Focus on 3 I’s To Shape the Future of Employee Experience

The business impacts of coronavirus, the Great Resignation, and employee unrest have heightened HR leaders’ focus on cultural change. The speed of technology innovation can be both intimidating and tempting to adopt into business practices as the digital workplace continues to evolve. But leaders know that to survive, they have to adapt. With that, HR technology companies have become the trial-and-error testing grounds for the future of work within organizations. 

Armed with the latest intel from clients, HR tech companies have been trying out new hypotheses — based on science and data — on their own teams as no previous playbooks exist to work from. Now, leaders who have eagerly been at the forefront of HR technology adoption are shaping the future of work with their lessons learned around the employee experience.

Your Employee Experience Behind the Curtains 

There are great opportunities to leverage the investments organizations have made in their digital workplace to drive belonging, engagement, and retention. However, while effective use of the right mechanisms can aid business practices, HR programs are struggling with fragmentation from disparate programs in their ecosystems, from recognition tools to employee communications to payroll software and more. 

According to a 2021 Workgeist reportOpens a new window , employees lose nearly 32 days of productivity annually due to context switching between the apps they need to do their job. This “wasted” or unproductive time has been found to contribute to job dissatisfaction by employees. What’s more, since the start of the pandemic, most businesses were forced to adopt fully remote operations. Two-thirds of organizations were found to have implemented three or more solutions to specifically address the digital employee experience versus a comprehensive, integrated solution, according to VMwareOpens a new window , adding to the tech stack chaos.

Retention is a key concern globally, so organizations are desperate for solutions that deepen social connections, increase engagement, and improve job satisfaction. But there is still much catching up to be done. Recent research from Achievers Workforce InstituteOpens a new window found nearly half of employees (46%) feel less connected to their company or colleagues since the start of the pandemic. And the earlier-mentioned report by VMware shows that while 75% of organizations are making digital employee experience a higher or top priority, only 25% of organizations currently implement a comprehensive digital employee experience solution.

Open Your Window of Opportunity and Reshape Your Employees’ Experience

Josh Bersin warned us in 2019 that the average organization is already dealing with 11 systems of record and sorting through dozens of point solutions to handle everything from recognition to onboarding. Businesses are especially feeling the impact of this weighing on them today as new streamlining HR technology solutions are being sought out more than ever to solve this fragmentation. But even with numerous businesses looking for the latest, greatest technology to be a boon for productivity, engagement, and retention, some experts say more tech or newer tools are not the only answer.

The call to action is to think of these three I’s when you are looking to engage your teams through technology:

1. Intentional — When there is something you really want your employees to know or rally around, first consider the key things you want your employees to Know, Feel, and Do, and then think about the technology that enables the experience to drive that outcome.
   
2. Integrated — Leveraging the system’s employees who are already using specific tools every day to reach them within their flow of work to drive these outcomes. For example, research published last year by Achievers Workforce InstituteOpens a new window found that organizations that were integrating their D&I programming with their recognition programming saw an increase of 3 times the level of engagement.
3. Intelligent — The point is you have audiences in the systems you have already invested in. Leverage that audience and your investment in that system to create personal and relevant experiences for your employees to drive structured outcomes. Experiences that give employees an opportunity to feel welcomed, known, included, supported, and connected are always a great way to start and way to get employees to raise their hands and participate.

It is impractical to expect employees to be engaged at work if the work they are doing is not engaging. And yet, your best ideas for maximizing engagement may come from your employees who can spot streamlining opportunities while carrying out their day-to-day tasks. 

See More: Focus on Deskless Worker Experience When Designing for the New Work EraOpens a new window

Keeping Your Window of Opportunity Open

Many reports show that now, more than ever, it pays to embrace technology. The crucial piece is ensuring the technology is streamlined and unified, adding value to the employee — not stress, and that the technology is making an impact on employees’ lives. Recognition tools that empower employees to recognize and reward others for a job well done, technology that connects virtual employees to build stronger connections, and benefits with perks that feel tailored to the individual all cultivate that deep sense of belonging. 

It is the responsibility of business leaders to make it easy for employees to access the people and skills they need to be productive and help employees find meaning in their work. It is the business leader’s responsibility to provide employees opportunities to share their opinions and create an inclusive environment where employees can do interesting work with interesting people.

While it may be difficult to assess which technologies will add real business value, some HR leaders have taken on the risk many others do not want to or otherwise cannot take. They have revealed the potential opportunities that come along with comprehensive tech integration. Late tech adopters may not be left in the lurch so long as they consider the three I’s in the rules of employee engagement practices — Intentional, Integration, and Intelligent. Here lies the opportunity for companies to be proactive and step up their engagement efforts. This will be the key difference between companies affected most by the great resignation versus the great recognition.

How are you using HR technology to reshape employee experience? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window . 

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