Microsoft adds health and wellness features to Viva with Limeade partnership

3 years ago 367

New content is designed to reduce burnout and improve inclusion. But it's more than just a corporate intranet site.

Microsoft's latest addition to its Viva platform is health and wellness content from Limeade, a company that focuses on improving employee engagement and reducing burnout. Microsoft announced Thursday that Limeade's research-based well-being content and activities will show up inside Viva Connections.

Henry Albrecht, Limeade CEO, said in a press release that his company is aligned with Microsoft in recognizing that well-being is at the heart of a healthy employee experience.

"It can't be something that's neglected or left for the end of a busy and stressful day," Albrecht said. "It's time we leverage the power of technology to be intentional about taking better care of ourselves and others—in the natural course of our day-to-day interactions."

Viva users will see Limeade personalized activities such as exercise challenges, manager support toolkits and workplace inclusion lessons within the platform.

Seth Patton, general manager for Microsoft 365 Next Gen productivity and employee experience at Microsoft, said in a press release that Limeade uses data from well-being surveys, fitness trackers, biometrics and other sources to promote personalized, in-the-moment well-being experiences into the flow of work.

"This collaboration further helps Microsoft customers get moving and connect to relevant company benefits to reduce burnout and boost energy," Patton said.

SEE: Microsoft Viva offers modules for learning, information sharing, and more (TechRepublic)

Many employee experience platforms are designed to make it easier for people to find general information or benefits forms. This Viva/Limeade integration has the potential to do more than modernize a corporate intranet. Limeade's content is designed to reduce burnout and improve overall inclusion. The platform also includes tools to measure employee sentiment, look for signs of burnout and build a sense of purpose at work. In addition to selling engagement platforms, Limeade runs a research group that studies organizational psychology, psychometrics, data science and other related fields. The team's findings support Limeade solutions and inform products such as the Limeade Well-Being Assessment and the Limeade Results Model.

As Esther Shein wrote for TechRepublic, the relatively new category of employee experience software is estimated to be $300 billion annually. Analyst Josh Bersin said this software helps employers track employee needs and reduce the cost of developing custom portals, integrating back-end systems, validating security and measuring service interactions across multiple backend systems.

The new Limeade features in Viva will be available in the fall, according to Microsoft.

MIcrosoft launched Viva in February and the employee experience software has four modules: Connections, Learning, Insights and Topics.These features are intended to make communication and collaboration easier among remote and hybrid workforces. The platform is integrated with Microsoft 365 apps and Teams.