Miho Shoji of Moodbit Tells Us How Companies are Ensuring Employee Engagement during the Pandemic

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Miho Shoji: I got used to the new “normal.” 

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded Moodbit.

Miho Shoji: I have over 10 years of experience as an entrepreneur. I started my first company in 2010 with an HR Tech consultancy company. With it, I met different clients, from big companies to small businesses. In almost all of these companies, employee disengagement was the major issue. 

I tried understanding their process and score employee disengagement using an annual survey, and I saw a big opportunity to challenge the market. A very traditional market. That is how I started Moodbit. 

How does Moodbit innovate? 

Miho Shoji: Unlike our competitors, we use AI to deliver real-time results from internal communication platforms. We use active data and communication patterns in an anonymous and integrated way, transforming data into the human factor (HX): emotions, engagement, and behavior. We go one step further with action plans directly to the employees to improve wellbeing (meditation, breathing techniques to cope with anxiety, stress, and more). 

Our competitors are traditional employee engagement surveys tools that ask employees questions, wait for the answers (many times biased), and deliver overwhelming results to the managers. They do not help the employees in any way. 

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Miho Shoji: For us, the pandemic was a lucky strike. Now more than ever companies are trying to find technologies and tools to identify and improve employee disengagement in the workplace. Nowadays, more than 70% of employees are still working from home, and they are finding difficulties in engaging with work, have a balance between life and work, and are under much pressure and stress. That is why we have an increase in users and new clients. 

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? How do you project yourself and Moodbit in the future?

Miho Shoji: One of our pillars in our service is helping employees’ wellbeing, and that’s why we are sending a weekly action plan based on the Science of the Wellbeing (Yale University). Some of these actions are meditation, breathing exercises, and so on. 

These practices help to cope with stress, anxiety and have a better and balanced lifestyle. 

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Miho Shoji: Our competitors are for example Culture Amp, Lattice, and Glint. These are employee engagement surveys, but they are not using AI in their service. We understand data that any other company is using in a safe and integrated way. Our vision goes beyond analytics, and that’s why we are very focused on the employees’ wellbeing. 

Your final thoughts?

Miho Shoji: Work from home is here to stay. It’s better to understand that the workplace changes  every day. As founders, executives, managers we have to evolve how we manage our companies, cultures, employees and to use the most effective tools and technologies to improve employee engagement and their life. 

Your website?

www.mymoodbit.com