What is the Future of Employee Experience?

The current moment represents a significant opportunity for business leaders to make employee experience a priority. Recent changes, including the effects of the pandemic, have caused employees to switch their perspective and reconsider what keeps them motivated and inspired at work. They want to feel engaged, included and truly connected with the rest of the team, and the company itself. 

There’s been a lot of chat about what employee experience really means - read along as author Dan Schawbel takes a look at the trends shaping the future of employee experience.

1. The employee experience will be human-centric, designed to support workers’ wellbeing

Many companies recognized the emerging mental health crisis occurring during the pandemic and ramped up their benefits in response. Solutions taken include additional time off for their workers, greater flexibility or remote work options. Some employers also expanded their family-friendly benefits, including child care benefits and parental leave. And of course, wellness support was front and center, with nearly 40% of organizations improving their mental health benefits.

2. Companies will take a remote-first approach to their employee experience

Although 79% of companies plan to adopt a hybrid working model (1), this approach may not benefit all workers equally. In fact, some employees have already experienced a bias favoring office workers over those who work remotely. But how and why does this happen? In short, it occurs through a lack of planning coupled with an outdated culture. After all, there’s a big difference between a workplace that tolerates remote work and a remote-first workplace. (2)

Technology can certainly play a hugely important role in creating a more inclusive workplace. Tools supported by the metaverse, like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), will enable leaders to create highly realistic work spaces that unlock collaboration and connection across dispersed teams like never before. 

3. In tomorrow’s workplace, all employees will feel connected to each other and to a broader purpose

Leaders of remote and hybrid organizations everywhere are taking action to bring their dispersed teams closer together. Having the right collaboration technologies is key, but companies are also discovering that these technologies should support community building as well. 

Remote work has caused many people to feel cut off from their company culture and lacking a sense of purpose and meaning in their work. But that’s set to change in 2022, as more and more businesses tackle environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because enabling people to align their personal values with their company's purpose is an essential way to attract and retain top talent.

4. The time to design tomorrow’s employee experience is now

Although businesses have come a long way over the past two years, there’s still room for growth and improvement when it comes to the employee experience. Employees and employers alike are recognising just how important it is for the workplace to foster true connection and purpose.

To read more about how you can adapt your employee experience strategy, click here 👉 http://ow.ly/AqxL50JV2mF

1 'The future of work is hybrid – here’s what that will look like', Wework, 2021.

2 'What makes a remote-first company culture?' Memory.ai, 2021.