Experience, Inc.. Jill Popelka
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continued to deliver great experiences. Sarah found her purpose and joy at work.
I understand why, when highly paid consultants come in to evaluate a flailing company, they start with strategy. We know that strategy is key to growth. But here's the thing: While there are surely strategic shortcomings to address and correct, the focus probably should be on the talent already in the building, yet to be unleashed.
Looking internally at talent and how to unleash people's full potential is often far more valuable than creating an entirely new strategy. Many companies focus too much on creating strategies that tell employees what things to do instead of creating environments where employees are inspired and enabled to do what needs to get done.
It can be hard to see people as the best solution. In business, we're taught that everything that matters can be measured. And a focus on people sometimes seems difficult to measure.
That's not true – not anymore. Those of us in the business of measuring such things have proof that people are more than capital or assets. Employees who enjoy a positive, memorable experience help drive a company's vision. They drive positive business outcomes. They bring out the best in other employees (who are then also, presumably, having positive experiences). They connect their own passion to their company's purpose – which creates an experience that is authentic. Metrics consistently show that a fulfilling employee experience correlates with better health and well-being, higher engagement, and more willingness to take risks.18 It also correlates to business success. The Thrive XM Index, built in partnership with Thrive Global, Qualtrics, and SAP SuccessFactors, takes a holistic view of employee well-being to examine the root causes of issues that affect employees and business. They found that the 20 companies that ranked highest with experience grew on average by 16 percent year over year.19
I believe in people. I believe in the individuals who come to work every day and strive to bring their best self. Sometimes they're not sure they're good enough. Or that they contribute adequate value. Or that what they have to offer is the right thing at the right time. I try to see in people what value they can bring, then maximize that, knowing that if I succeed, it's a force multiplier for the business. Sometimes you fit the job to the person, not the other way around. It's magic, but it's not. The “trick” is to engage employees in a world focused on independence and self-orientation; to promote the tackling of challenges with a sense of adventure; and to encourage employees to reinvent themselves, constantly. New skill sets better prepare them for the future, their future, no matter whom they're working for.
Notes
1 * The names of those interviewed for this book have been changed, occasionally along with minor details, to free them to speak candidly. I am grateful to all who participated and shared their insights.
2 1. Maria Figueroa Kupcu, “Taking a Stance,” Brunswick Group, June 4, 2019, brunswickgroup.com/social-issues-ceo-response-i14995/
3 2. Ibid.
4 3. Dan Pontefract, “Yet Another Survey That Demonstrates Employees Want Purpose But Organizations Are Not Delivering,” Forbes.com, June 9, 2016, forbes.com/sites/danpontefract/2016/06/09/yet-another-survey-that-demonstrates-employees-want-purpose-but-organizations-are-not-delivering
5 4. “The Business Case for Purpose,” Harvard Business Review, assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_gl/topics/digital/ey-the-business-case-for-purpose.pdf
6 5. Gary Burnison, “Breaking Boredom: What's Really Driving Job Seekers in 2018,” Korn Ferry, kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/job-hunting-2018-boredom
7 6. Melanie Baravik, “5 Surprising Employee Development Statistics You Should Know,” Clear Company, September 9, 2021, blog.clearcompany.com/5-surprising-employee-development-statistics-you-dont-know
8 7. “2019 Workplace Learning Report,” Linkedin Learning, learning.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/amp/learning-solutions/images/workplace-learning-report-2019/pdf/workplace-learning-report-2019.pdf
9 8. “The Future of Work Arrives Early,” Oxford Economics, Society for the Human Resources Management, and SAP SuccessFactors, shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/documents/sap%20oe%20shrm%20global%20report.pdf
10 9. Jodi Kantor, Karen Weise, and Grace Ashford, “Inside Amazon's Worst Human Resources Problem,” The New York Times, November 3, 2012, nytimes.com/2021/10/24/technology/amazon-employee-leave-errors.html
11 10. Owen Hughes, “Tech Workers Warned They Were Going to Quit: Now, the problem is spiraling out of control,” ZDNet, October 22, 2021, zdnet.com/article/tech-workers-warned-they-were-going-to-quit-now-the-problem-is-spiralling-out-of-control/
12 11. “Quotations on the Jefferson Memorial,” Monticello.org, monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/quotations-jefferson-memorial#footnote10_ytmztxy
13 12. “World GDP per Capita, 190-2021,” Macrotrends, macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/gdp-per-capita
14 13. Farhad Manjoo, “Even with a Dream Job, You Can Be Antiwork,” The New York Times, October 22, 2021, nytimes.com/2021/10/22/opinion/work-resignations-covid.html