A Well-Organized Employee Experience: This is What EX Champions Do

According to research, employee experience is high on the agenda for 60% of HR professionals. But how do you organize this? Expert Heleen Mes shares four practical examples.

60% of HR respondents in the ‘Employee Experience 2024’ survey indicated that employee experience (EX) has high to very high priority in their organizations. Employee experience is about creating a workplace where employees want to come and stay because they are happy there. EX focuses on innovating and improving the experience of employees, shaped by all the interactions they have with the organization. Employees who feel happy, engaged, and passionate are more dedicated to their work, the customer, and their colleagues. Their productivity and creativity are higher, absenteeism is lower, and the chance of leaving the organization is reduced. Numerous studies have shown the link between happy employees and successful organizations.

EX Mindset or an EX Role?

How EX is organized varies by organization—there is no ‘one size fits all.’ This quickly becomes clear from a look at industry leaders. For some organizations, EX is deeply embedded in their DNA and doesn’t require a specialized role, while others work with an EX specialist or EX teams to drive innovation.

Notable trends in how EX is organized:

• Organizations advanced in EX are more likely to have an EX specialist in place. The role and position of this EX specialist(s) vary: from implementer within a part of HR to a coordinating function in business operations.
• Small and early-stage organizations often hire external EX consultants for preliminary research, prioritization, and advice. Larger organizations are more likely to have an internal EX team or specialist.
• Basic knowledge of EX and EX methods, such as design thinking and agile working, is shared across all parties involved, not just the EX team or specialist.
• Multidisciplinary teams are formed with representatives from HR, Facility Management, IT, Communication, Management, Data specialists, end-users, or CX or UX professionals.
• The employee journey is divided into various phases, such as ‘Recruitment,’ ‘Onboarding,’ and ‘Learning & Development’ for HR. Each phase has an owner responsible for implementation and maintenance, who frequently consults with the EX specialist(s) responsible for research, improvement proposals, and testing potential solutions.

Employee Experience in the DNA of Heembouw

The family-owned company Heembouw aims to be an exemplary employer. People-focused engagement with employees is embedded in the organization’s DNA. Heembouw doesn’t explicitly refer to employee experience but unmistakably practices it. As an employer, it creates a place where employees want to work, not just have to work. The organization fosters a strong, positive culture, deep connections, and genuinely listens to its employees. Heembouw continuously builds a workplace where everyone feels safe and recognized. Equality is the basis, and everything is well-organized internally.

HR is closely involved with the organization and knows its employees well. Everything offered to employees aligns with Heembouw’s vision as an employer. HR closely monitors and checks if this vision is accurately translated into practice: do improvements truly fit Heembouw, and do employees resonate with them? The HR department is slightly larger than average for the industry, which pays off with low turnover and absenteeism.

EX Specialist Leads the Way at VodafoneZiggo

At VodafoneZiggo, an experienced EX specialist in the HR team spearheads the EX transformation. Additionally, within HR, an ‘journey owner’ is assigned to each part of the employee journey, totaling eight. Each journey owner is responsible for planning, progress, scaling, and feedback.

Tasks of the EX specialist:

• Organizing the innovation approach
• Setting up sprints
• Testing solutions against strategic organizational goals
• Acting as a sparring partner for journey owners
• Overseeing the solutions being worked on

Eight times a year, a specific part of the employee journey is the focus for one month, targeting a specific internal audience. Under the EX specialist’s guidance, a multidisciplinary team, including HR, IT, facility management, communication, managers, and UX designers, is assembled to address the issue. The team conducts research and develops improvement proposals (‘prototypes’), which are then tested with the target group. After this month, the outcomes are handed over to the journey owner for further action.

All HR Development Hours Dedicated to EX Team at Randstad

At Randstad, hours allocated for HR product and service development from all HR expertise teams are structurally pooled together in one team led by an EX team lead. This team comprises about 12 people, who spend roughly 50% of their time on the EX team, collaboratively addressing issues. The remaining 50% is spent in their expertise teams, handling daily operations. For each EX issue, it is determined who, beyond HR, should be involved, such as someone from internal communication, IT, or sometimes from Facility Management, Legal, or Finance. At the start, the EX team received training in agile working, scrum, and design thinking.

HR business partners are key stakeholders but don’t have a permanent place on the EX team. The EX team lead manages the team, coordinates within HR, and keeps track of planning and ongoing EX matters.

NEXT at NN Group

At Nationale Nederlanden Group (NN), a two-person development team within HR focuses on EX. This small team is supplemented on a project basis with subject matter experts and department employees required for implementing solutions. The development team conducts research and tests possible solutions, delivering a tested, workable solution—the so-called ‘Minimum Viable Product’ (MVP) in EX terms—to the journey owner within 3-6 months. The journey owner is responsible for scaling, implementation, maintenance, and periodic measurement. When further innovation is needed, the journey owner can approach the development team, which then has the flexibility to focus on new projects and research.

In addition to EX experts in the HR team, NN also has EX experts in Facility Management and IT. Employee experience isn’t just an HR theme; it encompasses everything an employee experiences at work. The EX experts from HR, Facility Management, and IT have established the NN Employee Experience Team (NEXT), where they collaboratively address cross-functional issues like hybrid working and vitality. EX specialists from these three departments work in sprints to innovate the employee journey. Thus, employee experience serves as a bridge, connecting disciplines across the organization.