Experience, Inc. E-Book

Jill Popelka

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 266

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER

The business leader’s guide to creating a winning employee experience

In Experience, Inc.: Why Companies that Uncover Purpose, Create Connection, and Celebrate Their People Will Triumph,veteran business leader and growth strategist Jill Popelka delivers a hands-on guide to building a flexible, adaptable, and engaged workforce that can enable your organization to evolve with emerging challenges. You’ll find the insights you need to build a company culture that prioritizes your people, resulting in an empowered and future-ready workforce. Filled with stories from the author’s extensive experience as the President of SAP SuccessFactors, the book also offers:

• Advice from global thought leaders on some of today’s most pressing issues
• Practical resources for any employee to improve their productivity and impact
• Tips on creating a culture that works for the organization and its people

Experience, Inc. is an essential tool for business leaders of all levels, from the C-suite and senior executives to people managers and human resources practitioners. It is a must-read for organizations looking for ways to build a sustainable, productive, and exciting workplace centered around the most critical driver of business success: employees.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Praise for

Experience, Inc.

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Employee Experience: It's Here to Stay

PART I: Let's Start Here

CHAPTER 1: A Brief, Not Particularly Employee-Friendly History of Work

It's Different Now

The Challenge and the Opportunity

Notes

CHAPTER 2: Employee Experience

What Exactly

Is

“Employee Experience”?

What Employees Want

Keeping Pace

Getting It Right

The X Factor: A Belief in People

Notes

PART II: Breaking Down Employee Experience

CHAPTER 3: More Than a Job

Making It Real

Connecting to the Why

Passion Drives Purpose

Notes

CHAPTER 4: You Got This

Who Owns the Action?

It's About Trust

It's About Choice

What Next?

Notes

CHAPTER 5: We Belong

Business Beyond Bias

Democratizing Opportunity

More Than Lip Service

Notes

CHAPTER 6: I Value You

Everyone Has Value

Recognition Builds Culture

The Big Power of a Little Appreciation

Notes

PART III: Foundations for a Great Employee Experience

CHAPTER 7: Authentic Beats Perfect

Managers Have It Tough

Style

Is

Substance

Empowering and Unleashing Potential

The (Dreaded) Meeting and Other Gatherings

Transparency and Trust

People Don't Quit Companies

Notes

CHAPTER 8: Collaboration at Work

The People Part

Give and Take

A Bad Use of Tech

The Digital Employee Experience

Where's the Off Switch?

Notes

CHAPTER 9: Thriving at Work

Mind, Body, and Spirit

Toward Better Mental Health

Toward Better Physical Health

Doing Your Part

Notes

PART IV: So What?

CHAPTER 10: The Results Are In

Different People, Different Styles

Never Mistake Activity for Impact

Crushing the Obstacles

Productivity from Anywhere

Notes

CHAPTER 11: Keep the Pace

A Learning Culture

Every Learner Is Different

Resilience

Notes

CHAPTER 12: Sustainable Growth for People

and

Business

All Voices Should Be Heard

Expanding the Tent

Achieving People Sustainability

Leading the Way in Employee Experience

Notes

Epilogue

Storm Home

Notes

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover Page

Praise for Experience, Inc.

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

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Praise for Experience, Inc.

“As an unusually dynamic leader, Jill Popelka knows that putting people first is how you build a company to last. Her engaging, user-friendly book offers the practical tools that workplaces need to bring out the best in everyone.”

—Adam Grant,#1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

“Organizational scientists have well understood the linkage between employee experience and organizational effectiveness, but the gap between research and practice has left so much lost in translation. Experience, Inc. bridges the gap by breaking down the what, why, and how of employee experience in a way that is both evidence-based and actionable.”

—Dr. Autumn Krauss,Chief Scientist, SAP SuccessFactors

“Employee Experience is not an HR issue or responsibility. It is a must for every leader in the organization to foster an inspiring and desirable environment where people can unleash their full potential. If you want to be an inspiring leader, I recommend focusing on purpose, agency, belonging, and recognition. Jill, thanks for reminding us that business is all about people.”

—Hernan Garcia,Head of Talent & Experience, Tecnológico de Monterrey

“This book could not be more timely. Employee experience is more complex than ever. I've known Jill for a long time, and everyone I run into really respects her leadership and, just as important, her ability to take the business to new heights. She distills her principles into this book and how to deliver a great employee experience in this new era.”

—Jay Choi,Chief Product Officer, Qualtrics

“A great employee experience is necessary to deliver on an incredible customer experience. Jill Popelka outlines a human-centered approach to all parts of your business.”

—Scott Russell,Executive Board Member, Customer Success, SAP

JILL POPELKA

EXPERIENCE, INC.

WHY COMPANIES THAT UNCOVER PURPOSE, CREATE CONNECTION, AND CELEBRATE THEIR PEOPLE WILL TRIUMPH

Copyright © 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:

ISBN 9781119852872 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781119852896 (ePDF)

ISBN 9781119852889 (ePub)

Author Photo: Photo by Madison Chaisson

Cover Design and Images: Wiley

First and most and above all else, I dedicate this book to my mother. She taught me to love and seek to understand others deeply, to show up and care for people, and to never give up. I have always known without any doubt that she loves me unconditionally and believes in me with her whole heart. Without her as my backstop, none of the risks I've taken in life would have been possible. She is also a great encourager on social media … the digital world would be a better place if we all had her spirit!

Mom was the foundation, and Dad was the inspiration. He taught me how to believe in others, to take time to think – really think – and the value of experience in learning. He always encouraged me to take the next leap, whether it was my first time riding a horse or my first international travel. When it comes to parents, I hit the jackpot, and I will be forever grateful for their investment in me.

Foreword

Employee Experience: It's Here to Stay

In the old days, we used to talk about keeping employees happy, paying a fair wage, and making sure our benefits were competitive. Today, however, the nature of work is changing rapidly, and workers have so many options, we have to think differently. It's time to design the employee experience that works.

As a business leader and technology innovator, Jill has had the opportunity to think deeply about the issues of experience design. And in this book, she unlocks many of the important secrets.

As my own research points out, the challenge today is not just giving employees lots of perks and programs – it's a problem of designing an entire work environment that delivers productivity, support, and growth. And each role is different, so we have to design an experience that's relevant to each job.

And as Jill discusses in the book, technology only plays a supporting role. You may believe you can “buy” employee experience from a vendor, but this is not enough. The design must include a sober look at leadership, rewards, diversity, growth, and the lived experiences of workers.

I encourage readers to use this book as a guide, a launching point, and an opportunity to think big. Employee experience must be owned by the CEO, HR team, IT team, and every single manager. If you think about the stories in this book, there are some great examples you can leverage to make your employees more included, productive, excited, and engaged.

The focus on employee experience is one of the biggest shifts in business. Let's all dive in and make work life better in our own organizations.

Josh BersinGlobal Industry Analyst and CEO, The Josh Bersin Company

PART ILet's Start Here

The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.

Albert Einstein

CHAPTER 1A Brief, Not Particularly Employee-Friendly History of Work

Consider the employee experience over the last 3,000 years.

History tells us it was harsh, usually brutal. It was tedious. Workers, including children, were often exploited or far worse. Conditions could be unbearable, with few if any safety precautions. Laborers were often unappreciated for their efforts. It was called work for a reason.

For thousands of years we worked from dawn until dusk. Rulers or wealthy employers established pay and taxes and could change them on a whim. You decided how much risk you would accept for the advertised reward but, for most, it was no choice at all.

During the Industrial Revolution, workers experienced a huge shift from primarily agrarian labor and the creation of hand-crafted goods to mass manufacturing, enabled by technology. People moved to cities, where growth and industry offered more reliable jobs, albeit with similarly terrible conditions. Some governments and newly formed labor unions fought to improve worker health and safety, but struggled to keep up with the dizzying pace of change. Mass production and assembly lines generated an economic boon. Though responsibilities changed, workers still faced monotonous and tiresome tasks. Your job wasn't to be happy at work; it was to do your work.

Work, and our relationship to it, has continued to evolve. Over the last 50 years, many jobs moved from the production of goods to the delivery of services. The number of professional and technical workers increased dramatically. With the rise of the knowledge worker, alongside sweeping advances in telecommunications and the emergence of the internet, work was no longer inextricably linked to a specific workplace. Once without choice, workers began to enjoy agency for the first time.

We've come a long way.

It's Different Now

Historically, we have talked about labor markets from a supply-demand perspective. Companies managed employees as assets. In a scarce labor market, when the number of jobs exceeds the number of qualified candidates, employees have the power. In a surplus labor market, things get better for companies but worse for employees.

Is this a healthy way to think about the relationship between employees and companies? Treating it as a zero-sum battle for supremacy? Is it good for societies to talk about human beings using terms like “surplus”? This is unsustainable if we are to create a healthy society with trusted companies and happy, productive citizens.

We are starting to see a complex shift, brought on by changing global demographics, new economic norms, and advancing technologies. Employees are reevaluating the purpose of work and demanding a new set of rules. Employers are struggling to keep up.

Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, says, “People don't realize the scale of what has changed. If you take even one chair away in musical chairs, it changes the entire dynamic of the game. That's what we're seeing now, where the 50 percent increase in job openings has given job seekers dramatically more leverage.”1

On one hand, I hear from CEOs and Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) about their need for talent. Companies are hiring at record rates, yet simply can't fill roles fast enough. Evolving and expanding expectations have left businesses struggling to appeal to the right candidates. Candidates see career development and talent mobility as a must. Hefty equity grants, once a luxury, are now standard. Freedom policies and remote work are expected. Even something unheard of ten years ago, like pet insurance, can be a deciding factor.

On the other hand, I hear about so many people who can't find a job.

What's the real story? Have we over-automated talent acquisition? Are we trying too hard to apply technology, taking the humanity out of the recruitment process? Are we overreliant on personal networks and underinvested in finding diverse voices? Are we doing a disservice to our own teams and businesses, as well as the candidates in the market?

CHROs are doing incredible work to deliver the increased employee choice and development opportunities required by candidates and employees. They are quickly innovating new tools and processes in the name of employee experience. When supported by leaders, they have done well to drive improved employee engagement and leadership trust. Despite insights from advanced analytics, the constant shifts in their workforces make it difficult to pinpoint one root cause. Even Nobel Prize-winning economists aren't sure. “The Great Resignation,” writes Paul Krugman in The New York Times, “remains somewhat mysterious.”2

We're witnessing many dramatic developments at once:

new technology and the ever-increasing speed, power, and assimilation of automation, including robotics and artificial intelligence, which create new jobs while hastening the extinction of others

greater access to information, including legislated transparency about business practices

growing disconnect between the education and labor markets (According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are one million more coding jobs in America than workers to fill them.)

3

the greatest public health crisis in a century and the ensuing economic fallout from the pandemic, including significant job loss and small business closures

widespread protests over racial and economic issues, leading to greater awareness and action about social justice

extreme political polarization and paralysis

Any one of these forces is enough to meaningfully impact the labor market and society as a whole. We find ourselves at a tumultuous, pivotal moment for business, for organizations, and for society.

I believe, and will argue in this book, that we are entering a more human-centric era for work. And that's good for business.

The Challenge and the Opportunity

What will the near future look like for the global economy and labor markets? What will it look like for individual industries? For the way we work? Of course, there's much we don't know (as the Danish physicist Niels Bohr noted, “It's difficult to make projections, particularly about the future”), but the winners of tomorrow will almost certainly be those best prepared for it. As renowned business management consultant Peter Drucker liked to say, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Research highlights some of the most important trends:

Workers – everyone – will be on the move like never before

. The average amount of time that a technical skill remains relevant is approximately five years.

4

The average American moves their place of residence 11.4 times over the course of their lifetime.

5

Workers will not be office-bound or 9-to-5-bound

. Almost three in four employees said that flexible work arrangements increased their satisfaction at work; almost four in five said “flexible work arrangements made them more productive.”

6

The pandemic has supercharged this.

Workers are fearful and unsure

. Slightly more than half of U.S. employees fear that their job will eventually be lost to automation.

7

Over half of current students in primary school will work in jobs that don't yet exist.

8

Because of the speed of technological advancement, the risk today is greater than in 1890 that workers will fall behind as work moves forward without them. Some jobs, like truck driving, will largely disappear because of the savings that automation (self-driving trucks) provides; those millions of truck drivers, it is said, will be poorly positioned for reskilling. In a fast-moving, digitally mediated labor market, how can individuals keep their skills up-to-date? Will taking a different path preclude the employee from enjoying certain professional opportunities and success?

Workers are overwhelmed

. Senior executives now receive 200+ emails daily.

9

The amount of new information produced in the world continues to double every 18 months.

10

So many of us suffer from “information anxiety,” the fear that systems we rely on are fast outstripping our ability to comprehend and manage them.

Business leaders and Human Resources departments are overwhelmed

. How will companies know which mix of skills they need? Because of the sheer number of different credentials, employers struggle to understand what exactly they're looking for – not just because of uncertainty caused by technological shifts, but also because it's difficult to standardize the description of skills and jobs even across the different parts of a single organization. How can HR know that workers have truly earned the credentials they claim? And will this complicate their efforts to diversify the incoming workforce?

Schools are overwhelmed

. From universities to coding academies, there is similar uncertainty about what to offer, even when there's a strong desire to teach to near-term market demands.

Parents are overwhelmed

. Whether it's the need for childcare or their kids falling behind in competing in the global economy, parents feel fear and uncertainty about what may lie ahead.

In my role as president of SAP SuccessFactors, I see countless companies struggling with these changing dynamics and competing forces. How could they not?

My team has access to research and data that allow us to spot organizational and industry trends. This is what we see: Employee experience has become a business imperative. It's not something that companies can say they would “like to do better.” To survive or thrive, it's required.

For as long as there has been business, there has been a focus on growing revenue, capitalizing on new markets and customers, and innovating faster than competitors. Finding high-performing, highly skilled employees was up there, too. But truly engaging employees – helping people to have a work experience that fulfills them – was not.

Now it is.

Employee experience should be at the top of the priority list. It is the dimension by which all other business objectives will be met. If businesses don't elevate its importance in today's world, they will struggle to compete.

This book will focus on the principles around employee experience. It will not provide a magic formula. But my belief is that by having the key issues in mind, business leaders can begin to solve their design problem: how to create a superior environment for workers, one that helps them to recruit and hire the best talent, retain it, and have them work productively and innovatively. This is a leadership issue, not a Human Resources issue. It's not something that can be delegated or relegated. Nothing could be more important for those hoping to compete in the global market of the future.

The realist out there might be thinking: I've got too much going on as it is. Now is not the time to follow the next fad.

Or you may wonder: Can I seriously take the time to focus on employee experience and still meet my business results?

Absolutely. Investing in employee experience makes everyone's lives easier and more rewarding. For employees, customers, and leaders. Get this right and your company has an opportunity to lap the field.

This book brings together insights from my own experience, as an employee and a leader; SAP’s work with thousands of customers; our extensive, ongoing research on the subject of employee experience; outside research; and interviews we've conducted with managers and employees, at various levels, industries, and regions – in technology, finance, medicine, education, retail, construction, media, design, law, and more.

For businesses to succeed in the coming years, they need to understand the issues around employee experience and address them, because a new era is here. It's great for the employee, and way past time. It's also great for employers and businesses, because improved employee experience translates to an improved bottom line.

What is it that employees want more than anything? We've known for decades that good working conditions are necessary to attract and retain talent. Fair compensation, a safe and stable environment, career growth. All of that is sufficient to attract and retain talent in the current economy – but not enough. Smart companies and good leaders need to fully engage and unleash people's potential. To do that, leaders must go beyond the basics of good working conditions to provide four pillar notions. These are based on our findings, from working with customers and dedicated research, and have been corroborated by others.

So, what do employees want?

Purpose. Agency. Belonging. Recognition.

Purpose:

to find meaning in their work

Agency:

to have some say over how, when, and where they work

Belonging:

to feel part of a community, even if they are remote, freelance, or part-time; to be part of a diverse community

Recognition:

to be acknowledged for their contributions, in multiple forms, on a regular basis

You have some history and current context. I've outlined the key needs and wants of employees. Now, let's get to the important points around employee experience, and why nothing matters more to the future of your company.

Notes

1.

Emma Goldberg, “In a ‘Workers Economy,’ Who Really Holds the Cards?”

The New York Times

, November 3, 2021,

nytimes.com/2021/11/03/business/jobs-workers-economy.html

2.

Paul Krugman, “Is the Great Resignation a Great Rethink?”

The New York Times

, November 5, 2021,

nytimes.com/2021/11/05/opinion/great-resignation-quit-job.html

3.

Tom Kalil and Farnam Jahanian, “Computer Sciencs is for Everyone!” Obama White House blog, December 11, 2013,

obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/12/11/computer-science-everyone

4.

Annette LaPrade, Janet Mertens, Tanya Moore, and Amy Wright, “The Enterprise Guide to Closing the Skills Gap,” IBM Insitute for Business Value,

ibm.com/downloads/cas/epymnbja

5.

“Calculating Migration Expectancy Using ACS Data,” United States Census Bureau,

census.gov/topics/population/migration/guidance/calculating-migration-expectancy.html

6.

Jesse Noyes, “7 Big Statistics About the State of Flexible Work Arrangements,” Workest by Zenefits, July 11, 2018,

zenefits.com/workest/7-big-statistics-about-the-state-of-flexible-work-arrangements/

7.

“Artificial Intelligence in 2019: Getting Past the Adoption Tipping Point,” Blumberg Capital, August 1, 2019,

blumbergcapital.com/ai-in-2019/

8.

“The Future of Jobs and Skills,” World Economic Forum, 2016,

reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016/chapter-1-the-future-of-jobs-and-skills

9.

“2017-2018 State of Enterprise Work Report,” Workfront, 2017-18,

workfront.com/resources/2017-2018-state-of-enterprise-work-report-u-s-edition

10.

Moore's Law.

CHAPTER 2Employee Experience: The New Why

“I hate the word ‘experience,’” the CHRO of a global consumer products company told me. “It's difficult to define and there's no way my CFO will pay for it.”

What Exactly Is “Employee Experience”?

I get what she's saying. For many leaders, investing resources to plan and create an outstanding employee experience may seem difficult to justify. After all, how do you convert purpose, agency, belonging, and recognition into goals? What would you measure? How does it align with business outcomes? How would you budget for it? Who would determine if you've succeeded?

A useful definition of employee experience comes from my colleague at SAP, Dr. Steve Hunt, an industrial-organizational psychologist who has explored this topic through his work with more than a thousand companies around the globe. “‘Employee experience’ refers to the beliefs, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors resulting from one's job experiences,” says Steve. “Three basic types of experiences influence how people feel about work.”

Task experience: Is it easy to get things done?

This is about providing employees with the tools and resources they need to accomplish their goals at work. Good task experiences make employees feel efficient and productive; bad task experiences create frustration and a sense that the company doesn't appreciate the employee's time or skills.

Social experience: Do I like the people I work with and how we work together?

Creating effective team climates and shared norms and values that support business results. Good social experiences make employees feel welcomed, included, effective, and supported. Bad social experiences make employees feel isolated, alienated, unproductive, and annoyed.

Fulfillment experience: Does my job provide the things I want from work?

Work can provide fulfillment in different ways. It may allow employees to achieve goals outside of work, such as providing for their families. It may give employees the opportunity to do work they enjoy, help them fulfill professional career goals, or enable them to achieve some higher-level purpose related to improving society or the planet.

Steve elaborates: “An employee's experience of fulfillment depends to some degree on all of these factors. But the importance of each factor varies across employees. The ideal job provides a positive task, social, and fulfillment experience. But few, if any, jobs are ideal. So employees make trade-offs between these experiences. It's easier to do a relatively unfulfilling job if we work with people we enjoy. We are willing to overcome bad task experiences if we believe in the purpose of our work. On the other hand, if any one of these experiences falls below a certain level for an extended amount of time, then jobs become unpleasant, stressful, and often intolerable.”

Employee experience impacts purpose, agency, belonging, and recognition. A bad task experience hurts your agency – it undermines your ability to do what you need to do to be successful. A bad social experience often makes you feel uncared for and unwanted. And an unfulfilling job, by definition, is one that does not give you a sense that your work is meaningful and purposeful. You can feel unappreciated in all three types of experience: The company doesn't appreciate the value of your time (task), doesn't appreciate who you are as a person (social), or doesn't appreciate what you want to achieve in your career (fulfillment).

Here's another analogy I like to use, about one of my favorite experiences: hiking. Task experience is like having boots that fit. A hike will not be good simply because your boots fit. But if your boots don't fit, then the hike will be frustrating and potentially miserable.

Social experience is about whom you're hiking with. Do you all get along, enjoy each other's conversation, and walk at the same general pace?

Fulfillment experience is about where you're hiking to. Are you hiking through a beautiful valley to a lake you've always wanted to see, walking around a suburban neighborhood, or trudging through a mosquito-infested swamp?

Whether the hike is good or bad depends on all three of these elements. But if any single one falls below a certain level, the hike will be terrible.

For a business, the results that derive from positive employee experiences are not always direct but they are profound and provable. A nurturing and purposeful environment alters employee beliefs and attitudes. This translates to changes in employee behavior. And that benefits the bottom line. When the company creates a positive “organizational climate” – a concept from psychology, describing an environment that reflects beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral norms shared across people in a group – it influences sales revenue, customer satisfaction scores, manufacturing productivity, product quality, patient care, safety incidents, security breaches, employee well-being, equity and inclusiveness, and other metrics that impact company profit and growth. Furthermore, when you create such an appealing organizational climate, talented people who are outside the tent want to come join you inside it.

A company that does not put its employees first, whose workers are figuratively hiking through a swamp in ill-fitting boots, with people whose presence they don't enjoy: That's a business with serious problems.

What Employees Want

To attract the best employees, you must provide a great employee experience. How do you achieve that?

Two in three U.S. employees say that the most important issue for CEOs to communicate is the company's values.1 Seven in ten employees say that leadership's stance on social issues influences whether they stay in their current job.2 Nearly three in four claim that their principal driver is “work that has purpose and meaning.”3 And nine in ten executives believe that an organization with shared purpose will enjoy employee satisfaction.4 The demand for meaningful, purposeful work has never been stronger than it is today.

Is compensation suddenly not important? Of course it is – though in one survey, the portion of workers who say that pay is most important is only 19 percent.5