Microsoft’s new employee experience platform to enable wellbeing and productivity for UAE workforce

Microsoft has announced the launch of Microsoft Viva, its first employee experience platform that brings tools for employee engagement, learning, wellbeing and knowledge discovery, directly into the flow of people’s work.

The launch comes at a time when economic and social trends are driving durable changes in workforce engagement. Amid the shift to an increasingly distributed and digital work environment, demand has grown for solutions that support corporate culture, knowledge discovery, on-the-job learning and employee wellbeing. Mohammed Arif, Business Group Director for Modern Workplace and Security at Microsoft UAE said, “A Microsoft ‘Work Reworked’ study conducted in the UAE has found that 97% of business leaders believe that their organisations will adopt a more hybrid way of working for the foreseeable future. They recognize that a new culture of resilience is needed that enables people and organizations to continuously adapt to what’s next, and countries like the UAE have always been ahead of the curve in this context. For example, the launch of the UAE digital wellbeing policy strives to ensure a balance between digital and real life, digital privacy, positive investments towards skilling, and raising awareness about the purposeful use of technology.

“As such, enhancing the employee experience can have a greater impact across everything. And that’s exactly what Microsoft Viva delivers by bringing together communications, knowledge, learning, resources, and insights into a secured and integrated experience that empowers individuals and teams to be their best, from anywhere.” He added.

The new platform is integrated inside of Microsoft’s Teams application – a collaboration platform that is widely used by several organizations and individuals to work and learn every day. Microsoft Viva has four modules. Viva Connections collates company news, conversations, and resources to bring them in one place to keep employees updated and abreast of what is happening in their organization. Viva insights delivers data driven intelligence to empower individuals, teams, and organizations to achieve balance, build better work habits, and improve business outcomes with personalized, privacy-protected insights and recommendations. Viva Topics is an AI-powered toll that organizes content saving people time and enabling them to rapidly curate, cultivate and share knowledge. And Viva Learning provides access to content from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn, and third-party providers, including traditional courses and microlearning content – all based on their learning journey.

“An employee experience platform to create a people-powered workplace is the need of the hour, and this is what we aspire to deliver with Microsoft Viva. We are excited to see how organizations in the UAE will leverage this new digital tool to build people-centred experiences and empower them to achieve more,” said Arif.