DS Cohen & Associatesby Dr. David S. Cohen and Gil Cohen
Employee Experience (EX) is the sum of all interactions a person has with their employer, including all Human, Physical, and Technological touchpoints. Let’s dive deeper into our understanding of Employee Experience by asking “Why” questions to get to the root of the issue. (1) Why does EX matter? Because it impacts human wellness. (2) Why does human wellness matter? Because it determines quality of life, as well as behaviours. (3) Why do behaviours matter? Because they determine business outcomes. Do I even have to ask (4) Why quality of life and business outcomes matter? We barely needed to get to a 4th Why to see the value of improving EX. Employee Experience is impacting these vital outcomes whether you design for it or not.”
It is important to understand the connecting path of how Organizational Design is a key factor in the outcomes your organization will achieve. The design of the organization (intentional or otherwise) will create the experience employees have at work. Those aspects of the organization that you don’t design intentionally will be subject to biases and Behavioural Economics. Unintentional design will cost your people stress and your company money.
Employee Experience has an impact on all aspects of our wellness. There are Eight Dimensions of human wellness that impact our Physical and Mental health. As well, our current experiences relative to each Dimension will impact our attitudes and ultimately, our behaviours. Behaviours are the fundamental building block for individual, and organizational performance. If you are not optimizing EX for your people, you will have a negative impact on both their wellness and the bottom line. Intentional EX will bring you closer to the outcomes you seek.
The path from design to outcomes is a complex one that ranges through the fields of psychology, biology, axiology, physiology, technology, anthropology, deontology, epistemology, sociology, horology, and kinesiology. Because of both the complexity and time delay from start point to end, it is hard for many leaders to understand this relationship. The problem for their employees is that this happens whether they understand the connection or not.
The Eight Dimensions of Wellness at Work
There are eight dimensions that impact quality of life, physical, and mental health. Beyond that, the support within each dimension will determine a person’s behaviours. Below is a brief explanation, with an example of how that dimension of wellness impacts productivity.
Emotional – The Emotional Wellness Dimension is about the ability to express your feelings while also appreciating the feelings of others. It also entails the ability to be optimistic and enthusiastic about your life. Understanding how to properly manage your own emotions in an adjusted way allows for emotional wellness. For example, psychological safety will determine how much a person shares with others at work. Without psychological safety, a person might hide information that would be vital to the business.
Environmental – The Environmental Wellness Dimension is about the relationship between yourself and your environment. Healthy, stimulating environments support our well-being, as well as our ability to complete our jobs effectively. Environmental wellness is determined by a variety of factors that make up your environment. For example, open concept offices have been a popular design over the last couple of decades. However, open concept offices actually lower productivity and decrease morale.
Financial – The Financial Wellness Dimension is about overall financial input and output, as well as your financial literacy and understanding. Financial wellness is determined by satisfaction with your present financial situation, as well as future outlook. For example, job instability impacts a person’s future perceptions of their financial wellness, causing stress. Those who lack job stability often display job defensive behaviours that might put them in a better position but weakens the position of the group.
Intellectual – The Intellectual Wellness Dimension is about keeping your brain active and expanding your intellect. Intellectual wellness is supported by maintaining curiosity, valuing learning, and responding positively to intellectual challenges. You can support your own Intellectual wellness by learning new knowledge and skills, as well as sharing that learning with others. For example, growth is vital for retaining employees. Employees are often looking for growth, either within a function or across, throughout their career. Without providing opportunities for development, people will be less likely to stay with the company, with significant per person costs.
Occupational – The Occupational Wellness Dimension is about your relationship with your own work, as well as your career. Occupational wellness exists when your role consists of tasks that provide personal satisfaction in alignment with your individual interests, skills, and talents. For example, autonomy is vital for most peoples’ occupational wellness. When we are micromanaged, our autonomy is negatively impacted. Consequently, many people’s motivation is diminished by a micro-managing boss.
Physical – The Physical Wellness Dimension is about having a physically healthy body. This consists of caring for your body to stay healthy, both now and in the future. Physical wellness relies on healthy habits including nutrition and exercise, as well as appropriate health care. For example, the ergonomics of our work setup has an impact on our physical wellness. Negative physical impacts cause pain for the individual, as well as absences from work.
Social – The Social Wellness Dimension is about having healthy relationships with those around us, as well as the community. Social wellness involves having an interest in, and concern, for the needs of others. It also includes enjoying being around others and developing friendships. Social wellness increases your desire to contribute to the whole. For example, inclusion within one’s local team is key for teamwork. Without true inclusion, teams are unable to reach full productivity, with one or more people holding back.
Spiritual – The Spiritual Wellness Dimension is about your Values and involves having purpose and meaning in your life. By ensuring alignment between your actions and your beliefs, you can serve your spiritual wellness. For example, our values need to be in alignment with the behaviours of leadership. Even as recently as during COVID, employees have quit from major companies based on the decisions that their leaders have made.
Each of these elements play into our overall wellbeing in their own way. Employee Experience impacts every dimension of wellness. Circumstances and individual differences will cause the relative impact of each dimension to vary over time.
These are just a few examples of ways that EX impacts peoples’ wellness at work. As well, these are just some ways that wellness has an impact on behaviours. The reality is that each individual and each group are unique. It is important to understand which of these factors are most important for your team. By understanding what your people care about, you will be able to better determine which aspects of EX need improvement.
The Employee Lens is the Key to a Better Employee Experience
One key to ensure a focused EX is the employee lens. Multiple perspectives are vital to ensure that plans are being achieved and the system is designed effectively. Too often, HR and Leadership make decisions based on what is best for them and the company without understanding the impact on their people. Change management is more effective when the people lead the change, not get dragged from the back.
Because most company decisions are missing the perspective of the employee, decisions are made with limited information. The front-line employee is the individual who faces the suppliers, customers, and prospects. The front-line employee has the wisdom and experience to make things better. They know the system and the culture, including what needs fixing. Employees are also aware of how the internal system is actually implemented and its real impact on motivation.
Voice of the Employee (VoE) gathers the opinions, wants, needs, preferences, etc. from employees to understand their Employee Experience. VoE is critical feedback that every organization needs in order to improve effectiveness. There are a lot of details that go into gathering VoE effectively, but it starts with one; The intent to listen.
When the employee voice is involved in the solution, the opportunities for better and more meaningful improvements are not only discovered but successfully executed. It is about listening to the frontline employee and engaging them in building the organization. Many successful leaders have learned that if you take care of your employees’, in a way they want to be treated, your employees will take care of your customers in the same manner. The result is consistency of behaviour. The expected behaviours during the interaction build your brand and have your customers return again and again.
There are a wide variety of ways to collect VoE (e.g. committee, survey, managers, journey mapping). There is no one right way to accomplish the goal of understanding the employee lens. You will need to do what is right for your organization. But whatever you do, make sure you follow up. Make sure not to leave people hanging after they provide feedback or they won’t provide it again. Organizational outcomes depend on your ability to collect honest feedback, and implement solutions based on both organizational and employee needs.
DAVID S. COHEN
Dr. David S Cohen, Ed. D. has a vision: organizations that thrive by living their values in good times and especially VUCA times. David works with leaders helping them understand what is and what is not necessary to build an active and positive organization. He helps leaders’ step into life’s challenges, inspiring them to create a sustained approach through a values-based focus, resulting in better business results. David has had the privilege of partnering with firms across five continents and all business sectors. Additionally, he has worked with governments, from the local to the federal levels, and not-for-profits.
He has taught at Queens University School of Labour Relations and the executive education program at the Schulich School of Business, York University. Currently, he teaches organizational development at Durham College.
David is a keynote speaker, educator, disruptor, facilitator, team builder, and executive coach. He has authored two books and numerous articles in professional journals.
GIL COHEN
Over his two decade career, Gil has worked with leadership teams from numerous industries, gaining insights into their different styles. His work has spanned a variety of topics, including employee experience, talent management, values definition, leader- ship development, among others. The work that Gil has completed has had a focus on aligning human and organizational needs. This enhances the ability of the organization and its people to achieve their individual and common goals.
Gil has run workshops and conference sessions throughout North America, where his focus is working with smaller to medium sized groups. Engaging with people about the specific work they are doing allows the session participants to gain insights not just from Gil, but from one another as well.
