An update on Copilot in Viva Glint
Microsoft 365 Copilot in Viva Glint became publicly available for Viva Glint customers in November 2024. This AI feature was developed as Human Resources (HR) users and leaders of large organizations historically spend a lot of valuable time interpreting Glint survey results and comments. Copilot in Viva Glint enables leaders to understand and act on employee feedback by quickly summarizing large quantities of comments. Five months into this feature being used by our customers - how are we doing? What are our customers' experiences? What can we learn from our customer experiences as we continue to move forward and enhance Copilot in Viva Glint? To collect feedback from our first set of users, we used the following assessment criteria: Is Copilot in Viva Glint simple to understand? Is Copilot a seamless, frictionless experience that doesn’t require additional effort? Does Copilot provide insights that you trust? Does Copilot help drive action? Overall, we’re thrilled to receive ongoing customer feedback and appreciation for this new feature. This quote from one of our largest enterprise customers says so much, “We could not perform thorough comment analysis before, but [Copilot] has allowed us to study groups we couldn’t before.” In the past, this customer had to manually read thousands upon thousands of comments. Now, they are able to summarize 8,000 comments on a theme of their choice - in just a matter of seconds! We’re encouraged by what we’ve learned: Who’s using it: As expected, HR and senior leaders are diving in first. Engagement: 86% of our enabled tenants had active usage within the last five months. We can see that once Copilot is enabled, it’s getting frequent use. User satisfaction: We’re thrilled to report users are very satisfied with Copilot in Viva Glint! The Copilot chatbox experience provides comment summarization and helpful question prompts to drill down on specific themes within the summary leading to helpful data and insights. First-time users are awed by the speed and comprehensiveness of the summaries. Fueled by early customer feedback, we have made some positive changes since our initial launch, including expanding the comment summarization limit to 8,000 comments. Retention: We see increased month-to-month retention among active Copilot in Viva Glint users. It provides insights that our customers find authentic and useful, and they’re going back to see more. As we continue to build out Copilot in Viva Glint, this is what we are working toward: Copilot to be localized: We want users to be able to ask questions in their preferred language and for Copilot to respond back to them in their preferred language. Copilot to summarize all survey results: We know that if Copilot summaries can include survey scores, in addition to comment summarization, use cases for it can increase indefinitely. Each organization would have the ability to filter their data summaries to meet their unique needs. Copilot for all managers: We want Copilot to ebb downstream to empower managers of medium to small teams. With results summarization, we can reduce the response threshold for Copilot summary from 10 to 5, giving managers of smaller teams the ability able to dive right in. Copilot to encourage action taking: We need to ensure that our feedback insights are useful and then can guide managers to use feedback to improve the employee experience and business outcomes. The Microsoft People Science team and our product teams are committed to this outcome. Copilot in Viva Glint to be ‘on’ as the default setting: With Copilot turned on as the default setting, users can be encouraged – or at least curious – to give it a try. We know once they begin to use it, they will love what Copilot can do. We’re energized to be part of the AI generation. I look forward to our next Copilot in Viva Glint check-in! Hao Liu is a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft. Hao leads the Copilot in Viva Glint product, an innovative tool designed to transform enterprise employee listening programs through generative AI. Hao is a seasoned product leader experienced in driving high-performing cross-functional teams to launch enterprise SaaS products for Fortune 500 companies.Harness the power of Viva Glint and Viva Pulse to drive continuous improvements
Empower your managers and leaders to gather additional information and check in on team progress by using Pulse after an org-wide Glint engagement survey. Using the Glint-identified top strengths and opportunities, the Pulse survey recommends questions that managers and leaders can use to gather a timely understanding of the team’s progress in addressing key focus areas, make mid-point adjustments if needed, and maintain momentum in their efforts to improve engagement and employee experience. This Viva Pulse and Viva Glint integration has 8 new features! Glint follow-up template: A Glint question topic will be added to the question library. When creating a survey, questions are automatically selected based on Glint drivers chosen by the author. Automated Glint email: 6 weeks after an org survey, Glint sends an email with a Pulse call-to-action to remind managers to follow up with their teams to track team progress to date. Pre-populated recipient list: Pulse prefills the survey recipient list based on the direct recipients from the Glint survey program. Glint admin controls: The Glint admin can configure which Glint survey programs the Pulse follow-ups are enabled for, the Glint roles who will receive the email notification, the timing of the Glint email notification, and preview and edit the content in the email notification. Pulse content admin: The Pulse content admin can configure the content in the Glint follow-up template and question topic by editing, removing, or deactivating content. Glint banner entry point: In addition to the Glint email notification for managers to start a Pulse follow-up, managers can access the Glint banner in the team summary and executive summary pages to start a Pulse follow-up. Confidential team conversations: Managers can use in-app support in Pulse to ask their team for more feedback around specific questions for further engagement to make progress on results. Copilot report summarization: A Copilot-powered summary based on the team’s question scores and open-ended responses is displayed at the top of the Pulse report. We’re encouraged by what we’ve learned so far: Internally, Microsoft has enabled Pulse follow-ups for the biannual Glint engagement surveys to empower managers to show their employees what matters to them. We saw a 7x increase in Pulse follow-ups sent in February 2025, compared to January 2025 and a 7.5% clickthrough rate on the email we sent to Microsoft managers. We had 9 customers participating in our Private Preview. Both within Microsoft and through our Private Preview, managers have reported feeling like this capability fills a much-needed gap between survey cycles. Customers previously reported managers were sending their own surveys to collect data between engagement surveys, but now they can collect data with a standardized, HR-sponsored method across their teams. We continue to receive feedback that highlights how this feature makes it easier to share results and obtain continuous and honest feedback between managers and their teams. As we continue to iterate on this integration between Viva Pulse and Viva Glint, we’re working towards: Inline survey creation in Glint: Managers can follow up with their teams with a Pulse survey directly within Glint, without needing to be directed to a separate app. Copilot authoring to personalize Pulse follow-up: Copilot recommends survey questions and titles based on Glint scores, open-ended comments, and Glint top opportunities and strengths. Pulse follow-up telemetry for Glint admins: Glint admins can see Pulse follow-up usage telemetry in the Glint admin dashboard for a funnel view of number of Pulse follow-ups sent and number of users who have higher scores after using Pulse follow-ups. Delegate access to send Pulse follow-up: Delegates will automatically be granted access to send Pulse follow-ups on behalf of their leaders, without manual configuration required. Pulse data can be analyzed in Glint: Pulse data collected in the follow-up survey, with scores, verbatims, and Copilot report summarization will be visible in Glint alongside the Glint survey results. Managers can slice and dice the Pulse data in Glint. Getting started and resources To use Pulse to follow up with your teams after your Glint engagement results, you must have one of the following subscription licenses: Viva Suite Viva Workplace Analytics and Employee Feedback For more information on what we've released and documentation for how to set up the integration, please review the following Microsoft Learn documentation: Take actions with Viva Pulse after Viva Glint engagement surveys. We’re excited to help you drive continuous improvements in your organization by leveraging the power of Viva Glint and Viva Pulse. Stay tuned as we continue iterating on this feature! Michelle Hu is a Product Manager 2 at Microsoft. Michelle leads the growth strategy for Viva Glint and Copilot Analytics to support HR Copilot transformation efforts, improve M365 Copilot GTM and deployment, and help organizations measure Copilot ROI.Research Drop: What Organizations Ask in Employee Surveys (Plus Three Untapped Opportunities for 2025)
Research Drop in Brief: Across 729 customers, the top 20 taxonomy items included on employee surveys remained relatively stable between 2022-23 and 2023-24. eSat, our single-item engagement metric (How happy are you working at <COMPANY_NAME>?), was the most frequently utilized item across customers. All six of the People Success elements are represented among the top utilized survey items, illustrating that organizations are capturing a holistic view of the employee experience. Heading into 2025, we identified three underutilized survey items with direct links to business and employee outcomes that can offer a potential edge in the year ahead: Role Clarity, Career Paths, and Speak My Mind. #Flexibility #DEI #SkillsEconomy #AI – we are constantly presented with new trends and topics to focus on in the employee experience space that are aligned with societal influences, technology advancements, or economic changes. But are these trends reflected in the most frequently used employee survey items? How much variance do we see in the top utilized items year-over-year? To better understand these questions, we turned to our customers to learn what items they have been prioritizing on their surveys over the past two years. The answer? Of the top 20 most utilized items between 2022-23 and 2023-24, 95% of them are the same. In essence, there seems to be a core set of employee experiences and outcomes that customers across industries are consistently measuring, forming a foundational sense of employee sentiment to track and evaluate year-over-year (YoY). Beyond the top 20 most utilized items, we start to see some changes in item utilization, with items varying up to 5 percentage points in more or less customer utilization YoY. These shifts show the flexibility within employee surveys for organizations to seek feedback on experiences that may be unique to their context or to trends that are particularly relevant to their industry or size. In the top 20 most utilized items, one item broke into the top 20 in 2023-24, up 5 spots from the 25 th most utilized in 2022-23. This was our Wellbeing item (<COMPANY_NAME> takes a genuine interest in the employees' well-being). Employee wellbeing is a multi-faceted experience and continues to gain traction as a top priority for organizations and employees, and we see this reflected in the increase of customer utilization in the past year. More organizations are recognizing the tangible benefits of employee wellbeing at work 1 , and the U.S. Surgeon General released a framework for workplace mental health & wellbeing, underscoring systemic support for holistic employee health 2 . With the uptick in Wellbeing utilization, we see an example of societal changes reflected in topics of focus for our customers. Employee engagement remains the north star, but retention intentions remain relatively unexplored We recommend that your employee surveys include at least one outcome item – something to capture whether the overall employee experience promoted thriving. The current analysis showed that the most frequently utilized survey item year-over-year is eSat, our employee engagement item (How happy are you working at <COMPANY_NAME?), with 90% of customers including this item on their surveys. This aligns with our People Science recommendations, as eSat captures the end result we hope employees feel at work and has been validated as the strongest general predictor of talent and business outcomes of all 11 of our outcome items 3 . Our research shows that, on average, each additional point of engagement (via eSat) reported by employees correlated with a +$46,511 difference in market cap per employee 4 . Therefore, we are encouraged by the consistent utilization of this item by our customers as it can help them continue to measure and understand their organization’s engagement levels. Beyond engagement, our research has also shown that understanding the intended behaviors of your employees can provide a pivotal insight into whether they currently feel committed enough to the organization, their team, or their role to plan to stay onboard for the foreseeable future. Our Intent to Stay item (I plan to be working at <COMPANY_NAME> two years from now) captures this employee intention and we previously found that employees who rate this item unfavorably (Strongly Disagree or Disagree) are 10x as likely to leave their organization within 90 days as those who rate it favorably (Strongly Agree or Agree) 5 . However, we discovered that only 24% of our customers included this item in their surveys in the past year. With an ever-present competition for talent, especially within the context of AI workplace transformation 6 , it can be vital for organizations to get a pulse on the current long-term intentions of their employees. Keep an eye out for our January Research Drop where we will dive deeper into measuring and predicting employee retention! The top 10 most utilized driver items include all six People Success elements On the Viva People Science team, we ground our work in our foundational research on what makes employees happy and successful at work. We found six People Success elements that organizations can use to build their own thriving People Success culture: Wellbeing, Connection, Clarity, Empowerment, Growth, and Purpose (learn more here). Our research shows that these elements are imperative to a holistic and successful employee experience and when we took an even closer look, this time at the top ten driver items included on customer surveys last year (i.e., excluding outcome items such as eSat), we see that these items covered all six of the People Success elements. From this we can see the distribution of driver items across the People Success elements and that over half of customers integrated these top ten items into their surveys last year (even with over 200 Glint taxonomy items included in customer surveys in the same time frame). While every organization is different and has varying priorities that they need to include in their employee surveys, this broad-based distribution of People Success elements illustrates how Glint customers are not solely focused on one aspect of the employee experience, but instead taking a holistic approach to EX. Beyond the basics: Three metrics to gain an edge in 2025 For the most part, the foundational survey topics remain consistent year-over-year. But it can be helpful to plug-and-play new items into your employee surveys to continue to evolve your understanding of your employee base and their experience at your organization. To get you started thinking about topics to measure in the new year, we looked at our business outcome and engagement analysis to discover potential high-impact opportunities. Based on this, three items emerged as high value opportunities for survey inclusion: Role Clarity: I clearly understand what is expected of me in my role. Aligned with the People Success element of Clarity. Career Path: <MY_MANAGER> has meaningful discussions with me about my career development. Aligned with the People Success element of Growth. Speak My Mind: I feel free to speak my mind without fear of negative consequences. Aligned with the People Success element of Empowerment. The current utilization rate for these items ranges from 23-27%, indicating some customer use but room for growth. We may already be seeing an uptick in interest for these items heading into 2025, as Role Clarity and Career Path had the highest YoY increase in usage across customers (up 5 and 3 percentage points, respectively) across all driver items. In addition to predicting critical business and employee outcomes, research demonstrates the importance of these topics: Role clarity is a critical predictor of job performance, efficiency, intrinsic motivation, and innovative work behaviors 7 . Effective career conversations with your managers can impact employee retention, as companies that excel at internal mobility retain employees for 5.4 years, almost 2x longer than companies that struggle with internal mobility 8 . The Speak My Mind item gets at a component of Psychological Safety, which has a positive impact on turnover, stress, and productivity (Watch our recent webinar on Building Psychological Safety). Heading into 2025, these three survey items could deepen your understanding of your employees’ experience, especially as the workforce continues to undergo an AI transformation and many employees’ job tasks and career paths are being reimagined. Employees may feel uncertain about their changing role expectations and development opportunities, and anxious about sharing their feelings surrounding the changes. Providing your employees with the opportunity to share their perspective can be a differentiator in maintaining a thriving workforce amidst ongoing changes. Consider whether including one or more of these items on your surveys in 2025 would help you be better informed on your employees’ experience! The bottom line: find the balance between consistency and flexibility What we learned from this month’s research drop was that the topics that are top-of-mind for our customers have been consistent, focusing on a wide range of items spanning the six People Success elements. While this stability is helpful in being able to track employee sentiments over time, there is an opportunity to explore additional topics that may be surfacing for your employees. Try not to get caught up in flashy trends and instead focus on experiences that your employees may not have had the opportunity to provide feedback on in the past that could be critical for your organization’s strategy. But don’t forget – the most important aspect of employee surveying is acting on the feedback you receive. Want to learn more about action taking? Check out our September Research Drop on Empowering Managers to Take Action on Survey Results. Stay tuned for our January Research Drop to keep up with what the Viva People Science team is learning! The analysis for this month’s research drop examined LinkedIn Glint customer item utilization between two annual time frames, September 2022 to August 2023 (n = 729 customers) and September 2023 to August 2024 (n = 728 customers). Only items in the Glint taxonomy were included in this analysis, therefore custom items were not analyzed. 1 Forbes. (July 30, 2024). The business case for mental health: Investing in employee well-being. 2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Workplace Mental Health & Wellbeing. 3 This research draws from employee survey responses from 1,000+ customers, collected from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. The eSat item was utilized in various tests (e.g., multiple regression) to validate its impact on talent outcomes (e.g., attrition, performance) and business outcomes (e.g., stock return, market cap per employee). 4 Microsoft WorkLab. (April 20, 2023). The new performance equation in the age of AI. 5 Cross-customer attrition analysis (n = 33 customers) from June 2023 examining the proportional difference of all employees who have voluntarily left their companies whose item scores were unfavorable compared to those whose scores were favorable. 6 Mercer. (December 11, 2024). Future of work: 2024 global talent trends. 7 Kundu, S. C., Kumar, S., & Lata, K. (2020). Effects of perceived role clarity on innovative work behavior: a multiple mediation model. RAUSP Management Journal, 55(4), 457-472. 8 LinkedIn. (2022). Workplace Learning Report: The Transformation of L&DWhat’s New with Viva Glint Benchmarks?
Viva Glint has some exciting news! We’ve streamlined the benchmark generation process and released new global benchmarks for 2025. Read on for the latest about our benchmark types, automated generation methodology, and a review of how scores have evolved since our last release in 2024. Viva Glint maintains a rich normative database of these cross-company scores. With over 10+ years of benchmarking experience, Glint’s database includes data from 700+ global customers across virtually every industry. Because most Viva Glint customers use a common set of core survey questions, Viva Glint can calculate robust benchmarks on a large number of survey items using customer data exclusively. This extensive dataset provides breadth (many companies, regions, industries) and recency (rolling 12-month data) for each benchmark comparison. The Viva Glint benchmarks are only generated for Viva Glint standard items. Our benchmark suites give you options for the best score comparison Viva Glint offers a variety of benchmark datasets, called “suites” for different contexts, all drawn from that common dataset. Key benchmark suites include: Global benchmark – An average of scores across all Glint customers (all industries and regions). High-Performing benchmarks – Top 10% or top 25% of organizations (sometimes called “global top 10% / 25%”) for a given item, providing an aspirational norm. (Note: These are calculated as the threshold score to be in the top tier, not a simple average of top companies.) Industry benchmarks – Norms computed from companies in a particular industry (e.g. Tech, Healthcare, Finance, etc.). Country or Regional benchmarks – Norms from companies in a given country or geographic region (available for common regions like North America, Europe, etc.). Employee Lifecycle (i.e., onboarding and exit) are included in the Global, Industry, Country and Region suites when there is sufficient data. Specialized benchmarks – For specific use cases, such as Nursing Excellence in healthcare, Viva Glint provides tailored comparisons for those populations. Getting your 2025 benchmarks Note that in Viva (the M365 environment), organizations must opt in to use external benchmarks. Opting in ensures your company consents to your data being used in the anonymous pool for benchmarks – which also enables you to see the benchmarks. Opt-in is a one-time step by survey administrators which allows external benchmark processing for their survey data. This ensures benchmarks will be available in their company reports. To opt in and gain access to the 2025 benchmarks, follow the steps outlined in this Learn document. If a company has not opted in, they will not see benchmark comparisons in any reports. They will only see internal comparators. Admins can Opt-in or Opt-out at any time. Viva Glint’s new benchmark generation process ensures greater confidentiality In compliance with Microsoft data security standards, the People Science team has implemented an automated process that enables us to generate and review benchmark suites without accessing or seeing customer data directly. Here’s an overview of how Viva Glint automatically creates and refreshes the benchmark suites: Note: Customers who opt out are not included in this process. This new process ensures that Viva Glint’s benchmarks are robust, current, and reflective of real-world data. A few important points about our benchmark methodology: Refresh Cadence: Viva Glint refreshes Global benchmarks twice yearly (for example, “2024 Global June” and “2024 Global December” versions). High-performing global benchmarks (top 10% / 25%) are also refreshed twice a year. The industry and country benchmarks refresh annually. Rolling 12-Month Data Window: Viva Glint uses a rolling one-year window of data for benchmark refreshes to ensure recency. The database contains hundreds of millions of responses – so one year of data provides a reliable sample for most norms*. This 12-month cadence provides: Statistical Stability: Ensures benchmarks capture true norms but are not overly reactive to short-term fluctuations. Planning Alignment: Annual updates align with organizational planning and goal-setting cycles. Actionability: Frequent enough to reflect change, but stable enough to guide decisions. Client-Only Data: With Viva Glint’s robust customer base, we’ve used a client-only approach for benchmark data since 2021. Representativeness: Thanks to hundreds of organizations and millions of employee responses in the data, Viva Glint’s benchmarks are very robust across industries and regions. Industry suites similarly aggregate dozens or hundreds of companies in each sector. Coverage: Benchmarks are only provided for items that meet a strict usage threshold. At present, over 175 survey items are benchmarked, covering all the common engagement and experience topics in Viva Glint’s surveys. Survey response confidentiality and data security: The benchmarks generation process is completely eyes-off. This automated process generates only aggregated scores. This process ensures data security and individual respondent confidentiality. *To ensure adequate data coverage, some specialty benchmark suites may use a 24- month data window. Using your benchmarks in the Viva Glint reporting experience In Viva Glint’s reporting dashboard, benchmark comparisons are integrated into the results views so that managers and leaders can easily see them. Here’s a brief review of key features. Default Comparison: When a survey is configured, the program admin selects a default comparison setting for reports. This could be an internal baseline (like “Company Overall”) or an external benchmark (such as “Global benchmark”). Report Settings – Changing Comparators: Users with access to reports (e.g., HRBPs, managers) can change the external benchmark suite (or select another comparison group) interactively in the Reports tab for a survey Accessing Specific Benchmark Values: In some parts of the Viva Glint report (such as detailed views for each question), you might see the actual benchmark score provided for reference. For example, clicking on a particular question could show a breakdown like: Team X score: 60; Company: 65; Benchmark: 70. Benchmark Suites Names: The specific benchmark being used is often identified by name/year. For example, you might see “Global 2024 (Jun)” or “Tech Industry 2023” as the benchmark label. Viva Glint updates these names with each refresh (see the latest nomenclature in the ‘benchmark suites’ section above). Typically, the admin will choose the most appropriate suite (often the overall Global benchmark or a high-performing global) as the default external comparator. If needed, multiple external benchmarks can be made available. Heatmaps and Exports: Benchmark data can also be included in heatmap reports and Excel exports. In summary, Viva Glint makes benchmarks readily visible within the reporting experience. Benchmark scores are integrated as another comparison lens, alongside internal and historical comparators. As a user, you don’t need to go to a separate place to “get” the benchmark data – it’s right there in the context of the scores you’re examining. More details about setting up your benchmarks here. Tip: As an admin or power user, ensure you’ve enabled external benchmarks (opted in) and selected the appropriate default comparator for your audience. What 2025 benchmark data trends tell us As with all new benchmark releases, we typically see most of the items are either flat (no year-over-year score changes) or may tick up or down by a point. Comparing the 2025 score patterns to our last run (2024), about half the items had no change, and half the items had a 1 point change. Drawing from prior benchmark trend analyses, several factors likely explain the patterns observed in the latest benchmark refresh: Customer Composition: The 2025 refresh was the first in which customers could opt out and be excluded from the data set. A small number of Viva Glint customers opted out, changing the mix of customers included in this refresh which could have impacted the scores. Separate Time Window: Global benchmarks are typically generated every 6 months and include 12 months of data, ensuring a 6-month overlap in the data between a current refresh and last refresh. But given the LinkedIn to Microsoft Viva migration, we paused the regular refresh in December 2024. Therefore, the current 2025 refresh (July 2024 - June 2025) is comparing against the 2024 refresh, which was more than a year ago (April 2023 - March 2024) instead of 6 months. Shifts in item utilization: Item score changes can be due to existing customers dropping and adding items and new customers adding new items to their surveys which presents a different mix of customers from which the data is pulled YoY. Note: The change for benchmark generation from 2024 to a completely eyes-off process in 2025 did not affect calculations. Next Steps Learn more about Viva Glint’s benchmarks on MS Learn: Viva Glint benchmark collateral | Microsoft Learn Survey Admins, don’t forget to Opt-in and gain access to the 2025 benchmarks by following the steps outlined in this Learn document. For more detailed information on Viva Glint Benchmarks, comparison types, and tips on usage, download our People Science Explained - Benchmarks Document:January 2025 Viva Glint Customer Town Hall: Recap & Recording
On January 22, 2025, we held our first Viva Glint customer town hall with the goal of informing and inspiring attendees by sharing new and upcoming Viva Glint features, Viva People Science thought leadership, and programming. We started off by sharing what’s “in” and “out” for 2025. HR and IT collaborating on solving business challenges, taking advantage of all the features that Glint has to offer, and applying research from the Viva People Science team are all “in” for this coming year! Liz Pierce, Head of Product for Viva Glint and Viva Pulse, shared product updates including the importance of commercial and technical migrations to Viva Glint for those still on the LinkedIn Glint platform. She also highlighted our commitment to customer data security and privacy. Liz spoke about five key features new to Viva Glint, including self-service employee ID updates, the ability to edit questions in live surveys, the Glint and Insights integration, Copilot in Viva Glint for comment summarization, and the availability of Glint survey results in the Copilot Dashboard. We wrapped up the product section by outlining three key areas for future product investments: frictionless deployment and management, manager empowerment, and Copilot and AI transformation. We were proud to share a customer story featuring ICF, a global consulting firm. Nicole Mroczek, Senior Project Manager at Microsoft, interviewed Kate Zhdan and Colleen Scout from ICF. They shared their experience of collaborating between HR and IT to implement Viva and Copilot. They discussed their continuous listening strategy, the impact of their Viva launch on the business, and their excitement for future Viva and Copilot features. Caribay Garcia, head of Viva People Science Product Consulting and Thought Leadership, shared recent findings and upcoming research from the Viva People Science team. She discussed the importance of manager effectiveness, insights for organizations to consider in AI transformation, and provided recommendations for 2025 by highlighting their new monthly Research Drop series. We wrapped up the town hall by sharing upcoming events and programming, including the Ask the Experts series, Learning Circles program, and additions to our popular manager sessions on psychological safety. Rewatch the session here, and we welcome comments and feedback below.
Spotlight On… Volume 1, Edition 1, October 2025
Viva Glint and Pulse; now a package deal – Welcome to the first post in our new series exploring how product evolution and integration drive real-world adoption and value for our customers. Today, we are excited to share that Pulse will now be available to all Glint customers – allowing organizations even more opportunity to grow and evolve their employee listening strategy. The Evolution of Employee Listening For years, organizations have relied on annual or bi-annual engagement surveys to understand workforce sentiment. Customers have relied on Glint for these deep, organization-wide surveys, helping HR and leadership teams drive strategic change and measure progress at scale. But the world of work is changing fast. Teams need more frequent, targeted check-ins to keep a finger on the pulse of employee experience and respond in real time. Enter Pulse: a nimble, research-backed survey tool that empowers managers and team leads to sending quick, confidential surveys whenever they need insight into team sentiment. Pulse survey responses are aggregated in an unidentified manner to protect the responder’s identity and administered to specific groups, encouraging candid and targeted feedback. This approach enables organizations to quickly gather insights and take meaningful action. With all Glint customers now being able to leverage Pulse as part of their engagement strategy, customers get the best of both worlds – robust, strategic engagement measurement and agile, team-level feedback, all under one service package. What’s Changing? In early October 2025, we added the Pulse service plan to all Glint licenses-no price increase, no disruption. Now, if a user has a Glint license assigned to them, they will also be assigned a Pulse license. This means: Managers and team leads can follow up on Glint survey results with targeted Pulse surveys, using recommended questions based on strengths and opportunities identified in the Glint engagement survey. Pulse surveys help teams track progress, make mid-point adjustments, and maintain momentum between major survey cycles. Admins can configure survey templates, manage content, and control access, ensuring the right people have the right tools. Data privacy remains paramount: Pulse results are aggregated and confidential, just like Glint results. Pulse Benefits Automatically Available to Glint Customers Glint follow-up template in Pulse: When managers create a Pulse survey, questions are automatically selected based on Glint drivers from the most recent engagement survey. Automated reminders: Six weeks after an org-wide Glint survey, managers receive an email prompt to send a Pulse follow-up, keeping engagement efforts on track. Pre-populated recipient lists: Pulse surveys are sent to the same teams who participated in the Glint survey, streamlining the process. Admin controls: Glint and Pulse admins can configure which programs and roles receive follow-up prompts and edit survey content as needed. Respond to open text comments and report conversations: Managers can use Pulse to ask for more feedback on specific topics, with responses remaining unidentified. Copilot-powered summaries: Pulse reports now feature Copilot-generated summaries, making it easier to interpret results and take action. Support for AI transformation efforts: Managers and HR can use Pulse to support AI transformation by measuring AI readiness, sentiment and adoption at more localized levels to help inform adoption and change management efforts. Early Adoption Shows Positive Results Early adopters have reported that using Pulse alongside Glint fills a crucial gap between major survey cycles. Feedback from customers has also highlighted that using both platforms as part of their broader listening strategy empowers managers to act on feedback faster, drives continuous improvement, and fosters a culture of listening. Customers in private preview have praised the ability to link engagement data with actionable insights, and the integration with Viva Insights and Copilot analytics is helping organizations measure the impact of new tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot on employee experience. What’s Next? The roadmap includes ongoing enhancements to admin controls, reporting, and integration with other Viva modules. Monthly customer advisory sessions and engagement programs like Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) ensure that customer feedback shapes future development. Resources & Further Reading - Introduction to Microsoft Viva Pulse: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/pulse/introduction-to-viva-pulse - Take actions with Viva Pulse after Viva Glint engagement surveys: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/pulse/viva-integrations/take-actions-after-glint-survey - Data residency for Viva Pulse: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/pulse/get-started/data-residency-for-viva-pulse - Measure Microsoft 365 Copilot impact with Viva Pulse: Measure Copilot impact in your organization | Microsoft Learn Stay tuned for the next post in our Spotlight On… series, where we’ll dive deeper into how synergy across platforms and other innovations are transforming organizational culture and driving measurable business outcomes.News to Know – Volume 2, Edition 9, November 2025
To help you get the most out of Viva Glint & Pulse, this newsletter brings you the latest insights, updates, and enhancements designed to elevate your platform usage and employee listening programs. Be sure to check out the new "Customer Success Stories" section showcasing an inspiring example from DocuSign. New on your Viva Glint platform Admin Self Service: Data Retention Update. Last month we shared the new feature enabling admin to retain identifiable data for deleted users. We initially planned to restart Entra Delete Signals in Viva Glint on November 1st. However, since we are still working on enhancements to give Admins more control over user data management, especially regarding Entra Delete Signals, we will continue to pause Entra Delete Signal in Viva Glint until the end of June 2026. The signals will resume on July 1, 2026. This extension will give us time to implement all necessary user data controls for Admins, such as email address/employee ID retention, viewing a list of deleted users, and restoring users, when possible, before reactivating the Entra Delete Signals. Additional information can be found in the Message Center as well as here and here. UI Enhancements: Visual Indicator Added for Required Questions. In the past, when survey takers tried to skip a survey question that required a response they would see an error message. To make things clearer, we've added the text * Required under questions that are mandatory. This will help survey takers spot questions that must be answered right away to avoid confusion and disruption. UI Enhancements: Updated Placeholder Text for Comments. The default comment placeholder text for rating questions in Viva Glint surveys has been updated from Add a comment (optional) to What can be improved in this area and what’s working well? to further encourage survey participants to provide thoughtful, actionable, and higher-quality feedback. This change is intended to drive more frequent and meaningful responses. Please note that this update applies only to the default placeholder text for rating questions; the placeholder text remains customizable, and any existing customized placeholder text will remain unchanged. Reporting: Workplace Patterns Report. Now generally available in Viva Glint, this report highlights the relationships between employee survey scores and workplace activity and collaboration patterns without custom analysis. Enabled for administrators and extendable to other roles, this feature allows users to quickly identify and share actionable insights, enabling faster, data-driven decisions and boosting engagement across your organization. Learn more here. Reporting: Regional Benchmarks. Building on the refreshed Global, Top 10%, Top 25%, and Industry benchmark suites in Viva Glint earlier this year, we have updated the Country & Region benchmark suites for 2025. These new benchmarks offer organizations more precise and up-to-date comparative insights into employee feedback across different regions, supporting better decision-making and more targeted action plans. Make sure to opt into benchmarks in the platform to access the benchmarks and related resources. Copilot Enhancements: Multilingual Support. Viva Glint Copilot Localization lets users interact with Copilot in their chosen language, supporting prompts and responses in more than 70 languages. Copilot replies in the language set on the user's dashboard by default, but if a prompt is submitted in another language or contains mixed languages, Copilot will detect this and respond in the same language. This applies to both the Copilot sidecar and comments panel, making it easier for HR and managers in global organizations to use Copilot seamlessly. Advanced language detection and translation help Copilot deliver accurate and useful responses, regardless of language or dashboard settings. Learn more here and here. Kindly note that this enhancement will be rolled out gradually throughout November and is expected to be fully rolled out by the end of the month. For the latest updates, please refer to the M365 roadmap item until it becomes available to all customers. Copilot Updates: Known Issues, Improvements, Model Upgrade. We’re committed to improving your experience with Copilot in Viva Glint. Here are three key updates: Topic Count in Comment Summarization - The number of topics in comment summaries may not have matched user instructions previously. This issue has been fixed and should now work correctly. Sample Comment Count Display Issue - The displayed count of sampled comments may be inaccurate, though the underlying data and summarization are correct. This display-only issue has been fixed and should now work correctly. Applying Manager Hierarchy Filter - When asking Copilot to summarize comments by manager hierarchy, the filter may not apply correctly. As a workaround, apply the manager hierarchy filter to the report first, then request the summary. We’re working on a permanent fix. Model Upgrade Spotlights - In July, we upgraded Copilot to newer GPT models. As a result, you may notice that Copilot’s responses to the same prompt could differ from those generated prior to July. This change reflects our ongoing commitment to leveraging the most advanced AI models available. We continuously evaluate the latest large language models for performance and accuracy and will keep you informed whenever significant model upgrades occur. Your feedback is invaluable as we strive to enhance Copilot’s capabilities. Visit the new blog post here to learn about another exciting Copilot enhancement coming soon! Current and Upcoming Private Previews Sign Up for Copilot Highlights | Preview. Be among the first to experience Copilot Highlights, a new dashboard feature in Viva Glint that delivers instant, actionable summaries of survey results—spotlighting team strengths, opportunities, and engagement trends at a glance. This preview is designed to help managers and leaders quickly understand team status, identify critical focus areas, and celebrate successes. Reach out to us here to sign up. Integrating with Organization data | Preview. Viva Glint is introducing integration with Organizational Data in Microsoft 365—bringing enterprise-grade security and seamless data ingestion across Viva and Microsoft suite applications. This new capability makes it easier than ever to connect your people data, streamline workflows, and unlock powerful insights for HR and IT teams. Be part of this evolution: join the preview, share your feedback, and help shape the future of data management at Microsoft. Express your interest here. See our public roadmap for more feature updates. Events and Learning Opportunities November 23rd Customer Advisory Session: AI & People Transformation – Understanding HR’s Role to Drive AI Adoption For current VCCP members only, register here to join this month’s session which will feature Viva Glint People Scientists discussing the role HR plays in enabling and driving successful AI transformation while providing attendees a chance to guide the development of a new Viva Glint-led resource for our customers. During this session, you will learn how AI transformation is inexplicably tied to people transformation and how to drive people success in your organization through the lens of AI adoption. Drawing upon the latest in AI research and current trends across customers, our People Science team is uniquely positioning itself to help our customers drive AI adoption by addressing key barriers to success and helping HR unlock their potential to support AI transformation. If you are not yet a member of the Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) but would like to participate in the upcoming session mentioned above, as well as gain access to numerous other engaging and valuable Viva Glint and Pulse customer activities, please see the sign-up information below. New Thought Leadership Research Drop: Amplifying Clarity and Impact of AI Agents by Aligning on Desired Outcomes. As AI agents turn AI technology from a personal productivity tool into a team value generator, it’s time to expand our thinking from not just the activities we want them to accomplish, but also the outcomes we want to achieve. The October Research Drop explores differences in AI agent adoption, multi-agent clarity, and team collaboration between employees on teams focusing on solely activities versus activities and outcomes. Read it here. Unlocking Actionable Insights with the Workplace Patterns Report. The new Workplace Patterns Report in Viva Glint brings together employee engagement, meeting habits, and peer connection data, empowering organizations to link how people work with how they feel. This playbook guides users through holistic listening, combining survey sentiment and workplace metrics to surface actionable patterns. Check out the blog post and download the playbook. Research Drop: Empowering Managers for an AI-First Future. As organizations shift toward an AI-first future, managers are emerging as pivotal for translating strategy into team-level impact. Yet only 56% feel supported integrating AI agents into their work. The November Research Drop explores how empowering managers with targeted training, resources, and a focus on psychological safety amplifies realized value, critical thinking, and trust in agentic AI. This month’s findings reveal that when managers lead by example and foster a culture of experimentation, teams are not only more ready to adopt AI but also achieve greater, lasting impact. Read it here. Customer Success Stories Docusign Accelerates Speed of Insights by 92% with AI-Powered Analysis In any global company, timely and accurate data is essential for shaping go-to-market strategy, and Docusign is no exception. When launching a strategic employee survey for one of our largest departments responsible for go-to-market strategy, the goal was clear: quickly synthesize feedback to help leaders with product selling approaches and enablement, then guide key action planning and strategic decision-making. The Challenge: Data Volume vs. Time The survey had a high response rate with over 3,000 detailed and thoughtful comments from employees. These comments had rich insights but would have been incredibly time-intensive to process manually. Traditional analysis would have taken weeks, delaying decisions that needed to happen quickly. The volume of the data, combined with limited bandwidth from our small but mighty People Analytics team, made a faster, scalable approach essential. The AI Solution: Speed and Precision To meet the demand for quick, actionable insights, we implemented an approach that used both Viva Glint Copilot and Gemini to help analyze employee comments. Copilot was used primarily for the initial analysis across the thousands of comments, helping us create themes across all comments, themes from each specific survey question, and ideas for actions - all of which would have taken our team weeks, but was now accomplished in mere hours. This allowed us to pivot from manual data crunching to strategic analysis almost instantly. The Results: 92% Time Savings and Increased Speed to Strategic Impact Implementing AI into our survey analysis process shattered our previous timelines. An effort that would typically consume around 60 hours of manual work (including comment analysis, theme identification, summarization, comparisons, and action taking suggestions) was condensed to just 5 hours, representing a nearly 92% reduction in spent time. Most critically, key findings were delivered to leadership within 24 hours of the survey closing. This speed allowed leadership to immediately move into action planning and strategic decision-making. In summary, using AI enabled us to quickly and accurately surface key issues important to employees, provide impactful, detailed insights that were incredibly helpful to leadership, and helped facilitate action planning and strategic decision-making. The Future of Surveys is AI-Powered The success of using AI for this strategic survey reinforced our belief that AI, specifically Viva Glint Copilot, is a powerful and transformative tool for all People teams. Inspired by the strategic survey success, our People Analytics team launched Copilot to our People team partners, developing internal training to ensure that Copilot is being used in a way that maximizes its impact. Our partners are now using Viva Glint Copilot to help gain insights from the feedback (comments) shared by employees in our largest company Engagement Pulse Surveys. Further Viva Glint Copilot use cases are planned for the future. Connect with us Join the Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) is Microsoft’s premier customer engagement initiative designed to connect Viva product teams directly with customers like you. By enrolling, you’ll gain access to a wide range of Viva product engagements, including dedicated sessions for Viva Glint & Pulse. As a participant, you’ll have the opportunity to: Explore Viva and Glint product visions through exclusive previews and roadmap discussions. Shape product development by providing direct feedback on features, designs, and measurement models. Engage with Microsoft product teams in virtual sessions that run throughout the year, including monthly meetings and iterative design reviews. Network with other customers across industries and regions, sharing best practices and learning from peers. By joining you will also be part of a strategic advisory group focused on Viva Glint-specific HR, AI and People Science topics. If you’re interested in joining, please fill out this form so we can guide you through the enrollment process and help you get started. We look forward to partnering with you to build better products—together.News to Know – Volume 2, Edition 8, October 2025
We are excited to share that, beginning this month, this newsletter will include new features for both Viva Glint and Viva Pulse. Read below to see why this is now relevant to all Glint customers. There’s plenty to dive into this month—we hope you enjoy it, and don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments! Glint and Pulse are now a package deal! Starting in October, customers who have a Glint subscription now also have access to Pulse as part of the same subscription. With all Glint customers now being able to leverage Pulse as part of their engagement strategy, customers get the best of both worlds – robust, strategic engagement measurement and agile, team-level feedback, all under a single subscription. Visit our recent blog post here for more details on this exciting change. New on your Viva Glint platform Admin Self-Service: Retaining Identifiable Data for Deleted Users. Previously, only survey response data could be retained when users were deleted. Now, based on customer feedback and compliance needs, Glint offers more control: admins can enable a setting at the platform level to keep first and last names of deleted users (when disabled, names are replaced with "Deleted user"). This setting applies to raw data exports as well. Please note, this feature was enabled by default at rollout so please review your settings before November 1, 2025, which is when Glint will resume processing Microsoft Entra delete signals and deleted user data will be managed according to this configuration (name retention can only be applied to users deleted after the feature was made available). Learn more: Manage General Settings in Viva Glint. Admin Self-Service: Ability to Delete Survey Cycles. Previously, Glint admins could delete entire survey programs but did not have the more granular ability to remove individual survey cycles. This created challenges when setting up test surveys, as there was no way to remove them once testing was complete. As a result, test cycles could impact data trends and other program metrics. With the introduction of this new feature, Glint admins can now delete test cycles as needed. This streamlines the testing process by allowing admins to remove unnecessary test data, ensuring that only relevant survey results are retained. It is important to note that cycle deletion is permanent, so admins should proceed with caution. Learn more here. Schema Updates: Ability to Configure Custom Age and Tenure Derivations. As part of a series of feature releases aimed at giving customers greater control and flexibility over user data setup, Glint now allows admins to customize age and tenure derivations directly within the platform. For migrated customers, any previously configured custom age and tenure derivations from LinkedIn Glint will appear automatically in the platform. Admins can easily review and update these migrated settings as needed. Admins can now adjust standard age and tenure ranges to fit their organization’s needs. This flexibility unlocks more meaningful reporting breakdowns. This update is part of our ongoing commitment to making schema management fully self-serve, with even more customization options coming soon. Update attributes in Viva Glint | Microsoft Learn New on your Viva Pulse platform New Survey Option: Collecting Named Responses. When sending a Pulse survey, authors will now have the option to collect named responses, where survey takers’ answers are attributed to the person who submitted them. The author will be able to see the respondent’s name next to their response in their in-app report, as well as in the CSV export. Learn more about the authoring experience here. Survey takers will be notified when their responses include their name vs. when they will not be identified. Learn more about the survey taker experience here. Tenant admins will be able to manage access to this feature through VFAM controls. Learn more about the admin experience here. Current and Upcoming Private Previews Copilot Localization — 70+ Languages Supported | Preview. Copilot in Glint now supports comment summarization in 70+ languages, allowing users to prompt and receive responses in their native language. Reach out to us here to opt in. Sign Up for Copilot Highlights | Preview (Launching November). Be among the first to experience Copilot Highlights, a new dashboard feature that delivers instant, actionable summaries of survey results—spotlighting team strengths, opportunities, and engagement trends at a glance. This preview is designed to help managers and leaders quickly understand team status, identify critical focus areas, and celebrate successes. Reach out to us here to sign up. Integrating with Organization Data | Preview. Glint is introducing integration with Organizational Data in Microsoft 365—bringing enterprise-grade security and seamless data ingestion across Viva and Microsoft suite applications. This new capability makes it easier than ever to connect your people data, streamline workflows, and unlock powerful insights for HR and IT teams. Be part of this evolution: join the preview, share your feedback, and help shape the future of data management at Microsoft. Express your interest here. Executive Summary PPT Export | Preview. Help us test fully editable Power Point Executive Summary and Team Summary report exports which reduce the whitespace and enhance formatting for cleaner, more customizable presentations. Export speed and reliability have been enhanced to handle large reports efficiently, and customer feedback during this preview phase is actively shaping future feature expansions and report types. Click here to sign up. See our public roadmap for more feature updates. Events and Learning Opportunities Register Now for Our Upcoming Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) Sessions: Oct. 23rd Customer Advisory Session: Copilot Value Realization. If you are currently a member of VCCP, you are invited to register here. During this session, members of the Product team will share insights on how Copilot is fundamentally transforming the way we collaborate with our customers. You will also learn actionable strategies for increasing Copilot adoption within your own organization. See the session highlights listed below for more details. Session Agenda: Share the Copilot roadmap and recent updates Highlight customer success stories to inspire adoption Clarify licensing confusion between Glint Copilot and M365 Copilot Address privacy and Works Council FAQs to ease enablement Promote and recruit for the Copilot Highlights preview launching in November Oct 27th or 28th Customer Feedback Session: Viva Glint Conversational Agent Opportunity. This 1-hour session will be held on either Oct. 27th or 28th as we are willing to be flexible to accommodate busy schedules. If you are in VCCP and interested in participating, please fill out this form and indicate which date would work best for you. Based on the responses we will send out a meeting invite later this month to join. Overview The Glint Conversational Feedback Agent uses AI to transform surveys into interactive conversations, letting employees give feedback through both prompted and unprompted responses. It asks context-aware questions, provides personalized follow-ups, and encourages open-ended answers, helping organizations get more detailed insights. By integrating with Glint’s analytics, the agent boosts participation, highlights key themes, and enables leaders to quickly understand and address employee sentiment. Session goals: Assess HR’s initial reactions to a conversational Agent, identifying both key delighters and primary concerns. Evaluate how a conversational Agent integrates with HR’s current listening strategies. Recruit customers for the Glint Conversational Agent preview If you are not yet a member of the Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) but would like to participate in the upcoming session mentioned above, as well as gain access to numerous other engaging and valuable Glint and Pulse customer activities, please see the sign-up information in the "Connect with us" section below. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Highlights from HR Tech 2025: Microsoft had a strong presence at the HR Technology Conference & Exposition® 2025 in Las Vegas. This year’s theme, “Be the Change,” underscored the shift toward human-centered transformation powered by technology. Many different Microsoft teams connected with HR and IT leaders, showcased Microsoft’s HR tech solutions, and delivered lively demos and theater sessions. Event Highlights 115+ demos of M365 Copilot, Copilot Agents, and Viva Employee Experience gave attendees hands-on access to Microsoft’s latest AI for workforce transformation. 16 theater sessions featured practical AI insights from Microsoft experts. Recognition: Analyst Josh Bersin visited for a Copilot + Agents demo; Microsoft received Sapient’s top ‘voice of the employee’ award for Viva Glint; Tricia Huizinga named our booth a conference highlight in her LinkedIn post. Key Takeaways AI dominated the agenda, with a shift toward agentic AI automating core HR tasks. Skills and upskilling are now top priorities for a future-ready workforce. HR platforms are expanding with new AI features (e.g., Workday’s Sana acquisition). Customer excitement for Copilot, Copilot Studio, and custom agent-building was higher than ever. New Thought Leadership 2025 Agentic Teaming & Trust Research Report. With the introduction of AI agents to work, the People Science team set out to better understand how organizations and employees are adapting to these changes, exploring the dynamics and challenges of integrating AI agents into human teams. Our latest research, The 2025 Agentic Teaming & Trust Research Report, delves into how agentic AI is reshaping how organizations and teams work together. Overall, we found that employees are eager to embrace AI agents, seeing them not just as tools, but as collaborators that can unlock new levels of efficiency and creativity. But most companies are just getting started, and our research shows that building trust and strong role models for AI use is key to success. Full report can be accessed above, plus individual chapters here: Chapter 1: Ready for agents Chapter 2: The multiplier effect Chapter 3: Trust 360 Chapter 4: Beyond tools Connect with us Join the Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP). Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) is Microsoft’s premier customer engagement initiative designed to connect Viva product teams directly with customers like you. By enrolling, you’ll gain access to a wide range of Viva product engagements, including dedicated sessions for Glint & Pulse. As a participant, you’ll have the opportunity to: Explore Viva and Glint product visions through exclusive previews and roadmap discussions. Shape product development by providing direct feedback on features, designs, and measurement models. Engage with Microsoft product teams in virtual sessions that run throughout the year, including monthly meetings and iterative design reviews. Network with other customers across industries and regions, sharing best practices and learning from peers. By joining you will also be part of a strategic advisory group focused on Glint and Pulse-specific HR, AI and People Science topics. If you’re interested in joining, please fill out this form so we can guide you through the enrollment process and help you get started. We look forward to partnering with you to build better products—together.News to Know – Volume 3, Edition 1, January 2026
A new year brings renewed focus and fresh opportunities to listen, learn, and act. In this month’s newsletter, we’re sharing the latest updates and insights from Viva Glint & Pulse—designed to help you start the year strong and continue building meaningful, actionable employee listening programs. New on your Viva Glint platform Reporting: Enhancements to Executive Summary Report Export. With this release, Managers will be able to export the default sections from the Executive Summary report in Viva Glint directly to editable PowerPoint slides. This enhancement allows for easier and quicker consumption of this report outside Viva Glint, compared to the previous export method which included static screenshots. Action Taking: Focus Area Enhancements. Customer feedback highlighted that the relationship between Focus Areas (previously referred to as goals) and survey administrations was not always clear. This was largely due to Focus Areas not being directly tied to the survey cycles from which they originated. To address this, Focus Areas are now directly connected to survey cycles, and goal periods have been removed (note that no Focus Areas were deleted as part of this update). This improvement simplifies reporting and ensures Focus Areas more accurately represent the insights gathered from your surveys. Learn more about Focus Areas here and here. Product release strategy: a more continuous, reliable Viva Glint release experience. We’re updating how we release Viva Glint so you get value sooner—and with less waiting when dates shift. Instead of concentrating every change on a single monthly “release day,” we’re moving to a more continuous pace. That means smaller, more frequent updates, and progressive feature rollouts. What this means for you Faster access to improvements. Features ship when they’re ready—no waiting for a full month if a target date moves. Higher reliability. Smaller, incremental releases reduce risk and make issues easier to prevent or quickly correct. Clearer expectations. We’ll continue to share GA timing on the public Microsoft 365 Roadmap and call out any changes that require action. Minimal disruption. Most updates occur with low or zero downtime, and we’ll provide advance notice for any impactful changes. Thank you for partnering with us as we adopt a cadence that’s better aligned to speed, quality, and your planning needs. Coming soon to Viva Glint Upcoming Role Enhancements. In our February release, we’ll be making some changes to roles and permissions in Viva Glint. These changes are designed to increase security, while also providing the flexibility for enterprises to assign the appropriate responsibilities to the right users in their organization. New Permissions in Viva Glint By allowing enterprises to assign admin responsibilities in Viva Glint without providing complete Company Admin rights, the below changes enhance data security and offer greater flexibility for tailored workflows and specific needs. Five new permissions are being introduced: Advanced Configuration, Question Library, Service Configuration (settings), and Nudges, offering more granular control over platform access and management. All existing Company Admins will be granted Advanced Configuration access by default. Company Admin is now renamed to Viva Glint Service Admin, standardising the role name throughout the Microsoft ecosystem for clarity and consistency. Assignment of new service admins will now be restricted exclusively to the Microsoft Admin Centre (MAC), ensuring tighter governance and streamlined administration. Survey Designer Role The Survey Designer Role in Viva Glint will empower organizations to assign users only the access they need to create and deploy Glint surveys, without granting broader administrative permissions. This targeted role is especially valuable for initiatives like AI transformation, hybrid work, and other change management employee listening programs, enabling teams to quickly launch feedback cycles while maintaining security and control. By streamlining survey creation and deployment, organizations can more efficiently capture employee insights and drive meaningful change. Copilot will default to ON and move to VFAM as the single control. Starting in March 2026, Copilot in Viva Glint will default to ON for all customers, and the existing Glint admin toggles for Copilot access will be removed. From that point forward, Copilot access will be managed exclusively through Viva Feature Access Management (VFAM), providing a single, streamlined control consistent with other Microsoft Copilot experiences. This change reduces admin workload and ensures a more consistent governance experience. Please review your VFAM settings to prepare for this update. Should you have any questions about managing Copilot access through VFAM, please use this form to reach out to us. Sign Up for Copilot Highlights | Preview. The private preview of Copilot Highlights—a dashboard feature that instantly summarizes survey results, highlighting team strengths, opportunities, and engagement trends—is now live, with customer access being enabled in phases. This feature helps managers and leaders quickly assess team status, pinpoint focus areas, and celebrate achievements. Customers can continue to express interest in joining by signing up here. Sign Up for Continuous Employee Engagement with Workplace Metrics | Preview. Improve actionability for focus areas like “Work-life balance” and “Collaboration” by bringing in workplace metrics from Viva Insights. This feature will help Senior Leaders in your organization look at supplementary data points to understand survey responses and have a more data-driven discussion with their organizations on what can be improved in these areas. Between survey cycles, this continuous data will also help you keep your teams on track. Private Preview is targeted in March 2026, but earlier builds are available starting in January, with the opportunity to give feedback. You must enable data flow from Insights to Glint on your tenant to use this feature. Express your interest here. See our public roadmap for more feature updates. Events and learning opportunities January 15 th VCCP Glint & Pulse Customer Advisory Session: Beyond HR Surveying This month, we hosted a session on how Viva Glint is developing to support ‘Beyond HR’ scenarios and use cases. Our product team shared insights into how the next generation of Viva Glint will have a greater impact across the organization. The session aimed to confirm the direction of Viva Glint, especially regarding ‘Beyond HR’ surveys and the responsibilities of Viva Glint survey admins. If you are a VCCP member and missed the session, you can find the recording in the Teams channel. Stay tuned for your opportunity to take part in upcoming Copilot and AI Transformation sessions coming next month! If you are not yet a member of the Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) but would like to participate in upcoming sessions, as well as gain access to numerous other engaging and valuable Glint and Pulse customer activities, please see the sign-up information under "Connect with us." Product Guidance Documentation Have technical questions about Viva Glint? Microsoft Learn is the best go-to resource for clear, up-to-date guidance. Recent updates explain new capabilities and address common questions for topics such as: Adding new employee attributes Score calculations 360 report categories Team Conversations user experience Phased reporting access Survey program hyperlink options ...and more! These updates are part of our continuous effort to keep documentation current, practical, and aligned with how Viva Glint is being used today. New Thought Leadership Research Drop: Designing AI Feedback Systems by Industry. Employees want a voice in AI transformation, and our latest research shows that when organizations listen early and often, adoption accelerates. And across industries, one pattern stands out – AI feedback is social. Informal conversations and team meetings remain the most powerful channels for surfacing real‑time signals about what’s working and what’s not. By designing feedback systems that meet employees in the flow of work, leaders can iterate faster and turn everyday interactions into engines of AI readiness and impact. Read it here. Connect with us Join the Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) is Microsoft’s premier customer engagement initiative designed to connect Viva product teams directly with customers like you. By enrolling, you’ll gain access to a wide range of Viva product engagements, including dedicated sessions for Viva Glint & Pulse. As a participant, you’ll have the opportunity to: Explore Viva and Glint product visions through exclusive previews and roadmap discussions. Shape product development by providing direct feedback on features, designs, and measurement models. Engage with Microsoft product teams in virtual sessions that run throughout the year, including monthly meetings and iterative design reviews. Network with other customers across industries and regions, sharing best practices and learning from peers. By joining you will also be part of a strategic advisory group focused on Glint-specific HR, AI and People Science topics. If you’re interested in joining, please fill out this form so we can guide you through the enrollment process and help you get started. We look forward to partnering with you to build better products—together.News to Know – Volume 2, Edition 10, December 2025
As 2025 draws to a close, we want to thank you for being part of the Viva Glint & Pulse community. This year has been full of innovation and collaboration, and we hope you enjoy a well-deserved, restful break over the holidays. Looking ahead, 2026 promises even more exciting developments to help you strengthen employee engagement and listening strategies. In this edition, discover what’s new and get a glimpse of what’s coming next—we look forward to reconnecting in the new year! New or coming soon on your Viva Glint platform Admin Self-Service: Remove Survey Takers. Previously, Glint admins lacked the ability to remove users from a survey cycle which hindered the flexibility and accuracy of survey data, potentially affecting the overall insights and actions derived from the survey results. Now, with the new 'Remove participants from results' feature, admins are empowered to seamlessly remove participants from a survey in alignment with changes to employee status after the point of survey launch, ensuring that only relevant participants are included (note it is only possible to remove participants from survey cycles that are closed). Learn more here. Admin Self-Service: Delete User Attribute. From December 22 nd , admins can remove outdated or unnecessary custom user attributes from their schema, helping keep data clean, accurate, and within the 100-attribute limit. This self-serve capability streamlines routine data maintenance, reduces dependency on support, and empowers admins to manage their data model with greater autonomy. Admins can delete any flat, custom user attribute that is not required, default, or currently in use for derived attributes, system attributes, user roles, distribution lists, or live surveys. Once deleted, the attribute and all associated data are removed from the schema and historical reports, ensuring reporting remains accurate and up to date. For more information, visit Update Attributes. User Roles: Support User Management. We are excited to announce a new enhancement in Glint that makes it easier than ever to collaborate with trusted partners. Organizations can now add support users—such as Microsoft partners—directly to their Glint instance. These support users can assist with deployment, advanced insights, and complex support tasks, all managed via Entra ID without consuming a Glint license. This update ensures secure, compliant collaboration while accelerating your success. For full instructions, read our documentation here. Why It Matters: Around 120 customers already leverage Microsoft partners to unlock deeper insights and drive meaningful change. Here’s what they are saying: “Glint provided the platform to capture how our colleagues are feeling, and Mercer brought insights that made all the difference. Their team didn’t just interpret the numbers—they helped us uncover the ‘why’ behind the feedback and provided practical, strategic guidance to act on it. Mercer turned raw results into a clear roadmap for meaningful change, aligning every step with our culture and goals. This partnership has been a game-changer for how we support our people.” - US-based finance industry customer “I wanted to send a quick note to let you know how incredibly impressed and grateful our team is for the partnership we have with Eclectik. I can confidently say that your CSM is truly worth her weight in gold to our team. Her thoughtfulness, responsiveness, and sheer creative problem-solving throughout the project were truly off the charts.” - US-based finance industry customer If you are interested in leveraging a Microsoft partner, take a look at our list here! Action Taking: Focus Area Enhancements. In January 2026, we’re introducing enhancements to the focus area experience in Glint to improve how organizations track and act on employee feedback. With this update, focus areas will now be tied to survey cycles, and goal periods will be retired (note no focus areas will be deleted as part of this change). This change simplifies reporting and aligns focus areas more closely with survey insights. New on your Viva Pulse platform New Survey Option: Flexible End Date. Pulse authors can now create surveys with flexible end dates, including open-ended pulses that gather data continuously with no set closing date. With this update, authors can easily request ongoing feedback without needing to start new surveys each time, and respondents are free to submit multiple responses throughout the survey’s duration. Learn more about the Pulse authoring experience here. Current and Upcoming Private Previews Sign Up for Copilot Highlights | Preview. The private preview of Copilot Highlights—a dashboard feature that instantly summarizes survey results, highlighting team strengths, opportunities, and engagement trends—is now live, with customer access being enabled in phases. This feature helps managers and leaders quickly assess team status, pinpoint focus areas, and celebrate achievements. Customers can continue to express interest in joining by signing up here. Continuous Employee Engagement with Workplace Metrics | Preview. Improve actionability for focus areas like “Work-life balance” and “Collaboration” by bringing in workplace metrics from Viva Insights. This feature will help Senior Leaders in your organization look at supplementary data points to understand survey responses and have a more data-driven discussion with their organizations on what can be improved in these areas. Between survey cycles, this continuous data will also help you keep your teams on track. Private Preview is targeted in March 2026, but earlier builds are available starting in January, with an opportunity to give feedback. You must enable data flow from Insights to Glint on your tenant to use this feature. Express your interest here. Custom PPT Template Support for new PPT Export | Preview. We are narrowing the differences between the Export screenshots to PPT feature and the newly released Export report to native PPT functionality. Customers are invited to preview support for custom PPT templates with the new Export report to PPT option. Ideal participants for this preview include those who use the Team summary report and Executive summary report and are open to using specific slide dimensions that we support in the preview phase. We plan to make the feature generally available early next quarter without the restriction on slide dimensions; however, during the preview phase, only specific slide dimensions will be supported. Use this form to register your interest. Employee Feedback Agent | Preview. Enhance your Employee Listen program with The Glint Feedback Agent: a dynamic, AI-powered conversation, where employees can share what matters most through natural, chat-like interactions, whether prompted or always-on, enabling real-time feedback and deeper insights into the drivers behind their experiences. By combining Copilot intelligence, Microsoft 365 data signals, and People Science principles, the agent streamlines feedback collection and reduces administrative overhead for HR and leaders. Unlike traditional Copilot tools that simply summarize information, the Glint Agent acts as a proactive team member: it elicits actionable insights, classifies themes, and accelerates the “feedback-to-action” cycle—helping organizations respond faster and more effectively to employee needs. Be among the first to experience a new era of continuous engagement and actionable feedback with the Glint Employee Feedback Agent. To express your interest in joining please complete this interest form. See our public roadmap for more feature updates. Events and Learning Opportunities We will not be hosting a December VCCP Glint & Pulse Customer Advisory session as many people will be taking some much needed holiday respite at the end of the month, but stay tuned for a new series of exciting monthly sessions to kick off in January. If you are not yet a member of the Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) but would like to participate in the upcoming session mentioned above, as well as gain access to numerous other engaging and valuable Glint and Pulse customer activities, please see the sign-up information below. New Thought Leadership Research Drop: Reframing AI Friction as a Challenge to Drive Impact. Many employees feel overwhelmed by agentic AI and the pace of change, yet those who engage with new AI tools and ways of working report notably higher readiness and value – showing that well‑scaffolded friction can spark growth rather than stall it. When leaders build trust, recognize learning, and provide role‑specific, just‑in‑time training, employees move from anxiety to capability, increasing adoption and meaningful impact. Read it here. Connect with us Join the Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) is Microsoft’s premier customer engagement initiative designed to connect Viva product teams directly with customers like you. By enrolling, you will gain access to a wide range of Viva product engagements, including dedicated sessions for Glint & Pulse. As a participant, you will have the opportunity to: Explore Viva and Glint product visions through exclusive previews and roadmap discussions. Shape product development by providing direct feedback on features, designs, and measurement models. Engage with Microsoft product teams in virtual sessions that run throughout the year, including monthly meetings and iterative design reviews. Network with other customers across industries and regions, sharing best practices and learning from peers. By joining you will also be part of a strategic advisory group focused on Glint-specific HR, AI, and People Science topics. If you are interested in joining, please fill out this form so we can guide you through the enrollment process and help you get started. We look forward to partnering with you to build better products—together.
