Experience, Inc.. Jill Popelka
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interested in moving around, changing jobs; résumés read like novellas. If employees are unhappy at work, they can leave. Maybe they want to do good, or more good, or see a bigger picture, or they're no longer willing to feel like a cog in the machine.
Companies can't expect to attract the best talent, and therefore grow and succeed, without examining what they're offering. “Businesses have to understand that they need to attract and work with people in a different way if they expect to keep us,” says Mark, an executive who just returned from four years in Asia. “I'm happy to be back in the San Francisco Bay area but I can work anywhere in the world. I have a talent set and I have a network. If I had an offer for a job back in Asia, I wouldn't have to move there to do it.”
Leaders must think more purposefully about how they're helping their people. Today's worker will not be won over easily by empty corporate campaigns or initiatives that offer perks like foosball tables in the breakroom, ostensibly to improve their experience. These gimmicks might get you a better rating on workplace surveys but, as much psychological research shows, if companies are not offering something meaningful, they will fail. Genuine improvements in the work environment are those that affect intrinsic motivation and allow the worker to contribute and have a voice. These are much more predictive of employee fulfillment and business success. Some forward-looking companies are redefining their HR processes to focus more on human experience management (e.g., aspiration, work style, growth) rather than its previous focus, human capital management.
We're in the midst of a societal renegotiation. Those in a position of power must provide a better roadmap for how to engage and reward everyone. As machines get smarter and more ubiquitous, how do we ensure – or, in some senses, restore – humanity in the workplace?
Yet technological advancement is just one reason for the improvements in the way employees work and the way they are treated. In August 2019, Business Roundtable, the respected association of CEOs of America's leading companies, announced that “shareholder capitalism” was dead, replaced by “stakeholder capitalism.” For more than 20 years, Business Roundtable had issued proclamations on the raison d'être of the corporation, and the shareholder was viewed always as the most important constituent. Finally, Business Roundtable changed its tune. “Major employers are investing in their workers and communities because they know it is the only way to be successful,” said Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and then Chairman of Business Roundtable.14
It's interesting that it took until 2019 to formally elevate the status of workers and others, but better late than never. While “stakeholders” is a large collection (it comprises customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and shareholders), conscientious leaders understand that no one should rank higher than the worker – for humane reasons and business reasons. The day-to-day, lived employment experience of workers is inextricably connected to the success of their company.
It has become clear that the things employees value most from a job are no longer mere wants, but expectations. The employee feels that the employer should be involved, even responsible, for their well-being; offer learning opportunities; listen to workers; and speak out on social issues. The employee wants to find a sense of purpose in a workplace that's productive for and welcoming to everyone.
The World Economic Forum's 2020 report on Talent/Human Capital framed the reset of values in the new world of work.15 This included moving from a process-centric “Employees and Jobs” focus to a more human-centric “People, Work, and Skills” focus.
The World Economic Forum has also established a set of recommended metrics for businesses, to help drive sustainability as it relates to people. The themes are Dignity and Equality, Health and Well-being, and Skills for the Future. As companies strive to be more sustainable, it will be important that they also focus on a shared future.
Leaders know they must deliver. In a 2020 Forbes survey, the heads of Human Resources and other departments were asked to name their top initiatives. The top answer, ranked first by half the respondents, was employee experience.16
Getting It Right
The world of work has changed, and leaders need to manage differently not just to attract and retain talent but also to create and recreate high-performing, adaptable organizations. Leaders need to:
do more than just provide people with secure jobs – they need to create environments that unleash their full potential.
go beyond traditional offerings like fair pay and career development to create experiences that give people a sense of purpose, agency, belonging, and recognition.
Employee experience will be a crucial metric of business success for a long time. There will always be trends, especially ones that emerge from innovations in technology and communication. There will be black swan events, like the pandemic, that cause a bigger rethink than was imagined. There will be shifts in social norms that change the nature and demands of work. Once upon a time, size outpaced more than just about any other organizational asset, only to be replaced in recent years (thanks to Moore's Law and explosions in microprocessing) by speed and agility. As stated earlier, America's top CEOs touted “shareholder capitalism” repeatedly for a generation until they didn't, and it was time to replace it with “stakeholder capitalism.” Still, it's hard to imagine a time when elevating worker experience will be deemed unimportant.
At this point, I hope you're no longer wondering why to build such a culture, but rather how. A study from Qualtrics XM Institute titled “Three Shifts for Employee Experience Success” encourages companies to alter their mindset in these ways:
1 from functional job execution to purpose-led empowerment
2 from disinterested surveying to collaborative understanding and action
3 from HR-driven programs to employee-engaging leaders17
Each organization will have its own formula for creating and improving employee experience. The chapters that follow will share instructive stories of good – and bad – employee experience, how management adapts, as well as insights into building a strong foundation centered on trust, purpose, and inspiration.
How can leaders, managers, CHROs, and others position their companies to thrive in the new world? Some questions they'll want to ask themselves:
Is my view of the employee experience changing?
How does my company need to change to improve the employee experience?
How will we find the best people?
What are the most effective ways to retain them?
How will we solve for high performance simultaneously with high employee fulfillment?
How can we inspire a culture where employees are encouraged to constantly reinvent themselves, and in doing so, reinvent their skill sets for the future?
How can managers lead their teams in meaningful and effective ways?
What has the pandemic revealed about people and connection?
How can we improve productivity by putting people, rather than HR practices, at the center of the process?
How can we develop a sustainable workforce, one that enjoys equal access to learning and skill development?
I talk to leaders and customers all the time, but my passion is employees, the backbone of