Talent Retention. It’s at the top of every business leader’s mind. 

When budgets are tight and raises aren’t possible, leading companies are instead focusing on improving the employee experience. 

But what is the employee experience? And how is the employee experience different in a world where teams are dispersed? 

What is Employee Experience? 

Employee experience is a sum of all interactions an employee has with a company throughout their relationship. It includes everything from what happens the first time a candidate applies for a job and meets with a hiring manager, through the entire hiring process and the first few days of work, all the way through to the end of the employment. 

The employee experience is important because an employee who has a positive experience and attitude toward their employer is more likely to be engaged with the company, do their best work, provide positive customer transactions, speak highly about their employer, and refer their friends. 

The Challenge: Not every employee’s experience is the same

It is crucial that the C-suite understands that not all employees approach their professional journey with the same priorities. While financial compensation is a major factor in workplace decisions, there are actually two additional work values that motivate employees. 

Research from Gartner suggests that employees fall primarily into one of three main ways employees are motivated by work: 

1. Work as a Transaction: The 67% of employees who tend to be more focused on compensation and benefits. 
2. Work as a World: The 20% of employees who tend to be more interested in social responsibility and community. 
3. Work as an Identity: The 13% of employees who tend to see work as a core part of their identity and seek opportunities for personal growth and development.

It’s also important to note that these values are not static, and will often change throughout an employee's time with a company.

In order to create a more engaging and productive workplace in the digital era, Employee Experience stakeholders must adjust their strategy by correctly identifying and delivering journeys that match these values.

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How to Employee Experience with a Collaborative People Ops Task Force

At LumApps, we believe that employee experience is not one person’s job – it’s everyone’s responsibility. The most successful enterprise employee experience teams consist of internal comms, IT, and HR departments working together to create a People Operations (PPO) task force. 

These departments often work independently of each other, but in order to make the necessary improvements at the individual level, C-suite and managerial stakeholders must change how they interact with each other. 

People Ops refers to the strategic business function that focuses on creating and implementing policies and strategies to support the well-being and productivity of a company's employees. People Operations differs from traditional HR in that it places a greater emphasis on data-driven decision making and uses technology and automation to streamline processes and reduce administrative burdens. 

The task force should focus key initiatives such as: 

• Developing a comprehensive people strategy
• Providing and managing a personalized employee experience
• Increasing the value of each employee
• Connecting individual improvement to company-wide goals
• Collecting and analyzing all metrics relevant to the employee experience
• Equipping employees with the tools and techniques to be successful

Now let’s look at who should be on the task force…internal comms, IT, and HR.

Team Member #1: Internal Comms 

Internal Communications (IC) leaders play a critical role in driving employee engagement in hybrid organizations. They are the narrators of the organizational journey, ensuring that employees are informed about the company's goals, achievements, and challenges. 

In a hybrid work environment, IC leaders are responsible for creating the virtual and physical spaces that enterprise employees need to share information, build relationships, and improve their skills. 

Common tasks performed by IC leaders that impact employee experience: 

• Develop a strategy that helps employees share knowledge and collaborate across teams and departments. 
• Translate high-level communications goals into measurable initiatives, projects, and campaigns.
• Creatively and resourcefully use various channels such as intranets, social media, newsletters, video, podcasts, and digital signage to meet employees where they are. 
• Analyze the engagement data from cross-channel campaigns to refine the communications strategy.
• Create a compelling narrative that inspires and motivates employees to contribute to the company's success.

As part of the integrated task force, IC leaders need to ensure that communications strategies are prioritized during digital transformations. Cross-functional communication and alignment with other EX stakeholders helps strengthen the case for an expanded IC role within the enterprise. 

Team Member #2: IT

IT teams are the architects, engineers, and builders of the digital enterprise. 

They oversee the infrastructure that connects distributed workforces, providing avenues for employees to collaborate, connect, and contribute. This is particularly important in hybrid work environments and companies with a large percentage of frontline workers, where employees from across the globe require a seamless user experience across core applications.

Key responsibilities for IT leaders that have a direct impact on the employee experience: 

• Managing and maintaining the digital infrastructure, ensuring that key platforms are accessible, user-friendly, and quickly adopted.
• Connecting employees across the digital-physical divide, so everyone—including frontline and deskless workers—is plugged into the workforce at all times. 
• Tracking and analyzing employee data to measure and assess employee productivity and sentiments regarding their day-to-day experience.  
• Adjusting the tech stack to match changing needs, providing training and support to employees to help them use new tools effectively.
• Ensuring that the necessary guardrails and measures are in place to maintain security.

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Team Member #3:HR

Human resources is the department most commonly tied to the challenge of improving employee experience. 

Common HR tasks that directly impact employee experience include: 

• Developing initiatives to improve employee productivity, development, retention, and participation in the company culture. 
• Curating a unique, personalized journey that matches the role and values of each employee in the company.
• Guiding employees through "moments that matter” to maintain or improve their experience with the organization.  
• Creating a workplace environment where employees feel included, productive, safe, and recognized. 
• Promoting wellness and DEI initiatives, and supporting employees in balancing their work and personal lives.

As part of the integrated task force, HR leaders must develop a human-centric enterprise environment that provides employees with the experience they need based on their motivation track.