Perceptyx buys ex-Google HR chief’s startup Humu

Back in 2017, after 10 years as Google’s senior vice-president of people operations, Laszlo Bock moved into the HR tech space and co-founded Humu.

The science-based nudge engine has lofty aims to create happiness at work by helping employees and managers do their jobs better.

Fast forward five years and Humu has been acquired by employee listening giant Perceptyx.

This is far from Perceptyx’s first acquisitions – it acquired Waggl and CultureIQ in 2021, and then Cultivate in 2022.

However, as the company’s CEO John Borland exclusively tells UNLEASH, it comes at a strategic time for the employee experience segment of the HR tech market.

Notable other deals in this space include Zoom buying Workvivo and SAP selling its majority stake in Qualtrics to Silver Lake Capital.

Borland notes: “The employee experience market is hot right now due to the fact that organizations see employees as their most critical asset. This puts the CHRO at the right hand of the CEO.”

He continues: “Organizations have been listening to employees for many years, but unlocking the potential of individuals and teams across the organization through action in response to feedback remains a persistent challenge.

“Through people analytics they may know what the challenges are and what needs to change, but knowing how to change and measuring the impact of those changes has been out of reach.

“We believe Humu is the missing piece of the puzzle.

“With Humu’s extensive library of behavioral science backed nudges linked to Perceptyx’s AI Insights Engine, we can finally close the gap between…knowing what to do and actually doing it”.

He added: “We deliver personalized recommendations to everyone that encourage action and inspire positive behaviors proven to deliver better outcomes for the business and individuals alike.”

The impact on Humu and Perceptyx customers

Perceptyx’s purchase of Humu will integrate nudges into the former’s People Insights platform as soon as possible.

This means that very soon all of Perceptyx’s 600 customers, which include one third of the Fortune 100, as well as Humu’s client base – examples include the likes of Farfetch, Expedia and Virgin Atlantic – will have to access to the full suite of the two company’s tech capacity.

As a result of combining the two company’s capabilities, “organizations can now listen to employees, boil up the insights from that feedback, drive action with nudges to be able to measure the tangible impact of the change,” comments Borland.

He tells UNLEASH: “We have been pleasantly surprised by the number of customers reaching out to us with excitement and anticipation for this combined solution.

“We continue to support the Humu customers and have spoken to nearly all of them about what this acquisition means for each of them.

“Perceptyx plans to build upon their existing Humu investment and make the transition as easy as possible for all customers.”

But let’s not just take Borland’s word for it.

Josh Bersin, HR tech analyst and guru, shared: “While Humu was a fascinating innovation, it got caught in the crossfire of existing infrastructure and other disruptive technologies.

“Enter Perceptyx, a seasoned and fast-growing employee listening and engagement company. Perceptyx is one of the most successful enterprise survey and advanced listening companies, having stuck to its core and grown over the years.”

And Humu fits in to the business model because it complements Perceptyx’s existing tools for surveys, feedback and listening. It helps “close the loop” and “turn insights into action.”

But, HR leaders, stay tuned as the technology develops. Is Perceptyx (with the addition of Humu) the right fit for you?

There’s a lot of competition out there; Bersin concluded: “The Employee Experience market is massive. Major vendors like ServiceNow, Microsoft, Qualtrics, Medallia, Zoom (Workvivo) and Firstup are aggressively going after the space.”