Toyota Motor Europe is redefining its internal way of working as it transitions from a traditional car manufacturer to an innovative mobility company. With the hybrid workplace becoming a reality, Toyota Motor Europe leverages the Microsoft 365 suite of tools to introduce new ways of working and thinking, focusing on employee well-being, collaboration and adoption.
Tine Slabbinck, Manager of the Business Productivity team, Toyota Motor Europe
“Our mission at Toyota is to ‘produce happiness for all’. What we’re doing now is part of that mission.”
Toyota Motor Europe
Automotive / Mobility
Supporting a rapid shift to remote and hybrid work while maintaining productivity, employee well‑being and collaboration during and after COVID‑19
Adoption and optimisation of Microsoft 365 tools, including Teams, SharePoint, Forms and analytics, supported by Rapid Circle
Improved collaboration, accelerated adoption of digital tools and a more efficient, people‑centric hybrid workplace
The Toyota name has long been synonymous with innovation and excellence and is known around the world for pushing boundaries and pioneering new ways of thinking. As the company moves into a new market and redefines itself as a mobility company, it is also optimising its internal way of working.
Using digital tools to improve productivity and collaboration is not a new endeavour for Toyota. The company was an early adopter of cloud‑based tools and was already planning to move towards a hybrid workplace in 2019.
“The company had just announced that we would be working remotely two days a week,” recalls Tine Slabbinck. “So, we were busy preparing for that when COVID‑19 happened. What had previously been a strategic decision suddenly became a necessity.”
During the first days of the pandemic, the focus was on ensuring technical stability, after which attention quickly shifted to employee well‑being and large‑scale remote adoption.
Together with HR, Toyota Motor Europe conducted regular surveys using Microsoft Forms to understand how employees were feeling about remote work. These surveys focused not only on IT, but also on happiness and well‑being.
At the same time, adoption of Microsoft 365 tools accelerated significantly. Tools such as Teams and SharePoint gained momentum as employees recognised their value.
Rapid Circle supported Toyota Motor Europe in setting up targeted adoption initiatives, including strengthening the existing “digital influencers” network and creating the Know It community on Teams and SharePoint. This portal provides information, FAQs and videos, giving employees a place to ask questions and learn from peers.
Live Teams meetings, webinars and data‑driven insights helped scale best‑practice sharing, support employees in organising their work, and improve collaboration across offices and factory floors—even during lockdowns.
The initiatives supported Toyota Motor Europe in strengthening collaboration and enabling remote and hybrid work across the organisation. Employees increasingly adopted Microsoft 365 tools such as Teams and Planner, helping them visualise tasks and organise their work in a more agile way.
Live Teams meetings, webinars and shared platforms made it easier to exchange best practices with larger audiences, including across factory environments. At the same time, the move to cloud‑based tools supported remote working and contributed to a more consistent and flexible digital workplace experience.
See how Microsoft 365 helps organisations enable collaboration, support employee well‑being and adopt new ways of working in a hybrid environment.
Microsoft 365 enabled Toyota Motor Europe to support large‑scale remote work, improve collaboration and focus on employee well‑being during and after the COVID‑19 transition.
Rapid Circle supported Toyota Motor Europe with adoption strategies, digital influencer enablement and data‑driven insights to increase engagement with Microsoft 365 tools.
Employees experienced better collaboration, clearer task management, improved access to information and increased support for well‑being in a hybrid work environment.
