This morning, Perceptyx, an employee experience, engagement, and voice vendor, announced it acquired Humu, an employee engagement vendor best known for using science-based “nudges” (and for being founded by ex-Google CHRO Laszlo Bock).

For those of you counting, this is the fourth acquisition by Perceptyx in 3 years (the last 3 being Waggl, CultureIQ, and Cultivate). Given the surface-level similarity between Humu and Perceptyx – both vendors in the employee engagement / experience / voice space – you might be wondering what Perceptyx is thinking in making this acquisition. Let’s dive in and explore this deal together.

At a high level, here’s what you need to know about this acquisition:

• The greatest weakness of any employee engagement / experience / voice vendor is that they typically only measure those things – they generally struggle when it comes to showing they are driving change. Perceptyx is acquiring Humu to help it fill that gap in its capabilities.
• Humu’s value to Perceptyx is entirely tied up in its nudge system, including its behavioral content, science, sequencing, etc.
• The Humu acquisition helps round out Perceptyx’s product vision and continue its shift from a measurement and monitoring solution to one that also enables the mobilization of those insights at scale.
• This acquisition is indicative of a broader shift we anticipate will come in this space: moving from EE / EX / Voice measurement and monitoring to these solutions also mobilizing and motivating change.

In this blog, I cover:

• What employee engagement, experience, and voice vendors have done traditionally and where they have fallen short
• Who these specific vendors (Perceptyx and Humu) are and what they’ve done to date
• What we should expect from Perceptyx after the Humu acquisition

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