The Total Economic Impact™ Of Workvivo

Cost Savings On Legacy Systems And Processes

Evidence and data. Interviewees found that adopting Workvivo enabled their organizations to remove systems and processes that no longer suited their needs. Namely, they said their organizations removed legacy intranets and internal communication platforms because Workvivo provides a more accessible and visible platform for employees to communicate with one another and to directly receive companywide messages. 

• Interviewees consistently reported that Workvivo facilitated their organization’s transition from having a disconnected workforce with inefficient and disparate communication channels — particularly for frontline employees — to an employee base with equal access to company information through a consolidated digital hub. Such improvement to employee communication and connectivity led the organizations to decommission intranets and web-based collaboration platforms that had further reinforced silos in their previous environments.
• The removal of legacy systems and processes led to cost savings. Interviewees said their organizations no longer had the expense of licensing multiple communication and collaborative platforms, and this was especially the case for organizations that have grown via acquisitions. The communication channel manager at a manufacturing company shared that because of deploying Workvivo, their organization removed 20 to 25 legacy platforms, allowing it to save on licensing fees and the cost of upkeep for these systems. The interviewee also shared that Workvivo assisted in archiving outdated information to ensure information was not lost in the transition to the Workvivo platform.
• The technology director for employee experience at a consumer goods company and the communication channel manager at a manufacturing company each highlighted that Workvivo enabled their organization to save on translation costs. Because they are multinational organizations with employees located globally, company messaging often needed to be translated into various languages, which resulted in fees in the high thousands of dollars and low millions. The technology director said Workvivo’s integrated translation capabilities for all posts automatically removed the need for their organization to pay these high translation costs and also removed the need for internal translation expenses entirely for the consumer goods company.
• Lastly, the same interviewee said Workvivo’s live-streaming functionality eliminated third-party broadcast costs for their organization because it previously used a different vendor for this capability.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite removes 10 legacy systems as a result of adopting Workvivo. These are former intranets-per-acquisition as well as web-based communication platforms.
• The composite eliminates 90% of its translation expenses, with a small portion of its translation budget remaining for ad hoc formal translation needs.

Risks. The extent to which an organization realizes this benefit can vary due to the following factors:

• The number of systems and processes removed as a result of investment in Workvivo.
• The cost of the organization’s current translation expenses.
• The cost of the organization’s live-streaming expenses.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $7.8 million.

Efficiency Gains For HR, Communications, And IT Teams

Evidence and data. Interviewees said their organization’s HR, communications, and IT teams became more efficient as a result of Workvivo. In particular, HR and communications teams benefitted from streamlining processes regarding the formation and dissemination of company messages while IT resources involved in supporting legacy systems and processes were able to pivot to focus on different business needs.

• Multiple interviewees shared that Workvivo made their organization’s HR and communications teams up to 50% more efficient in their communication activities. They said that in their previous environments, teams would spend anywhere between 5 and 20 hours per week on top-down communications, depending on demand. But this time was halved with Workvivo. They explained that having the ability to coordinate and schedule messages and post in one central hub with confidence the content will be visible to the intended audience contributed to time savings.
• The communication channel manager in manufacturing shared that Workvivo contributed to the reduction of duplicative efforts for their organization’s HR team. They said that global and local HR teams sometimes repeated tasks such as delivering company communication to ensure the messages reached all intended employees and that this was a challenge further exacerbated by frontline employees not having a direct line to corporate communications.
• Many interviewees expressed that Workvivo opened the door for new forms of communication. The director of talent at an aviation institution said that without Workvivo, their large organization would have needed 30 people for the type of communication it’s able to execute. With Workvivo, the organization needs just four.
• Additionally, the same interviewee expressed that Workvivo alleviated the workload of the IT team. They said that the introduction of Workvivo meant that internal IT workers no longer needed to maintain specific systems and platforms or resolve related technical issues. They also described using and supporting Workvivo as a light lift and said the solution could be managed by a few employees on the communications team along with Workvivo representatives in the event of any technical difficulties.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• There are a total of ninety IT resources who provided support and maintenance of legacy systems, which save 0.25 hours per week with Workvivo.
• The fully burdened hourly salary for an HR and communications specialist is $29.
• The fully burdened hourly salary for an IT resource is $47.

Risks. The extent to which an organization realizes this benefit can vary due to the following factors:

• The level of effort the organization required in its previous environment to communicate effectively and the level of support required to maintain the technology and channels that facilitate this.  
• Whether or not teams that save time via efficiency gains apportion that time to value-add activities.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.7 million.

Improved Retention For Frontline Employees

Evidence and data. Interviewees said using Workvivo as a digital hub for all employees enabled their organizations to expand their reach and engage their workforces and that this led to increased retention of frontline employees. Many of the interviewees explained that Workvivo enabled frontline employees to feel connected to the wider organization and more included, often for the first time. They also said it elevated the employee experiences for both frontline and desk workers by creating a sense of community and enabling easy, asynchronous communication that removes language and geographical barriers when connecting. Especially for frontline employees, this often led to augmented internal mobility and lower attrition.

• Interviewees recognized that Workvivo’s facilitation of intra-company communication (both top-down and peer-to-peer interaction) gave frontline employees new, broader insight into the organization and that such exposure facilitated increased internal job mobility. Interviewees shared that all employees having equitable access to a centralized EXP amplified the visibility of job opportunities to the employee ecosystem, leading to more internal applications. Consequently, their organizations saved on recruitment costs and benefitted from higher levels of retention with overall attrition rates falling anywhere between 5% and 20%.
• The technology director for employee experience at a consumer goods organization said Workvivo was crucial to reestablishing the frontline to the corporate talent pipeline. This had been lost through previous high levels of attrition. The interviewee said reaching and reengaging frontline employees through Workvivo was crucial to the efforts employed to reactivate frontline worker interest in pursuing other corporate roles, particularly as leadership recognized the value of nurturing a consistent flow of non-desk worker talent into corporate roles. The director explained that these employees tended to be more passionate and connected to the brand, and that they often worked their ways up to senior levels of management and provided invaluable holistic perspectives of the organization while in these roles.
• Interviewees shared that since implementing Workvivo, employee engagement figures have increased by an average of 15 percentage points. They often cited having an activity feed through which short-form content can be liked, commented on, and reposted as a contributor. Their organizations’ analytics show that the number of weekly active users on Workvivo is often above 90% based on employee interaction data for both top-down content and peer-to-peer posts. Forrester research shows that enterprise collaboration technology levels the playing field for employees — desk workers or otherwise — to create, exchange, and consume information, and that this fundamentally contributes to positive or negative digital employee experiences.³ As a result, happier, more connected employees are more likely to remain with their organization.
• The director of talent at an aviation institution expressed that Workvivo provided them with a platform through which they could share industry news and positive PR about the company with the workforce. For example, they could post accolades such as a “best place to work” on Workvivo, and this had a positive influence on attrition.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• Because the composite is a retail organization, it experiences relatively higher levels of attrition compared to organizations in other industries.
• The average cost of recruiting, hiring, and onboarding a frontline employee in retail is 20% of their fully burdened salary.

Risks. The extent to which an organization realizes this benefit can vary due to the following factors:

• The organization’s industry and attrition rates relative to the industry and the organization itself.
• The cost per hire to replace an employee lost through voluntary attrition.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.4 million.

Productivity Savings For Senior Directors

Evidence and data. Senior directors who manage frontline leaders particularly benefited from Workvivo, in so far as they saved time on checking reports on frontline activity. Interviewees shared that department leads with responsibility over frontline employees previously needed to write reports for senior management to review. Senior management therefore had to dedicate time each day to reviewing the mass of emails they would receive from the frontline leaders who reported to them. However, interviewees said that by leveraging the document storage capabilities within Workvivo, senior directors could refer to a single report rather than multiple emails.

• The global fulfillment engagement manager in retail shared that in their organization’s previous environment, 20 senior directors who managed frontline leaders would have to review approximately 60 emails per day regarding departmental frontline activity. But they said that as a result of the structure enabled through Workvivo’s document storage functionality, senior directors now review a single report, saving them approximately 30 minutes per day.
• The same interviewee also mentioned that Workvivo’s digital workplace enabled a straightforward procedure for senior directors to reach, inform, and track teams while having to reply on fewer emails and chats. 

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite has 25 senior directors who have frontline leaders as direct reports.
• Although senior directors save 30 minutes per day, 50% of that is reappropriated to work activity.

Risks. The extent to which an organization realizes this benefit can vary due to the following factors:

• Industry and organizational preferences.
• Whether or not senior directors beyond the frontline leader review frontline reports.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $232,000.

Unquantified Benefits

Interviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:

• Enhanced company culture and employee advocacy. Several interviewees noted that Workvivo brought company culture to life digitally, helping employees across the organization feel included, appreciated, and engaged. The global fulfillment engagement manager at a retail organization explained that Workvivo’s “shout-out” feature facilitated the feeling of community by recognizing employees. The interviewee noted: “The shout-out feature is phenomenal. [It] allows [employees] to tag individuals or teams and share words of recognition to praise. We see over 200 shout-outs per month. [Moreover,] Workvivo allows us to tag employee posts to a specific company value. This means that employees are instinctively tying their behavior with our company values and posting it on the platform, which leads to a more cohesive company culture.” The interviewee further said: “Our employee surveys show that prior to [implementing] Workvivo, there was a sentiment of disconnection to the company. We have recently seen an increase of the employee sentiment score.”
  Similarly, the technology director for employee experience at a consumer goods company stated that implementing Workvivo had an impact on value recognition across the organization. They said, “[Prior to implementing Workvivo,] most employees didn’t know our company values [because] they had no visibility of them.”
• Increased collaboration and engagement. Each interviewee mentioned that Workvivo enabled collaboration and simplified internal communication and that this led to higher employee engagement. The communication channel manager at a manufacturing organization noted: “Workvivo enabled internal collaboration for entirely separate teams. [For example,] one team can hear about an innovative initiative that another team has done and reach out to find out more. Previously, this wasn’t possible.
  The global fulfillment engagement manager in retail told Forrester: “A top benefit for us is fun. Our employees have jumped in with both feet and leveraged the more social and engagement sides of Workvivo EXP, and it’s amazing to see people making connections not just at their physical location but with their colleagues globally.”
  According to Forrester research, improved employee experience ultimately impacts employees’ loyalty and retention.⁴
• Employee onboarding efficiencies. Interviewees highlighted the impact Workvivo had on their organizations’ onboarding processes. The global fulfillment engagement manager at a retail organization explained: “Workvivo is part of the onboarding process, but it is not the only tool to onboard employees. Workvivo allows access to relevant information and checklists for new joiners. [It] has allowed an expedited orientation and improved our onboarding process and experience.” 
• Improved search and information accessibility. The improvements in accessibility, search, and navigation enabled by Workvivo allowed increased productivity of employees by reducing time spent searching for information. The communication channel manager at a manufacturing firm noted: “There are time savings of employees en masse. Workvivo’s search function enables general savings.”
• Improved analytics. Workvivo’s analytics platform provides communication teams with the ability to track and measure employee data and insights to have visibility into their activity on the platform. This makes it easier to manage performance and to make informed, data-driven decisions. The global fulfillment manager in retail explained: “Workvivo’s content analytics showed us the best ways to communicate. Employees tend to watch some content multiple times; they repeatedly go back to it. This insight allowed us to pivot and invest in our team, get training, [and] get equipment so that we could produce engaging video content. We now understand this is how our workforce wants to receive information.”
  Interviewees across all industries further added that Workvivo allows their organizations to track employee sentiment by analyzing data about their engagement. The technology director for employee experience at a consumer goods organization said: “Comments and likes are the most typical way we see people engaging. We posted a video message from our senior leaders in response to our most recent employee poll survey [in which they talked] through what their action plans were going to be. The video had been liked by approximately a third of our employee base. When we looked at the analytics, we saw that almost 95% of our employee base had watched it at least once.”
• Improved industrial communication. The director of talent at an aviation institution emphasized the importance of tracking employee sentiment to maintain good industrial relations. The interviewee said: “Workvivo has allowed us to track employee sentiment, [which] is crucial for us. From an industrial relations perspective, if our staff is not happy and we consequently end up having strikes, that’s going to impact our customers, it’s going to impact our share price, and it’s going to impact our passengers’ confidence. … There hasn’t been a strike in a long time. For us, that’s a measure of Workvivo’s success.”

Flexibility

The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement Workvivo and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:

• Branding and customization options. Workvivo’s functionality features are flexible and customizable, and several interviewees told us about Workvivo’s personalized branding options. The global fulfillment engagement manager in retail noted: “As part of the initial setup, we could choose to rebrand the EXP. … At the back end, we can change the color scheme and branding if needed without having to rely on asking Workvivo.”
  The technology director for employee experience at a      consumer goods organization added, “The customization options are a key differentiator of Workvivo, as [it] enables the look and feel of the EXP to be entirely reflective of the brand.”

Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Appendix A).