Jason Averbook, CEO & Co-Founder, Leapgen<\/strong>, conducted a workshop\u00a0<\/span>delving\u00a0into the ideal way\u00a0<\/span>of carving a winning employee experience strategy. Where he provided a step-by-step guide to\u00a0planning a pandemic-proof EX strategy that\u00a0transforms\u00a0employees into growth partners\u00a0as we transition to newer work models\u00a0for our brave, evolving hybrid world of work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The last couple of years has changed the world of work, forever.\u00a0HR has had to greatly accelerate its pace of developing and implementing experience strategies and tools\u00a0for employee experiences<\/a>\u00a0that have\u00a0become critical to driving impact for organizations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Getting to Hybrid 2.0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Transformation is a word that people bring up a lot, but not many truly understand what it means. The word “trans” means radical change and “formation” means how we do things, in this case, ‘how we work’. In\u00a0the world where we have lived in\u00a0there are 2 types of “trans” \u2013 there is technology transition and there is true transformation. True transformation comes only by following three\u00a0key\u00a0steps \u2013\u00a0<\/span>Strategy, Deployment & ROI (Run, Optimize, Innovate).<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0concept of Hybrid 2.0 needs to be attacked in a very systemic way. And that starts with developing the right Digital People Strategy. Deploying the strategy is the next step and requires a very large effort that includes programs, change, adaptation, unlearning, organizational\u00a0model\u00a0and it may also at some point involve the implementation of technology.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Implementation is a part of the deployment. A lot of organizations are great at implementation but not deployment and that’s where a lot of strategies fall apart.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once the strategy has been deployed, the third step is to think about how to sustain the value we get from it. This is where ROI or RUN, OPTIMIZE, INNOVATE comes into play.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The World\u00a0of Work\u00a0in\u00a02021<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the world we live in today, building strategies is\u00a0really hard.\u00a0Previously, there was a point in time where we could make 5 –\u00a03 year\u00a0strategies\/plans. But in today’s day\u00a0and age of\u00a0uncertainty, there is a much higher need for agile strategies \u2013 one’s that can shift, flex, contract based on the things happening around us.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We are human inside of work as much as we are outside of it. In the world of HXM, this means that we need to be\u00a0listening at all times\u00a0to the signals and the people and react with our strategies intact.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We need to respond by going to our core \u2013\u00a0one that makes us all\u00a0human, and\u00a0think about recovery\u00a0by focusing on\u00a0being human-centered.\u00a0Because people are our most important assets and how we make them feel is what is going to allow us to get through these changing times.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some of the impacts we\u00a0are seeing on the NOW of work:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Right now, HR has the largest opportunity that it has ever had – to shape the NOW of work.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Digital\u00a0Equation for Success<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Remarking on the pandemic\u2019s effect on every aspect of work and life, Satya Nadella, CEO\u00a0of, Microsoft said, \u201cWe saw two years of digital transformation in two months\u201d. The question that now remains is if this is also the case with the HR function?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Digital transformation is meant to touch everything from marketing to sales to everything done in Human Resources. The shift from HCM to HXM is essentially about transformation and the need for every HR organization in the world to digitally transform.\u00a0Most people think that digital\u00a0is all about\u00a0technology, but that\u2019s not true. Digital is not\u00a0just technology, rather\u00a0it\u00a0is a component of\u00a0it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is time we rethink how to better design and deliver services. This\u00a0starts\u00a0by bringing back\u00a0the focus on understanding the purpose of our organization and how we want to serve with it.\u00a0HR leaders have put this purpose into action by digitally transforming their functions. They can do this by focusing on 4 key areas:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Digital transformation is made up of each of these components. Leaving out even one of these reduces the effectiveness\u00a0of\u00a0the overall transformation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately when we think about HXM, what we need to do is LISTEN & ACT. Listen to the people and act on it immediately \u2013 not once a year on an engagement survey, but NOW! As organizations and HR leaders we need to do a better job at listening, to truly understand the human side of our workforce<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Experience Needs to\u00a0be:\u00a0Shift to B to Me<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0real goal of HXM and true transformation is the shift from a B2B focus (where the tools\u00a0used\u00a0are in place to make\u00a0the\u00a0HR\u00a0function\u00a0more efficient) to a B2Me focus. This shift will enable employees and managers with tools that make them successful \u2013 not the HR but the organization.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n B2Me means personalization, the kind that can only be achieved by truly knowing our people. We need to build workforce tools that not only connect people but build connections between the people. And we need to do this with a concept called –\u00a0<\/span>Hands, Heads & Hearts.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The formula that defines experience is simple:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Transaction + Interaction = Experience<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Adding\u00a0interaction to transactions enriches it to create an experience. The interaction is where the trust is built. The Hands, Heads & Hearts concept is a simple way to think about how we need to shift work as part of the digital transformation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Machines are exceptional at hands work, or what is called RAD (Repeatable, Auditable & Documented) work and that is where we should leverage technology. People, on the other hand, are good at the heart’s work \u2013 at building connections. It is time we start building functions in a way where the machines are doing the transactional work, while people focus on building stories around the data provided by the machines.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The True Value of Digital<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Digital is not about eliminating the human element, rather it enhances it.\u00a0\u00a0Work no longer looks the way it used to 2 years ago, and that’s why HR can’t act the same way it did previously.\u00a0HR\u00a0needs\u00a0to become\u00a0agile in these fragile times.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a recent survey, Future Workforce found that if HR could double its budget, HR leaders from most organizations would like to allocate these additional funds to improve the employee experience (44%) and existing technology (37%).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Before the pandemic, we used to have 2 types of experiences \u2013 Physical & Digital\/Technical. Today, we have only one\u00a0–\u00a0the \u201cWorkforce or Human Experience\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0To achieve\u00a0this experience\u00a0to the fullest, we\u00a0have to\u00a0stop implementing technology and move to deploying human capabilities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Adding technology doesn’t change the HR function or its interaction with the workforce \u2013 but it\u00a0definitely helps\u00a0with it. However, we\u00a0have to\u00a0remember that technology without change is nothing.\u00a0And for people to adopt transformation, organizations will have to adapt.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Human-Centered Design Leverages Personas<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You cannot talk about HXM, without talking about humans, and the voice of the employees\/customers.\u00a0Deploying technology was\u00a0previously\u00a0done as a single spread. This\u00a0approach\u00a0doesn\u2019t work anymore. We need to meet people where they are with an empathetic\u00a0lens to the work they do and how they do it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We need to create personas by listening to people who seem like the persona and study them more carefully to understand- the best ways to communicate with them, their needs and expectations, roadblocks, etc. When we understand a persona at that level, we can deploy messages in a way that meets the persona where they are and with what they need.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Benefits of personas:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When we have this kind of insight into our workforce, we can take the “Whole Person Approach”. This approach looks at every aspect of the employee \u2013 Physical, Emotional, Social, Spiritual, and Intellectual to\u00a0design solutions that\u00a0attack\u00a0every\u00a0problem from all angles.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n COVID has given HR the passport to reset, rethink, reimagine, and realize that the next normal is probably going to be no normal that we are used\u00a0to\u00a0and that growth is coming at a very large scale. We need to plan and prepare for this by shifting focus from using technology for transition to using it for transformation.\u00a0 And embrace the fact that everything about the digital workforce & HXM is now HR’s responsibility.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n HR needs to now deliver experiences, not technology \u2013 solutions, not toolkits; enable not monitor; people capabilities, not technology features! And all of this\u00a0has to\u00a0be done while considering the measurable outcomes of the business.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One of the most magical things about the shift from HCM to HXM is realizing that technology is the fuel that will allow us to drive to what the NOW of work is.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Check out more posts:<\/p>\n CEO’s Perspectives on the Changing People Paradigm\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
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