Digital Employee Experience (DEX) describes how effectively the technology an organisation provides enables employees to do their best work. A strong DEX means employees can find information quickly, collaborate without friction, learn and grow within their tools, and feel connected to the organisation's purpose — regardless of where they work. A poor DEX leads to shadow IT, low Microsoft 365 adoption, and higher attrition.
ThinkShare measures DEX across four dimensions, each mapped to tools in the Microsoft Viva suite: Productivity — can employees complete their tasks efficiently without workarounds? Communication — are people informed, connected, and able to reach colleagues easily? Learning — can employees grow and develop within their existing tools? Wellbeing — does technology support rather than hinder employee health and work-life balance?
The business case for investing in digital employee experience is well established. Gallup research shows that only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. Highly engaged employees are 12 times less likely to leave their organisation than those who are not engaged — a Glint finding with significant implications for recruitment and onboarding costs. Organisations with highly engaged employees report 23% greater profitability than those with lower engagement levels.
The corollary is equally important: a poor digital employee experience is a direct driver of disengagement. When employees cannot find the information they need, cannot collaborate easily across locations, or feel disconnected from organisational purpose, engagement suffers. Microsoft 365 — when properly implemented and adopted — addresses each of these pain points directly. The question is not whether to invest in digital employee experience, but how to sequence the investment for maximum impact.
Microsoft Viva is Microsoft's suite of employee experience tools, built into Microsoft 365 and surfaced primarily within Teams. It addresses all four DEX dimensions in an integrated way. Viva Connections delivers a personalised intranet experience within Teams, ensuring employees have a single, reliable destination for news, tasks, and quick access to resources. Viva Engage builds communities and social connection across the organisation. Viva Learning brings skills development and training directly into Teams. Viva Insights provides productivity and wellbeing analytics for both individuals and managers.
A Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Microsoft — The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Viva — identified four business impact categories: reduced labour costs through improved employee retention and faster onboarding; reduced IT administration costs from consolidating onto a single employee experience platform; increased revenue through better collaboration, focus, and goal alignment; and enhanced employee engagement driving higher customer satisfaction and experience outcomes.
A DEX strategy is not a technology deployment plan — it is a change programme with technology as an enabler. ThinkShare works with organisations to assess current DEX maturity, identify the highest-impact gaps, and sequence Microsoft Viva deployments to deliver measurable improvements. We typically begin with Viva Connections — establishing the intranet as a reliable, personalised information hub within Teams — before layering in Viva Engage for community building and Viva Insights for data-driven wellbeing decisions.
Sequencing matters. Deploying multiple Viva modules simultaneously without a clear adoption plan typically results in low uptake across all of them. A phased approach, backed by a champions programme and clear communication about what each tool does and why it matters to employees specifically, consistently outperforms a big-bang rollout in terms of sustainable adoption and measurable impact on employee experience scores.
DEX improvement should be measured, not assumed. ThinkShare recommends establishing a baseline using employee surveys, Microsoft 365 usage analytics, and Viva Insights data before any programme begins — then tracking against that baseline at 90-day intervals. Key metrics include intranet monthly active users, Teams active usage rates, time-to-information scores from employee surveys, and attrition rates segmented by department and location. These metrics, tracked consistently over time, provide the evidence base needed to justify continued investment and identify where additional intervention is required to sustain momentum.