Out with Human Resources, in with Workforce Experience
In the current pandemic scenario, people are demanding safe workplaces, the agility to realign work to changing business realities and the resilience to bounce back from a tough situation.
The biggest need where HR departments of today are failing to deliver is the ‘experience economy’ – a new world order where employees are customers, and likely to display ‘loyalty’ only when their own interests are taken care of. The days of designing separate interventions for various HR processes and sub-processes are gone. The millennial workforce demands a hyper-personalized, custom-built journey from ‘hire to retire’.In a world where 85% workers are ‘not engaged’ (Gallup research), the cracks in the workforce experience can clearly be seen. ‘Workforce experience’ or Wx is defined as the sum total of all perceptions and feelings of people, based on their interactions with the organization.
Since the nature of work, the workplace and the workforce are all changing at blistering pace, it is only apt for focus to shift to Wx. An Accenture research says that by 2025, millennials will be 75% of the workforce. Combined with the fact that the number of ‘gig’ workers in the US has already increased 4x since 2015, these are significant shifts that necessitate a complete overhaul of how we currently manage Wx.
The basis of Wx can be summed up by a quote from Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Gallup research also indicates that companies with exceptional Wx have 21% better financial results than the industry average. That should be strong enough business rationale for investing in the Wx. But, what does HR need to do to ensure exceptional Wx?
1. Align to the moments that matter – Understand user personas and their individual, personalized needs first, and then create impactful experiences for each moment in the lifecycle that matters to them.
2. Simplify and standardize processes – Ensure a shift to automation and simplification of all people processes, to deliver a consistent and pleasant experience
There are numerous sites that provide insights into the work culture, pay and benefits, and other aspects of the Wx much before a person actually joins. Hence, to create an experience that really unlocks Wx, it is critical to not only align your organization’s programs and practices with the expectations of top talent, but also to constantly measure and course correct.
Having an amazing Wx is incredibly effective in attracting the right skills and experience, and also engaging and retaining top talent. Even if creating a Wx to remember is not your priority right now, you can still use a Wx scorecard to measure how you stack up and what corrective action may be needed. After all, “To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace”.
About the Author
Sam Reeve
Sam is the CEO and founder of CompTeam.
His core focus is leading companies through transformational change by optimizing talent initiatives with reward programs to achieve long-term strategic objectives.
Sam’s diverse experience includes the design and optimization of performance-driven variable compensation plans for executive, sales and core employee populations of growing companies.
Prior to founding CompTeam, Sam has worked in compensation functions of notable firms such as BlackRock, McKesson and Automatic Data Processing (ADP). Sam is a global certified compensation consultant (CCP, GRP) with over 20 years of experience in Total Reward Strategies.
