digital work environment. To boost employee engagement within your company, download the Mozzaik365 extension, which will turn your intranet into a truly collaborative and engaging Digital Workplace.