Editorial
Only 50% of digital workplace leaders will have established a Digital Employee Experience (DEX) strategy and toolsets by 2026, up from 30% in 2024, according to Gartner. The research goes on to predict that more than half of digital workplace leaders who neglect digital employee experience and enablement will risk being commoditized or replaced by 2028.
This trend is concerning. So, how can digital workplace leaders formulate DEX strategies and toolsets that translate into plans with tangible business outcomes?
Implementing technology solutions tailored to the unique contexts of both business and users is how we realize the promise of a complete digital employee experience. By blending these perspectives, organizations can transform theoretical strategies into actionable plans that resonate with employees and drive overall business success.
Understanding Business Context
Every organization operates within its own, unique business context. This context is the environment in which an organization functions, including key elements such as organizational culture, goals and resources.
- Organizational culture covers the values, beliefs and behaviors that shape how work is done within the company.
- Goals refer to the strategic objectives the organization aims to achieve.
- Resources include the financial, human and technology assets available to support these objectives.
The Executive Program Management function (typically a Chief of Staff or Chief Operating Officer) and an innovative Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) should collaboratively own this context. Their collaboration ensures a holistic approach to managing complex changes, that integrates operational and human aspects to achieve desired business outcomes.
A deep understanding of business context provides clarity on how work is done, why it is done and who performs it — whether by humans or digital systems, including agentic AI. All three of these elements influence the speed of DEX implementation, its responsiveness to change and the impact delivered.
For example, in a startup or technology-led company like Google, DEX implementation strategies might focus on enabling speed. In contrast, a non-profit like UNICEF might prioritize delivering impact, while a large enterprise might emphasize enabling responsiveness.
Understanding User Context
User context identifies what employees need to achieve their goals, how they interact with platforms, and their likes and dislikes that influence these interactions. By understanding employee needs, behaviors and preferences, organizations can personalize platform features and promote self-personalization capabilities.
When employees can tailor tools to their specific needs, those tools become more intuitive to use, which boosts productivity and leads to higher adoption and engagement rates.
For example, self-personalized learning platforms like Udemy allow employees to customize their learning paths based on their learning preferences and career goals. Adaptive workspaces like Microsoft Viva cater to different working styles by providing quiet time for focused work and offering insights and recommendations based on individual work patterns to enhance team dynamics. Platforms like Slack enable personalized communication preferences, whether through instant messaging, video calls or integrated workflows.
Bridging Business and User Contexts
Urooj Quershi, the CEO and founder of Design Centered Co, a design and innovation consulting firm, identified a significant disconnect between business and user contexts early in their client implementations. His research revealed that the gap between strategy and delivery stemmed from miscommunication, misalignment and lack of psychological safety.
Differentiating between business and user contexts is important for achieving business goals while maintaining user satisfaction. The overlapping needs, evolving contexts and limited visibility, especially in large organizations, can make this task challenging.
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Common strategies to address these challenges include adopting an adaptive approach, using identity profiles and leveraging analytics. Urooj and his team are disrupting this space with their Impactor App, which empowers diverse voices within the organization. These methods support informed and inclusive decision-making and effective communication related to both business and user needs.
Key Steps for Core Principle #2
- Goal Setting and Resource Optimization: Understand business objectives and employee key performance indicators (KPIs). Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals to align technology and people initiatives. Assess available resources, including budget, technology stack and personnel. Detail actions and allocate resources effectively.
- Market Trends and Identity Profile Development: Study trends in employee experience and demographics to stay informed and competitive. Gather data on employee needs, preferences, behaviors, values and challenges through surveys, interviews and analytics. Develop detailed identity profiles representing different workforce segments. Follow Gartner's advice: "Stop thinking about them; start thinking like them.”
- SWOT Analysis and Workforce Insights: Perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to identify internal and external factors impacting employee experience. Develop mitigation plans for potential risks and necessary training programs
- Effective Communication and Employee Engagement: Plan for clear, timely and transparent communications to keep employees informed and engaged. Implement feedback mechanisms to test and adapt strategies, addressing unforeseen outcomes and continuously improving.
The true art of implementation lies in turning theoretical strategies into actionable plans by understanding and bridging the gap between your business and employees. By recognizing the differences between business context and user context, you can create digital employee experiences that boost satisfaction and help your organization succeed.
In our next article in this six-article series, we'll delve into Core Principle #3: Cultivate Workflows, which will explore how to develop and refine business workflows. Stay with us!
Editor's Note: Read on for more tips on how to improve digital employee experience:
- A Comprehensive, Actionable Model for Employee Experience — A common approach to employee experience tells you to improve the "moments that matter." I suggest you should pay attention to the other 90% of employees' time.
- Creating Exceptional Employee Experiences: Where HR, Comms and IT Unite — Employee experiences cross departmental boundaries. So to create exceptional EX, multiple departments must work together – with internal comms in the lead.
- How Employee Experience Platforms Can Propel the Digital Workplace — With so much focus on employee experience, a growing number of companies are turning to digital EX platforms. Here’s how to tell if yours is up to snuff.
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