Enhancing Employee Experience for Small Business Owners with Viva Goals

As a small business owner, your employees are the backbone of your organization, and recognizing their value is key to success. The employee experience plays a crucial role in retaining top talent and fostering a productive workforce. Microsoft Viva Goals emerges as a powerful tool in this pursuit, enabling you to enhance employee experience and streamline communication with your team. By leveraging Viva Goals, you can simplify goal setting, align individual efforts with organizational objectives, and ultimately make your employees' lives easier, increasing satisfaction and talent retention. 

The significance of employee experience in small organizations 

As a small business owner, you may have limited bandwidth, but you understand the critical role your employees play in driving success and growth. Retaining talent and managing a cohesive team becomes crucial, and that's where the employee experience comes into play. 

In a small business, every individual's contribution is essential. Each employee's engagement, motivation, and satisfaction directly impact the overall productivity and success of the team. In this context, fostering a positive employee experience becomes a strategic imperative for small business owners seeking to thrive. 

How does Viva Goals contribute to a positive employee experience? 

One key element of cultivating a positive employee experience is effective communication. Clear and transparent communication channels are essential for setting expectations, helping employees understand how their roles contribute to the organization as a whole, and establishing a shared sense of purpose. 

By providing employees with a clear understanding of the macro goals and purpose of the business, small business owners can align their team members' efforts with the broader objectives, creating a cohesive and motivated workforce. This is where Microsoft Viva Goals can make a substantial difference for small business owners.   

Viva Goals is a powerful tool designed to assist businesses in setting, tracking, and aligning employee goals with co-wide objectives. With Viva Goals, small business owners can communicate expectations more effectively, empower their employees with a deeper understanding of their roles, and foster a stronger connection to the overall mission and purpose of the business.  

What are OKRs? 

Before diving into Viva Goals' capabilities, let's first break down Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)—the foundational framework of Viva Goals used for goal setting and tracking.  

• Objectives represent what you want to achieve as a business or team. They provide a clear direction and focus, like attaining financial stability or expanding market reach. Objectives should be ambitious and inspiring, setting a higher purpose for your organization.  
  • Example: Enhance Employee Engagement and Satisfaction.  
• Key Results are specific and measurable milestones that indicate progress toward achieving your objective. They serve as benchmarks and indicators of success.  
  • Example: Reduce employee turnover rate by 15% compared to the previous period.

The beauty of OKRs lies in their transparent nature. When implemented effectively, OKRs create organizational alignment by ensuring everyone understands the organization's overall objectives and how their contributions tie into the larger picture. This clarity fosters a sense of purpose and direction, reducing ambiguity and enabling employees to focus their efforts on meaningful tasks. In addition, understanding how their role contributes to the bigger picture creates a sense of value and satisfaction, promoting a deeper connection to their work and the organization. 

How are OKRs integrated into Viva Goals and how do they contribute to employee experience? 

By integrating the OKR framework with Viva Goals, small business owners gain a comprehensive solution that simplifies goal management and enhances the overall employee experience. With clear goal-setting and tracking capabilities, Viva Goals gives employees a deeper understanding of the impact of their individual objectives and key results, leading to improved employee engagement, alignment, and, ultimately, the achievement of organizational objectives. Viva Goals' user-friendly interface makes defining and setting objectives and key results a breeze. Not sure how to get started? Have no fear—Viva Goals comes with a bunch of great templates to get you started in a snap. 

Goal alignment and employee engagement 

With OKRs as the foundation, small business owners can articulate their goals clearly and align them with the broader organizational objectives.   

Employees gain clarity on their roles and responsibilities by aligning individual goals with broader organizational objectives. This alignment fosters a sense of purpose, ensuring that employees understand how their contributions directly impact the organization's overall success.  

When employees can see the direct alignment between their individual goals and the broader organizational objectives, it creates a sense of ownership and engagement. OKRs provide a roadmap for success and give employees a clear direction to channel their efforts. This clarity and focus on meaningful outcomes contribute to higher levels of employee engagement, as individuals feel valued and are recognized for their contributions. 

Progress tracking and transparency 

Viva Goals provides real-time tracking and progress updates for OKRs. Employees can monitor their individual progress, share updates, and celebrate achievements within the platform. This transparency promotes a culture of accountability and visibility, where employees clearly understand their progress toward goals and can course-correct if necessary.  

Several project management tools (like Asana, Microsoft Planner, etc.) also integrate with Viva Goals, so your OKR status will automatically update for initiatives tracked outside the platform. You can also set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in Planner; to establish specific targets for task completion, allowing for greater visibility and control over progress. 

Real-time updates and continuous growth 

With Viva Goals, you'll receive real-time updates on goal progress and performance, allowing you to make informed adjustments, offer timely support, and guide your employees toward achieving their goals.  

Managers can provide consistent feedback, guidance, and support to employees based on their progress toward OKRs. This continuous feedback loop empowers employees to learn, grow, and improve their performance, fostering a culture of constant development and personal growth. 

Empowerment and autonomy 

Viva Goals empowers employees by giving them autonomy in setting and tracking their goals. Employees can take ownership of their work and make decisions aligned with the desired outcomes. This sense of empowerment leads to increased job satisfaction and motivation, as employees feel trusted and empowered to make meaningful contributions towards achieving the organization's objectives. 

Empower your small business with Viva Goals 

Microsoft's Viva Goals is a valuable tool for small business owners looking to enhance their employee's experience. We know firsthand; here at EXP, we're fully invested in Viva Goals to manage, track, and realize our goals. Are you ready to align individual efforts with organizational objectives, simplify goal setting and tracking, and foster a sense of purpose and engagement among your employees? Consider rolling out Viva Goals to your team and enhance their employee experience, increase satisfaction, retain top talent, and drive the success and growth of your organization. Getting started can feel daunting, but starting can be as simple as launching with a few objectives and key results to align your team.