Digital Employee Experience: why you need in your talent strategy today
Digital Employee Experience: why you need in your talent strategy today
The digital employee experience (DEX) is the experience employees have with the digital tools and platforms provided by their organisation. Although it extends beyond IT, it strongly involves HR clusters and reflects on your company culture.
As such, we are taking this opportunity to explore the topic in more depth, exploring what it is, why it’s important to employees as well as for employers, and how these can design and measure a digital employee experience.
What is the digital employee experience?
The digital employee experience is a subset of the overall employee experience that encompasses all the digital touchpoints an employee interacts with at work, be these apps and software or the devices they are equipped with (like a phone, laptop, etc.). However, DEX goes far beyond IT, involving crucial aspects of HR and workplace culture to play a crucial role in the overall business success.
Individuals are used to relying on smooth technology in their personal lives and anticipate the same degree of digital simplicity in their work environment. If workers find it challenging to retrieve information or accomplish daily duties with the given tools, it can adversely affect their relationship with your organisation.
Why organisations struggle to manage their digital employee experience
Managing and creating the best digital employee experience is fundamental to every organisation. This is where your talent strategy plays a pivotal part in the overall business success. The importance of DEX keeps increasing into the 21st century, with most companies struggling to keep up with the latest trends.
In 2024, 82.9% of Top Employers globally have a vision for the role of digital HR in the overall employee experience. This digital experience is not just a tool but a flexible solution that caters to all employees, whether they are in the office full-time or hybrid.
IT departments aim to enhance the overall employee experience. However, they’re perpetually trying to keep pace with swift digital evolution and intricate office technology. The advent of hybrid work and employees using various devices and settings further complicates IT’s task of managing the digital workspace.
This is where the Top Employers Institute can help: our extensive research into the world of work can provide organisations with best practices on DEX and the latest trends. If you want to learn more, check out the link at the bottom of the page and get in touch for free today!
6 benefits of implementing a strong DEX into your talent strategy
Creating, managing and measuring your digital employee experience is necessary to drive business success. Before diving into the steps and best practices, let’s find out how your organisation can benefit by implementing a strong digital employee experience into a talent strategy:
Boost your employer brand: making your company more attractive to potential candidates because of your strong digital experience. Showcasing your commitment to cutting-edge technology and a seamless digital environment can differentiate your organisation and your competitors.
Increase employee retention rates: Gartner’s Digital Worker Experience Survey found that “Workers [are] satisfied with applications indicate that they are twice as inclined to stay in their current organisation.” This stresses the importance of creating a seamless digital experience as it affects the rate at which employees feel they can stay in their current organisation.
Increase organisational agility: The ability to reach and engage their people in real-time allows organisations to act and mobilise them quickly and pivot rapidly. This quick reaction time makes organisations more agile and reactive to the world.
Improve employee engagement by creating shared values: A unified digital employee experience connects every person to their organisation, making it easier to survey employees and collaboratively develop a shared sense of purpose. That shared purpose can ultimately help organisations achieve their business goals.
Improved employee productivity: Digitalisation efforts in employee experience can automate tedious and monotonous business processes, which often leave employees feeling demotivated. Reducing these tasks can make employees more productive by proactively giving them the tools and applications they need to succeed when needed.
Enhanced security: Digital security is a major priority for organisations, and it can be enhanced when a company prioritises its digital employee experience. Many possible security breaches happen through digital means, and when the right tools and applications are in place, it is easier for organisations to manage security vulnerabilities.
How to create a digital employee experience in 5 steps
The digital employee experience encompasses all the tools, platforms, and technologies employees use to perform their jobs, communicate, and collaborate. Therefore, HR teams and organisations must carefully decide how to create this experience.
The steps that organisations need to take are:
Step 1: Assess current technology
Conduct a technology audit to understand the current tools and platforms.
Gather feedback from employees about their digital experience.
Step 2: Define objectives
Establish clear goals for what you want to achieve with your DEX.
Align these goals with your overall HR and business strategy.
Step 3: Select the right tools
Choose platforms and tools that integrate well with each other.
Ensure the tools are user-friendly and meet your organisation’s specific needs.
Step 4: Implement and train
Roll out new tools and platforms in phases to manage the transition smoothly.
Provide comprehensive training to ensure employees can use the new technology effectively.
Step 5: Monitor and optimise
Continuously gather feedback and monitor the usage of digital tools.
Use data analytics to identify areas for improvement and optimise the digital experience.
It should be known that creating a digital employee experience is not a one-time project but an ongoing process.
How to measure the digital employee experience
Measuring the digital employee experience can provide HR teams with valuable employee insights into productivity, engagement and employee satisfaction.
Organisations can measure their DEX by:
Implementing real-time feedback tools: Real-time feedback tools, such as pulse surveys and chatbots, allow HR and IT teams to capture employees’ sentiments and issues as they arise. These tools can be integrated into digital platforms to provide immediate opportunities for employees to voice their experiences and frustrations.
Utilising analytics and usage data: Digital tools and platforms often have built-in analytics that track usage patterns and behaviours. HR can use these analytics, and IT teams can leverage this data to gain insights into how employees interact with these tools.
Using employee surveys and feedback: One of the most direct ways to gauge the digital employee experience is through regular surveys and feedback mechanisms. Tailored questionnaires, like stay interviews, can help HR and IT teams capture employees’ perceptions with their digital tools.
Become a recognised employer of choice and enhance your digital employee experience
A comprehensive digital employee experience is no longer a luxury but necessary in modern business and talent strategies. Organisations will attract and retain top talent by investing in their digital environment and aligning HR and IT needs. By investing in the right digital tools and platforms, HR and IT can work together to create an environment that attracts top talent, enhances engagement and retention, boosts productivity, supports remote work, and drives innovation. Embracing a digital-first approach aligns with the expectations of today’s workforce and positions your organisation for sustained success in the future.
The Top Employers Certification Programme recognises excellent people practices across several HR topics, including engagement, that help organisations grow as employers of choice. These practices are often improved by identifying important insights for an organisation to determine where to make impactful changes in their business.
HR analytics and the employee experience: what it is, how to implement it and best practices to help your organisation excel
One of an organisation’s primary responsibilities to its employees is to ensure that they have a positive experience while working. This is often referred to as employee experience, and it is becoming an increasingly important factor in the success of businesses today.
Beyond the trends, prioritising employee experience is also important to improve productivity, reduce turnover, and enhance satisfaction. However, with so many factors contributing to employee experience, knowing where to focus your efforts can be challenging. This is where HR analytics can be helpful. In this article, we will explore how HR analytics can be used to prioritise employee experience and improve overall organisational performance.
What are HR analytics?
HR analytics is the practice of using data to inform HR decision-making. It involves gathering, analysing, and interpreting data related to HR metrics, such as employee engagement, turnover rates, and compensation, to help organisations make more informed decisions. Organisations can use HR analytics to identify trends and patterns and make data-driven decisions that can significantly impact employee experience.
What is the employee experience?
Employee experience is the sum of an employee’s interactions and perceptions of their workplace. It includes everything from the work environment to company culture, management style, benefits and compensation, and overall job satisfaction. Employees with a positive experience are likelier to be engaged, productive, and committed to their jobs.
It is effectively the sum of all the touchpoints a potential employee has with their employer, from when they are candidates to when they become part of an organisational alumni upon departure.
What is the link between HR analytics and the employee experience?
HR analytics is pivotal in enhancing the employee experience by offering data-driven employee insights into every lifecycle stage. The employee experience encompasses all employee interactions with an organisation, from recruitment and onboarding to development, performance management, and retention.
The benefits of implementing HR analytics
HR analytics empowers businesses to make informed decisions, optimise operations, and enhance employee experiences. Below are some key benefits of implementing HR analytics in your organisation:
Provides objective data: HR analytics can provide objective data that can help HR leaders identify areas of the organisation where employee experience may be lacking. For example, if data shows high employee turnover rates in a particular department, HR leaders can investigate the cause and take action to improve the situation.
Improved data-driven decision-making: HR analytics allows you to move from intuition-based decisions to evidence-based strategies. By analysing patterns in employee performance, engagement, and turnover, you can make more accurate decisions regarding hiring, promotions, and team management.
Improved talent acquisition: analytics can identify the most effective recruitment channels and strategies, helping you target suitable candidates faster. To optimise your recruitment process, you can assess candidate quality, time-to-hire, and cost-per-hire factors.
Employee retention and engagement: by analysing trends in employee satisfaction surveys, turnover rates, and performance data, you can identify at-risk employees and take proactive steps to boost engagement and reduce turnover, saving costs associated with rehiring and retraining.
Enhanced workforce planning: HR analytics helps you predict future talent needs based on business goals and trends. You can anticipate skill shortages and succession plans and align workforce capabilities with long-term business strategies.
Optimised learning and development programmes: with analytics, you can evaluate the effectiveness of training programs and identify skills gaps across your workforce. This enables the design of tailored learning programs that align with individual and organisational goals.
Cost reduction: HR analytics helps track and optimise labour costs, identify inefficiencies, and allocate resources effectively. This includes better management of overtime, absenteeism, and benefits costs.
Better performance management: implementing HR analytics can give you deeper insights into employee performance metrics and feedback. This can lead to more transparent performance appraisals, helping to motivate employees and improve productivity.
Informed compensation and benefits decisions: analytics provides insights into compensation trends within your industry and workforce, allowing for more equitable and competitive pay structures. It also helps optimise benefits offerings based on employee preferences and organisational goals.
Key HR analytics metrics you can use (with examples)
Your organisation can measure several HR analytics to understand your company better, but the right ones will depend on the needs and goals you want to accomplish. Here is a short overview of some of the most critical metrics to use for starting your HR analytics journey:
Voluntary and involuntary turnover rates: this metric gives insight into the percentage of employees who leave the organisation. The voluntary rate calculates the percentage of employees who decide to leave the company, while the involuntary rate calculates the percentage of employees who get let go.
Absence rate: the absence rate measures the total number of days an employee is absent from work; it does not include holiday periods. The absence is calculated by dividing the number of days worked by the total number of days the employee could have worked over a specific time.
Retention rate: the retention rate offers insight into how well your organisation keeps its employees working. It is calculated by dividing the total number of employees who decided to stay employed over a given period by the total number of employees over that same period.
Revenue per employee: this metric measures how much money the business brings in for every employee it has on staff and pays expenses, such as salary and benefits. It is calculated by dividing an organisation’s revenue by the total number of employees in the company
HR analytics best practices
When implementing a strategy that includes HR analytics, not one strategy suits every organisation. It will take time to find the right tools and metrics to support your overall goals and the needs of your people, but here are some best practices that can help guide you in the right direction:
Promote a Data-Driven Culture
For HR analytics to be effective, everyone in the organisation must embrace data-driven decision-making. Resistance to change can be a significant barrier. You can do this by educating and training your people and leadership on the value of analytics. Ensure they understand how data can enhance their decision-making processes. Encourage the use of data in meetings and performance discussions to reinforce its importance.
Start Small and Scale Gradually
HR analytics can seem overwhelming if you attempt to measure everything from the start. Starting with a focused pilot project allows testing, refinement, and quick wins. You can start with a small, manageable area (e.g., recruitment data, employee turnover) and focus on generating insights there first. As your people gain confidence and expertise, expand the scope of your analytics efforts.
Invest in the Right Tools and Technology
The success of an HR analytics strategy depends on the tools used to collect, analyse, and visualise data. Without the right technology, extracting insights can be labour-intensive and inaccurate. Evaluate analytics platforms that fit your organisation’s needs. Integrate with existing HR systems and provide robust reporting and visualisation features.
Build a Cross-Functional Team
HR analytics requires collaboration between HR professionals, data scientists, and IT specialists. A diverse team ensures that technical, analytical, and business perspectives are considered. You can succeed in your organisation by forming a cross-functional team where HR experts define the business questions, data scientists manage the analytics models, and IT ensures smooth data infrastructure and system integration.
Monitor and Adjust Regularly
HR analytics is not a “set it and forget it” strategy. As the business evolves, so too should your business’s analytics approach. To continuously monitor the effectiveness of your analytics projects you must collect feedback from stakeholders, measure the impact of initiatives, and adjust your analytics models, data sources, and strategies accordingly.
The bottom line of using HR analytics to improve the employee experience
Prioritising employee experience is critical for any business’s success. By focusing on employees’ needs and using HR analytics to address their concerns, organisations can help create a positive workplace culture, improve productivity, reduce turnover, and enhance customer satisfaction.
While HR analytics can be a powerful tool for businesses to prioritise employee experience and improve overall organisational performance, it is also not the be-all and end-all of how organisations should approach the needs of their employees. Data can be used to identify areas where employee experience may be lacking and to make informed decisions about where to focus their efforts. There is still a human aspect to understanding employees through traditional methods like listening and reaching out to them to understand strategies to improve their organisation.
As an HR leader, incorporating HR analytics into your decision-making process can help you stay ahead and ensure your organisation remains competitive in the marketplace.
Another way to gain insights that help you stay ahead of the competition can be found in employees who are leaving the business. This can be done by conducting stay interviews. Learn more about this from one of our Top Employers now.
Best Practice | Accenture Accentuates the Employee Experience
The programme “Change @ Work, Poland edition” started in 2019 as the first One Accenture initiative to promote a sense of belonging within the organisation. The programme aims to improve employee satisfaction by helping them feel more valued and connected to the organisation.
Using a dedicated AI tool, Accenture Poland engaged approximately 250 employees in real time to shape their culture of belonging. Based on extensive research, they have determined four main areas that most influence employees’ sense of belonging. Under this programme, Accenture Poland is running 15 amazing projects to shape a better world for more than 9 000 employees.
This is just a snapshot of Accenture’s innovative best practice. You can find the entire practice in our HR Best Practices database, which is exclusively available to Top Employers. Get inspiration and insight into the approach, challenges and learnings experienced by certified Top Employers. Access it now via the Top Employers Programme if you are certified or learn more about it here!
Why the practice was needed
During difficult and unpredictable times, Accenture Poland believes that leaders must act alongside younger colleagues to co-create the best solutions. Involving employees at all levels of an organisation can also help them feel engaged with the organisation in a meaningful way and could, therefore, help retain talent.
How the practice was implemented
Accenture’s Change @ Work, Poland edition consisted of three main steps:
Accenture Poland conducted research using individual in-depth interviews with approximately 50 employees to understand the main factors that determine a feeling of belonging within Accenture.
The analysed dataset included:
The anonymised personal data of respondents was obtained from internal human resource management systems.
Qualitative data – statements of respondents obtained based on the interview discussion guide.
Quantitative data – responses to questions asked using a five-point Likert scale.
Based on the research, the organisation designed four main activities that were most important for employees in terms of belonging.
Using an AI tool, Remesh, Accenture Poland involved approximately 250 employees in shaping final solutions that best met employees’ expectations.
The co-creation method was used, and the initiative was run by employees for employees as a way to understand and focus on their real needs.
Results of the practice
More than 300 employees gave feedback to shape the final solutions.
15 initiatives are being implemented to increase employee satisfaction.
Accenture Poland is moving from talent consumption toward talent creation, with Gen Z pushing for this change.
3 Employee Insights Your Organisation Needs to Succeed
Despite their industry and offerings, organisations rely on their people more than anything else. That is why it is important for organisations to understand their employees as much as they understand their clients .
In this blog post we are exploring everything from what employee insights are to the three employee insights organisations need to prioritise.
What are employee insights?
Employee insights are valuable information and understanding from analysing people’s behaviour, attitude, and organisational feedback. They form the foundation upon which people strategies are built. As can serve as a starting point for information and a way for teams to monitor the success of their strategies.
Employee insights encompass aspects such as employee motivations, job satisfaction, work-life balance, professional development needs, and perceptions of the workplace culture. By systematically gathering and interpreting data through surveys, performance reviews, feedback sessions, and other tools, HR teams can use this data to comprehensively understand what drives their people.
How employee insights benefit and support organisations
Employee insights have a number of benefits for organisations, especially when it comes to learning what drives employee satisfaction. Some of those benefits include:
Enhanced employee engagement: when employees feel positive engagement it is reflected in the quality of their work as it becomes more than just a job for them. They show a level of dedication that means they are more likely to take pride in their work and that means that organisations can rely on them to go the extra mile for business success.
Improved retention of employees:recruiting and training new people is expensive and time-consuming and expensive. By retaining existing employees, organisations can save on recruitment costs, training programs, and the loss of productivity associated with new hires.
An improved work culture and environment to support employees:a positive work culture and supportive environment are essential for fostering employee well-being and productivity. When employees fee valued, respected and supported at work they are more likely to feel satisfied at work, and satisfied people are more likely to stay with the organisation and perform at their best.
Enable organisations to make more informed decisions:organisations that can make data-driven decision-making will find that it is crucial for strategic planning and operational efficiency. This alignment leads to better outcomes and a more motivated workforce.
Reduced costs: high turnover of employees can lead to hidden costs such as lost productivity, lower employee morale, and decreased customer satisfaction. By improving retention, organisations avoid these costs.
3 employee insights your organisation needs to know
Now that it is clearer about the benefits of identifying employee insights, we are going to go deeper into the ones your organisation needs to identify:
How are the employee motivations within your organisation:Knowing what motivates your employees is key to fostering a productive and engaged workforce. While compensation is important, intrinsic motivators such as recognition, meaningful work, career growth opportunities, and a positive workplace culture often significantly impact long-term engagement. HR teams that can identify what motivates their people will be better able to align these needs with organisational goals, creating a work environment that supports the organisation while ensuring that employees are supported.
How employees feel about their sense of belonging within the organisation:A sense of belonging is essential for a positive employee experience. Employees who feel included and part of the organisation are more likely to be engaged and committed. Organisations that have data and insights on these feelings will be able to make decisions to better engage their people and support them so that they are more engaged at work.
How employees feel about their personal and professional growth opportunities at work:People want to feel that their careers are progressing and that their company supports their growth. Organisations also want to invest in the people they have rather than continually looking for new employees to fill their gaps. That is why investing in professional development through training programs, workshops, and continuous learning opportunities benefits employees and the organisation. HR teams prioritising getting data and insights into this area of their employees’ lives will feel more equipped to support their people while also boosting their loyalty and commitment to the organisation.
5 ways to gain employee insights
Employee insights can be gained through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods designed to gather comprehensive data on employees’ overall experiences, attitudes, and behaviours. Some of the methods that organisations can use to gain these insights include:
Regular surveys and questionnaires:frequent use of surveys and questionnaire, can be an effective way for organisations to get a general picture of how employees are feeling at work. These can be annual engagement surveys, pulse surveys, or targeted questionnaires focusing on specific areas such as job satisfaction, work-life balance, and career development. These tools can also be effectively implemented using digital tools that will allow data to be analysed and trends to be easily identified.
Regular one-on-one meetings and check-ins:regular perfomarmance reviews, like stay inteviews, provide valuable insights into employee performance, strengths, and areas for development. These discussions also offer an opportunity for employees to share their career aspirations, challenges, and feedback on their roles and the organisation. When using this method to gain employee insights, attention must be paid to creating a psychologically safe environment for employees to share their feelings.
Exit interviews:Exit interviews with departing employees can reveal critical insights into why employees leave and what could have been done to retain them. This feedback helps identify systemic issues, areas for improvement, and opportunities to enhance the employee experience for current and future staff.
Anonymous feedback channels:Providing anonymous ways to give feedback, like suggestion boxes or confidential online platforms, encourages employees to share honest opinions without fear of retaliation. This can surface issues that employees might be reluctant to discuss openly.
HR Analytics: HR departments can leverage data analytics to track and analyse various metrics such as turnover rates, absenteeism, performance metrics, and employee engagement scores. Advanced analytics tools can uncover patterns and trends, providing actionable insights for strategic decision-making.
Organisations that use a combination of these methods can gain a holistic understanding of their employees’ experiences, needs, and concerns. This can enable them to have a comprehensive approach to gathering employee insights.
Employee insights: final thoughts on their value
Employee insights are essential for building a resilient and high-performing organisation in a competitive business landscape. It is critical that HR teams prioritise understanding and leveraging these insights to drive organisational success.
The Top Employers Certification Programme recognises excellent people practices to help organisations grow as an employer of choice. These excellent people practices are often improved by identifying important employee insights to know where to make impactful changes.
Learn more about joining the Programme and how it can help you make data-driven decisions: get in touch today, become employer of choice!
HR Practices to Elevate Your Workforce: Insights from Asia-Pacific’s Top Employers 2024
This year, we’ve certified 369 organisations in Asia-Pacific as Top Employers, and we have curated a selection of best practices from these esteemed organisations to inspire you. In this comprehensive resource, you’ll find insights and exemplary practices that have not only raised the global standard of HR excellence but also set the benchmark for others to follow.
Download the ebook now to uncover invaluable insights. Here are some highlights you’ll find inside:
Learning and Development – Discover how AstraZeneca fosters a culture of lifelong learning to support its 2030 Bold Ambition. Learn how their 3Es Learning Framework (Experience, Exposure, and Education) empowers employees to embrace a ‘learning mindset,’ focusing on real-time application and long-term development through coaching and feedforward. Explore how initiatives like Degreed, P100, LEAP 50, and the Accelerate program enhance skills, broaden perspectives, and accelerate leadership development. Discover how AstraZeneca’s commitment to everyday development experiences drives innovation and delivers life-changing medicines to patients, reflected in high engagement scores and strong business performance.
Onboarding – Discover how NN Life Insurance Japan has transformed its onboarding process by integrating digital tools with personal communication. Learn how new hires benefit from instant access to essential information and e-learning resources, coupled with personal interactions such as welcome sessions with senior management. Explore how these efforts enhance talent retention and engagement by fostering strong connections within the organization.
Performance – Discover how Lyreco Thailand’s Performance Development Review (PDR) promotes ongoing learning and development. Learn how this holistic procedure integrates self-assessments, open communication, constructive feedback, and personalized development plans to align individual goals with company objectives. Explore how Lyreco’s PDR process, implemented through the Workday platform, has enhanced employee growth, reduced turnover, and increased engagement and satisfaction.
Sustainability – Discover how CHEP Australia fosters a culture of sustainability throughout the employee lifecycle. Learn how their sustainable practices are embedded from recruitment to onboarding and beyond, promoting a nature-positive economy through their pooling model. Explore initiatives like their annual Sustainability Week and Helping Hands program, which support employee engagement and community involvement, contributing to their ambitious sustainability goals.
Leadership – Discover how Servier Philippines anchors its leadership on the company value of CARE, fostering a highly inclusive and psychologically safe working environment. Learn how their transformation journey prioritizes acting on feedback, with initiatives like “You spoke, we listened” promoting open communication and continuous improvement. Explore how their psych safety training programs and workshops have built trust and collaboration, leading to high engagement and recognition as a Top Employer.
Talent Acquisition – Discover how GSK Indonesia’s Talent Pipeline strategy shifts from reactive to proactive recruiting, building relationships with passive external talent for future opportunities. Learn how this approach has streamlined the hiring process, reduced costs, and improved the quality of hires. Explore the steps of identifying, assessing, and engaging potential candidates, ensuring a ready pool of talent for critical roles.
Career Development – Discover how DLMI Malaysia supports employee career development through initiatives like Personal Development Plans, continuous dialogue, and career coaching programs. Learn how their internal digital career marketplace facilitates mobility and advancement, enhancing employee engagement and satisfaction. Explore how their annual Talent Reviews and Succession Planning process ensure the development of talents for critical leadership roles.
Offboarding – Discover how GEP India’s Alumni Network on LinkedIn keeps ex-employees connected to the organization. Learn how this professional network facilitates brand advocacy, rehiring of boomerang employees, and networking opportunities. Explore how GEP maintains relationships with former employees through engaging content and periodic alumni events.
Artificial Intelligence at Work: How to Enhance the Employee Experience
Increase employee engagement and boost morale by implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.
Engaged employees are essential to an organisation’s success. Employee engagement is the emotional investment employees make in their role and organisation. This personal investment is reflected in how employees execute their responsibilities and contribute to company culture. Unsurprisingly, organisations with high engagement outperform those with lower engagement levels.
Organisations have traditionally struggled with defining and quantifying engagement. Despite sincere efforts and investments of time, effort, and money, achieving high employee engagement can remain an elusive goal that is difficult to measure. Thankfully, artificial intelligence (AI) technology is changing that.
AI tools are revolutionising the workplace landscape by changing both employer and employee expectations. The benefit most quickly recognized is increased productivity. However, that’s just the beginning of how AI-power tools can enhance the employee experience. This article will explore other benefits AI can provide for the employee experience like expedited access to support, data-driven insights into employee sentiments, and personalised learning and development opportunities.
Four Ways AI Enhances the Employee Experience
Increased Productivity
By automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks, AI tools give employees more time to focus on complex matters. The majority of their energy can be devoted to problem-solving, innovation, critical thinking, and relationship building. For example, AI algorithms can analyse large data sets and generate insights, saving employees numerous hours of data collection and entry. Using AI for this type of task also offers the added benefit of reducing inevitable human errors.
Streamlining administrative tasks is another way AI can increase employee productivity. Virtual assistants can organise documents and schedule meetings, enabling teams to focus on more meaningful tasks. Algorithms can also analyse team members’ skills and availability to recommend employees for upcoming projects.
Expedited Support
Chatbots are a valuable resource that can help employees instantly access critical information. These tools can search through the organisation’s repository of knowledge and policies, reducing time spent searching for information or waiting for colleagues to respond. If an answer is not available, the chatbot can alert the appropriate Human Resource (HR) team member to answer the employee’s question. AI chatbots also help HR teams deliver information like policy updates, professional development tools, benefits information, and more.
In addition to expediting HR services, AI chatbots are an efficient way to collect anonymous feedback. AI can easily synthesise this feedback with data from other sources like performance reviews and exit interviews to generate insights about areas of concern or opportunities for improvement. Regularly monitoring feedback data ensures employees remain engaged and enables organisations to identify potential red flags early.
Data-driven Sentiment Insights
Employee engagement efforts are traditionally focused on promoting positive morale. Prior to AI-power technologies, organisations had very few ways to gauge employee engagement beyond surveys and other types of self-reported feedback. Through data mining and machine learning, AI tools can analyse and predict employee needs and behaviour.
Sentiment analytics software offers detailed insights into what impacts employee morale across various themes like compensation, professional development, and benefits. As themes are identified, comments on surveys can be categorised and compiled. Then, comments in each category can be tagged with a sentiment–positive, negative, or neutral–offering the HR team a useful data set to review and act on. Automating the process of compiling and analysing data gives the HR team more time to focus on personal interactions and strategic initiatives.
Personalized Learning and Development Programs
AI-powered learning platforms offer an unparalleled level of personalisation. Each employee’s skills, pace, and learning methods are assessed by the platform. Based on that information, the platform generates a customised study program for each person, recommending relevant courses and resources.
As employees advance through their training, the platform continuously adapts to their progress, suggesting new content and challenges to keep them engaged. Such a tailored approach ensures that employees acquire the necessary skills for their role, keeps them motivated, and enables them to effortlessly take ownership of their professional development.
Organisations using AI-based learning platforms often notice the added benefit of promoting a culture of continuous learning. The platform can automatically generate recommendations for additional opportunities once a study program is complete. Because the platform understands the employee’s preferred learning method and desired skill set, these recommendations are personalised to their needs and preferences, increasing the likelihood that they will continue training.
Read More:
Factors to Consider Before Launching AI
Before introducing any new technology or tools to employees, there’s a lot to consider. With such incredibly powerful AI-based technology available, organisations need to carefully vet platforms to minimise security and privacy risks and develop training resources. Organisations that wait too long to introduce AI-power technology may find that employees are using these tools on their own or that their competitors are already reaping the benefits of this technology.
To successfully integrate AI-based tools, carefully evaluate how well they will fit employees’ needs. Here are key factors to consider:
Ease of Use: Ensure the platform is intuitive and will not require extensive training to use. Assess how well the platform will integrate with other software systems already in place. A positive user experience will expedite adoption across the organisation.
Scalability: Tools need to be able to serve employees’ needs today and grow with the organisation. Finding a platform with robust and flexible features will ensure the technology has long-term value and aligns with the organisation’s growth trajectory.
Data Analytics: Confirm the selected platform has the ability to capture the desired data. For example, is the motivation primarily to collect data on employee sentiment or provide more personalised professional development opportunities? It may be necessary to launch several tools, rather than expect one platform to meet all of the organisation’s needs. Defining metrics for success will help evaluate the technology’s impact.
Internal Trust: The prospect of automating tasks is often associated with the idea that jobs will be eliminated. However, these tools are meant to support employees, not replace them. Organisations can reduce anxiety about job displacement by clearly stating the purpose of launching these tools and implementing reskilling and upskilling programs to equip employees to thrive once these new technologies are in place.
Maintenance and Support: Someone in the organisation will have to manage this technology and troubleshoot when issues arise. Identify and properly train that person or team before all employees start using it. Create on-going training opportunities for the support team to ensure the technology scales along with the organisation to fully maximise its capabilities.
Organisations are still in the early phases of adopting AI-powered tools in the workplace. As a result, the list of benefits and possibilities are constantly expanding. This huge potential means it’s even more important for leadership to have a clear understanding of why the organisation is implementing these tools. Ultimately, any technology is only as effective as the strategy behind it.
While the implications and applications of these technologies are constantly evolving, one constant is how these tools enhance the employee experience by giving them more time to focus on strategic initiatives. This shift fosters innovation and creates a more enriching work environment. Many employees are pleasantly surprised when they see that introducing AI-based technology in the workplace actually makes it more human.
Maximising the Employee Experience in 2023
The employee experience has been a preoccupation of HR leaders and departments for a long time. Still, especially now, as the world of work undergoes rapid transformation in the light of technological changes, cultural changes and more – it has never been more critical. In 2023, employee experience has emerged as a driving force behind successful, innovative organisations for its impact on an organisation’s competitiveness, especially when it comes to the engagement and retention of existing employees and the attraction of new employees. With the rise of remote work, evolving workforce priorities, and an increasing reliance on technology, understanding and improving employee experience has never been more critical.
This Insights article will focus on what the employee experience entails in 2023 and what changes will affect employees and leaders alike.
What is the Employee Experience in 2023?
The term employee experience is used across several departments in an organisation because it is so important to the success of business performance, but that can also make it difficult to focus on what it really means. When we refer to the employee experience, we refer to how employees interpret and internalise their interactions with an organisation, which ultimately contributes to their satisfaction.
That definition is quite simple but is also quite broad. It encompasses several aspects of working at an organisation, but in 2023, we can focus on four key elements affecting the employee experience. These four aspects of focus include:
Company culture,
Technology infrastructure,
Workplace environment,
Wellbeing practices.
These four issues stand out as three influential elements in shaping the employee experience.
Company Culture and the Employee Experience
An organisation’s culture can have a powerful impact on the employee experience. It affects not only how employees feel when they enter the workplace but also how they perform in their roles. Job seekers are increasingly attracted to organisations that offer appealing employee perks and benefits, maintain a good reputation, and promote a positive company culture. As a result, HR teams must work diligently to create a supportive atmosphere that motivates, energises, and empowers employees.
When we look at workplace culture, it is basically an organisation’s overall combination of shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and values that make up the environment at work. Culture at work is affected by several factors, including:
Management,
Executive leadership,
Company values and philosophies,
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programmes,
Rewards and recognition programmes.
In 2023, culture is not a second thought. It has an involved team working to create a positive employee experience. It is part of a considered employee experience strategy now.
Technology, the Emergence of AI and the Employee Experience
Technology is another essential element of employee experience. The right tools and technologies can streamline processes, automate tasks, and provide valuable insights for HR teams, helping them better understand and develop the diverse experiences required for a varied workforce.
The integration of cutting-edge technologies is pivotal in reshaping the employee experience. From artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to advanced collaboration tools, employees benefit from streamlined workflows and increased efficiency. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are also making waves in training and development, providing employees with immersive and engaging learning experiences, regardless of their physical location. Investing in employee experience technology allows companies to offer a comprehensive end-to-end experience, elevating employee satisfaction and engagement levels.
AI and other technologies will only be further integrated into business and HR practices in the coming years. Companies adopting these emerging HR trends can maintain their competitive edge and cultivate a more engaged, satisfied, and high-performing workforce. This approach is often welcomed by business leaders who understand the importance of staying ahead in the market.
The Workplace Environment and the Employee Experience
The workplace environment is critical in shaping employee experience, affecting concentration, wellbeing, and productivity. HR leaders must ensure that their workplace environments foster a better work-life balance, enabling employees to thrive professionally and personally. One of the most prominent changes in the employee experience is the widespread adoption of hybrid work models. In response to the lessons learned from the global pandemic, organisations are embracing flexibility in work arrangements. Employees now have the freedom to choose between working from the office, remotely, or a combination of both. This shift enhances work-life balance and empowers employees to tailor their work environments to suit their individual needs.
At the same time, it is key to note that many organisations are not as flexible as others, there are still several jobs that require employees to be in the office to conduct their work, but even within these organisations, there is some flexibility that can be found to support employees. It may just have to come in the way of shift choice or location.
Wellbeing and its Impact on the Employee Experience
Organisations are placing a greater emphasis on employee wellbeing in 2023. The traditional approach of viewing employees solely as contributors to the company’s success is evolving into a holistic perspective that acknowledges the importance of mental and physical health. Wellness programs, mental health resources, and flexible scheduling options are becoming integral components of the modern workplace, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment that supports a positive employee experience.
Maximising the employee experience is essential in driving organisational success, and companies prioritising this area will be better positioned for growth in the rapidly evolving business landscape. By focusing on critical components such as company culture, technology, workplace environment, and wellbeing on top of implementing targeted strategies for enhancing employee experience, organisations can foster a more engaged, satisfied, and high-performing workforce capable of driving business success well into the future. Organisations that successfully work towards this will succeed in 2023 and be better prepared for the future to meet the changing needs of their people.
How Employee Networks Have Become a Growing Practice for Progress in Diversity and Inclusion Efforts
By Miquel Calvert, Communications Manager Spain, Top Employers Institute
In 2023, Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) networks, formed by employees who advise in areas such as equality, disability, generational coexistence, or LGTBIQ+, are on the rise in top organisations. The use of these employee networks in Spanish organisations is becoming more common, especially among Top Employers. In this article, we are looking deeper at four Spanish Top Employers, including Zurich, ACCIONA, Michelin, and ILUNION, who are excellent examples of organisations successfully implementing such networks.
80% of Top Employers in Spain have consistently implemented these networks, 11% more than the average of certified organisations at the European level. Employee networks aim to identify the needs of all groups within the organisation and contribute to considering relevant perspectives and trends in Diversity and Inclusion in all Human Resources processes.
D&I networks can be internal (e.g., women’s networks or employee resource groups) or external (forums on various D&I topics organised by specialised entities).
“These diversity networks, in addition to contributing to a sense of belonging, help prevent situations of discrimination, incorporate inclusive perspectives, and improve people processes such as talent acquisition, leadership, work model, or organisational culture,” emphasises Massimo Begelle, Regional Manager at Top Employers Institute in Spain and Italy.
These networks are integrated into the overall diversity and inclusion strategy, coordinated with other best practices such as diversity champions, who are volunteer employees acting as promoters of various diversities (46% of certified organisations already have them), or leadership training to serve as models for D&I (85% of companies).
Zurich, ACCIONA, Michelin, and ILUNION are excellent examples of organisations that have successfully implemented such networks.
At Zurich Insurance, they are clear: under the motto Brave, proud of their colours and because of this pride, they have developed a strategy based on the belief that a diverse team makes a difference. Following this premise, they are building an open company where all people are welcome, and the well-being of each individual is essential.
As part of this ambition, the people at Zurich have created the Allies Programme, consisting of a team of volunteers from different collectives, ages, and backgrounds. They have created initiatives for many diversities in their organisation, focusing on four pillars of their inclusive attitude: Gender and Functional Diversity, Pride, and Intergenerational Dialogue.
#IamYourAlly is the battle cry with which they want to be very close to those who need the support of the programme, openly highlighting situations of discrimination. In addition to being part of the decision-making on the D&I agenda, they regularly meet with the Management Committee to monitor initiatives. They also actively participate in various events, such as Pride Day, March 8th, or the awareness campaign on unconscious biases. Read More: Unleashing The Power of Employee Networks: Insights from Tata Consultancy Services UK & Ireland
ACCIONA: Diversity Committees Representing All Collectives
Placing people at the centre and contributing to real transformation is part of ACCIONA’s purpose. Therefore, PEOPLE is the global strategy they have outlined, integrating Diversity and Inclusion as a fundamental pillar and having internal networks to scale this commitment throughout the organisation. 13 Diversity and Inclusion Committees comprise the internal networks that drive best practices and connect people in business and countries. They are formed by groups of professionals representing all collectives and sharing the mission of collecting information from their environment and generating proposals and initiatives on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. While creating a sense of community and belonging, the committees promote an inclusive workplace aligned with the company’s purpose, values, and objectives.
ILUNION: Networks to Address the Needs of Different Collectives
ILUNION is committed to diversity, demonstrating that it can be profitable and competitive while promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
At ILUNION, they work to promote the employment inclusion of people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups with specific needs related to their sexual orientation, gender, age, origin, etc. They are proud of their diversity, reflected in all company and business areas.
Companies within ILUNION have Equality Plans that guarantee equal treatment and opportunities between women and men. Also, coinciding with the European Diversity Month in May, ILUNION joins the European initiative with various actions such as training, dissemination, and in-person events on different topics.
They also coordinate with critical networks involved in diversity management, especially in the workplace. Among other actions, these networks identify the needs of collectives and assess how to address them within ILUNION with its policies and activities that directly impact the workforce and other external actions that contribute knowledge and help the diversity management network become increasingly knowledgeable and professional.
In Michelin Spain and Portugal, since 2007, they have been committed to diversity and inclusion as a vital element of the People policy, confirmed in 2010 with the signing of their first Equality Plan.
In 2014, the Michelin Group launched the Women Forward network, in which women from all areas of the company participate, sharing experiences and leading initiatives, allowing the visibility of new ways to progress in the field of diversity and inclusion within Michelin: they have significantly increased the presence of women in industrial environments, female presence in management positions has advanced similarly, and they have simultaneously improved the culture and perception of diversity at all levels of the company.
Similarly, as a leading company in the country’s industrial sector, they participate in external networks such as “Women and Engineering” and the “STEM Alliance for Female Talent,” where, together with other companies, they seek to attract young women to STEM studies to highlight the need for female talent in industrial environments.
In this blog post, we will discussing how BAT improve their workplace culture and retention strategy by gaining employee insights through stay interviews.
What are Stay Interviews
While it is traditional for organisations to have exit interviews, many companies realise there is a need to conduct stay interviews. Stay interviews are a proactive and structured approach to engage with current employees and gain insight into their job satisfaction, career aspirations, and overall experience within the company. Where exit interviews are reactive, stay interviews are a proactive approach to assessing the needs of employees while they are still within the organisation.
How BAT established stay interviews:
In the APMEA West region (Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus, Central Asia and Pakistan), BAT recently established stay interviews with their employees to help with retention and focus on customised, individualised, and purposeful interventions for employees instead of a ‘one size fits all’ strategy.
The primary objectives of stay interviews include:
Identifying factors that contribute to employee retention.
Understanding individual motivations and needs.
Addressing potential concerns or dissatisfaction before they lead to turnover.
Aligning employees’ goals with the company’s objectives.
Tailoring retention strategies to foster a more positive and fulfilling work environment.
This is just a snapshot of BAT’s innovative best practices; you can find the entire practice on our HR Best Practices database, which is exclusively available to Top Employers. Get inspiration and insight into the approach, challenges and learnings experienced by certified Top Employers. Access it now via the Top Employers Programme if you are certified or learn more about our HR best practice library.
Why the stay interview practice was needed
BAT sees stay interviews as necessary for their organisation’s talent management strategy. The interviews provide a proactive and insightful approach to employee retention, allowing the organisation to understand their existing workforce’s unique needs, motivations, and concerns.
By engaging in open and candid conversations with employees about their experiences, career aspirations, and overall job satisfaction, BAT can identify potential issues and opportunities for improvement before those issues escalate into reasons for departure. Stay interviews not only demonstrate their commitment to employee wellbeing and growth but also enable the customisation of retention strategies that resonate with each employee.
BAT’s main focus was a targeted approach, mainly focusing on their key talents, employees sitting in critical roles, and women; this was in line with the turnover trends and likely personas to leave the organisation, as the organisation had observed in the last few years.
Their strategy and subsequent practice were born out of numerous brainstorming sessions in the HR team aimed at curbing attrition rates within BAT’s APMEA West region. Over the past three years, this region has witnessed an upward trend in attrition, mirroring prevailing patterns across diverse industries and markets.
To effectively tackle this challenge, BAT developed and deployed a proactive measure to understand employee sentiments – what it would take to leave the organisation and what they appreciate in the organisation so that BAT could focus on elevating and building on those initiatives.
How stay inteviews were implemented:
BAT conducted external research to see what cutting-edge practices were available externally in the era of “great attrition” to foster employee retention and engagement and found that stay interviews were highlighted by many other researchers and top-tier businesses globally. They broke down the process into four steps.
Step 1: For BAT, building complete awareness of the stay interviews concept for their HR teams across the region was critical, including upskilling sessions to explain the practice and how to conduct meaningful and targeted stay interview sessions for different personas.
Step 2: The second step was a region-wide upskilling session for all their line managers run by the Area Talent Team to ensure the same messaging and level of understanding was provided for all line managers conducting the stay interviews with their direct reports.
Step 3: The third step was to share the standardised stay interview templates, questions with all line managers, and online self-learning tools for additional content.
Step 4: The fourth step was to gather all the stay interview information and to begin a complete analysis to ensure consistency of findings. This analysis was done by the to commence by the Area Talent Team.
Stay interviews results:
Stay interviews allowed BAT to take a deep dive into what drives employee corporate purpose and contributes to fostering the best workplace to develop and build their careers. Overwhelmingly, the organisation saw that there were three main reasons employees chose to stay with BAT:
Challenging work that allows them to grow both personally and professionally.
A feeling of camaraderie and support, providing employees with a like-minded circle to work within.
Learning opportunities provided by BAT to finesse functional mastery and leadership skills to deal with constant change and speed.
Final Thoughts: BAT’s stay interviews, a new way to listen to their employees.
Understanding employee experiences is critical to helping an organisation thrive and keeping valuable talent. If you want to read more about BAT’s practice and get a complete insight into the approach, challenges and learnings.
Access it now via the Top Employers Programme if you are certified, or learn how to became an employer of choice.
Personalisation in 2023: How the Employee Experience Will Be Impacted by Increasing Personalisation at Work across Asia-Pacific
“What we realised is that we can’t design a programme without involving our employees. All of our organisations’ initiatives are crafted in partnership with our employees,” said Rashmi Raghuraja, Senior HR Consultant at SAP India, during one of our Top Employers Inspire sessions.
This partnership with employees in crafting employee experiences is synonymous with achieving a more personalised approach. This particular trend of involving employee groups in the design of the organisation and work can be seen in 87.6% of Top Employers in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2023, companies of all sizes are actively competing to not only attract and retain top talent but also to cultivate a work culture that empowers employees to unleash their full potential, and this is synonymous with the emphasis on involving employees in shaping their experiences.
Recognising that employees are the heart of any successful company, businesses are embracing a collaborative approach to work. The inclusion of employees in shaping various initiatives not only boosts engagement but also results in a more compelling and meaningful work environment. While competitive salaries and benefits remain fundamental, the emphasis is now on fostering a culture of co-creation, where employees feel valued and have a sense of ownership in the organisation’s progress. This paradigm shift marks a critical evolution in the way companies view their workforce, placing employee well-being and fulfilment at the core of their strategies.
A Paradigm Shift in the Post-Pandemic Workplace
In the post-pandemic world, a period of reflection has allowed employees to identify what truly matters to them. In response, employers have been compelled to become increasingly innovative in their efforts to attract, develop, and retain their top talent. As the employee experience takes centre stage as a critical differentiator, personalisation emerges as the key to its success.
Notably, one of the most significant trends in the APAC region is the substantial growth in employee involvement in engagement action plans, rising to an impressive 84% compared to 75% in the previous year (2022). This means that employees are actively participating in the development of action plans through engagement in employee focus groups and sounding boards. Moreover, they are regularly consulted to ensure alignment on progress and ensure the plans’ effectiveness and relevance to their needs and aspirations.
This trend underlines the growing importance of involving employees insights in decision-making processes. In doing so, organisations in the APAC region are striving to create a work environment that truly resonates with and supports their valued employees.
Personalising the employee experience means understanding and catering to the unique needs, preferences, and aspirations of each employee. It involves tailoring well-being, training and development opportunities, work environment, and work-life balance to suit the individual. As observed in the World of Work Trends Report 2023, personalisation has become a necessity for organisations that want to create a productive workforce. And the role of digital and technology cannot be understated as it uses intuitive tech to personalise the experience. Our research among Top Employers worldwide shows that the Asia Pacific is leading the way in digital personalisation, with significantly wider implementation of practices, compared to the rest of the world.
What are the benefits of emphasising personalisation at work?
The personalisation of consumer needs has been a challenge for organisations for some years, and now employees expect to be treated as “internal” customers. The rise of individual employee needs will have much further to run in 2023 – what has been until now been “people-centric” will become “person-centric”. As such, organisations have been able to see a positive relationship between this personalisation and their employees ‘ experience of work.
We’ve seen a couple of examples of some of our Top Employers in Asia using personalisation to great effect in the workplace:
Global and Regional Asia-Pacific Top Employer Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), for example, created a platform called Xcelerate – a career guidance management platform that generates a personalised learning path based on an employee’s current skill sets and desired career trajectory. The platform provides career insights, including learning paths of employees in desired roles, competency gap analysis, and engagement indexes.
SABIC, certified as a regional APAC Top Employer, uses a platform called Percipio that uses AI to personalise the learning experience of employees, as well as improve the individuals’ efficiency and effectiveness of the learning process.
Top Employers are not personalising employee experience just for the sake of it. Personalising the employee experience offers a diverse array of benefits that span various aspects of the organisation:
Personalisation helps organisations create a positive work culture. By prioritising the unique needs of each individual employee, organisations foster a culture of belonging and inclusivity. Organisations that personalise their employees ‘ well-being and communication efforts will be able to see a noticeable improvement in their overall company culture. That is because employees who feel seen and appreciated are more likely to stay with the organisation and refer others to join. This can help reduce turnover and recruitment costs while also improving the quality of candidates. Employee involvement plays a pivotal role in personalisation, as the more involved an employee is, the more personalisation can be tailored to certain programs. There has been a noticeable trend among Top Employers in the APAC region, who have 72% of employees involved in designing well-being initiatives, as opposed to 58% in 2022. This trend reflects the growing emphasis on personalisation in the workplace, as organisations recognise its positive impact on employee satisfaction, wellness, and retention.
Another benefit of personalisation is increased employee engagemen This is especially important as many organisations struggle to keep engagement rates high as they find new ways of working after the upheaval of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Prioritising employee experience is relevant for all companies because when employees feel seen, heard, and valued, they are more likely to be invested in their work and the organisation. Engaged employees are also more likely to be motivated, productive, and willing to go above and beyond for the company. This can lead to higher quality work, increased attraction of new employees, and increased retention of talented employees for prolonged periods.
However, it’s concerning that less than 50% of Top Employers in the Asia-Pacific have an employee listening strategy in place, despite its crucial role in fostering a culture of openness, trust, and employee empowerment. Implementing an effective employee listening strategy is essential for organisations to understand their employees’ needs, concerns, and aspirations, enabling them to make informed decisions, boost engagement, and drive long-term success.
Another benefit of personalisation is improved performance management. Personalised feedback and coaching can help employees identify areas for growth and development, leading to improved job satisfaction and career growth. By personalising training and development opportunities, organisations can also help employees acquire the skills they need to succeed in their roles, leading to improved job performance. This is seen as an important factor for Top Employers in Asia, where 83% of Top Employers’ performance management approach allows for variation in philosophy, process, and timing to cater to the needs of different target audiences and/or business needs – recognising the need for personalisation of performance management.
Lastly, another benefit of personalisation is an improved sense of autonomy for the employee. Personalising an employee’s ability to choose where they work from, whether that is fully from home, always in the office, or hybrid, allows employees to feel that their organisations trust them to do their best work. That feeling of trust is important as it allows employees to feel as though they are not only a part of a company but rather that they are a trusted member of the organisation. Additionally, allowing employees to personalise their work schedule gives employees a chance to work when they are at their best rather than the traditional 9-5.
What makes for a great personalised experience for employees?
When it comes to increasing personalisation at work, we can see that certified Top Employers are leading the pack. If we look at how Top Employers personalise the employee experience, the answer is clear. They embrace conversations with employees and allow them to choose and shape their experiences. Personalisation is used most prominently in the evolution of flexible working practices, including remote and hybrid working, in Top Employers’ offerings in well-being, compensation & benefits initiatives. And in the development processes, especially careers, onboarding, and leadership development.
The growing availability of a highly digital employee experience creates the opportunity for a far greater degree of personalisation. This personalisation does not need to start from when the employee is hired, but for many organisations, it can incorporate personalisation from the talent attraction stage.
How technology and digital tools can assist in personalising the employee experience
The widespread use of technology is being put at the service of employees, with the data it provides used to act and improve each employee’s experience. IT systems used by organisations must be designed around the needs of employees if it is to contribute positively to their experience. In 2023, 89% of Top Employers in Asia Pacific conduct regular assessments of HR technology (compared to 83% globally), and 83% of Top Employers in APAC are personalising their HR technology (compared to 78% globally). There should be regular assessments of HR technology to make sure that any features that remain unused or do not contribute to the user experience are removed, with employees given the power to self-manage, control, and edit their environment based on their preferences.
Technology is being leveraged to collect and analyse data, enabling organisations to act and enhance each employee’s journey. Top Employer SABIC exemplifies this by utilising AI to create personalised HR technology experiences. To learn more about how SABIC uses AI to optimise employee experiences, check out the dedicated article on this topic.
While technology and digital HR are key drivers of personalisation, neither of them provides a guarantee of a great personalised employee experience. Organisations and their leaders, along with individual employees, will still need to define a clear vision for the role of digital HR for the whole organisation. We can already see this for certified Top Employers as 78% of them have a vision of the role of digital HR in the overall employee experience.
When the vision and direction are clear, the hard work on the employee experience begins. Organisations will need to go through the employee’s entire journey map, from the latter’s perspective. In 2023, we will see a commitment to detailed employee journey mapping in order to leverage the employee experience.
Employee journey mapping is a valuable tool for continuous improvement. It highlights all the touchpoints and experiences an employee will go through, designed from their subjective experience, alongside the information the organisation collects from various channels. The aim is to trigger a process of continuous improvement at every stage and across an employee’s digital and non-digital experience.
How Top Employers around the world are prioritising digital personalisation
Our research among certified Top Employers worldwide shows that the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions are leading the way in digital personalisation, with significantly wider implementation of practices, compared to the rest of the world. This fits with other more widely available data showing an accelerated investment in digitalisation when compared globally.
There have been two factors at work here. Firstly, in the drive to mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic, many businesses adopted digital technologies rapidly, effectively creating a digital “Big Bang”. Secondly, for a young and tech-savvy workforce, the expectation of a flexible and personalised digital experience has become a priority for their everyday employee experience.
Final Thoughts
Personalising the employee experience will be crucial for organisations worldwide in 2023. It helps create a happy and engaged workforce, a positive work culture, and improved performance management. Organisations that invest in personalisation will have a better chance of attracting and retaining top talent, driving innovation, and achieving long-term success. In 2023, the Asia-Pacific region will witness a surge in personalising the employee experience, with certified Top Employers leading the way in embracing collaborative approaches and involving employees in shaping initiatives. Leveraging digital technologies, such as AI-driven solutions, companies like Tata Consultancy Services and SABIC are tailoring learning paths and optimising HR technology to cater to individual needs.
This employee-centric approach yields benefits like a positive work culture, increased engagement, improved performance management, and a sense of autonomy. To succeed in this transformative era, organisations must define a clear vision for digital HR’s role and focus on detailed employee journey mapping for continuous improvement.
The Transformative Power of Applied Artificial Intelligence
How it is Impacting Decision Making in the Workplace
The world of work is constantly being moulded by new technologies and changing demands from employees and employers. Artificial Intelligence is one of the latest and possibly, most impactful technologies shifting the global landscape.
As AI systems become increasingly more common in production lines, offices, prediction models and workplace decisions, it is critical to explore how adopting AI will impact economic activity and professional lives.
Defining Artificial Intelligence
You no longer need to be a data scientist to engage with complex data. The term applied AI is everywhere, and it can be easy to forget what it encompasses with all the new rhetoric we’re encountering.
As such, this article should define the term used throughout the piece. Applied AI involves all the activities that underlie AI’s operationalisation from experimentation to production, including enabling computers and computer-controlled robots to execute tasks. What is most interesting for business leaders and employees is how AI will be used at work and the impact on human labour and human workers.
Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace
A recent global survey by McKinsey found that more than half of the respondents were beginning to implement AI in at least one of their business units. In that same study, nearly two-thirds of respondents expected their organisations to increase investments in AI over the next few years.
Applied AI is a powerful tool for organisations to improve their business practices. One of the more apparent areas for businesses to begin integrating AI in the workplace is using it to aid decision-making.
Applied Artificial Intelligence for Decision Making
Organisations have largely left the decision-making to the judgement of management judgement. However, in recent years, organisations have been increasingly interested in implementing data to aid decision-making.
Still, AI allows leaders and decision-makers to reimagine how they manage processes, how to use AI for talent acquisition, and organisational structures, but how is it reshaping how organisations operate?
Five Ways that Applied Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping Decision Making
Enhanced Data Analysis:
One of the primary ways applied AI transforms decision-making is by enhancing an organisation’s data analysis capabilities. With the ever-growing data available to businesses, traditional data processing and analysis methods have become inadequate. In an earlier HR analytics article this year, we examined how organisations impacted employee experiences. Still, as we have seen, the development of AI redefine what business can do with the large amounts of data they have.
With human assistance, applied AI algorithms and artificial intelligence tools can swiftly analyse vast amounts of data, extracting valuable patterns, key business metrics, trends, and correlations that would be difficult or time-consuming for humans to identify. It also removes some of the natural human biases and human errors found during analyses. It empowers decision-makers with comprehensive and accurate insights, enabling them to make informed choices backed by data-driven evidence.
Automation and Efficiency
Decision-making often involves repetitive tasks that consume valuable time and resources. Applied AI offers automation capabilities that streamline these processes, freeing human resources for more strategic and creative endeavours as complex data becomes easier to understand. AI-powered systems can handle routine tasks precisely and quickly, from data and information security to data collection and analysis to generate reports and recommendations.
AI’s big data insights improve overall efficiency and reduce the margin for human error, ensuring more reliable and consistent decision-making. It also allows human intelligence to support making decisions more efficiently as AI takes on the more mundane tasks.
Predictive Analysis
Applied AI empowers decision-makers with predictive analytics, enabling them to anticipate future outcomes and make proactive decisions. By leveraging historical data and machine learning algorithms, businesses can predict employee and customer behaviour, market trends, and potential risks. This capability allows organisations to stay ahead of the curve, adapt to changing circumstances, and capitalise on emerging opportunities. Predictive analytics supported by applied AI brings a competitive advantage by reducing uncertainty and enabling agile decision-making.
Risk Management and Compliance
Applied AI is also making significant strides in risk management and compliance. By analysing substantial amounts of data and identifying patterns, AI systems can flag potential risks, anomalies, or compliance violations. This proactive approach mitigates risks and ensures that organisations adhere to regulations and ethical standards. AI-powered tools can continuously monitor and assess data, providing decision-makers with real-time insights and alerts to support risk mitigation strategies.
Personalised Decision Support
Every decision-maker has unique preferences, biases, and decision-making styles. Applied AI can provide personalised decision support by understanding individual patterns and adapting to specific needs. AI-powered systems can learn from previous decisions and tailor recommendations to align with the decision-makers objectives and constraints. This level of personalisation empowers individuals to make decisions that align with their strategic vision while considering a broader range of relevant factors.
Considerations Organisations Need to Make as they Implement Artificial intelligence in the Workplace
Artificial intelligence in the workplace can provide big data insights for organisations. In contrast, the integration of artificial intelligence in decision-making processes has the potential to revolutionise how organisations operate and achieve their business objectives. Applied AI offers powerful tools and capabilities to enhance efficiency, improve accuracy, and unlock valuable insights. However, as organisations embrace this transformative technology, it is crucial to consider certain factors to ensure successful implementation and maximise the benefits.
These considerations include, but are not limited to:
Clearly Define Objectives
Before integrating applied AI into decision-making processes, organisations must clearly define their objectives, and this involves identifying the specific challenges or areas where AI can provide the most value. Whether optimising supply chain operations, improving customer experience, or enhancing risk management, organisations must align AI initiatives with their strategic goals. Defining clear objectives will enable focused implementation and ensure that AI solutions address the most critical decision-making needs.
Ethical and Legal Considerations
AI applications raise important ethical and legal considerations that organisations must carefully address. Decision-makers must ensure that the data used for training AI tools and AI technologies are obtained ethically and that privacy rights and data protection regulations are respected. Additionally, organisations must consider the potential biases and unintended consequences that AI algorithms might introduce into decision-making processes. Regular monitoring and evaluation of AI systems can help identify and mitigate biases or discriminatory outcomes, ensuring fairness and transparency in decision-making.
Human and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration
Applied AI is not meant to replace human decision-makers but augment their capabilities. Organisations should establish a framework for effective human-AI collaboration to leverage both strengths. It is essential to foster an organisational culture that encourages employees to embrace AI as a valuable tool and provides the necessary training to understand and work alongside AI systems. Clear communication channels and well-defined roles between humans and AI will enable seamless collaboration and ensure that AI-driven insights are effectively integrated into decision-making.
Continuous Monitoring and Evaluation
Integrating applied AI in decision-making is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and evaluation. Organisations should establish mechanisms to assess the performance and effectiveness of AI systems regularly. This involves monitoring key metrics, evaluating the impact of AI-driven decisions, and gathering user feedback. Continuous improvement and adaptation based on real-world feedback will help refine AI models and generative AI tools to enhance decision-making outcomes and uncover opportunities for further optimisation.
Scalability and Flexibility
Organisations should consider the scalability and flexibility of AI solutions when incorporating them into decision-making processes. As the needs of the business evolve, the applied AI infrastructure should be able to adapt and accommodate new requirements. One example may involve selecting AI technologies that can easily integrate with existing systems or investing in scalable cloud-based solutions.
Final Thoughts
Applied artificial intelligence is revolutionising decision-making in the workplace by augmenting human capabilities, enhancing data analysis, enabling predictive analytics, streamlining processes, and offering personalised support. In addition, artificial intelligence in the workplace can be used to turn complex data into something that a larger group of people can understand.
The implementation of artificial intelligence does not mean the elimination of human workers, human intelligence, or human creativity. On the contrary, if used correctly, artificial intelligence should provide valuable insights, minimise repetitive tasks, assist in an employee’s personal development and, with evidence-based reasoning uncovered, make work more efficient. As a result, organisations that carefully embrace AI tools have the opportunity to create a new modern workforce without making employees fearful of machine learning causing job losses.
How HR Analytics is Changing the Everyday Employee Experience in 2023
There seems to be a new term every few weeks in the people practices space. The latest one seems to consider the term of quiet quitting, while we are not looking at quiet quitting in this article, we are looking at something that is often seen as the cause of quiet quitting – and that is the importance of employee experience. Alongside that we are focusing on how HR analytics can make decisions affecting employee experience better for everyone.
As an organisation concerned with their employees, one of the primary responsibilities is to ensure that they have a positive experience while working. This is often referred to as employee experience, and it is becoming an increasingly important factor in the success of businesses today.
The importance of prioritising employee experience, beyond the trends, is also to improve productivity, reduce turnover, and enhance satisfaction. However, with so many factors contributing to employee experience, it can be challenging to know where to focus your efforts. This is where HR analytics can be useful. In this article, we will explore how HR analytics can be used to prioritise employee experience and improve overall organisational performance.
What is Employee Experience?
Employee experience refers to the sum of an employee’s interactions and perceptions of their workplace. It includes everything from the work environment to company culture, management style, benefits and compensation, and overall job satisfaction. When employees have a positive experience, they are more likely to be engaged, productive, and committed to their jobs.
What are HR Analytics?
HR analytics is the practice of using data to inform HR decision making. It involves gathering, analysing, and interpreting data related to HR metrics, such as employee engagement, turnover rates, and compensation, to help organisations make more informed decisions. Organisations can identify trends and patterns using HR analytics, and by use this information to make data-driven decisions that can have a significant impact on employee experience.
Why is Prioritising Employee Experience Important?
There are several reasons why prioritising employee experience is critical for the success of any business. Here are just a few:
Increased Productivity
When employees have a positive experience, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated, which leads to increased productivity. In fact, a many studies have found that highly engaged teams are more productive than their less-engaged counterparts.
Reduced Turnover
When employees have a positive experience, they are less likely to leave their jobs, which can save a company significant time and money on recruitment and training costs.
Improved Brand Reputation
Companies that prioritize employee experience often have a better reputation in the market, which can help attract and retain customers, as well as top talent.
Why Use HR Analytics to Prioritize Employee Experience?
There are several reasons why HR analytics can be an effective tool for organisations that are prioritising their employee’s experience:
Provides Objective Data
HR analytics can provide objective data that can help HR leaders identify areas of the organisation where employee experience may be lacking. For example, if data shows that employee turnover rates are high in a particular department, HR leaders can investigate the cause and take action to improve the situation.
Improve Decision-Making
By using HR analytics, HR leaders can make more informed decisions about where to focus their efforts to improve employee experience. This can lead to more effective programmes and initiatives that have a greater impact on overall organisational performance.
Measure the Impact of Programmes and Initiatives
HR analytics can be used to measure the impact of programmes and initiatives on employee experience. By tracking metrics such as engagement, retention, and productivity, HR leaders can determine whether their efforts are having the desired effect and make adjustments as necessary.
How to Use HR Analytics to Prioritize Employee Experience
Here are some steps that businesses can take to use HR analytics to prioritise employee experience:
Identify Key Metrics
The first step is to identify the key metrics that will be used to measure employee experience. This may include metrics such as engagement, turnover, absenteeism, and productivity.
Gather Data
HR leaders must gather data related to these key metrics. This can be done through employee surveys, performance evaluations, and other data sources.
Analyse Data
Once the data has been collected, it must be analysed to identify trends and patterns. This may involve using statistical analysis tools or working with data analysts to interpret the data.
Use Data to Make Informed Decisions
Organisations must use the data to make informed decisions about where to focus their efforts to improve employee experience. This may involve developing new strategies and initiatives, adjusting existing ones, or investing in training and development opportunities.
Final Thoughts
Prioritising employee experience is critical for the success of any business. By focusing on the needs and using HR analytics to address the concerns of employees, organisations can help create a positive workplace culture, improve productivity, reduce turnover, and enhance customer satisfaction.
While HR analytics can be a powerful tool for businesses to prioritise employee experience and improve overall organizational performance it is also not the be all and end all of how organisations should approach the needs of their employees. By using data to identify areas where employee experience may be lacking and make informed decisions about where to focus their efforts. There is still a human aspect to understanding employees through traditional methods like listening and reaching out to them to understand strategies to improve their organisation.
As an HR leader, incorporating HR analytics into your decision-making process can help you stay ahead of the competition and ensure that your organization remains competitive in the marketplace but it is not the only thing that should be considered when making these decisions. A great leader will know how to balance these aspects to find the best for their employees.
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