It’s already established that every employer benefits from
highly engaged employees. Intentionally designed work experi-ences
encourage engagement, flow and meaningfulness needed for
high performance.
If employee experience is the leading approach to designing the
workplace, the next question might be, “Now what?”
Typical responses might be to panic, become overwhelmed,
avoid or ignore it for as long as possible. This is a losing battle
because whether or not anything is done, an existing employee
experience is in place – one that can deteriorate without inten-tional
management. Others might look into how competitors do
it, consult with experts and then implement away until something
takes, momentum slows or resistance takes hold. Adoption of new
practices wholesale won’t work either.
What’s missing are three important characteristics every exem-plary
employee experience needs:
RELEVANCE
All organizations come with their own unique context, the com-bination
of business factors, culture, environment, behaviours,
experiences and – of course – people. A well-designed employee
experience is based upon a deep understanding of the context for
which it is intended. Dragging and dropping or taking anything
off the shelf for plug and play and expecting it to work the same
way every time demonstrates (intentionally or unintentionally) a
lack of understanding and perhaps even carelessness.
DIFFERENTIATION
Just like branding, employee experience should be unique and dif-ferentiating.
Leveraging strengths in one’s unique context goes a
long way with establishing differentiation. However, it must be
reflected in actual, lived experience to have the impact needed to
be memorable. Blasé experience equals blasé employees and the
war for talent can’t be won by everyone doing the same things.
CO-CREATION
Who better to design the experience than the people who will be
expected to live it? Engaging with employees as co-creators allows
an organization to leverage their talent, empower people, ensure
relevance and even foster enrollment. This sets the conditions for
success and facilitates change management going forward.
Now that “the what” of employee experience is established, “the
how” comes next. With roots in values-based leadership, design
thinking and appreciative inquiry, Design of Work Experience
(DOWE) “partners employees with their employers to co-create
customized and meaningful work experiences that set the con-ditions
for people and business to thrive.” It provides the much
needed, step-by-step “how to” that enables an organization to
engagement
Illustration courtesy of the author
26 ❚ SEPTEMBER 2018 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL