To fashion the future of the workplace, CHROs must reimagine the basic tenets of organization. This calls for workplace models that are creative, adaptable and antifragile. Through the lens of a fast-approaching future, talent replaces labour. Networks of teams replace hierarchies. An ecosystem of collaborators replace competition. Ultimately, the workplace becomes more human: a nurturing space that can be in equal parts inspiring, collaborative, and bent on creating an employee experience that is meaningful and enjoyable.��

Reimagining Basic Tenets of Business

While the nature and purpose of the HR function have been evolving for years, the demands of the pandemic dramatically accelerated this transition. It is clear that in the next two to three years significant changes to the HR operating model are on the way. As the future unfolds, HR is becoming as relevant to business success as core functions like R&D, sales, or production. It now needs to ensure a company can still be operational during the pandemic.��

Future focused CHROs are stepping up to this new responsibility, leading a change that requires HR to transform itself, adopting the organizational principles and key performance indicators of core business functions. HR leaders need to drive more agile and fluid organizations, shift the role of business partners, and drive the employee experience—and do it all with a clear leadership mandate. At the heart of this change is the adoption of technology, not just as a tool but as an enabler of thought, translating into action. In this article we break down the top concerns of CHROs, to carve a greater share of the future of human capital for stakeholders.��

Nurturing Culture for Human Experience��

An organization’s culture is simply a repeated set of actions that become a part of its practice. But shaping culture in a changing world is a steep challenge. There is ceaseless debate over who the custodians of culture are. It is easy to lose sight of the way this culture is actually shaped across the business. The truth does not lie in operating manuals or on-boarding decks or policy documents. Culture is shaped in moments that matter.����

HR needs to shift its focus from a pure-process orientation to the customer journey and identify the moments that matter for the employees in their interactions with the company. Organizing around the employee experience by taking an approach similar to how retailers define customer journeys—in this case, by identifying the employee moments that matter most and deploying resources accordingly. For example, critical moments for employees could include the , onboarding, performance reviews, and promotions, and the roles and responsibilities of the HR function could be aligned around them.��

Leveraging Technology for a more Human Future��

For years now, CHROs have found themselves using technology as a cost-efficiency treadmill. Deploying analytics and big data to existing HR operating models was the go-to norm. Technology adoption entailed a worthy but uninspiring mandate: optimizing labour costs and reinforcing compliance using standardized measures.����

Even in areas of HR that were loaded with cultural significance for the organization such as recruitment and learning, the emphasis with technology has been on productivity, and how to measure it. For CHROs, the question has now become whether processes have replaced the creativity and innovation they need to attract and develop talent, manage and reward performance, and optimize workforce strategy. If the future of work is to focus on the human, HR must employ technologies that are changing how consistent process execution and excellent employee experience are delivered.����

The biggest workplace disruptor is next-generation automation technologies. Some estimates indicate that nearly half of all work could be automated with current technologies. For HR, intelligent process automation, can help deliver consistent people processes – something that has eluded many HR operations teams given the dynamic nature of the requests they receive. Cost savings also materialize through deploying such technologies as robotic process automation, and cognitive agents. Re-evaluating the level of automation of HR and providing a “human interface” to employees where personal interaction adds value. In the past, HR has automated too many tasks. It needs to provide a real human interface at points in the employee journey where personal contact is generally expected. Elevating HR through digitalization by automating processes, especially traditional administrative tasks; by gathering, analysing, and acting on employee data to make more informed decisions; and by implementing mobile self-services to elevate the quality of delivery. CHROs must drive conversations that begin by thinking of solutions, data, and employee experience when talking about digitalization in HR.��

Unlocking Design Thinking for Human Experience

Imagine a world of work where management began with what people need rather than adhering to a process? As the future of work unfolds, CHROs are increasingly turning to Design Thinking as a tool to bring a “Human-Centric Approach” to their organizations. At every single step of the organization design process, teams are empowered and accountable to gather user insights. These insights pose a powerful question that begins with: “How might we…” The power of this question is almost hidden at first. “How” represents a solution-oriented approach, “might” encourages optimism and “we” represents collaboration. Teams are encouraged to inspire new thinking by discovering what people need, and not retro-fitting need to what the organization already is.��

Stripped of the hype and jargon, design thinking in HR is simply a process that prioritizes the employee’s needs and then creates solutions around that problem. The learnings are based on empathetic observations of how human behaviour in specific environments and reactions to these happenings in that environment. Thus, the approach is a hands-on method of creating innovative solutions. The human element of thinking is at the centre of the design. Design thinking processes are created around humans, and not simply for humans. Therefore, it relies on evidence of how humans behave towards a product or service and continuously improves that experience.��

The method we all know and use to solve problems is to identify the concern, then investigate and find solutions. Design thinking doesn’t focus on creating one solution. Instead, it is a continuous process of adapting thought and approach to meet the end-user needs.��

When applied to the world of work, especially in a rapidly changing new normal, design thinking can lead us to answers that will help the HR function be in lockstep with the needs of the organization’s most precious asset – its people.��

Seeking Success– Questions to be Answered while Creating a more Human Experience��

The future-focused CHRO must drive organizational transformation to create an experience that is more meaningful, simple, individualized and aligned to the business’ needs.��

Meaningful: How can we create meaningful experiences for employees?��

When it comes to the moments that matter, are you understanding employees’ emotions and perspectives at all touch points? Can you take action and focus experiences on what matters to the people who drive your business?��

Simple: How can this global complexity be replaced with guided simplicity?��

Is global compliance, local regulations, diversity, inclusion, and employee well-being getting in the way of more strategic work. Gaining full visibility into your entire workforce and automating processes is the key��

Individualized Learning: Can skills and agility be individualised for employee learning and development?��

When you move from traditional learning to create a culture of curiosity and growth you can build a strong, knowledgeable workforce. Leverage powerful technology to develop a workforce that can take on any challenge.��

Aligned: Whose responsibility is it to align HR and employees to improve experiences and drive business success?��

Alignment begins with the act of listening. Discover the importance of listening to – and acting on behalf of – employees to decrease employee turnover and negative customer experiences (CX), while minimising the risk of damaging your brand and alienating key investors.��

In Conclusion…��

Transforming the role of HR is no cakewalk – but ����’s efforts reap rich dividends. Driving more human centric and fluid organizations, shifting the role of business partners, and elevating the employee experience are central to evolving the HR operating model—which benefits not only the function but also the broader organization.��

CHROs can enable business by driving this transformation in their own HR organizations: developing and reinforcing clear priorities towards the human experience. While clearly a trial by fire, the pandemic also provides an opportunity for HR to accelerate its shift from a service to a strategic function, helping to shape a more dynamic organization that is ready to meet the post-crisis future.��

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The Great Resignation in India

, as the trend has been hailed, resulted in more than 24 million American workers resigning from their jobs, in sectors as diverse as healthcare, transportation, retail, hospitality, education, and warehousing. Employees are not just quitting in the U.S.; closer home, the IT industry is witnessing rising attrition, as per an e-commerce major’s recent survey. A����highlighted that the top 5 IT companies in the country hired as many as 1.7 lakh professionals in 2021 due to rising attrition and high demand for tech-skilled employees.��

What might come as a surprise is that The Great Resignation trend is not completely attributable to the pandemic; if anything, the latter merely exacerbated a movement that was already gaining momentum among employees and workers of the Global North. What’s at stake is the future of work and business performance. For one, if companies fail to hire highly motivated candidates and retain their star performers, it could lead to further disruptions in productivity and growth in a market that has already seen dramatic lows from Covid-19.��

Younger workforce driving change

In the backdrop of these cultural and organizational challenges, it is essential that hiring managers and companies bring their A-game to designing a better workplace culture. What is fueling the need for this change? In one word: GenZ! Often dubbed as the woke generation, the rising number of 18–28-year-olds in the workforce is forcing recruitment managers and employers to think out of the box about incentives, workplace design, collaboration, and fostering a sense of belonging. This����is looking for more involvement with their teams, flexibility in schedules and place of work (think, co-working spaces and hybrid or remote), and look to the organization’s mission and values to foster a sense of purpose at work.��

Disengaged employees

Besides a poor work environment, employees are quitting the workforce in large numbers for other reasons. This includes searching for better pay, hunting for job opportunities in other industries, looking for profiles that better fit their values, and most critically, to recover from burnout brought on by years of dysfunctional work environments, competition straight out of college, and long working hours. According to a��, only 36% of employees in the USA felt engaged at their current workplace. The situation in India is not likely to be better; rather, the chances are that it is far bleaker.

Here are the top 5 reasons why employees are disengaged at work:

1. Ambiguous career path

Uncertainty at work is the enemy of confidence and productivity. Include a clearly mapped growth path for an employee’s role and what kind of responsibilities they will handle in the future. The absence of a well-drawn profile map nudges many employees to quit.

2. Mismatched incentives and appraisals

We all want our talents and efforts to be appreciated and rewarded with tangible incentives (money, that’s obvious). But a younger workforce also expects benefits and perks that are non-monetary. This could be in the form of company-funded training, team outings, mental health coach, and appraisals that take place more frequently. When employees don’t get offered appropriate incentives in line with their efforts, it impacts productivity and leads to poor engagement.

3. Dysfunctional management

You know that adage, ‘employees don’t quit offices, they leave their managers’? Never has it been more appropriate to describe the current trend of The Great Resignation than during the pandemic, when professionals continue to quit their jobs due to dysfunctional bosses. Unreasonable productivity demands, bosses compelling employees to stretch beyond regular work hours, use of foul or abusive language in the office, and lack of mentorship and support impact the morale of employees.

4. Negative work environment

Employees bring in their best selves to work when the environment is positive, optimistic, and supportive. HR policies and management practices need to align with industry best practices for workplace behaviors. This means discouraging negative chatter, unhealthy competition, avoiding favoritism, and being extremely mindful to avoid discrimination in hiring practices and during appraisals. The absence of such benchmarks has a direct impact on employee productivity and morale, leading to high quit rates.

5. Inappropriate cultural fit

An organization’s core values act as a signpost that guides beliefs, behaviors, communications protocol, and attitudes at work. Workplace culture needs to evolve with a predominantly younger generation sitting at the foundation of the organization. Not having a clearly defined value system can alienate employees and contribute to low engagement at work.

6. Positive impact on bottom line

If disengaged employees impact the performance of a company, then the flipside of the narrative should be true: happy employees have a positive impact on a company’s bottom line. The good news? There is a correlation! 93% of respondents in a����agreed that organizational performance increases when employees feel a sense of belonging. That is why it is important for companies to lead with motivation, mission, and a management culture that is mindful while engaging with the younger workforce.

4 reasons why positive employee experience is critical for businesses:

1. Helps reduce attrition rates

Highly engaged employees are more likely to remain loyal to their organizations than disengaged ones. Money may be a motivating factor for employees to jump companies; however, businesses can overcome this problem by offering a positive work culture. Moreover, hiring and training new employees often come at a higher cost than retaining existing employees who are already familiar with work processes and are a cultural fit.

2. Leads to more productive employees

Happy employees will show better engagement and productivity at the workplace. Their enthusiasm will also rub onto other people who are likely to be motivated to perform better. Sparking engagement among employees is thus crucial to attain team cohesion and attain the desired business results.

3. Helps attract the best talent

The shortage of skills in the global job market is making it tough for employees to attract and retain the right talent. Businesses that offer��, offer employees learning opportunities, better incentives, and positively encourage employees to prioritize self-care are more likely to attract top talents in the job market.

4. Enables improved customer experience

Customer service can make or break the reputation and repeat value of a business. Happy employees, especially those who deal and interact with your customers directly, are responsible for setting a positive first impression. Such employees are likely to go the extra mile to offer the best experiences and solutions to their customers.

Redefining the employee experience

As businesses shift their focus from survival mode to recovery and short-term growth during the third wave of the pandemic, there is a need to redefine the employee experience. This is applicable not just for seasoned professionals, but for the millions of freshers for whom 2022 might well be their debut foray at work. According to a PWC��, 63% of CFOs want to redesign their products and services to generate revenue. However, this change will happen only when the organizational culture keeps pace with the zeitgeist of its employees.��

Here are��9 ways��to foster employee engagement:

1. Incorporate values and purpose-led work

Every company needs to craft core values that define its internal culture, purpose and larger mission. There are benchmarks that define organizations that earn the ‘great place to work’ title. Organizations thus need to create a work culture that is positive and friendly for the employees. Management is the best place, to begin with, as leaders can help build that desired culture.

2. Create an inclusive environment

In a����individuals from 35 organizations, Culture Amp and Paradigm found that “a single metric that was consistently and universally tied to a person’s workplace commitment, motivation, pride and recommendation was feeling a sense of belonging.” Some of the ways that managers can foster a sense of belonging in their teams is by asking for their inputs and ideas during project planning phase, appreciating their efforts consistently, and demonstrating your faith in them by giving them the opportunity to lead a project, event, client pitch, or activity.

3. Make work-life balance a priority

Work-life harmony has become a priority not just for younger professionals, but a majority of the global workforce. A PWC survey says that 52% of����plan to shift their employees to remote working permanently. Remote work has led to the blurring of lines between personal and professional lives;����and burnout from being available on-call throughout the day for multiple meetings has eaten into employee morale and productivity. Managers need to design strategies and schedules that help improve work-life balance.

4. Maintain honesty and transparency

Maintain transparency while communicating with your employees in order to build trust and loyalty within your teams. This helps eliminate an environment of mistrust and shows that you genuinely care about your employees. For example, if an employee feedback survey had specific areas of concern pertaining to news about your company’s performance, ensure you address this in an open forum with facts and explanations. Your employees will appreciate your honesty and emulate the same form of communication with their teams.

5. Improve collaborative measures

Team cohesion helps improve trust, fosters a sense of shared values, creates a positive work environment, encourages productivity, and ultimately impacts a company’s bottom line. Organizations should encourage collaboration among employees, both, within the same department and amongst other teams across the company. Team building activities allow employees the opportunity to develop empathy, earn respect, and build morale as a unit. This in turn encourages employees to work as a well-oiled unit to achieve larger organizational goals.

6. Multi-faceted incentives

Understand what truly benefits your employees, which you can best do through surveys and feedback forms. This could range from on-job training and upskilling, insurance and mental health services, food coupons and weekly team outings, to gym memberships, performance-linked incentives every quarter, and opportunities to lead. Whatever option you choose, ensure it fits with the aspirations and needs of your employees. Companies also offer flexi-time work, unlimited medical leaves, and no questions asked casual holidays demonstrate to employees that they are valued.

7. Create development opportunities

Mentoring and training are critical factors that can help employees stay connected. Help your employees in their professional development by giving them the chance to advance their skills. This can take the form of regular workshops and courses related to their profile and areas of interest. Offering training and upskilling options during work hours can help employees understand their career path and opportunities better.

8. Reward your employees

The best time to reward an employee is not when they decide to leave so that you can retain them. Performance appraisals need to be timely and provide both monetary and non-monetary incentives to all employees. Keep an eye on your top performers and design reward programs that are based on their contributions, skill sets, and attitude. Grooming your top performers for future leadership roles is also an important aspect of keeping them motivated.

9. Virtual team bonding

A happy workplace is all about enthusiastic people who can help others grow along with them. Having regular office outings can help improve the bonding between the team and make them feel more connected with each other. Secondly, with remote work becoming the norm in metros and Tier 1 cities, HR needs to design virtual activities that help employees feel connected with their colleagues remotely and nudges them to be productive.

Course correction: Workplace of the future

Though the pandemic is a disruptor of things, it has also given organizations a chance to course correct. There cannot be a better opportunity to revamp the workplace and reassess what aspects of the culture works and what needs to be redefined or let go. Besides, the change in status quo also affords us the possibility to remove ambiguity from various aspects of the workplace and reinforce our values.

Most organizations may have done well till this stage of the pandemic. The key is to build on that by taking your team into confidence and building on their ideas and vision for the company’s growth. Their satisfaction is critical to helping companies achieve their organizational goals.

If you are looking for HRIS software to streamline core HR processes,��SuccessFactors Employee Central��can help.��SF employee central��also supports employee self-services for the entire organization. Get more details on��Employee Central Success Factors��.

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What is Business Resilience?

Business resilience is an organization’s ability to adapt its operations, absorb stress and ensure business continuity in the face of adverse situations or change. It is about having the foresight to recognize risk factors and causes of disruption and plan for them. Of course, many businesses currently practice risk management in some manner – mostly to better understand and mitigate exposure to specific, well-known hazards. Resilience must also encompass unidentified threats, as well as the adaptations and transformations that a corporation must do to absorb and even leverage environmental stress.

Contrary to popular perception, contingency plans for business resilience do not mean having largescale organizational resources and ample cash reserves to weather disruption. It is more about adapting than just response. And as old business ways collapse, technology has helped give a head start to organizations invested in building business resilience. Adopting lean, digital-first agile processes has helped them transform legacy business models, reinvent the way they work and reset their business strategy. One way to do so is by leveraging��, which delivers pre-built processes for everything from finance and sales to product management and purchasing on a single, unified solution.

However, while crafting business resilience plans, aspects like data recovery, securing IT systems, alternative modes of working, etc occupy a prime place in the minds of most leaders. The critical importance of employees to business continuity is often overlooked. Resilient businesses with loyal and productive employees have a higher chance of bouncing back after a crisis or unforeseen incident. Clearly, a business is only as resilient as its people — and this calls for outstanding employee experiences.

What is Employee Experience?

Employee experience can be defined as the continuing relationship between an employee and an organization. It begins right from the interview and onboarding process and continues to be shaped with every interaction that happens after that along the employee life cycle. It encompasses all that defines and influences an employee’s role in the company — such as the workspace, the role of managers, benefits offered, rewards and recognition, health and well-being and much more.��

Positive employee experiences lead to the employee delivering positive customer experiences, thus creating a virtuous cycle that feeds back into employees’ sense of achievement and purpose.

Businesses with robust employee engagement practices have a workforce that is invested in achieving organizational goals; one that is more likely to identify with the ‘one team’ vision driving business goals. This alignment between the employees’ identity and that of the company leads to improved productivity and profits and lower employee turnover.

Employee experience — the unseen factor in business resilience

A black swan event such as the pandemic has thrown the definition of employee experience out of the window, to be replaced with one that fits the new normal.��

As businesses shifted from survival to recovery and resilience mode, it became clear that redesigning employee experience is of paramount importance. Most businesses are either planning to or already replacing or refreshing services and product mixes to ride out the challenges of the chaotic past two years. To do that, it is essential to create conducive internal conditions, which translates to redesigning the employee experience to nurture creativity, a sense of purpose and fulfillment.��

This prioritization of the human factor at the workplace is evident in a����conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Elastic. The survey of CIOs and IT leaders in 10 countries��revealed that 60% of IT organizations are investing in improving employee experience to support remote workforce productivity and performance. To amplify the impact on employee experience, 57% of IT leaders are collaborating more closely with their HR counterparts.

How can a business create better experiences for employees?

At the end of the day, companies that don’t develop new and existing personnel at the same rate as their technology are unlikely to have the capabilities they need to advance digital transformation. This will result in their competitive advantage dwindling.��

Here’s how organizations can make the most of their talent and establish truly resilient companies.

• Provide flexible work arrangements

After an extended live experiment in working remotely, the craving for flexibility will be greater once employees return to physical office environments. Organizations that offer flexible working models — whether remote, in-person or hybrid — and the necessary support to make the transition easier have a better chance of retaining or attracting a skilled workforce. Flexible work arrangements provide access to a larger talent pool and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace that fosters creativity and increases employee loyalty. This, in turn, can add to business resilience.��

Some of the ways in which flexible work arrangements can be brought about at the workplace are job sharing, flexible working hours, compressed workweeks and flexible rostering.

• Enable work from home for those who desire it

Employers and employees have more or less perfected the work-from-home model. While employees are now reaching the pre-pandemic productivity levels and producing quality work from their home offices, remote working has cut the fatigue and sensory overload that accompanies the travel to and from the office.��

Because of the reduction in physical office space, distributed work models can save a lot of money, but establishing and maintaining a work culture and sustaining cooperation can be difficult. Successful firms have deployed efficient remote access and collaboration technologies that have made the employee experience flexible, standardized, secure, and simple to use while also allowing for increased productivity. Such a strategy can amplify employee engagement, productivity and retention, and will benefit the business in the long term.

• Practice empathetic leadership

The importance of compassionate leadership is felt keenly now, more than ever. Empathy was always considered a key trait of a good leader, who puts people at the center of business or technological decisions, from a work, personal or wellness level. When CEOs, managers, team leaders and others in decision-making roles put themselves in employees’ shoes, they are able to make informed decisions that have positive implications for the workforce. This enhances employee well-being, boosts their morale, increases their loyalty and sets in motion the wheels for business resilience and growth.

• Ensure communication is clear and consistent

As work models, expectations and processes churn rapidly, it is vital that communication channels between employees and the management remain open and clear. Employees should have regular updates on how the organization is moving forward. They need clarity on how the company will address issues related to workplace health, safety and well-being, flexible work models, etc. Timely and transparent communication will engender employee trust and build employee and business resilience.

• Ensure safety and well-being of employees

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant uncertainty and fear it created has affected the physical and mental health of employees across the world. While each individual responds to stress in unique ways, it is established that stress affects employees’ ability to empathize, be open-minded, engage with the organization, take up challenging tasks, and to learn and grow. Thus, the health, safety and well-being of employees should be the highest priority for all organizations as workplaces reopen. While some industries with high-risk jobs have long prioritized safety, Covid-19 mandates that all businesses, regardless of location, have safety practices in place to protect their employees and show that they care.

• Update R&R programs to reflect what employees really want

Companies need to revisit their Rewards and Recognition (R&R) programs considering the new reality. They must figure out what is more likely to motivate their employees, since monetary rewards may not hold the same sheen as before. Experiences are more important to new-age workers. Thus, personalized rewards aligned to individual preferences and lifestyle choices are more likely to appeal to them. Even acknowledging the dedication and hard work of employees through small acts of everyday appreciation can go a long way to make them feel valued.��

By using technology such as virtual working platforms and remote collaboration applications, companies can give their R&R strategies a digit redesign to deliver an employee experience that fosters pride and a sense of belonging.

• Provide training and upskilling opportunities

Building the most effective, resilient workforce necessitates not just new hiring but also the development of existing talent. As the way we do things changes because of digitalization, businesses have a big potential to make the most of their existing staff.

Many of the duties that today’s employees perform are monotonous and unfulfilling. However, if advanced machines take over most of the monotonous, repetitive work, employees can be reallocated and upskilled to more satisfying occupations that provide them with greater happiness.

Training and learning initiatives are important for the career development and growth of employees. Identifying unique skills or traits such as initiative, creativity, and problem-solving, and creating training programs to sharpen them, will benefit both the employer and the employee. Personalized learning journeys boost the self-esteem of employees and their feelings of inclusion and belonging. Future-ready organizations must invest in upskilling and reskilling initiatives in transferable skills that cut across domains, functions and businesses to remain competitive.

• Leverage technology to ensure high employee engagement

Employee engagement is better in organizations that provide effective collaboration tools and integrated digital workspaces to access apps. With a majority of the workforce staying connected to the firm for longer periods of time now, compared to before the epidemic, these measures allow improvement in employee productivity.

AI, machine learning and cloud-based tools have proven to be highly efficient for multi-regional teams to communicate, collaborate and work together. For example,����is a single cloud ERP solution that connects every function across a company with proven best practices and in-depth analytics to build business resilience.

Companies that use digital analytics and data tools to identify and fulfill employee needs are more likely to succeed in the new normal.����of solutions can assist leaders make informed decisions with access to real-time insights on a single, scalable platform — leading to standout employee experiences and business transformations.��

Conclusion

To summarize, resilience is required for firms to sustain global competitiveness since it equips them to recover from any organizational setback. It is tough to build a resilient workforce, but with proper planning and execution, as well as trust and open communication, one can succeed.

During the epidemic, firms that prioritized robust processes, agile decision-making, technological investments, and nimble organizational structures survived and even prospered. Those that redesigned work had lower attrition rates, improved employee experience, engagement, and productivity.

With the support of technological tools, data and people analytics, organizations can mine employee data, analyze it and come up with actionable insights and solutions to create employee experiences that are meaningful. Pivoting to an employee-centric approach when adopting technology will establish a work environment that fosters productivity and engagement.

To find out how to accelerate your journey to becoming digitally resilient and setting yourself up for success in the long run, learn how you can integrate����into your operations. Listen, understand and respond to employee needs and experience gaps to ensure your employees, and your organization, stay resilient and productive in the long run.

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Digital transformation is a paradigm shift, one that promotes experimentation and acknowledges failure. It generally refers to the integration of digital technology into all aspects of a business. It results in a fundamental change in the operation of the company and the way customers receive their services. Sometimes, long-standing business practices might have to be scrapped to usher in dynamically evolving work practices.

Digital transformation needs a problem statement that spurs the transformation and can mean different things to different companies. For one, it could mean going paperless. It could also mean the introduction of data analytics to another. But at its heart, ����’s all about the work culture and leadership of the company.

In essence, the goal of digital transformation is to make a company future-ready. The development of operational and customer-oriented capabilities enables a company to be more agile. The use of data is a key point, so is participation in digital ecosystems. The major techniques employed include:

• Standardization, Automation, and core process re-use, through modularized services.
• Renewing and integration of digital infrastructure
• Seamless access of systems and data sources to company stakeholders (A single source of truth, similar to blockchains)
• Integration of customer offerings across multiple products and channels
• Collection of quality customer information which includes their needs, concerns, and goals.
• Creation of distinctive value propositions which make the company a customer’s first choice.

Customer centricity Drives Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is about customer-centricity. Today’s customers are looking for aspects such as personalized service, expanded self-service and more thought which enhances their experience.

Organizations need to give more focus to the customer’s journey. By incorporating customer satisfaction into the company’s corporate DNA, and by empowering the employee to deliver exceptional customer service through digital transformation, the company becomes intrinsically linked to the customer journey.

Digital Transformation should begin with a problem statement, an aspirational goal, or a clear opportunity, according to Quickrete CIO Jay Ferro. An aspirational statement could be about being the best to do business with through digital transformation. Or the ‘why’ part could be about improving customer experience, reducing friction, increasing productivity, and increasing profits. Companies are beginning to utilize technology to transform themselves to receive better insights into the customer journey. This crucial insight reduces friction, which increases the probability of them becoming recurring customers. Companies are also evolving themselves around these principles and reaping their rewards.

Being proactive and empowering the customers with self-service tools is one of the many ways to usher in digital transformation and improve the customer experience.

The Employee Experience (EX)

The Employee Experience is a holistic term used to encompass all aspects of how an employee thinks and feels during every touchpoint of their journey in an organization. It is an emerging business function that traces the employee journey and is a direct response to the Customer Experience (CX) function.

Since organizations now understand that satisfied employees make for satisfied customers, there’s an equal focus on EX and CX. The idea behind EX is for organizations to appeal to employees’ physical, intellectual, emotional, and aspirational wants and needs. While strategizing to improve the overall EX of a company, it is essential to hone on specific targets. There are three primary domains which include the Procedural Employee Experience, the Textural Employee Experience, and the Emotional Employee Experience.

Effects of Digital Transformation on Employees

• Increased Flexibility Through Cloud Computing

With the advent of cloud computing, employees have the freedom to do their work off-premises efficiently. And since remote working is a norm now, digital transformation is equipping employees with different means to work seamlessly. There is flexibility in the location of work, and employees reap the benefits of improved work-life balance. More than half of UK employees feel that they can be����as they can be in the office.

This flexibility is extended to hiring managers as well. They can now choose the person with the right skillset and do not have to compromise on candidates due to the location of the office or commute. Logistical challenges are reduced in the digital space, thanks to digital asset management and digital supply chain systems.

Cloud computing decreases redundancy and miscommunication among team members. Internal communications have never been so fluent, and employees are bombarded with myriad options to choose from. Social media, intranet, IM, team forums, and video conferencing are just a few of the many options available.

• Better analysis and Work Reporting

Human resources departments are now equipped with tools and digital dashboards to measure performance and monitor personnel activities thanks to the digital transformation of the workplace. Interactions and relationships between HR and business leadership have bloomed thanks to improved analysis and reporting technologies. Digital tools have a positive impact on workforce optimization and communication, which results in streamlined workflows, lower budgets, and quicker results. However, this comes at a cost to the personal privacy of the employees, and ����’s a tight rope to walk on. Maintaining good performance and performance analysis techniques without going overboard is a challenge.

• Greater focus on Information Security

Digital adoption also creates information security risks that need to be managed through enhanced security infrastructure and processes. Anxiety around information security in today’s age is understandable, with data breaches becoming a common occurrence. But good leadership and management can avoid the pitfalls of information security by investing in good security infrastructure. It is important to prevent anxiety and cultural challenges in the workplace and instill confidence in the employees through good work practices. Information security is also the responsibility of employees, and this is a practice that should be a part of organizational culture. Employees should regularly be made aware of good information security practices, and the implications of not following them must also be made clear.

• Increased Productivity

Digitization of crucial business functions will ensure the employee spends time on the things that matter and does not waste time navigating labyrinthine workflows. Resources can be managed efficiently through digital systems that are accessible remotely. Collaboration becomes easier and good relationships can be built around the workplace, which improves productivity and employee morale. There are many collaboration tools available, like employee directories, social profiles, activity feeds, and dashboards that streamline communication and promote teamwork. Employees feel a sense of belonging as a result. They feel empowered and happier.

By automating routine and mundane tasks, you can free up time, so your talent stays focused on high-value, high-impact work.

• Higher focus on adaptability

As technology is ever evolving, the employees would also need to evolve alongside business practices. They are encouraged to innovate, learn, and adapt to challenging situations. They will be exposed to a new dimension prioritization, quick decision-making and process play a major role in how the work plays out. This makes a highly agile and adaptable workforce ready to take on the next challenge through innovation and experimentation.

How to Engage Employees About Digital Transformation

��“Digital is a loaded word that means many things to many people, “says

Jim Swanson, CIO of Johnson & Johnson. It is vital to engage the employees and clear misunderstandings at the initial stages itself. This helps provide greater clarity of the multifaceted process of digital transformation.

The Soul of the Company

Even though customers are at the core of digital transformation, it is the employees that will be catering to the customer. It is important to understand the employee experience and the effects of the disruption that digital transformation can cause. The purpose of digital transformation is to create thoughtful employees who can connect with the customers. They need an enabling work environment that helps them to achieve that goal. It is common knowledge that happy employees make happy customers. Employee satisfaction has a direct correlation to a company’s market value.

Thus, an evolution of the company operation shouldn’t be at the cost of the employee experience. If done right, digital transformation of the workplace can result in a happy workforce. True leadership will inspire confidence in the workplace and align skills and knowledge with the appropriate digital platforms. It is up to the leadership to create awareness among employees about the changes that are about to occur and be transparent about it.

Starting small with minor changes that include prioritizing the need of the organizations with the milestones of the digital transformation will be ideal for the company. Minimizing the disruptive potential in the workplace by slowly easing in changes will go a long way to instill employee confidence and engage them. It is important to start with empathy and understand their plight to achieve unity in the workplace. Increased collaborative capabilities, efficient cloud-based systems, digital asset management, digital supply chains, automation etc. are just a few benefits of a successful digital transformation of the workplace.

Transparency and the importance of communication

No employee wants to feel isolated while the rest of the company embarks upon a journey that’s strange and new to them. Closed-off environments can create pockets of fear that act as catalysts for rumors and anger.

Being transparent about the vision for the digital transformation is almost as important as the transformation itself. It is up to the company’s leaders to ensure that everyone is on board for the journey. Moreover, cross-functional employees will be able to highlight concerns and bring a new perspective to the table, which will be extremely valuable in the long run. Here is a generalized version of a checklist of the things that every employee needs to know before embarking upon the digital transformation journey.

• What is digital transformation?
• Why does the company require it?
• How will the employees be affected – both short term negatives and long-term positives
• The timeline
• The new technologies that will be introduced in the workplace
• How will the employees be prepared?

Benefits of Digital Transformation for the Company

Lower Operational Costs

A digital workspace directly translates to savings in transportation, office space, furniture, and time. Technology has advanced to such a degree that online collaboration is comparable to in-person collaboration. Cloud servers eliminate the need to manage on-premise servers and maintenance costs can also be reduced.

Improved Bottomline

The improved productivity and efficiency combined with lower operational costs significantly improve the bottom line, resulting in better revenues.

Better Customer Experience

Better customer experience can be brought about through changes like user portals, digital products, and how companies reach out to potential customers. By delivering seamless and intuitive experiences to customers, their experiences are elevated. Today’s customers expect good digital experiences. They are now spoiled with endless choices, fast delivery of products and services and low costs. Customer Experience (CX) is touted as the key driver of sustainable growth.

Increased Agility

Digital transformation helps a company to stay ahead of the curve. They can employ continuous improvement strategies that consistently innovate and adapt to the dynamic environment. An agile workforce results in remarkable foresight and innovation.

Customer Insights

With the help of data, companies have an insight into customer habits. By understanding the customer better, strategies can be developed to make the company more customer-centric. Structured and unstructured data, social media metrics etc. can be used to achieve this goal and drive business growth.

��The Different Pathways of Digital Transformation and its Effects on Employees

MIT Sloan Centre for Information Systems Research (CISR) conducted studies that analyzed the����They did this by comparing companies at different stages of their transformation progress along different pathways. Each pathway refers to a particular kind of digital transformation journey embarked upon by the company, influenced by the type of company they were. The study observed how the employee experience ratings changed according to the amount of transformation completed and compared the differences between the pathways.

Ideal ways to Bring About Sustainable Change

The study concluded that the order in which companies develop operational and customer-oriented capabilities have a significant impact on the employee experience. Focusing solely on the customer experience might backfire and detrimentally affect the employees. The difficulty of adapting to increasing technologies in the workplace, referred to as the ‘technical debt’, will impede customer-oriented capability development in the long run.

The study suggests that the ideal way to embark upon the digital transformation journey is to first develop a foundation of required operational capabilities. Another option would be to alternate between the development of operational capabilities and the development of customer experience in small steps. The top priorities of the company should be to integrate operations across silos, provide employees with seamless access to data and systems, and automate core processes through modularized services. Iteratively doing these will simultaneously reduce operational complexity while ensuring that the employees can keep up with the changes.

The greater level of autonomy will encourage employees to approach colleagues at any level of the company. This autonomy can be leveraged later as they become more effective at measuring the cost of operations and customer experiences using the tools given to them through the digital transformation journey. Increased transparency and democratized access to metrics with the help of dashboards encourage employees to be open, curious, and innovative. They will make more informed contributions and ideas to new products and services across the company, thanks to simplified systems.

It is important to recognize the fact that digital transformation affects most of the employees in a company. It is unwise to disregard the employee experience while on the quest for improved customer experience, and the employees require deliberate attention. According to the study, companies that considered the employee experience to be vital to the future of the company and paid greater attention to the role of the employees fared better in the digital transformation journey.

The study concluded that employee enablement requires constant focus from the leaders. Heroics from committed employees can succeed in the short term but they are neither scalable nor sustainable. It is wiser to adopt a consistent long-term approach to bring digital transformation to the workplace.

Digital asset management and digital supply chains are two such solutions to the disruptions to their real-life counterparts. Customers need to be attracted through innovative solutions while minimizing the impact of disruptions like the pandemic. By going digital, businesses can achieve that goal. Consulting with industry veterans like �鶹ԭ�� solutions will help devise detailed strategies unique to a company to bring about the digital transformation of the workspace.

The post How Is Digital Transformation Creating A Happy Workforce appeared first on �鶹ԭ�� India News Center.

Consider this: Global information services company Experian faced unusually high levels of turnover, about 4-5 percent higher than average. Rather than a typical reactive approach, the company’s HR team responded in a unique way.��, including team size and structure, manager performance, length of commute, and other factors contributing to the flight risk.

This model was rolled out across multiple geographies, and the results were stunning! Some interesting insights gleaned from analytics – when a team member moved away from the office, it increased the chances of quitting. When such insights were combined with best practices, the attrition rate was lowered by 2-3 percent over an 18-month period. This not only improved employee efficiency and morale but also saved the company nearly $10,000,000.

Moving from reactive to proactive

Clearly, an HR management system that centers around uniformity and bureaucracy will be rendered obsolete in the post-pandemic era. Taking its place should be a strategic human resource planning model that is flexible, responsive, and built around the future of work: Increased connectivity, rapid automation, lower transaction costs, and workforce demographic shifts. But to embrace this new human resource management model, senior HR managers and CHROs must reimagine the core tenets of their practice and have a strategic approach to staffing. Here’s how:

1. Gain a deeper understanding of company objectives, purpose, and culture

CHROs need to build a culture where all employees understand the ‘why’ of the business and how it connects to the big picture. But for this, people leaders themselves need an in-depth understanding of the organization’s culture and overarching values. They need to ask questions such as:

• What is the sole reason for our company’s existence?
• Where can we have a positive, unique impact on the community and the world at large?
• How can the employees’ contribution tie into organizational purpose and values?

These questions also serve as a compass during recruitment. Employees today want to work with companies whose values and purpose align with their own.����shows that employees who can find deeper meaning in their work are more likely to stay on at their organization.

2. Leveraging data to take the guesswork out of HR

With the vast amount of data available throughout the various touchpoints in the employee lifecycle, HR can make faster and better decisions with actionable insights and reporting. By leveraging historical data, analytics, and workforce planning tools, CHROs can forecast trends, manage recruitment, and handle attrition more efficiently.

For instance, one of the most crucial but time-consuming responsibilities for HR is recruiting the right person for the right role at the right time. Using data, HR can better understand the company’s hiring needs and the exact responsibilities for each position. This can streamline the recruitment process and eliminate expensive over hiring while ensuring sufficient employees to serve the customer base.

Leveraging data for people and talent management can offer the following key benefits for human resource planning.

• Sharper Insights –��Data can be used to get valuable insights into employee behavior. It can also help answer some pressing questions that today’s HR leaders ask: What motivates employees? What are the leading causes of attrition? How to increase performance and improve employee engagement?

Tools such as employee satisfaction surveys, assessments, and exit interviews can help organizations identify why people leave and how to increase job satisfaction. The big ones have been doing it for some time now. For instance,����reduced the attrition rate in its call centers by almost 20% by using big data to find out why employees leave in the first place.����are among the many leading companies routinely using predictive people analytics to identify employees most likely to quit- and then make them counteroffers before they do so.

• Training and development-��Accurate performance analysis can indicate where training is needed and specific skills and topics to be covered. Analysis of such data helps HR managers improve the training programs too. Using cloud-based analytics, managers can get real-time updates on employee participation and engagement. They can also use those insights to adapt the methods as the training progresses. This is especially useful for the remote model of work.
• Hiring accurately-��The recruitment process, until recently, was primarily based on intuition and guesswork. , the cost of a bad hire is at least 30 percent of the employee’s first-year earnings. When non-productive hires don’t pull their weight, good employees must make up for them, getting burned out in the process. This is where modern hiring and vetting tools, that use the candidate’s historical data to predict future outcomes, come into the picture. For example, Wells Fargo��, that uses verifiable biometric data to hire candidates who are likely to perform better and stay longer.
• Performance management –��Measuring performance is a highly complex process. It isn’t easy to understand why some employees consistently outperform others or how to evaluate the non-quantifiable work done by an employee. Today’s performance management systems include multiple interconnected processes and documents. The right analytics tool can use these datasets to provide a holistic view of the employee’s performance, enabling easier identification of areas of improvement, faster learning, and better business outcomes.
• Workforce analytics –��It uses algorithms and employee data to provide ROI evidence for resource management decisions such as future forecasting. Talent analytics helps by evaluating the existing trends and offering an inventory of skills within the organization, studying labor shifts, and predicting future gaps. It can also determine the factors that indicate employee engagement and job satisfaction to sustain a high-performing workforce or flag upcoming talent for succession planning.

3. Automate HR operations and planning

To empower HR and HR leaders, there must be a shift from operational roles to strategic positions. HR departments still spend a significant amount of time and resources on transactional, routine activities. By leveraging next-generation automation tools and solutions such as HRIS (Human Resources Information System) system software and HRMS (Human Resources Management System) software, HR can provide enhanced service and improved employee experience. Here’s how:

• Process automation- Providing direct access to information or transactions online and simplifying processes enables process automation, leading to informed decision making.
• Offloading lower-value administrative jobs- HR administrative services such as payroll and benefits need to run reliably and consistently, yet at a low cost. This can be done by either adopting new digital tools that consolidate your legacy systems or outsourcing the work to external vendors/partners.
• Leading-edge edge automation- Next-generation automation is replacing several HR processes by building on core HRMS and HRIS software. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Natural Language Processing reduce cross-functional workflows and streamline the old-school onboarding process. Bots are helpful allies here since they can access multiple systems, manage an intelligent workflow, and handle the complete onboarding process. Onboarding time can be reduced from weeks to days, with the spin-off benefits of lower risk of manual errors and a more streamlined journey for each recruit.

4. Focus on employee experience

Employee experience and satisfaction are essential to measuring HR’s operational effectiveness. In the new normal, this means ensuring a smooth experience that is consistent and similar for��all��employees (both on-site and remote). HR leaders should understand their needs, pay attention to factors that make work enjoyable or tedious, and enable them to complete transactional tasks online quickly. In fact, as employers get increased visibility into the personal lives of their employees, there is a need for a shift to supporting the employee life experience, says��.

5. Review and Evaluate HR plan

As organizations continue to evolve and become digitally agile, HR also needs to review and re-evaluate its planning and role constantly. The human resource planning process is now strategic to expand the focus and extend its influence beyond the operational and the transactional to the enterprise ecosystem. Instead of focusing merely on technology or tools, the human resource planning process can start with employee experience and engineer a strategy that keeps this at the center. The result will be more fruitful overall.

We are no longer inching towards a New Normal, we are already in one. And HR leaders have to be strategic thinkers, constantly looking forward, assessing organizational needs, and coaching employees to gear up for this change. With the help of��, HR leaders can stay tech-savvy and strategic in their human resource planning and can successfully deal with an increasingly ‘restless’ workforce, used to the work-from-anywhere freedom!

The post Strategic HR planning: The crucial step in organizational growth appeared first on �鶹ԭ�� India News Center.

The event brought together talent leaders for a Power Panel Discussion to shine the spotlight on the ongoing shift from HCM to in the vaccine economy. Moderated by Cindy Scholts, Virtual Learning and Development Manager, People Matters, the panel included – Shuchika Sahay, Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Firstsource; Nitinchandra Shende, Head – People Operations and Corporate Initiatives and Ashish Mittal, Head of People Function, Aviva India.

While reflecting on the current work scenario, the panel answered some critical questions on how human experience management principles will occupy center stage as tools to engage employees and how they are redefining EX to align business outcomes for a hybrid world.

The shift from HCM to HXM

Amit Mittal: The shift was already happening, especially in Indian organizations. What these last 18 months have done is put this shift on steroids and fast-rolled it across sectors. Identifying employee needs and managing them is an essential part of staying competitive in the market.

It is said, “people share a good experience with a friend, but a bad one with the whole world”. As an organization, this has driven us to focus on people who are leaving to ensure that they have a good experience because we see them as our employee champions.

Another shift that has happened within organizations is – instead of thinking of our employees as a captive population, we have started looking at our employees like our customers. Previously, we used segmentation sparsely, e.g., as part of the dashboard building process, but now we are refocusing on segmentation to find different ways to improve employee experiences.

It’s become abundantly clear that one size doesn’t fit all. And it is essential to get in touch with the ground reality for each employee to understand their needs and take up initiatives and interventions that support them individually.

Nitinchandra Shende: From an HCM point of view, during the pre-pandemic era, we all had standard operating procedures (SOP’s) in place for processes and, everything was documented in a pre-determined manner. The pandemic shattered all boundaries within which we previously operated, creating chaos in terms of how we live through each of these events/experiences.

When the first lockdown was announced, the primary priority was to ensure the safety of every employee and enable their contributions. As the scenario evolved, we experienced more and more life events that we could not have imagined in the past. None of these events/experiences were a part of our SOP’s till March 2020. But we had to start looking at them from an organizational perspective. This brought about the shift from procedural to experience-focused aspects and made it essential for us to start looking for solutions and processes that are more individualistic and relevant to the current needs.

Shuchika Sahay: There are a lot of interesting shifts that have been accelerated – not just because of the pandemic but due to a lot of other aspects as well. Technology, for example, has been accelerating a lot of things in the societal space. Digitization has simplified even the most basic of processes. So now, when it comes to organizational processes, we look for the same kind of convenience.

Another critical shift has been the “rise of the state”. To control the pandemic’s spread and manage its wide-ranging impacts the state has demonstrated a critical role in shaping responses, strategies, and approaches in tackling problems at a more individual level. When states act on account of employees, we see a shift in terms of employee behavior itself. And this brings with it some level of pressure on HR and company leaders to take a closer look at the nuances and need for personalization.

Thirdly, the pandemic has also exposed some glaring gaps in organizational offerings. E.g., DNI has been a critical aspect of the organizational construct for the past two decades. But it is only during the pandemic, that organizations have realized that most of their female employees are the primary caregivers, and they hardly have any infrastructure in place to support them or their needs. Organizations are slowly but surely making an effort to step back and find new ways to tackle problems that previously flew under the radar.

HR is no longer an internal function. Social media has given everyone an outlet for a new kind of employee activism and feedback. Adding to the pressure on HR to shift focus on creating better employee experiences. They no longer have the luxury to design processes from a single perspective and should take into account the end-user perspective.

Key areas of focus for redesigning EX

Nitin: In the pre-pandemic world, we could generalize a lot of things and could easily divide employee lifecycles into various phases – recruitment, onboarding, etc. And simply build experiences around these certain events. As we live through the pandemic things have changed. From an HR perspective there are 3 things that we need to look at in particular:

• Listening to our employees – Every employee is going through a different life experience and the more we listen, the more we will understand what this experience means to them.
• Creating a culture of trust – With the current “work-from-anywhere” scenario, it is all about written communication. This causes a certain level of limitation in understanding expectations. We need a culture of trust so we don’t end up creating perception-driven behaviors but work together as a team.
• Making HR processes agile – While we have little to no experience and SOP’s for most scenarios we are experiencing today. We need to have 1 rule book that guides our response to every scenario in an unbiased manner while recognizing the need for agility in work processes.

Amit: ��While we all talk about change, but as companies, we are the worst at making changes when we have a set of processes in place for each experience. While trying to redesign for the last 18 months we focused on listening to the needs of our people and quickly adapting initiatives that help them. E.g., to help our employees through the grief and chaos of the second wave, we quickly put together what we called a “Happiness Campaign”. Instead of focusing on productivity and sales, this campaign brought to employees practical scientific ways to address their state of mind, helping them bring back their happier selves to work.

Listening without action does not help anyone. It is the actions taken with the right intent that truly bring about the shift needed in the organization and its people.

Technology’s role in redesigning EX

Shuchika: To think about it we can’t even imagine a life without technology anymore. Technology today holds the key to creating a global workforce, to human interactions and connections. Technology has proved to be a very capable enabler for every process you need to design to scale, hyper-personalize, and deliver on time.

Our organization has defined its cloud strategy, and one of the things HR is doing is leading by embracing that’s cloud-led. It is important to access well-defined, benchmarked processes that you can drive within, to help your organization move forward and be more people-centric. The biggest benefit of technology has been its ability to define experiences and scale them across the organization.

Another key benefit has to be the kind of data analytics that is now possible due to technology. Today it is possible to analyze data and get answers from it almost immediately. This is a great boon to CEOs and decision-makers and gives organizations a competitive edge they didn’t have before.

The pandemic has also increased our digital muscle like never before and pushed our talent strategy beyond physical boundaries. Today we are no longer wedded to a location, we can hire talent from anywhere in the world.

Leveraging EX to thrive in a vaccine economy

Nitin: Even before the vaccine economy, HR’s focus on business outcomes never entirely shifted and it never will. On the contrary, HR’s role in enabling business outcomes has become even more important than it ever was. E.g., during the first wave through March 2020, we had a lot of new joinees in a dilemma about the validity of their joining contract and if they will even be honored. We resolved this by revamping our complete onboarding process. What was traditionally a once-a-week event has now turned into an anytime-anywhere onboarding system that simplifies and eases these anxieties.

As an HR function in the vaccine economy, we should not get mixed up in whether our actions should focus on ‘customers-first or employees first. Within our organization, we use a phrase – “customers first, but employees always”. We use this frequently to navigate any ambiguity we have during any type of conflict resolution and while aligning all processes and practices around it.

1 best tip to thrive in the vaccine economy

Amit: Be empathetic to people and understand what they are saying.

Shuchika: Co-create! HR longer has the luxury to be a function that designs alone. Instead, we need to build communities across the organization to deliver experiences.

Nitin: Empathy is the key to surviving and thriving in these uncertain times.

Check out more posts:

Evolving Employee Experience from HCM to HXM in Hybrid 2.0 – �鶹ԭ�� India News Center

CEO’s Perspectives on the Changing People Paradigm���� – �鶹ԭ�� India News Center

Meeting Business Priorities in a Hybrid World – �鶹ԭ�� India News Center

The post Thriving in the Vaccine Economy Through Human Experience appeared first on �鶹ԭ�� India News Center.

2020 ushered us into a new way of working. Organizations are now moving to investing and setting up infrastructures to provide a superior work experience to their people– Hybrid 2.0. �鶹ԭ�� organized the �鶹ԭ�� HR Connect 2021 to throw some much-needed light on how we can design employee experiences for the hybrid 2.0 world that are holistic, progressive, agile, technology-driven, and most importantly, more human!��

Jason Averbook, CEO & Co-Founder, Leapgen, conducted a workshop��delving��into the ideal way��of carving a winning employee experience strategy. Where he provided a step-by-step guide to��planning a pandemic-proof EX strategy that��transforms��employees into growth partners��as we transition to newer work models��for our brave, evolving hybrid world of work.��

The last couple of years has changed the world of work, forever.��HR has had to greatly accelerate its pace of developing and implementing experience strategies and tools��for employee experiences��that have��become critical to driving impact for organizations.����

Getting to Hybrid 2.0��

Transformation is a word that people bring up a lot, but not many truly understand what it means. The word “trans” means radical change and “formation” means how we do things, in this case, ‘how we work’. In��the world where we have lived in��there are 2 types of “trans” – there is technology transition and there is true transformation. True transformation comes only by following three��key��steps –��Strategy, Deployment & ROI (Run, Optimize, Innovate).��

The��concept of Hybrid 2.0 needs to be attacked in a very systemic way. And that starts with developing the right Digital People Strategy. Deploying the strategy is the next step and requires a very large effort that includes programs, change, adaptation, unlearning, organizational��model��and it may also at some point involve the implementation of technology.����

Implementation is a part of the deployment. A lot of organizations are great at implementation but not deployment and that’s where a lot of strategies fall apart.����

Once the strategy has been deployed, the third step is to think about how to sustain the value we get from it. This is where ROI or RUN, OPTIMIZE, INNOVATE comes into play.����

The World��of Work��in��2021��

In the world we live in today, building strategies is��really hard.��Previously, there was a point in time where we could make 5 –��3 year��strategies/plans. But in today’s day��and age of��uncertainty, there is a much higher need for agile strategies – one’s that can shift, flex, contract based on the things happening around us.����

We are human inside of work as much as we are outside of it. In the world of HXM, this means that we need to be��listening at all times��to the signals and the people and react with our strategies intact.������

We need to respond by going to our core –��one that makes us all��human, and��think about recovery��by focusing on��being human-centered.��Because people are our most important assets and how we make them feel is what is going to allow us to get through these changing times.����

Some of the impacts we��are seeing on the NOW of work:��

• Human-centered recovery strategy��

• Need for systems and tools to drive efficacy��
• Hybrid work is not a fad and will be here forever��
• HR��to act��with agility and response-ability��
• Digital & distributed models of work��
• Concerted policy efforts��to drive systemic change��

• Optimism��and��uncertainty��at the same time��
• Attracting and retaining labor now looks vastly different��

Right now, HR has the largest opportunity that it has ever had – to shape the NOW of work.����

Digital��Equation for Success��

Remarking on the pandemic’s effect on every aspect of work and life, Satya Nadella, CEO��of, Microsoft said, “We saw two years of digital transformation in two months”. The question that now remains is if this is also the case with the HR function?��

Digital transformation is meant to touch everything from marketing to sales to everything done in Human Resources. The shift from HCM to HXM is essentially about transformation and the need for every HR organization in the world to digitally transform.��Most people think that digital��is all about��technology, but that’s not true. Digital is not��just technology, rather��it��is a component of��it.����

It is time we rethink how to better design and deliver services. This��starts��by bringing back��the focus on understanding the purpose of our organization and how we want to serve with it.��HR leaders have put this purpose into action by digitally transforming their functions. They can do this by focusing on 4 key areas:��

1. 35% of digital success comes from ensuring��you have a clear, concise, understood��mindset��that is��aligned to the purpose��and has strong measures of success.��

1. 30%��is��designing for the audience��of NOW.��This comes from truly��knowing��your people- not just skills and qualifications but��what allows them to bring their best selves to work.��

1. 25%��comes from��designing��journeys.��Processes generate data, but journeys create feelings and connections��between people and their purpose.��

1. 10% of success comes from the technology��deployed (not just implemented) to support the people and processes.��Essentially acting��as��the��fuel needed to create journeys.��

Digital transformation is made up of each of these components. Leaving out even one of these reduces the effectiveness��of��the overall transformation.��

Ultimately when we think about HXM, what we need to do is LISTEN & ACT. Listen to the people and act on it immediately – not once a year on an engagement survey, but NOW! As organizations and HR leaders we need to do a better job at listening, to truly understand the human side of our workforce.����

Experience Needs to��be:��Shift to B to Me��

The��real goal of HXM and true transformation is the shift from a B2B focus (where the tools��used��are in place to make��the��HR��function��more efficient) to a B2Me focus. This shift will enable employees and managers with tools that make them successful – not the HR but the organization.����

B2Me means personalization, the kind that can only be achieved by truly knowing our people. We need to build workforce tools that not only connect people but build connections between the people. And we need to do this with a concept called –��Hands, Heads & Hearts.��

��

The formula that defines experience is simple:��

Transaction + Interaction = Experience��

Adding��interaction to transactions enriches it to create an experience. The interaction is where the trust is built. The Hands, Heads & Hearts concept is a simple way to think about how we need to shift work as part of the digital transformation.����

Machines are exceptional at hands work, or what is called RAD (Repeatable, Auditable & Documented) work and that is where we should leverage technology. People, on the other hand, are good at the heart’s work – at building connections. It is time we start building functions in a way where the machines are doing the transactional work, while people focus on building stories around the data provided by the machines.����

The True Value of Digital��

Digital is not about eliminating the human element, rather it enhances it.����Work no longer looks the way it used to 2 years ago, and that’s why HR can’t act the same way it did previously.��HR��needs��to become��agile in these fragile times.����

In a recent survey, Future Workforce found that if HR could double its budget, HR leaders from most organizations would like to allocate these additional funds to improve the employee experience (44%) and existing technology (37%).����

Before the pandemic, we used to have 2 types of experiences – Physical & Digital/Technical. Today, we have only one��–��the “Workforce or Human Experience”.����To achieve��this experience��to the fullest, we��have to��stop implementing technology and move to deploying human capabilities.����

Adding technology doesn’t change the HR function or its interaction with the workforce – but it��definitely helps��with it. However, we��have to��remember that technology without change is nothing.��And for people to adopt transformation, organizations will have to adapt.����

Human-Centered Design Leverages Personas��

You cannot talk about HXM, without talking about humans, and the voice of the employees/customers.��Deploying technology was��previously��done as a single spread. This��approach��doesn’t work anymore. We need to meet people where they are with an empathetic��lens to the work they do and how they do it.����

We need to create personas by listening to people who seem like the persona and study them more carefully to understand- the best ways to communicate with them, their needs and expectations, roadblocks, etc. When we understand a persona at that level, we can deploy messages in a way that meets the persona where they are and with what they need.����

Benefits of personas:��

• Companywide understanding of your workforce��

• Encourages empathy-driven design����
• Digestible workforce segments��
• Uncover workforce needs/common frustrations��
• Test, refine, and improve experiences��
• Anticipate future opportunities��

When we have this kind of insight into our workforce, we can take the “Whole Person Approach”. This approach looks at every aspect of the employee – Physical, Emotional, Social, Spiritual, and Intellectual to��design solutions that��attack��every��problem from all angles.����

COVID has given HR the passport to reset, rethink, reimagine, and realize that the next normal is probably going to be no normal that we are used��to��and that growth is coming at a very large scale. We need to plan and prepare for this by shifting focus from using technology for transition to using it for transformation.�� And embrace the fact that everything about the digital workforce & HXM is now HR’s responsibility.��

HR needs to now deliver experiences, not technology – solutions, not toolkits; enable not monitor; people capabilities, not technology features! And all of this��has to��be done while considering the measurable outcomes of the business.����

One of the most magical things about the shift from HCM to HXM is realizing that technology is the fuel that will allow us to drive to what the NOW of work is.����

Check out more posts:

CEO’s Perspectives on the Changing People Paradigm����

Meeting Business Priorities in a Hybrid World

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To get a CEO’s perspective on the evolving paradigm of the talent agenda the event held an exclusive CEO Dialogue. Chaired by Ester Martinez, CEO & Editor – in – Chief, People Matters, this esteemed panel included thought leaders from leading organizations –��Kulmeet��Bawa, President & Managing Director, �鶹ԭ�� Indian Subcontinent,��Dilip��Shanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharma, and C. P.��Gurnani, CEO, Tech Mahindra.����

While discussing the COVID situation, the power-packed panel revisited the talent transformation agenda and reflected on how it has once again become the center of board room concern. They acknowledged the role of technology in helping businesses reinvent themselves to continuously realize value��as they��inch from recovery to growth.��

Following are the key��highlights of this insightful discussion:��

Revisiting��The��Talent��Agenda��Through��The��Pandemic��Lens��

Kicking off the discussion with his thoughts on COVID, C.P.��Gurnani��termed it the accelerator for one of the greatest workforce transformations of our lifetimes.��Emphasizing��the��lasting impact of recent��changes to the ways we work, exercise, shop, learn, communicate, or where we work, he stated��“HR��today means how it affects me as an individual and my 13,000 associates.��“��

Reflecting on the��initial phase of the lockdown, he mentioned “The first few months were about arranging chairs, tables, renting out hotels near workplaces and creating a secure environment.��It��was��like��mechanically responding to an emergency��–��creating war rooms to provide essentials.��But very soon we realized that transformation is essential as much for��customers, for managers��to manage a remote workforce, and as much for the workforce to balance their personal & business lives.��Technology has provided the fabric and the��answer, but��knowing what the challenges are and being able to address them is the need of the hour.”����������

Kulmeet��shared, “The world has��changed��and we are grappling with certain issues. While we miss the coffee corners, office huddles, personal connections, and travel, we��have��witnessed��a prominent��silver lining in the form of much higher levels of productivity��and a lot more time with our customers and teams, which is phenomenal to me.”����

Commenting with his perspective of the future of talent agenda, he added��“There��has been a clear emergence of a��brand-new��culture, that demands a��lot more agility and nimbleness. From a talent perspective, this means employees need to possess a lot more digital dexterity and mental resilience.��We as leaders & HR as an organization will need to be a lot more conscious of how we bring in this new talent and hone them to be successful. Secondly,��the changes we are��seeing today require a whole new paradigm in terms of leadership. We need to break away from the traditional hierarchical chain-of-command model��to cater��to the huge millennial and Gen Z workforce��that we are bringing on board��and balance their need for instant gratification.”��������

Speaking on the challenges faced by employees,��Dilip��Sanghvi added, “Another important challenge we faced was – because we have people working across different time zones, the boundaries between personal and professional time were blurry. We had to set clear expectations, otherwise, people are left with no time to work, guide recharge or relax.”����

Creating��Positive��Employee��Experiences��That��Enable��Productivity����

The more employers focus on what’s best for their people, the greater each employee’s experience will be. This means actively catering to your people’s needs and, more importantly, actually caring for them.����

On �鶹ԭ��’s and his personal experience��as an “on-screen leader”��over the last 13 months,��Kulmeet��said,��“Employees��today truly trust organizations that care for them.��At���鶹ԭ�� our topmost priority has��always��been the health and safety of our employees and the broader community.��I am touched by the spirit today, where I see every �鶹ԭ�� India employee��is��going beyond their charter by miles to deliver on the shared vision that we set up for ourselves as teams.��“����

Commenting on the need to create moments of truth that holistically support employees, C.P.��Gurnani��added, “This war has been imposed on us and has meant that��we��need to get into a wartime General mode. But you can’t be a��General who��is not concerned about an employee’s spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental health.��Today more than ever, the future of work is the future of worker well-being.”����

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In an effort to help employees manage the stresses of��work-life integration,��Tech Mahindra��has��appointed “Wellness Officers”. Clearly communicating the company’s intention address its people’s emotional and physical requirements.��He added,��“COVID��has been a method of redefining business. My business is executed by people, they are my flag bearers and if I��can help them to redefine themselves, I will automatically be redefining my business and winning the hearts of my customers.��“��

Echoing the sentiment across the panel,��Dilip��said, “The last few quarters have been some of our best. This is the result of the significant contributions of our employees��and��helps us to look at business very differently, and��learn continuously.”����

The Role of Technology��as a Strategic Enabler����

Technology is rewriting the rules. In the hybrid workplace, it��is no longer playing a supporting role.��Instead,��it has proven itself to be the��critical��driving force enabling employees to achieve��overall operational��success.����

On technology’s increasingly important role,��Dilip��Sanghvi��said,��“The��greatest contribution��of technology in improving processes has been its ability to remove subjectivity from evaluating performances. Making it a transparent process��that rewards people based on their contributions and success in an unbiased manner.��The speed with which technology has enabled us to work in this changing environment is only going to accelerate.”����

Reflecting on��its critical role��in underpinning the talent strategic changes seen in the past year, C.P.��Gurnani��pointed out,��“The shift towards digitalization has been accelerated by a minimum of 5 -7 years.��I’m convinced that if��employees��had��not��embraced technology the way they did, some of the results we are seeing would never have been possible.��It is employees that grew, learned, and used the tools that were made available.”����

“As employers and company leaders��we��will have to continue to invest in our people��and��give them a learning environment, where they can��create a��significant��impact��not only in the short-term but also in the medium and long-term.”����

Talking about the emergence of a new mindset and its importance in the experience era,��Kulmeet��added, “While we talk about digital-first, I have witnessed that the digital-only strategy is coming up rather quickly. The questions we get asked today are no longer about the “Why”, but about the “How?” – How do we do this faster? Or holistically? How do we do this cloud-first so that we are more agile?”��

In the “experience era” of ubiquitous, personalized experiences in the online world, technology is facilitating a real-time merger between science and art, between content and data. Commenting on��the need��for a renewed focus on fostering human connection, he explained,��“While��most leadership tenets remain the same, some like the need for communication, enhanced need for empathy, and authenticity from leaders has gone up from a technology standpoint. We must humanize ourselves through various technological channels and forge the kind of bonds that��help us grow closer as people.”��

Fostering Human Connections��in��a Changing��Workplace��

“We need to nurture a culture of trust within our organizations, by rolling out trust-based models. At �鶹ԭ��, we are in the process of implementing an initiative called “Pledge2Flex”.�� We hope it will help us dive deep into a flexible workplace model, agnostic of geographic boundaries and time zones.��It is time we ensure that the amount of flexibility should move at the same pace as what the world is demanding.”��

Discussing the needs of a changing workforce,��Dilip��mentioned, “Managing the new millennials needs a new mindset. A transparent model that gives them freedom, respects their abilities, trusts their judgments while rewarding contributions, and gives honest feedback can be the best way��into the future of work.”��

Concluding the session with some advice on��creating��a high-performing workplace, C.P.��Gurnani��suggested, “Managers need to adopt a parental style of leadership, where you understand your employee will need some help to uphold values, his/her contributions and his/her relationship to their own family. I believe it is our job to keep the workplace happy and��I can only do this by communicating and listening.��All my advice��boils down to 3 words – Listen. Understand. Act.����

Also read about the keynote address at HR Connect 2021��

The post CEO’s Perspectives on the Changing People Paradigm���� appeared first on �鶹ԭ�� India News Center.

As part of the opening keynote, Prashanth Tripathy, Managing Director & CEO, Max Life Insurance Pvt. Ltd.,��shared some critical insights into trends that are creating lasting��impacts on��the workforce and workplace. And the importance of building��progressive employee experiences��that expand the definitions of productivity, collaboration, and employee well-being in the post-pandemic world.��

The unfolding events of the COVID-19 outbreak have undoubtedly impacted the way the workforce is interacting and working with each other.��Organizations��are looking for creative solutions to��maintain balance between their 2 main objectives of sustaining rapid growth and creating a positive employee experience.��

Explaining how Max Life Insurance experienced its best 18 months since its inception 20 years ago, Prashanth pointed out some key trends. And shared how his organization tackled these ups and downs to achieve business goals of hyper-productivity, agility, and flexibility through a progressive employee experience tailored for a hybrid world.����

Key Trends��Transforming Employee Experiences��

Rise of True Digitization��

Before the disruptions caused by the pandemic and the consequent lockdowns, the digital journey was simply a fad that every CEO seemed to be on. The current work scenario has created a paradigm shift.����To deliver on business outcomes more efficiently, while remaining a great place to work��organizations across the globe��are��re-evaluating��and doing��more to support their��move towards digitization.����

Global Talent Competitiveness��

The shift to remote work also means that we are now competing for talent at a global level. People today can work from any market, serving any company. The entry-exit barriers created by geography have slowly but surely dissolved, leaving us with a new challenge��to find creative ways to retain our position as great employers, among almost the whole world.����

The “Phygital” Workspace��

As a critical enabler of business and economic continuity, remote working has shown us that physical presence for work is out of the window. It’s a new world and��organizations need to differentiate themselves based on flexibility to meet employee needs. Creating a��“Phygital”��world – that brings in digital and interfaces it with the physical set-up to perfectly fit in the new normal��which��seems to be the way ahead.����

No One Solution to Fit All��

Organizations will have to strike the optimal balance between the physical and digital, that works best for them.��Solutions cannot��be generic for industries or the world at large, as every company and its employee needs will differ depending on their��work models and business goals. All companies will have to strike their own balance.��

Importance of Company Culture��

The culture of an organization, its purpose, and values are some of the most important things that anchor and bind the workforce. At a time when departments within organizations are physically divided across geographies, the consequent flexibility can impede creating strategies that align the workforce and is a challenge that needs much thought.��

Supervision is Passe��

The last 18 months have made it clear that most organizations do not need supervisors. It has been observed time and again that if we are not careful this supervisory layer can create havoc by shifting the balance from discussions, creativity, or brainstorming to mere reviews. Instead, organizations need to divert efforts to engage and create deeper connections with employees, so they feel heard and appreciated.����

Work-life Balance Matters��

We have all experienced the slow deterioration of the quality of work-life balance since the beginning of the work-from-home era. A direct result of the reduced productivities��as compared to��how well we used to work cross-functionally in a physical set-up.��It is not as simple as just walking up to someone’s desk anymore. Collaborations of any kind today, require setting up calls and setting aside time from our already busy schedules.��

How Max Life Insurance Re-invented its Employee��Experiences��for Hybrid 2.0��

As soon as the lockdown was in place the team came together to outline a purpose and path to differentiate themselves in the market.��Keeping a close watch on trends and tirelessly working toward creating a unified purpose,��helped��Max Life Insurance��to��realize and outdo its business goals, despite the challenging times.��

Prashanth detailed��some of the actions��his organization��adopted to maintain��the��equilibrium required between employee centricity, morale, motivation, and��the��business outcomes that were expected.����

• Launching a special program called ‘Mission Possible’ with a focus on surviving against the adversity of the pandemic. This was done via different reward and recognition mechanisms, listening forums, engagement avenues, as well as presenting a simplified way to operate in a digital setup.��Successfully mirroring, replicating, and creating��an optimum way��of work resulting in a steep increase in��market share, rather quickly.��

• Secondly, they always listened. The need to listen has multiplied many times over the last 18 months. While earlier listening avenues were restricted by hierarchy, the team now spent at least a couple of hours were spent talking to people, to identify��problems. Pulse surveys were also conducted every 2 months to understand the ground reality and quickly finding solutions to the reported problems.����
• As the workforce shifted from the physical workspace, the organization made huge investments to enable teams with tools, training, WFH infrastructures, and designing a world-class hybrid workplace.��This new adaptable workspace will be welcoming its head office staff of over 2000 employees, to a hot-desking setup, where people can come in anytime they feel like.����
• People communication and cutting down on meeting time is another area of focus.��In the era of zoom and teams, meetings can eat into a lot of productive time. To combat this, “Do-Not-Disturb” time has been scheduled between 1-2 pm every day. No meetings are to be scheduled, and people are discouraged from calling their peers during this time. The company is also contemplating declaring a couple of days a month as “Off-Meeting Days”. This will give people time to prioritize work deliveries, rather than attending meetings.����
• As a workforce predominantly consisting of the sales team, 85% to be exact, Max Life Insurance acknowledges that is never going to be a 100% digital company. It believes that to maintain a great culture and value system, human face-to-face interactions are foundational and is working towards bringing back its people to the office slowly. At the same time, they are committed to being mindful of the personal needs of each employee.����

In closing, as an organization run by people, we need to recognize the importance of the human touch, but what is required more than that is to continue inspiring people to deliver on the expected business outcomes by aligning our people with our strategies. Ensuring that there is a common thread that ties the entire workforce together can help in this endeavor. ��

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However, the rules of engagement and employee experience have changed drastically in the new normal. A����states that��employee engagement decreased by 2 points, from 22% in 2019 to 20% in 2020. And lack of engagement cost the global economy US$8.1 trillion in lost productivity each year, according to Gallup.

So, how can human resource teams understand EX challenges and anticipate trends in an increasingly unpredictable work climate? How do organizations prepare themselves at a time when competition for talent is high and employee turnover is a huge risk? What does 2022 have in store for CHROs and HR managers as they seek to ensure EX that caters to these massive shifts in workplace and workforce dynamics? Let’s take a look: ​

1. Enhancing employee engagement in the remote/hybrid workplace

A ��that organizations that offer exceptional employee experiences also witness motivated employees who do their best work resulting in:

• 17% higher productivity
• 21% higher profitability
• 81% higher customer satisfaction

Higher engagement is related to lower attrition rates, and the ability to retain and drive top performers. And while eliciting feedback, reporting, and surveys is difficult in the physical office environment, it becomes even more complicated in the remote/hybrid model.

What organizations need is a more individualized, data-led approach to create meaningful and holistic experiences that understand how people learn, what motivates them, and what they need to be their best.

In this new experience-led paradigm, HR and employee experience play an even more significant role. The overarching HR strategy must not only support company goals but also align employee’s wants, needs, and expectations with these goals.

This is where technology can enable HR. �鶹ԭ��’s����transforms traditional HR functions into opportunities to drive engagement and productivity by helping HR leaders understand the key drivers of employee engagement.

2. Improving productivity and aligning IT to EX and business goals

From security patches to inadequate tech support, poor IT experiences can be frustrating for employees. IT teams invest millions of dollars in technology and services to boost employee productivity and work enablement, but ����’s equally important to assess whether IT resources and services are aligned to employee needs.

Improving digital employee experiences is key to a more engaged and productive workforce. Organizations can gain visibility and insight into digital experience gaps by leveraging data and transactional feedback loops to gauge the effectiveness of tech implementations.

Leveraging solutions such as����for IT enables CHROs with customized data exports, real-time dashboards, AI-powered text analytics, and digital intercepts to ensure that technology investments and services meet the needs of employees. These insights help plan future projects and also mitigate implementation risks for future technology investments.

3. Managing employee lifecycles in the remote, geo-distributed workplace

Maintaining visibility and transparency across the employee lifecycle – right from onboarding to exit – needs feedback and insights at key touchpoints so that leaders can act in real time to drive improvement.

This is even more crucial in the remote, geo-distributed workplace. Using critical inflection points across each stage of the employee lifecycle can help businesses optimize their onboarding process, reduce attrition, and help create the next set of leaders.

The pandemic’s impact on the economy and workplace has led to a shift in the HR lifecycle to meet the evolving organizational needs. HR will need to increasingly find ways to support the business vision. The solution lies in a holistic employee lifecycle management that provides leaders with onboarding and exit insights, and metrics on ramp-up time and productivity. Using these insights, HR leaders can gain actionable feedback on the root cause of attrition and design action plans to improve EX and retain top performers.

��offers breakthrough tools that provide continuous feedback so that HR leaders can listen to employees in real time. With features such as immersive onboarding, socialization and acculturation, and a richer ongoing engagement, CHROs can design a culture that’s required to set up teams for success.

4. Comprehensive Performance Analysis

In recent years, there has been a marked focus on helping employees grow, and understand their own strengths and weaknesses, to visualize their career road map. Accurate and well-rounded performance analysis considers the big picture with multi-rater assessment and 360-degree feedback that helps both employees and managers with rich, qualitative data.

Performance analysis remains one of the key challenges for Human Resource Business Partners (HRBPs). Poor implementation of performance analysis tools or lack of 360-degree feedback leads to unwanted attrition, employee dissatisfaction, and loss of motivation and productivity.

360-degree feedback is not just an assessment tool, it is a development handbook that helps with career planning, promotions, and succession processes. But not all 360-degree feedback methodologies are equal. CHROs and HRBPs need a data-driven approach to drive individual performance and implement talent management reliably.

Navigating today’s complex and increasingly unpredictable business climate requires more personalized touchpoints and promotion of the ‘feedback’ culture. With individualized reports, rich qualitative feedback, and gap analysis, CHROs and managers can design the right career road��map and assess performance effectively.

5. Understanding Employee Expectations and Satisfaction

Benefits and rewards are an important part of the employee experience equation. Yet, navigating employee demands becomes complex as their expectations and perception of benefits evolve over time. What was considered a perk (for instance office transport and cafeteria) a couple of years ago, is now merely an essential.

Do the benefits you offer actually improve the EX? How do you design the optimal benefits package driven by data and analytics?

Traditional approaches in designing employee benefits packages are neither scalable nor scientific. What HR leaders need is an effective tool that designs the package based on employee feedback, and automated conjoint analysis. For instance, Google, which has been consistently voted ‘The Best Place to Work’, found that employee satisfaction rose by 37% with the help of employee support initiatives that go beyond financial rewards.

A fair compensation system that uses technology to reward performance based on merit helps in employee retention and motivating underperforming employees. Managers and CHROs need a system that links employee feedback and expectations to operational data if they are to design an accurate, cutting-edge compensation system.

��is a result of years of research into how employees work, what makes them happy, and what they need from their managers and employers to be fully engaged. It enables HR leaders to capture the finer nuances of employee information and performance so that managers can make data-led, fact-based decisions.

Clearly, the seismic shift in how we work and where we work presents business leaders with an opportunity to rethink employee experience. With advancements in people analytics, behavioral science, and AI-driven insights, CHROs can now handle employee experience in a more personalized and dynamic way. The future may seem uncertain, but a technology- and data-led approach to employee experience can enhance workforce productivity and enable predictability to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity.

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