The Employee Experience Advantage

Foreword xiii Acknowledgments xvii We All Care about Experience (Introduction) xix Part I The Evolution of Employee Experience 1 1 Defining Employee Experience 3 Utility 3 Productivity 3 Engagement 5 Employee Experience 6 2 Research on Employee Experience 11 A Note about the Research Sponsors 15 3 Employee Experience Drivers 17 Poor Success with Engagement 18 Engagement Measures Downward 18 Engagement Has Become the New Annual Review 20 Engagement Tends to Look at the Effect but Not the Cause 21 Engagement Surveys Are Exhaustingly Long 22 Engagement Acts as an Adrenaline Shot 22 The War for Talent 26 Skills Gap and Talent Shortage 26 Changing Demographics 27 Changing Face of Talent Competition 28 Psychology (and Sociology) 29 Business Turbulence 29 Technology 30 Alternative Work Arrangements and the Gig Economy 32 Growing Fast but Not Dominating 33 The Effect on Employee Tenure 35 People Analytics 38 People Analytics in Action 40 The Future of People Analytics 43 Transparency 45 Part II The Reason for Being and the Three Employee Experience Environments 49 4 Reason for Being 51 Statements from Leading Organizations 52 The Three Employee Experience Environments 56 5 The Physical Environment 59 Chooses to Bring in Friends or Visitors 61 Offers Flexibility 64 Organization's Values Are Reflected 67 Leverage Multiple Workspace Options 70 How Organizations Scored 74 6 The Technological Environment 77 Availability to Everyone 78 Consumer Grade Technology 82 Employee Needs versus Business Requirements 84 How Organizations Scored 86 7 The Cultural Environment 89 Company Is Viewed Positively 90 Everyone Feels Valued 95 Compensation and Benefits 96 Having Employee's Voices Heard 97 Organization Doesn't Ask 97 Organization Asks but Does Nothing 98 Organization Asks and Acknowledges 98 Organization Asks, Acknowledges, and Acts 98 Employees Are Recognized for the Work That They Do 98 Legitimate Sense of Purpose 100 Employees Feel like They're Part of a Team 107 Believes in Diversity and Inclusion 109 Referrals Come from Employees 112 Ability to Learn New Things and Given the Resources to Do So and Advance 114 Learning and Development 115 Advancement 118 Treats Employees Fairly 120 Executives and Managers Are Coaches and Mentors 122 Dedicated to Employee Health and Wellness 124 How Organizations Scored 126 8 The Employee Experience Equation 131 Part III Why Invest in Employee Experience? 133 9 The Nine Types of Organizations 135 inExperienced 136 Emerging 137 Engaged 139 Empowered 140 Enabled 140 preExperiential 141 Experiential 141 10 Employee Experience Distribution 145 11 The Business Value of Employee Experience 149 Customer Service 151 Innovation 153 Employer Attractiveness 153 Admiration and Respect 154 Brand Value 154 Other Lists 155 12 Business Metrics and Financial Performance 157 13 The Cost of Employee Experience 167 Part IV Building the Experiential Organization 171 14 System 1 versus System 2 Experiences 173 15 The Employee Experience Design Loop 177 Respond 178 Analyze 180 Scenario 1 Analysis Reveals 180 Scenario 1 Insight for Your Organization 180 Scenario 2 Analysis Reveals 181 Scenario 2 Insight for Your Organization 181 Scenario 3 Analysis Reveals 181 Scenario 3 Insight for Your Organization 181 Analysis Enablers 181 Design 182 Launch 183 Participate 183 Example: General Electric 184 Respond 184 Analyze 185 Design 185 Launch 186 Participate 187 Example: Airbnb 189 Respond 189 Analyze 189 Design 190 Launch 191 Participate 191 16 The Starbucks Model of Transparency 193 17 The Employee Life Cycle 197 18 Moments That Matter or Moments of Impact 201 Specific Moments That Matter 201 Ongoing Moments That Matter 202 Created Moments That Matter 203 Moments That Matter at Cisco 203 19 Moments That Matter and Employee Experience 205 20 The Employee Experience Pyramid 209 21 What about the Actual Work? 213 22 Who Owns the Employee Experience? 217 Initiated by the CEO and Executive Team 217 Owned by the People Team 219 Driven by Managers 220 Championed by Everyone 222 23 A Lesson from Airbnb 223 24 The Role of Employees 227 25 Where to Start 229 You Have to Care, Really Care 229 Define a Reason for Being 231 Build a People Analytics Function 232 Start Small 232 Identify the Required Skills 234 Have Executive Support, Typically the Chief People Officer 236 Train the Organization 236 Tell Stories 237 Build or Improve the Experience Team 237 Deploy Feedback Tools/Mechanisms 239 In-Person Feedback 239 Feedback via Technology 241 Implement COOL Spaces, ACE Technology, and CELEBRATED Culture 242 Example: Adobe 244 Technological Environment 244 Physical Environment 245 Cultural Environment 246 Identify and Create Moments That Matter (or Moments of Impact) 250 Think of Your Organization like a Lab Instead of a Factory 253 26 Focus on What Makes Your Company Unique 257 27 Size, Industry, and Location Don't Matter 261 Always Improve 262 Think like a Laboratory 262 Move beyond Checklists 263 Put People at the Center and Know Them 264 Design with, Not For 264 Care 264 Focus on What Makes You Unique 265 28 A Futurist's Perspective 267 Appendix 269 Index 271