Zoom looks to bolster employee experience with Workvivo acquisition | Computer Weekly

Zoom has announced it is to acquire employee experience provider Workvivo to extend its platform and offer new ways to keep workers anywhere informed, engaged and connected.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of the 2024 financial year. Its terms have yet to be disclosed, but Zoom said it was aiming to address the needs of people who “work to live, not live to work”.

In addition, the firm noted that with workforces so drastically transformed in recent years, leaders need to think differently to retain talent and maintain company culture. It stressed how workforces are hybrid and distributed – not just people working from home, in an office or at a remote location, but also on the frontlines of a retail floor or a warehouse, as a pilot or flight attendant on a plane, a nurse in a healthcare clinic, or anything in between.

The company cited a McKinsey report showing 70% of US employees are frontline workers, people who want to feel connected to their colleagues and leaders – no matter where they work. As a result, Zoom said, engaging employees and driving culture through connection is no longer a “nice to have”, but an imperative for success in today’s business environment.

Founded in 2017, Workvivo provides an employee experience platform combining advanced communication and engagement tools, a social intranet, and an employee app combined into one central hub, forming the heart of a company’s digital ecosystem.

Workvivo claims to have seen triple-digit growth for its offerings over the past three years, and its products are used by customers ranging from SMBs to major brands, including Liberty Mutual, Lululemon, Ryanair, Madison Square Garden and Wynn Resorts.

“Zoom’s rapid pace of innovation and the persistent dedication to building products with a human-first mindset is why we are most excited about joining the team,” said John Goulding, CEO and co-founder at Workvivo. “Our platform replaces outdated, clunky, internal communications tools with a vibrant, familiar social experience, and has a proven history of unparalleled levels of adoption. With Zoom, we can build great things together, make teamwork more meaningful and extend collaboration beyond knowledge workers, allowing us to reach employees who have historically felt disconnected from the company.” 

Following the closure of the transaction, Zoom plans to incorporate Workvivo’s capabilities into its platform to deliver a best-in-class employee experience. Workvivo founders John Goulding and Joe Lennon, along with the entire Workvivo team, will be instrumental in driving employee experience innovation strategy.

“We are excited to welcome the Workvivo team to Zoom,” said Zoom chief financial officer Kelly Steckelberg. “The power of the Workvivo employee experience platform, with its robust communications and engagement offering combined with Zoom’s all-in-one collaboration platform, allows organisations to fully unlock the potential of their employees and evolve their company culture in a hybrid world.

“Workvivo has set the standard for employee communications, helping businesses reach and engage millions of employees worldwide,” she said. “Workvivo prioritises ease-of-use and simplicity of design, offering the best user experience – which is a perfect match to Zoom’s DNA.”