Global fast-food chain unites 90,000 employees with Viva Engage

Our client is an internationally recognised fast-food chain with over 90,000 frontline workers across the globe.

Challenge

Our client is an internationally recognised takeaway chain, with over 90,000 frontline workers and thousands of stories globally. However, with any large global organisation, there were struggles at keeping such a large, dispersed workforce connected. This included their CEO, who wanted a platform to bring the company together and communicate at scale.  

Whilst there were existing platforms in some regions, including Workplace by Meta, and a custom application designed specifically for their German market, this only created siloed ways of working which led to fragmented communications, high technical debt, and high operating costs. 

With their Workplace by Meta renewal fast approaching, our client saw this as the perfect time to explore what other options were available and began exploring the possibilities of M365. Through a proof of concept delivered by Engage Squared, we were able to showcase the Viva employee experience and demonstrate the many benefits of having their widespread organisation come together in one ecosystem.  

Impressed with what they had seen,  our client were keen to move forward in the world of M365 and implement Viva Engage as their Enterprise Social Network (ESN) across 12 regions. Through this implementation, the following regional challenges needed to be addressed:

• ANZ: Transitioning off Workplace, launching a centralised communication tool, addressing inappropriate ESN behaviour, and resolving issues of “dirty data” and communication clutter.
• Germany: No prior ESN was in place, enhancing communication effectiveness, engaging internal IT, and tackling cluttered communication and user experience.
• France: Managing growth challenges amid a lack of ESN experience, dealing with legal and economic conditions, centralising communications, and enhancing communication clarity and user experience.
• Japan: Sustaining momentum whilst moving from Workplace to Viva Engage, a centralised communication tool, cultural and language barriers, communications team lacking ownership of various processes, and creating a portal for a unified source of information.
• Netherlands: Transitioning from Workplace for Meta, ensuring effective internal communication, adapting to shifting priorities, improving sentiment and leadership engagement, fostering two-way communication, and creating a shared platform for headquarters and franchisees.

These challenges only further reflected the multifaceted desire of implementing an ESN to connect their workforce globally and allow them to share wins and find business critical information.  

Our approach

Phase 1: Discovery and Strategy 

To begin, we conducted extensive discovery workshops with each region to delve deeply into their communication challenges, ensuring that the specific needs of each region were thoroughly considered. Subsequently, we created comprehensive change strategies to mitigate the identified risks and provide dedicated support to address the unique challenges faced by each region. 

Through a series of workshops, there were recurring themes that Viva Engage needed to address:

• Centralisation of tools: Ensuring that various tools, platforms, and products were integrated and centralised effectively.
• Communication clarity and efficiency: Improving the clarity and efficiency of communication within the organisation.
• User engagement: Overcoming challenges related to poor two-way user engagement and ensuring active participation.
• Cultural shift: Navigating the shift in cultural attitudes and ways of communicating within the organisation.
• Time & resource: Adapting to the timing and resource constraints and schedules associated with the Viva Engage implementation.
• Training and education: Ensuring that users are educated and trained in using Viva Engage effectively.

One of the significant challenges revolved around convincing users of the “Why” and “What’s in it for me?” In response, we provided substantial assistance in supporting the communications team in crafting region-specific key messages and Viva Engage use cases to address this challenge effectively. This approach was instrumental in addressing the specific concerns and motivations of each region, ensuring a more tailored and effective communication strategy.

Phase 2: Solution

Viva Engage Configuration  

In a collaborative effort with our client’s IT team, we then configured the Viva Engage solution to align with the specific requirements of our client. We provided a comprehensive document outlining the configuration recommendations based on their organisation’s vision for Viva Engage and several rounds of discovery sessions with different regions. 

Viva Connections Dashboard  

We conducted a series of in-depth technical workshops to gain a comprehensive understanding of the document landscape within ANZ and Japan, with a focus on enabling the frontline worker experience through Viva Connections. These workshops explored the details of the existing content, its structure, and relevance to each region’s operations. The insights gathered were crucial in determining the optimal configuration for the Content Hub, which serves as a central repository for essential business documents on Viva Connections.  

By replacing existing document repositories, the Content Hub ensured that vital information is readily accessible to our client’s workforce, enhancing their experience and productivity.

Materials delivered:

• Quick reference guides: Plus, various one-pagers showcasing Viva Engage features, top tips, best practice guidance and more.
• Knowledge hub guide: Created to support users in creating and maintaining SharePoint Online sites.
• Comprehensive training guides: With each one translated for key audiences and cascaded by regional teams.
• 30+ training sessions: These were delivered across the regions and attended by 500+ users.
• Launch materials: To aid our client in their worldwide deployment of Viva Engage.

Results

The results of launching Viva Engage have been significant. For the first time our client has a central hub for inspiration and connection, accessible for their corporate, franchisee, and frontline workers. 

In collaboration with the global communications lead, we also formulated an operating model that encompasses both global communities and regional communities, guaranteeing a centralised global communication approach to maintain connectivity across the 12 markets while allowing the regions to retain ownership and control over their communications. Additionally, we set up a Content Hub for ANZ and Japan, simplifying the transfer of critical business documents from Workplace to Viva Engage. 

The transition to Viva Engage has required a new operating model to ensure that both our client’s Global and regional IT teams effectively configure, govern, and manage the platform, however our approach has ensured that while connectivity was global, regions retained ownership and control over their communications. 

The key impacts of launching Viva Engage globally include: 

• Improved usability and access for all staff: Viva Engage is now available to 90,000 users across our client’s corporate, franchisee and frontline workers, allowing them to communicate regardless of location or time.  

• Reduced costs: By moving to Viva Engage and consolidating their communications, it has removed the need for regional specific solutions which were previously in place. 

• High uptake: Since launching, Viva Engage has more than 12,500 monthly active users, with figures steadily growing each month.