Why now is the best time to pause and re-think your employee engagement strategy: A comparison of Workvivo and Viva Engage

Published 28 May 2024

Since Meta announced that it will be shutting down its enterprise social platform Workplace from 2025, we’ve seen a flood of commentary around ‘where to from here’ and ‘what’s the best replacement?’. According to Meta, the next best option is Workvivo by Zoom. Others say Viva Engage is the superior choice. Regardless of where you are in your decision-making journey, we think now is the ideal time to be thinking beyond enterprise social and using this time to pause and re-evaluate all the channels you use for employee communication and engagement.

In the modern (and hybrid) workplace, digital tools that facilitate communication, collaboration, and employee engagement are essential. In the last 5 years alone, the number of employee experience apps in the market has exploded – each claiming to be the silver bullet for uplifting culture, improving engagement, and reducing complexity. But it’s probably fair to say most of us have concluded that complexity within the workplace is unavoidable – which is why prioritising integration and personalisation is so important.

From our research, we’ve uncovered that there’s a common set of challenges when it comes to employee communication and engagement. These challenges include everything from leaders finding it difficult to land messages with the right audiences, to corporate communicators suffering with high levels of administrative burden, and employees finding it difficult to understand important versus what’s not. Often, what our clients need is a solution that moves them from a reality where employees have to do the hard work and go to the information, to one where technology does the hard work for you. Information comes to you through better integration, intelligence, and personalisation.

When considering what the best option might be for your business, it’s important to take a wholistic look at your digital ecosystem and think about ways in which you can better integrate and simplify some of the complexity for your employees.

To help you on the journey, let’s dive into a quick comparison of Workvivo and Viva Engage.

What is Workvivo?

Let’s start with Workvivo, which is an employee communication platform that emphasizes social engagement within organizations. It offers a suite of features designed to foster a sense of community and collaboration among employees. Key features include:

• Social Feeds: A central place for updates and interactions, mimicking the experience of social media platforms.
• Employee Recognition: Tools for peer recognition and celebrating achievements.
• Surveys and Polls: Mechanisms to gauge employee sentiment and gather feedback.
• Communication Tools: Options for news, articles, live streaming, and podcasts to keep the workforce informed and engaged.
• Digital Workplace: A hub for resources and tools, integrating with various productivity and HR systems.

Workvivo’s approach is mobile-first, ensuring that all features are accessible across devices, catering to a diverse and often remote workforce.

What is Viva Engage?

Viva Engage is an enterprise social network app that forms part of the Microsoft Viva suite and is designed to enhance the employee experience within Microsoft 365 and Teams. Its features include:

• Communities: Spaces for knowledge-sharing and company-wide communication.
• Storyline: A personal feed where employees can share updates and insights.
• Conversations: Tools for discussions, Q&A, and announcements.
• Virtual Events: Capabilities for hosting live events with interactive features.
• Leadership Corner: A dedicated space for leaders to connect with employees.
• Social Campaigns: Initiatives to drive business goals and employee engagement.
• Integration: Viva Engage is deeply integrated with Microsoft’s ecosystem, leveraging existing infrastructure to provide a seamless experience.

While both platforms offer robust features for employee engagement, Viva Engage has several advantages that make it a superior choice, especially for businesses already using Microsoft products. Some of those advantages include:

Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem: Viva Engage is not just an add-on but an integral part of Microsoft Teams and the broader Microsoft 365 suite. This integration means that employees can access Viva Engage without leaving the familiar environment of Microsoft applications they use daily. Leaders and corporate communicators can benefit from leveraging complimentary tools like Viva Connections, Viva Amplify, SharePoint, Teams, and Outlook to deliver an experience that truly cuts through the noise and increases opportunities for employees to engage in ways that make sense for them.

Overview of communication & engagement apps within Microsoft 365

Comprehensive Feature Set: Viva Engage offers a more extensive set of features that go beyond communication and collaboration. The Leadership Corner and Social Campaigns, for example, provide unique avenues for aligning employees with company goals and leadership vision.

Scalability and Security: As part of Microsoft’s offerings, Viva Engage benefits from the scalability and security that come with cloud-based services. Microsoft’s commitment to security and compliance is well-established, providing peace of mind for organizations concerned about data protection.

Continuous Innovation: Microsoft’s track record of continuous innovation ensures that Viva Engage will keep evolving with new features and improvements. This commitment to growth aligns with the needs of dynamic organizations that require tools to adapt to changing workplace trends.

Both Workvivo and Viva Engage are powerful platforms designed to enhance the digital workplace. However, for businesses looking for a solution that is deeply integrated with their existing workflows, offers a broad range of features, and comes with the backing of a trusted provider in terms of security and innovation, Viva Engage emerges as the superior choice. Its alignment with Microsoft’s ecosystem makes it an ideal solution for companies aiming to streamline their digital transformation and foster a connected, engaged workforce.