Three summits, two countries, one massive question.

Over the past year I’ve hosted, keynoted and run sessions at employee experience summits around the world. It’s been exciting and exhausting, but more than anything, it’s been fascinating seeing the different stages various organisations, industries and regions are at in their EX journeys.

I’ve spoken to people at all stages — from those who were curious about how to take the first step in bringing EX into their organisation, to leaders of established employee experience functions grappling with how to link their EX strategy to bottom-line business outcomes.

Summits are the ideal opportunity to share knowledge and ask the big questions. Yet despite significant differences in where organisations were focusing their EX efforts — especially between regions — there was one common conversation that emerged:

People are still struggling to define what ‘employee experience’ actually means.

At every summit, I asked the question: ‘what is employee experience?’. And the answers ranged from tentative to downright waffly!

Like any significant shift, be it tech or social, there’s an awkward period where we work out what this ‘thing’ actually is, and how to articulate it concisely. And it often takes a while for the research and science to catch up.

People have been practicing mindfulness and meditation for millennia with undeniably positive results, but it’s only recently that science proved the impact mindfulness has on our physiology.

Similarly, most leaders know intuitively that the employee experience is the right approach, but we’re still struggling to prove and articulate why.

A definition gives us a starting point for:

Being able to talk about something with credibility and influence; and
Helping us define what we should be measuring.

At Everyday Massive, our definition for employee experience comes from years of in-depth exploration into the science of experiences, then applying it to real-world applications. And it yielded this definition:

The employee experience is how an employee experiences, recalls and retells the story of their day, week, year and career.

There are a few important elements within this definition that are worth considering when incorporating EX in a strategic plan.

Experience:

An experience is ‘the process or fact of personally observing, encountering, or undergoing something’. By nature, humans are experiential, living life as an ongoing stream of moments and feelings. Work is no different.

Remembers:

We tend to remember things that defy our expectations, especially extreme deviations. When it comes to experiences, our recollection is an average of the peak and end moments. These two instances disproportionately shape our overall memory, however these certainly don’t need to be monumental. They can easily be the everyday moments, interactions, connections and conversations.

Retells:

Helping people talk about their experiences by providing the right language and artifacts gives people the opportunity to relive their experiences. This also plays a powerful role in shaping the employer brand.

Story:

Humans are driven and connected by narratives — whether it’s the stories we tell ourselves to justify our actions, beliefs and identity, or other’s stories that influence our emotions and behaviours. Life is a narrative stream we’re constantly remembering, retelling and revising, based on our experiences.

Day, Week, Year or Career:

A reminder that experiences can be massive, spanning years and careers, but they are also in the day-to-day. We need to consider both when designing the employee experience.

Wherever you are in your EX journey, I hope this definition sheds light on why the employee experience plays such a powerful role in the success of your organisation. And by using the right language, we can begin to make a positive change.

The way EX is applied to an organisation depends on many factors — the purpose, the strategy, the culture — ultimately, though, it’s about finding what matters to the people that make up your workforce. This is why there isn’t a handbook or step-by-step approach, rather a framework that helps organisations reap the benefits of great employee experiences.

If you’re interested in starting (or continuing) your EX journey in 2020, get in touch to organise a discovery session with Jen.

THE STATE <br> OF EMPLOYEE <br> EXPERIENCE 2019