A guest blog from Lee Smith
One of the challenges working in a relatively new and emerging field like EX is that there is no consistent or commonly held definition of what exactly it is! There are, of course, numerous definitions of employee experience out there (arguably this is one of the hallmarks of an immature discipline) but they vary widely and, in some cases and in our opinion, tend to over complicate an already slippery concept.
So we want to offer our own perspective on this and our thoughts on definitions of both ‘employee experience’ and, separately, the professional practice of ‘EX’. We think it’s important to differentiate between the two.
We don’t set these out as the perfect definitions, but hopefully they add to the debate and help those of us with a passion for this area to move towards something a more common understanding. Anyway, let us know what you think and please feel free to challenge – only through healthy dialogue will we move this profession forward!
When it comes to definitions it’s important to draw a line between the holistic concept of employee experience itself (the ‘what’) and the professional practice of ‘EX’ (the ‘how’). They are, after all, two different things.
Before diving into that, however, let’s remind ourselves of the nature of ‘experience’ as this really is at the heart of it. Put simply, an experience is any event or occurrence which leaves an impression on an individual. To paraphrase Wikipedia, experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these events. More than that though, whether good, bad or ugly an experience makes you feel something – it’s emotional, it’s heart more than head.
So, from an employee perspective, experiences can be anything that happens to the employee in a work context that leaves an emotional impression on them.
Working outwards from this core definition of experience, we can think about the overall ‘employee experience’ as:
“every event, occurrence or interaction between an employee and their employer which leaves an emotional impression on that employee.”
As others have observed, it’s a broad, multi-faceted and holistic concept. Some elements of it – some experiences – can be managed and orchestrated, while others cannot. Think about the overall experience associated with joining an organisation. The onboarding experience is often intentionally designed, however we also have to take into account how it feels on your very first day at work. For example you might be made to feel welcomed and included or alternatively your new team might all heads off together for lunch, leaving you on your own. Both are valid experiences.
Experiences have always existed and, similarly, employee experiences have existed since the birth of employment – there’s nothing remotely new here.
The professional practice of EX, on the other hand, is fairly new – according to some its use dates back no more than a decade.
EX is… the intentional design and facilitation of the entire employee-employer relationship to enable the employee to thrive, and perform at their best. This then unlocks engagement and drives organisational success.
The professional practice of involves thinking about, influencing and shaping every interaction, from the moment an employee first thinks about joining an organisation, until long after they have left. It’s every aspect of that relationship, from what and how they are paid and how their first day at work felt, to the conversations they have with their manager and how it feels to be part of a team.
Breaking this down, the key elements are:
- Intentional design…EX is planned and purposeful, using tools which put the employee at the heart of the design process.
- …and facilitation – it’s not just about designing big ‘set piece’ experiences, it’s also about facilitating the everyday experiences employees have and influencing others (eg leaders and managers) to create positive experiences through their behaviour
- …entire employee-employer relationship – a recognition that experiences can be created at every touchpoint between employee and employer; it’s holistic and all encompassing.
- ‘to enable the employee to thrive and perform at their best’ – great experiences enable employees to bring their ‘best self’ to work
- ‘unlocking engagement and driving organisational success’ – but the employer benefits too through increased commitment, discretionary effort and improved performance.
This final point is hugely important to us – the two concepts of employee engagement and employee experience have become muddied in recent years and they are, mistakenly, now being used interchangeably in some quarters. This is a nonsense and it’s time to reconnect them and clarify the fit between the two. From our perspective, employee engagement is the positive outcome of great employee experiences – the two concepts go hand in hand but one is very much the result of the other.
Of course, there’s a compelling argument that each and every organisation should take time to develop its own definition – or at least find one with the best fit. Certainly there is enormous value in engaging senior leaders around this topic and involving them in identifying what it is. So we actively encourage you to craft your own version! We hope sharing our thinking on this topic is useful.
@Lee
Find out more about The EX Space by joining the mailing list here.
Lee Smith is an employee communication, engagement and EX professional with more than three decades experience. Formerly co-founder and co-owner of the highly respected global employee comms agency Gatehouse – now part of Gallagher’s Employee Experience practice – Lee co-created the annual State of the Sector research survey and developed and led the Accelerate strategic internal comms learning programme, as well as advising senior leaders in some of the world’s biggest businesses.
