From Email Overload to Engagement: HBX’s 8-Week Transformation with Workvivo

Why Workvivo?

Before Workvivo, HBX’s internal comms relied heavily on email, with an intranet that had limited levels of engagement and functionality. “Communication was pretty much through email when I first joined the company,” says Jane. “Our intranet was OK but its functionality was limited and not user-friendly or intuitive enough to encourage real engagement and connection either between the company and its employees or on a peer-to-peer basis. While we were doing our best to creatively communicate, we were struggling to build the kind of community connection that we knew was possible because of the engaged teams we had. 

So the search began for a new internal comms platform, and Workvivo felt like the right fit because of its simplicity, its user-friendly, social functionalities and its ability to easily connect desk-based and frontline teams, hybrid and remote workers. It would become HBX’s primary global communications & engagement channel.

Workvivo is known for smooth rollouts and a hands-on customer success team. That track record gave the team instant confidence. “We felt very confident from the start that it would work really well,” she says.

Getting started on Workvivo: Onboarding and rollout

HBX’s Workvivo onboarding went smoothly from day one. 

“We found Workvivo really straightforward,” says Jane. “From the word go, even from the point at which we had the demos, there was never a sense of a heavy sell.”

The company’s internal comms team cleaned up old intranet content and mapped how they wanted the new platform to look and feel. But the eight-week rollout timeline felt ambitious and made the internal team nervous. However, the Workvivo team encouraged the company to trust the process, and HBX committed the right people to the project so timelines could be met. Ultimately, it paid off.

The platform is simple to use and visually appealing. As such, the content HBX posted at launch caught employees’ attention. Leaders recorded short videos, teams created welcoming posts, and the company used the feed to share official updates and everyday moments.

The Workvivo effect

Within weeks, Workvivo became the heartbeat of HBX’s internal communications – replacing one-way email blasts with real-time connection and recognition. People began to check the feed to hear from the CEO, celebrate colleagues, and ask questions they could get answers to in real time. 

Impact on internal communications

Workvivo became the central hub for company news. People could like, comment, pin posts, and share content in ways the old intranet never allowed. Jane explains how the feed became a place for the whole company to connect with one another.

“If our CEO posts something, of course it gets an enormous amount of interest,” Jane says. “But what’s also really nice is when you see the peer-to-peer kind of content happening organically. If someone has an anniversary, next minute, hundreds of people have reacted.”

That mix of leadership updates and peer content kept people coming back. The feed gave people a way to be both human and professional in the same space. This made trust and connection grow naturally.

Effect on leadership visibility

One of the clearest wins was making senior leaders more accessible. Short, authentic videos from the CEO and other execs drew lots of reactions and encouraged others to post. 

That openness helped bring the senior leadership team closer to employees and started to build a culture of greater openness and transparency.

Use of data-driven analytics

Workvivo’s analytics gave the comms team something they had never had before: real insight into what’s working. The team now reviews metrics monthly and looks for spikes and drops to understand the reasons behind engagement.

“We tried something like having our Comms kids interview an exec and then see if it worked,” Jane says. “From there, we adapt our approach based on what the data shows.”

This test-and-learn approach made the comms team sharper and eliminated guesswork.

Workvivo features that made a real difference

For HBX, the magic didn’t stop at launch day. What really brought Workvivo to life were the features that quickly became part of everyday culture. Here are just a few:

Activity feed

This is where news meets celebration. Leaders post updates, teams share wins, and people respond fast. The feed is easy to use, which means posts get quick reactions and lots of comments, and those interactions keep the momentum going.

Spaces

Country and team spaces let local groups gather around topics that matter to them. Some spaces became super active, while others stayed quieter, and that mix is fine because it reflects differences in culture and needs whilst still maintaining an element of choice in how to engage.

Podcasts and Q&A

HBX used built-in podcast tools to run helpful series on topics like mental health and menopause, and the Q&A feature proved essential when addressing tricky or sensitive topics. She explains why it works:

“We’ll open live Q&A sessions for topics that our employees tell us are important to them,” Jane says. “That functionality has been a real game changer for us because it creates a genuine sense of transparency.”

Being able to ask leaders questions and receive direct answers eliminated fear and built trust.

Final thoughts

What HBX needed was a reliable way to replace one-way, email-led comms with a platform where employees could share, ask, and connect. And with Workvivo, that’s precisely what happened. People now use the platform to get leadership updates, celebrate teammates, and ask questions when they need answers.

That habit is the real change, and it keeps the connection alive. As Jane notes, Workvivo worked because the team behind it kept showing up and supporting them every step of the way. “I haven’t worked with a company that’s as easy and supportive as Workvivo,” she says.

For companies looking to bring their teams together, the HBX x Workvivo story shows how the right tool and support can transform culture fast.

Workvivo gave HBX a new way to connect, and it can do the same for you. So, book a demo with us and get started.