Due to the changes brought on by the pandemic and the shift to hybrid work, combined with the rapid emergence of AI, HR leaders today need to re-evaluate and re-examine the way they approach talent acquisition and management to drive real engagement and achieve productivity.
At the HR technology conference this October, Microsoft unveiled new AI-powered capabilities for their employee experience platform, Microsoft Viva. The launch of Skills in Viva will help organizations understand workforce skills and gaps, and deliver personalized skills-based experiences through Microsoft 365 and Viva applications for employees, business leaders, and HR. On the other hand, the launch of Viva Amplify will help organizations centralize the management, publishing, and analytics of their campaigns, helping business leaders and corporate communicators to connect and engage with employees more effectively.
Let’s take a look at how Skills in Viva and Viva Amplify can help you engage and grow your team.
AI-Powered Skills in Viva to empower your team
According to an analysis conducted by LinkedIn, there is a 21% increase in job postings advertising skills and responsibilities instead of qualifications and requirements in the U.S., and the number of positions that don’t require a degree increased by 40% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Moreover, according to LinkedIn’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report, 94% of employees said that they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career. We can clearly see a need to shift from job-based talent management to a skills-based approach for recruitment and retention. Skills in Viva aims to bridge this gap, help you holistically understand your current workforce skills, and provide insight into creating a more agile, informed, and skilled workforce.
Skills in Viva helps HR departments generate skill inferences from various sources, such as emails, documents, meetings, chats, top contacts, and more. This data, in conjunction with AI reasoning and the LinkedIn skills graph, can then be used to intelligently assess an employee’s skills profile, providing an improved understanding of the skill sets that are available across the organization.
Here are three ways Skills in Viva can help your organization:
Create a strategic workforce plan
With the above functionality, HR teams and business leaders can align workforce capabilities with business goals by easily analyzing how skills are distributed across the organization, teams, levels, and the changes that happen over time. This can help you gain better insights into hiring requirements, work assignment and distribution, team capabilities and gaps, and opportunities for business expansion.
Upskill and reskill your workforce
HR, learning, and training teams can use the insights from Skills in Viva to create targeted learning paths to upskill and reskill quickly on critical topics. With the new skills inferencing in Viva, Viva Learning can also recommend new training based on current skills, gaps, and the future requirements, thus helping you keep your workforce updated and relevant to the changing market requirements.
Empower employees to discover the skills needed to excel
Employees can easily discover, and access skills required to complete and excel in their everyday tasks based on the signals and data received from Microsoft Graph. These skills are only visible to the employee, and the employee can confirm, add, and manage their skills in the Skills Editor in Viva. Moreover, the chosen skills will be uploaded to their Microsoft 365 profile card, which will be easily accessible across Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and other Microsoft 365 apps and services, making it easier for employees to constantly evaluate, grow and add to their skillset.
Below is a sample Skills Depth Report from Microsoft Viva:
Skills in Viva not only helps you meet the current and future needs of your business but also guides employees on how to grow professionally. As Sunita Khatri, Head of Product Marketing for Microsoft Viva, said, “This has always been a big struggle for employees because employees have historically wanted to learn and develop and grow their careers, but often have struggled to find the right type of skilling and reskilling in the flow of work.”
Viva Amplify for a more connected and engaged digital workforce
Employees today want more flexible work options but also want to connect and collaborate with colleagues in person. Moreover, as employees find fewer opportunities to expand their networks and make new connections, innovation opportunities suffer. In recent research conducted with more than 3 million employees (about the population of Arkansas!) at 226 publicly listed companies, it was found that the most engaged organizations outperformed the S&P 500, while the least engaged organizations traded well below the market average in terms of stock prices. As Sunita Khatri, Head of Product Marketing for Microsoft Viva, and Employee Experience, said, “Productivity is often seen as the key driver to business performance, but we found that employee engagement is equally important. Engagement isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a critical driver of better business outcomes.”
So how do you create this mythical connected, engaged, and integrated employee experience? To do this, organizational leaders and communicators need the tools to elevate company strategy, create a two-way dialogue, and energize their people. Viva Amplify helps to create and deliver these campaigns to employees, understand engagement, and inspire action—all from one place.
Viva Amplify features AI-driven tools such as writing guides that offer tips, tricks, suggestions, and advice on crafting engaging and impactful messages. It also promotes and assists easy cross-team collaboration across multiple campaigns. These corporate communication campaigns can be easily published, sent, and shared, by the team itself and they can also preview and test how the campaign will look on Outlook, SharePoint, and other platforms. Like other marketing tools, this tool also has the functionality to schedule campaigns, select target audiences, and track engagement.
With more than 35 million monthly active users, Microsoft Viva has been a catalyst force for companies like U.S. Bank, PayPal, DELL, Carlsberg Group, Grundfos, Haleon, Sage, and CBRE, to build a high-performing organization. Are you ready to unlock the potential of your talent and take advantage of the coming wave of AI tools? To take full advantage of Microsoft Viva’s features for your business needs, connect with one of our Microsoft consultants.
