When Gallup Q12 survey was launched in 1990s, it almost became a holy grail claiming that employee experience and engagement was primarily linked to the Manager.
The famous adage, “People join companies and leave managers” became the guiding principle for organizations globally.
Fast forward today, Employee engagement has transformed and become multi-dimensional with Technology as a core lever.
If we dissect Employee experience to its core, it has 2 key dimensions from an employee perspective:
- Affective Experience, which is about how employees feel and is centered around emotions.
- Cognitive experience, which is what employees think and is centered around logic.
Affective experience is based on the emotions that employees go through, and the emotional health of the workforce becomes an important part of the experience.
With the increasing uncertainty fuelled by AI-led technological developments, coupled with geopolitical challenges, news of widespread layoffs is adding to fear and anxiety among employees.
Advanced technology tools like AI agents, Generative AI platforms, etc, do pose a limitation in connecting on an emotional level. They can provide information and data-based solutions, make employees efficient and productive; however, human needs like affiliation, appreciation, and a deep desire to be understood is something that needs human intervention.
Organizations will have to design interventions to balance cognitive experience along with affective experience, and that would require an integrated approach using machines and humans.
Some of the consideration factors organizations will need to factor in for making employee experience impactful are:
Personalized & Customized Experience
With multi-generation employees working together, there is a need to customize the experience tied to the traits and motives of different cohorts. For example, the Rewards expectations of a Gen Z employee are different from those of a Gen X employee.
Their preferences for communication, collaboration, and learning also vary. Employees are expecting a personalised experience tailored to their individual preferences.
Contextualized to Workplace Arrangements
Post-COVID, Hybrid and Remote working arrangements have become common, and companies are leveraging flexibility as a benefit and unique value position for candidates and internal employees.
Creating an experience at office is different from extending this experience to homes and other remote locations where employees are working. One of the biggest challenges for Hybrid and Remote organizations is to manage and sustain a coherent culture that extends beyond office premises.
Continuous communication and regular connects are great levers to create an experience of inclusion and organizational glue for remote employees.
Balancing Experience of Tech with Touch
Technology in current work environment is all pervasive and most employers are focusing on the latest technology tools to give a digitalized experience to their employees. While this does simplify their lives and makes them more efficient at work, it may not fulfill the emotional needs that employees have.
Only a human can connect and truly understand other humans, hence the role of connects and check-ins cannot be overstated. Managers will play a very important role in managing this balance.
Experience at Different Employee Lifecycle Touchpoints
Various engagement measurement tools are designed to measure engagement levels across the tenure of an employee. It is based on the premise that needs and motivators of an employee will vary with tenure.
For e.g. A new joinee’s expectations and preferences will be very different from a vintage employee. Experience will need to be mapped to different touchpoints spanning across the hire-to-retire lifecycle.
Contribution Beyond Organization
Today, employee experience is not limited to the boundaries of the organization in terms of impact. The disproportionate focus on Sustainability, Corporate Social responsibility and ESG is a result of deeper innate need employees have for contributing beyond organizational business objectives.
Candidates want to join an environmentally sensitive organization that cares about society and is ethical in its dealings. This matches the deeper values of new generations who are more conscious and more conditioned about these aspects, owing to their upbringing.
Organizations that encourage and enable fulfillment of a larger purpose by providing such opportunities will be able to engage employees better.
Experience of Entrepreneurial Projects
The Start-up boom has created a latent entrepreneurial desire among many employees. We are seeing the concept of Hybrid entrepreneurship, where employees hedge their risks by trying out an entrepreneurial venture while being employed.
A lot of progressive organizations are promoting intrapreneurial opportunities where employees can experiment within the organization and share both risks and rewards with their employers. Organizations should create experiences that promote experimentation and innovation among employees. This will cater to the need for creating or trying something new among
Designing such experiences will be a thoughtful exercise and will require deep employee insights. Organizations will have to orchestrate and design these experiences through well-defined programs, systems, policies, processes, and behaviors to create superlative Ex.
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