Too many Employee Experience (EX) initiatives start with good intentions—but end with disappointing results. Sound familiar? Our research suggests a clear reason why this happens: too much EX activity is reactive rather than strategic.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of tackling EX as a checklist—a new intranet here, an employee recognition scheme there. But without a clear strategy, you’re essentially throwing darts blindfolded. Sometimes you might hit your target, but more often, you won’t.
So, let’s take a moment to clear things up: What exactly is an EX strategy—and what isn’t it?
First, here’s what an EX strategy isn’t:
- It’s not a to-do list.
- It’s not just a series of employee perks.
- It’s not a document that sits gathering dust on a shelf.
A real EX strategy clearly aligns your employee experience goals with your broader business outcomes. It acts as your blueprint—guiding decisions, investments, and focus areas. It helps you create meaningful, lasting impact rather than temporary fixes.
Ready to build yours? Here are some straightforward, practical tips to get started:
✅ Tip #1: Get Clear on Your ‘Why’
Before jumping in and fixing things, pause. Ask yourself clearly: “What business outcome are we actually trying to shift?”
Employee experience should always link back clearly to business goals. Are you aiming to improve productivity, retention, or innovation? Start here. If you’re unsure how to make this connection, we’ve developed a handy tool on our sister site, The EX Space called “Hardwiring to Business Goals” to help you clearly map EX efforts to strategic outcomes.
✅ Tip #2: Map Your Influencers
Let’s be clear—EX can’t be driven by HR or internal comms alone. Real, lasting change happens through collaboration. You’ll need allies across your organisation.
Identify your key stakeholders clearly. Who are your decision-makers? Who can champion your ideas? And yes—who might be a blocker?
Clearly mapping stakeholders gives you a practical roadmap for communication and influencing. The EX Space also hosts a really useful Stakeholder Mapping Tool to make this simple and effective.
✅ Tip #3: Find Your Focus
Here’s the reality—you can’t fix everything at once, and you shouldn’t try.
Instead, prioritise. Ask yourself clearly:
“Where will we have the most meaningful impact?”
Use proven methods to identify these focus areas: listening sessions, World Café conversations, or employee journey mapping. These human-centred design approaches quickly surface real employee pain points and opportunities.
Need some help getting started? And The EX Space Employee Listening and Journey Mapping resources are perfect first steps.
🎯 Bonus Tip: Design it Like a Journey
Remember clearly—employee experience is a journey, not a series of isolated events or HR tasks. Think about the key moments that matter to employees, not just the organisational milestones.
Approach EX like a designer: clearly map out employee journeys and identify those pivotal moments where experiences really matter most.
Ready for Your Next Steps?
Every organisation is different, and you might prefer varying levels of support. Here’s how we can help clearly:
- If you want a partner to co-design your EX strategy with you, get in touch and we’d love to see how we can help you!
- If you’re ready to build it yourself and want the right tools, join The EX Space for easy-to-use Pro tools.
- If you’d like structured training that leaves you with a ready-to-go EX strategy, then you can sign up for The EX Space popular self-paced EX Architect Masterclass.
Ready to turn your EX strategy from reactive to strategic? The future of your workplace starts clearly and simply—right here!
