Overcoming today’s most common EX challenges

Just like customers with brands, employees have expectations about their interactions and experiences with their employers. Those expectations not only evolve and are reshaped every year but also drive satisfaction and loyalty.

As a result, the employee experience (EX) must be a top priority for leaders.

State of employee experience

How’s that going? Well, a lot of companies say they prioritize EX, but do they really? There’s still a big gap between intention and action. Proof is in the pudding, er, stats.

• Research by Kincentric has found only 51 percent feel that their organization is delivering on the experience they promised.
• According to Salesforce, more than 61 percent of C-suite executives believe that good EX will lead to good CX. And 58 percent say providing good EX is a company and personal priority. But 88 percent of employees are encouraged to prioritize CX.
  
  
• Scalable found 59 percent of knowledge workers say their organization doesn’t have a dedicated EX manager or don’t know if such a role exists in their company.
  
  
• A Gartner survey in 2021 found 92 percent of HR leaders prioritize employee experience as a top focus, but only 13 percent of employees felt fully satisfied with their experience.
  
  
• In 2020, Deloitte found 80 percent of executives viewed employee experience as “important” or “very important” to their organizations. Despite this, only 22 percent of companies reported they had an excellent program for addressing employee experience.
  
  
• According to insights from Qualtrics earlier this year, Only 43 percent of employees feel their company follows up on their feedback.
  
• Meanwhile, research from LinkedIn has found 52 percent of employees feel their company invests in creating a positive employee experience, even though 94 percent of HR professionals recognize its importance.

OK, so you get the idea. These stats show a growing emphasis on EX, but also reveal that there's a long way to go for many companies in making it a core part of their operational strategy.

• While many companies acknowledge the importance of employee experience, there’s still a significant gap in translating those intentions into meaningful action and outcomes.
  
  
• More organizations are beginning to invest in employee experience platforms and programs, but only a minority have developed mature strategies.
  
  
• Many employees feel that their voices aren’t being heard (or if they are, nothing is being done with it), suggesting that companies must improve how they gather and act on employee input.

Organizations that prioritize EX report higher profitability, productivity, and employee retention, illustrating the tangible benefits of designing and delivering a great employee experience.

So, let’s identify some of the challenges that exist when it comes to designing that experience; awareness is the first step in helping to close that intention < -- > action gap.

Employee experience challenges

Employee experience (EX) challenges often involve complex and interrelated factors that affect job satisfaction, engagement and productivity. Here are some of the most common ones, starting with the foundation of the organization, the culture.

1. Culture disconnect

Hiring for culture fit is a real thing, with real advantages. If you don’t hire in this way, there’s typically a misalignment between organizational culture and employee values or expectations. As a result, employees feel alienated or disconnected from the company’s mission.

What can you do?

Make sure you’ve done the core values + behaviors exercise, and then socialize and regularly train on those values and behaviors. After that, incorporate or operationalize that exercise to ensure that you hire, fire, review and promote – as well as make decisions, resolve conflicts and develop policies and processes – through the lens of the core values.

2. Unclear expectations and goals

When employees are unsure about what is expected of them or feel their objectives are unrealistic or ambiguous, they become frustrated, lack motivation and become less productive.

What can you do?

Make sure they understand the expectations of their roles, know their responsibilities, and have a clear idea of how what they do impacts customers and the business. Set clear, measurable goals with regular feedback and align expectations with achievable outcomes.

3. Technology overload

You know how it is today. Too many platforms and tools can overwhelm employees or cause confusion about what’s essential. This can lead to decreased productivity and frustration with tools that are meant to help.

What can you do?

Include employees in the decision making process about the new tools and technology, for starters. Too many times we see the scenario where new tech is forced on employees because someone disconnected from the reality of what employees actually do, thinks it is time to “upgrade”. Take the time to understand what employees are doing and what problems they have and are trying to solve before shoving new technology down their throats! Streamline tools, offer comprehensive training and ensuring the technology supports, not complicates, the workflow.

4. Lack of career development opportunities

When I first start working with a new client, I will interview the leadership team and a sampling of employees and customers to get a baseline assessment of the leadership team, the culture, the employee experience and the customer experience. Employees tell me training and career pathing are missing. This is a consistent theme. Employees feel stuck in their roles without clear paths for growth or learning, which leads to low motivation, disengagement and high attrition rates.

What can you do?

Offer training programs that lift the employee in their current roles and give them a window into where their careers can go. Additionally, offering career development programs, mentorship and clear pathways for promotion will go far in satisfying and retaining your employees.

5. Work-life balance

Here’s another one that I hear about often, probably even more so since the pandemic. Employees are struggling to balance work responsibilities with personal life and are looking for more flexibility from their employers. Without that balance, employees deal with burnout, decreased productivity and high turnover.

What can you do?

Offer flexible work options, encourage breaks and time off and promote mental health support.

6. Mental health and well-being

Similarly, managing stress, mental health and well-being in increasingly demanding work environments leads to increased absenteeism, burnout and lower overall performance.

What can you do?

Invest in employee wellness programs, mental health days and access to counseling services.

7. Change fatigue

Employees often resist or struggle to adapt to organizational changes, such as mergers, technology shifts or restructuring. Change fatigue is real. It leads to lower morale, confusion and inefficiencies during transitions.

What can you do?

Involve employees in the change process, provide clear and ongoing communication, show quick wins and progress and offer training to ease transitions.

8. Recognition and reward discrepancies

When employees feel underappreciated or believe reward and recognition systems are unfair (or believe rewards are linked to something counter to the culture or mission), it leads to decreased morale, motivation, and retention.

What can you do?

Implement fair and transparent recognition systems that celebrate both big and small achievements. Draw a clear linkage between reward and outcomes and say, “thank you”!

9. Poor communication and collaboration

I saved this for last (though there are many other challenges) because it’s a thread that runs through the other eight challenges I’ve mentioned.

Communication is one of the most overlooked – yet most important – aspects of the experience. When there is miscommunication or lack of transparency between management and staff, it leads to disengagement and misunderstandings. Employees feel left out of important decisions or processes, leading to decreased morale and collaboration.

What can you do?

Encourage open, two-way communication and use tools to facilitate collaboration across departments.

Have a real open-door policy. Build communication and collaboration into your deliberately-designed culture (a customer-centric one, right?!). Have one-on-ones with your employees. Develop a communication plan to roll out important messaging during change. And remember that communication is as much about speaking as it is listening!

In Closing

To overcome employee experience challenges, organizations need to adopt a holistic approach that prioritizes communication (listening, hearing, and acting!), flexibility, recognition, career development, well-being and inclusion.

By focusing on creating a people-first culture, investing in employee growth and ensuring alignment between organizational and employee values, businesses can foster a thriving, engaged workforce.

Leadership must lead by example, showing that they are committed to the long-term success and satisfaction of their employees.

Yes, there’s work to be done. It’s the same work that we do to design and deliver a great customer experience. Don’t forget that. Now you just need to tap someone in your organization to lead and do that work.

Quick links

• Inspiring customer loyalty with a great customer experience
• Which is most valuable: Solicited or unsolicited customer feedback?
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