Industry Research Summary: The State Of Human Experience In The Workplace 2020
Move beyond employee engagement to enhance overall experience
Posted on 03-11-2020, Read Time: - Min
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Things have sped up in the workplace. This is due to a range of issues such as the raging war for talent, the quest for better business performance, and the kind of technological advancements that change the way we do business, often to a disruptive extent.
Amid this turbulent landscape, many employees are burned out, disengaged and struggling for work-life balance. All these factors require us to take a fresh look at how people experience work.
To help gain a deeper understanding of the impact of employee and human experiences, HR.com conducted a survey-based research study.
Amid this turbulent landscape, many employees are burned out, disengaged and struggling for work-life balance. All these factors require us to take a fresh look at how people experience work.
To help gain a deeper understanding of the impact of employee and human experiences, HR.com conducted a survey-based research study.
Key Findings
- The importance of workplace experiences is high and has rapidly risen.
- A little less than half say employee experience is good in their organizations.
- Employee experience is “owned” by multiple stakeholders.
- Sense of belonging and work inspiration are the two most positive employee feelings about work.
- The ability to grow and a positive work culture top the list of factors positively impacting employee experience.
- Learning initiatives are critical to a more positive employee experience.
- Budget constraints and lack of senior leadership support are the most prevalent organizational barriers to better employee experiences.
- A variety of metrics are used to gauge the human experience.
- Only a minority report that experience-enhancing programs have a high degree of impact on return on investment (ROI).
- Organizations with a more positive human/employee experience have better workplace outcomes.
The High and Growing Importance of Human/ Employee Experience
Most HR professionals consider both employee and human experience to be very important. When asked about their importance to the HR department, fully 72% of HR professionals said the importance of employee experience is very high, and 63% said the same thing about human experience.
When HR professionals were asked about the relative importance of these concepts compared to three years ago, more than half say that both employee experience (57%) and human experience (56%) have become more important in their organizations. Moreover, when asked about the next three years, nearly half (47%) say that the concept of human experience will grow even more important than it is today.
Rating Human and Employee Experience Today
Only about half (47%) of HR professionals say employee experiences are good or excellent in their organizations. Respondents were asked to rate the human and employee experiences in their organizations. A little fewer than half (47%) assign a rating of good or excellent in their organizations, while another 37% give their organizations a grade of "average" when it comes to employee experience. HR professionals are slightly more optimistic about the state of human experience in their organizations. The majority (56%) feel human experience in their organization is good/excellent, and 30% rate it as average. This suggests that other organizational stakeholders—such as customers, business partners, and investors—might have a better experience in some organizations than employees themselves do.
Employee Experience Ownership
There are many organizational initiatives that are owned by a single role or function. However, we believe that ownership of employee experience will fail unless it is viewed as a cross-functional endeavor. Employees need to be viewed as the end recipients of experiences, and senior leaders need to be both committed and involved from Day One.
In the figure below, it is clear that most HR professionals agree that the responsibility for enhancing employee experience should be shared with all major stakeholders. Top leadership, HR, and immediate supervisors are selected most frequently by over 60%. And, over half indicate that employees themselves must also take responsibility for their own experiences.
In the figure below, it is clear that most HR professionals agree that the responsibility for enhancing employee experience should be shared with all major stakeholders. Top leadership, HR, and immediate supervisors are selected most frequently by over 60%. And, over half indicate that employees themselves must also take responsibility for their own experiences.
Factors Hindering or Facilitating Improved Experiences
Despite the importance of the issue, only half of organizations expend much effort on enhancing employee experience. When asked to indicate the top four issues impacting employee experience, 51% of HR professionals point to the ability to grow within the organization as the most important. This requires organizations to prioritize continual learning as part of their corporate culture.
The three other most widely cited factors affecting employee experience are:
The three other most widely cited factors affecting employee experience are:
- a positive culture with no or few toxic behaviors,
- trust in leaders, and
- having a voice that’s listened to
When asked what programs are most likely to improve experience, HR professionals put career development to the top of the list along with the related issue of learning and development, both at 57%. Recognition programs, as well as leadership development, are the next two most critical issues.
Most say their employees feel a sense of belonging, but only around half say employees feel empowered. A lack of empowerment sends a very strong message to employees that “we don’t trust you.”
Sixty-percent of responding HR professionals consider a lack of budget to be the biggest barrier to improving employee experience. Another 48% choose insufficient support from senior management.
Most say their employees feel a sense of belonging, but only around half say employees feel empowered. A lack of empowerment sends a very strong message to employees that “we don’t trust you.”
Sixty-percent of responding HR professionals consider a lack of budget to be the biggest barrier to improving employee experience. Another 48% choose insufficient support from senior management.
Measuring Employee Experience
The large majority (87%) of HR professionals agree that measurement is key to improving employee experience. Considering metrics helps those responsible for improving experience to zero in on the most troubling gaps and to capitalize on areas of strength. So, how are organizations measuring—or at least trying to measure— experience? Seventy-one percent select “turnover and retention rates” as an indicator of employee experience, and 52% use “exit and stay interviews.” Other indicators selected by more than 30% of respondents include employee feedback, customer service, performance/productivity data, and absenteeism.
HR professionals are fairly optimistic about the future of experience metrics, with 44% feeling there will be better ways of measuring experiences over the next three years.
For various strategies and practices that may help HR professionals and others increase the quality of human and employee experience in their organizations, we invite you to download and read the report today.
HR professionals are fairly optimistic about the future of experience metrics, with 44% feeling there will be better ways of measuring experiences over the next three years.
For various strategies and practices that may help HR professionals and others increase the quality of human and employee experience in their organizations, we invite you to download and read the report today.
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