In the new world of remote and hybrid work, where a new generation of millennial and gen-Z workers are entering the market, employers must embrace smarter, integrated tools to improve employee experience and help employees be productive.
This emerged during a webinar on digitally-empowered workforces, hosted by Mint Group, a Microsoft gold IT consultancy and systems integrator.
Nicola Bezuidenhout, senior Digital Enablement Consultant at Mint Group, highlighted the dramatic changes that had taken place in the workplace in the past three years: “Before the pandemic, the future of work seemed clear, companies focused on digital transformation to support productivity and functions such as sales and marketing, work was predictable and working hours were fixed, and people could go home and switch off after work,” she said.
Post-pandemic, the concept of work had been turned on its head: “Now, offices are also living rooms, office spaces are largely empty, and office hours vary. For employers, it has become easier to have employees in varied time zones working together, employees can balance work and life better. It’s very unlikely we will go back to a pre-pandemic structure.”
A poll of webinar participants found that 51% felt relieved to be moving away from the old way of doing things post-pandemic, and 45% felt hopeful that the change would bring positive results for them and their organisations. Only 2% felt frustrated at moving away from the tried and tested ways of work.
However, the new work model brought with it certain challenges, she said.
Bezuidenhout said research had found that 83% of employees prefer a hybrid workplace, 38% prefer flexible work hours and 33% say they will quit rather than go back to the office. 40% of employees now seek a sense of purpose and well-being, and 53% prioritise health and wellbeing over work. These changing priorities impacted talent acquisition and retention, she noted.
“Now, we see ‘quick quitting’ and ‘quiet quitting’ emerging. In quick quitting, employees who aren’t happy will leave a job within a year of starting. On top of that, quiet quitting is where employees do the minimum required, and won’t do any more than is necessary. If you don’t keep them fully engaged, you will find them sleeping at their virtual desk. We have to find new ways to engage and retain employees and mitigate undesirable culture,” Bezuidenhout said.
She said ways to do so include investing in the team, driving transparency and communication, optimising time and prioritising workstyles, creating intentional office and remote working processes, setting high-performance expectations, and looking at the bigger picture.
Microsoft Viva for better employee experience
With the majority of webinar participants saying they depend on Microsoft Teams, Andrew Thornton-Smith, specialist modern workplace consultant at Mint Group, outlined Microsoft Viva smart tools for workforce management and wellbeing.
He said: “Viva is a set of smart tools designed to enhance workforce management and help organisations to monitor and manage their wellbeing. All of the features in Viva are housed within Microsoft Teams – the ultimate messaging app for the organisation.”
Thornton-Smith highlighted Viva Connections – a curated, company branded gateway to a modern employee experience to keep employees informed and connected. “Its benefits are that it encourages employees to share views, discover news, have conversations and access the information and resources they need. Within Viva Connections, custom branding, personalised feeds, customised targeting and boost features are available. It is also able to connect with 3rd party apps, with a customisable mobile application and dashboard,” he said.
Viva Learning is a central hub for learning where people can easily discover content and courses, with content from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, or from learning content providers. Employees can customise their interests, and relevant courses will be made available to them. “There is a mountain of content, and there’s always something new. It's an almost endless pool of knowledge we are able to pull in,” he said. A duration setting allows users to choose short courses to fit any free time they have during the workday. Team leaders can also suggest or schedule courses for their teams.
Thornton-Smith explained that Viva Insights is a personal analytics engine able to help employees unplug from work and avoid a sense of burnout. Its features include a commendations engine to congratulate employees on their successes, with tools to track collaborators and schedule one on one meetings. Protection of time features allow users to schedule focus time when notifications are muted. An inspiration library now in preview also offers content on well-being, culture and resilience.
The Effective Meetings page for team leads allows for meeting effectiveness surveys to improve meetings; and allows them to track meeting trends and habits. A Teamwork Habits feature allows team leads to track and get insights on how well they are engaging with their teams. They can also set daily briefings, set up virtual commutes with time for reflection and mindfulness, and manage protection of time.
MyAnalytics, becoming part of Viva Insights, includes focus time management, weekly averages tracking, wellbeing trends, communication habits and graphical views of employees’ collaborators.
Viva Topics connects people to content that matters, to shared knowledge, subject matter experts, curated discussions and communities.
Viva Goals, an objective and key results management tool, creates clarity and focus so teams can collaborate better and see progress on business goals. “Goals adds a monumental amount of value,” he said.
Viva Pulse allows managers to regular confidential check-ins with employees, with a number of templates and questions available to run internal surveys. The pulses can be shared, and reused for comparison with previous polls.
Mint explained that Viva tools were not intended as a ‘big stick’, but rather to enrich and empower employees.
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