Pioneering the Challenges of the Modern Workplace:
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
Challenges on the Horizon
A Human-Centered Approach
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The pandemic mandated an abrupt global shift to remote work. It also confirmed the long-term viability of hybrid work models for many organizations and workforces. People quickly adapted to new ways of working and, leveraging the power shift in the labor market, have demanded more agency in where and how they work. The long-term impact of hybrid work on employee engagement and experience as well as cultural and business outcomes, however, will take years to track and measure.
One certainty is that a significant portion of the workforce will continue to spend some of their time working in places other than the office.
In order for organizations to continue to evolve, grow, and thrive, they need to rethink existing dynamics and consider new strategies and practices to help employees and managers be successful in the modern work environment.
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Disengagement
Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
The Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
HR leaders are being called upon to both plot the course and hold the reins, helping to ensure employees are poised to forge ahead toward growth, success, and new future challenges.
Here are some of the evolving dynamics that are defining the modern workplace and will influence the ways organizations and HR leaders understand and approach shaping strategies to keep employees aligned, engaged, and performance-focused.
Discover the Future of HR: Top 5 Challenges Ahead
Remote work has been on the rise for several decades as technology has enabled many workforces, particularly knowledge workers, to do their
work from anywhere. A significant number of job seekers will only consider jobs that allow for hybrid work, yet there is a small but notable groundswell of employers putting in place return to office mandates. Additionally, people want the space to integrate life and work in ways that optimize both, so flexibility is another significant component of the modern work equation.
Employees expect more flexibility in where, how, and when they work.
The days of serendipitous connection are no more. Fostering connection and belonging – among colleagues, managers, and the organization – can have a profound impact on not just employee engagement but other important outcomes like retention, well-being, productivity, and innovation, which can impact bottomline cost.
Creating and building relationships in the modern workplace requires intentionality from the top down and bottom up.
Technology will continue to replace skills and work previously carried out by humans. We Forum predicts that within the next decade, technology will ‘radically transform’ 1.1 billion jobs. The development of uniquely ‘human’ skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and the ability to learn and apply technology solutions is a top priority for organizations and leaders.
The skills and capabilities needed for organizational success and sustainability are changing rapidly, requiring the upskilling and adaptation of the workforce.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) continue to sit on the list of top priorities for organizations and leaders, yet most diversity and inclusion efforts are not making the impact they were designed to. Diversity efforts (around such things as hiring and equitable pay) are more concrete, but the ability to rally systemic changes to how diversity, equity, and inclusion are nurtured are proving less effective yet increasingly more important to organizational success.
DEI is a strategic differentiator but a transformational challenge.
As employees and managers spend less time working and interacting in-person, organizations and leaders are reconsidering traditional more visible measures of accountability and productivity. There is also a divide between how employees and leaders perceive productivity, further complicating establishing embraced measures.
Measures of productivity and accountability are
being explored and redefined.
Flexibility
Relationships
Skills
DE&I
Productivity
Flexibility
Relationships
Skills
DE&I
Productivity
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About Inspirus
A Human-Centered Approach
Employee Turnover and Morale
Great Expectations: Employee Entitlement or Empowerment
Designing a Strategy for Hybrid Work
Toxic Workplace Culture
Disengagement
Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
Pioneering the Challenges of the Modern Workplace
Discover the Future of HR: Top 5 Challenges Ahead
Pioneering the Challenges of the Modern Workplace
5 Challenges
on the Horizon
Organizations will continue their journeys to make sense of the new and evolving dynamics of the modern workplace, with HR playing a leading role in pioneering the way forward. Work and life are now integrated in ways never imagined possible. Employees are expecting increased transparency, flexibility, and choice in how, where, and when they work. Technology is rapidly and forever changing the types and pace of work done by humans. Processes and systems until now, thought to be evergreen, are being reimagined and replaced.
*Hover over the boxes to the right to uncover the 5 challenges.
01
02
03
04
05
Disengagement
Toxic
Workplace
Culture
Designing a
Strategy for
Hybrid Work
Great
Expectations:
Employee
Entitlement or
Empowerment?
Employee
Turnover
and Morale
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About Inspirus
A Human-Centered Approach
Employee Turnover and Morale
Great Expectations: Employee Entitlement or Empowerment
Designing a Strategy for Hybrid Work
Toxic Workplace Culture
Disengagement
Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
How to Know if Your Workforce is Disengaged
The Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
Disengagement: A Crisis of Complacency
Employee engagement has become a standard global measure of organizational health and employee experience. Generally defined as how connected employees feel to their organization, team, and work, employee engagement provides insight into what portion of the workforce is motivated to contribute to the growth and success of the organization. It is correlated to organizational outcomes; more engaged workforces are more likely to be high-performing and productive, positively influence customer satisfaction, and less likely to leave the organization.
Hover over years to see averages.
2000
Engaged
Actively Disengaged
26%
18%
GALLUP
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
30%
17%
29%
17%
30%
15%
29%
20%
28%
19%
30%
18%
31%
17%
33%
16%
34%
13%
36%
14%
32%
10%
What these data points reveal is that in any given organization, most workers are feeling disconnected - from their work, from their teams, and their organization. A disengaged workforce is really the equivalent of mass complacency, which not only influences the collective well-being of the workforce but can stifle growth, innovation, and organizations’ ability to thrive.
The State of Engagement
According to Gallup's State of the Global Workforce Report 2023:
Discover How Much Disengagement is Costing You
0
23% of the workforce is engaged (‘thriving at work’) up from 21% in 2021.
Most of the workforce is disengaged, with 59% not engaged (‘quiet quitters’).
18% of the workforce is actively not engaged (‘loud quitters’).
Gallup also shared some illuminating data that indicates the difference in various business outcomes between business units and teams in the top (most engaged) and bottom quartile (less engaged): Hover over the percentages for details.
Disengagement can have a profound impact on organizations as well as the people and customers they serve. Understanding what factors influence employee engagement is an ongoing topic of research, evolving strategies, and interventions. As complicated as the concept is, research has surfaced some predictable variables that impact employee engagement.
The collective cost of disengaged employees is mind-blowing. Gallup estimates that disengaged employees result in $8.8 trillion in lost productivity for the global economy.
Quantifying the Impact of a Disengaged Workforce
18%
28%
41%
43%
58%
64%
81%
58% in patient safety incidents (mortality and falls)
81% in absenteeism
18% in turnover for high turnover organizations
28% in shrinkage (theft)
41% in quality (defects)
43% in turnover for low turnover organizations
64% in safety accidents
How employees’ sense of connection to the organization they work for is shaped and maintained is as complex and dynamic as a human relationship. Many factors come into play, each carrying a different weight based on the individual and their priorities, previous experiences, and needs. It can be helpful to think about factors in terms of the relationships people have at work and the role the organization operates and aligns to support its people – as employees and human beings.
Organizations, at their foundation, are composed of people, so how people interact and the relationships they build with one another at work directly impact how engaged employees feel. The relationship between employees and their direct managers is likely one of the most critical as it has the most influence over employees day-to-day experience at work. “Managers -- more than any other factor -- influence team engagement and performance. That's not an exaggeration: “70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager,” noted Austin Suellentrop and E. Beth Bauman.
Some manager behaviors that negatively impact employee engagement are:
Unclear expectations around work and goals
Poor communication and collaboration
Limited opportunities for growth and development
Lack of autonomy, flexibility, and agency
Why are so many employees disengaged?
Relationship Factors
Employees want to feel good about the organization they work for. They want to know that the organization supports them holistically and sees, hears, and values them. Organizational factors that can negatively impact employee engagement include:
Lack of trust in leadership
Questioning organization’s commitment to people and workplace culture
Inability to employees’ roles and work to what matters most in the organization, like purpose, mission, and strategic goals
Just as the world of work is dynamic and presents new opportunities and challenges, the factors that keep employees connected to organizations will continue to evolve and shift. What is certain is that the way relationships are formed as well as how organizations guide and prioritize the employee will remain timeless fundamental drivers of employee engagement.
Organizational Factors
It may be easy to identify employees who are highly disengaged (the ‘loud quitters’), but managers may have a harder time spotting the ‘quiet quitters’ who make up the largest portion of the disengaged workforce. Here are some predictable indicators that an employee is disengaged at work:
How and which of these behaviors present themselves in employees varies based on the priorities, needs, and motivations of the individual. Proactively looking for these and other indicators of disengagement presents an opportunity to target employees with strategic interventions and experiences and can go a long way toward reignite employees’ connection with their team, leaders, and organization.
Disengaged Employees: The Tell-tale Signs
Inability to complete projects or work on time
Lack of participation in meetings and discussions
Errors or lack of quality work product
Conflict with team members or isolation from team
Avoids responsibility and additional work
Higher levels of absenteeism
2012
U.S. Employee Engagement Trends
%
%
0
%
0
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Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
20%
30%
40%
Blaze a Trail: Conquer Toxic Workplace Cultures
Discover the Future of HR: Top 5 Challenges Ahead
Toxic Workplace Culture
A healthy and thriving workplace culture is non-negotiable for many jobseekers as it can profoundly impact employee experience. Not surprisingly, a toxic workplace culture is a leading contributor to employee disengagement and attrition.
MIT Sloan Review reported that a toxic workplace culture is, “10.4 times more likely to contribute to attrition than compensation.” The Society for Human Resource Management shared that a toxic culture is the reason that 1 in 5 employees left a job at some point in their career. Simply put, employees are far more likely to walk out the door (literal and virtual) because they are dissatisfied with their company culture than being dissatisfied with their compensation.
A toxic culture is the reason that 1 in 5 employees left a job at some point in their career.
The characteristics that define a toxic culture have been a steady topic of debate among researchers and business gurus. Though there are nuances in the semantics and framing of drivers of toxic culture, below are five areas of cultural competency that influence the overall health of workplace culture:
Employee
Well-being
and Growth
High
Employee
Turnover
Commitment
to
DE&I
Psychological
Safety
and Trust
Manager
Style and
Behavior
When a workplace culture is toxic, employees speak with their feet. This pattern of behavior does not go unnoticed and serves as a red flag to other employees, often new hires, that there is a widespread issue with culture. Although there are differences by industry and generation as well as other influential factors, nearly one out of five employees who have left their jobs in the last five years have done so because of workplace culture. (See previous for the role manager style and behavior plays in how employees realize and perceive workplace culture.)
Most organizations are arguably still in the nascent stages of designing and integrating effective DE&I strategies and initiatives, but employees are no longer willing to wait to see diversity, equity, and inclusion authentically prioritized and lived within their organizations. About one in four job seekers indicated that they believed investment in DE&I initiatives was the most important to improving workplace culture.
Work and life have come together in new and dynamic ways, changing employees’ expectations of how their organization will support their collective well-being. Non-competitive compensation and benefits as well as limited opportunities for employees to continue to learn and grow their careers, for example, impact well-being. When employees do not feel that their personal and professional needs are met, employees are more likely to be disengaged and even seek a new employer.
Psychological safety and trust are important. Whether in the form of tolerated negative mindsets such as lack of work-life balance and a pervasive employee fear of failure, or more extreme expressions like insults, bullying, and unethical behavior, toxic cultures often perpetuate ways of being and behaviors that reflect little consideration for employees’ social, emotional, and psychological health, eroding trust and belonging.
Direct managers represent the most direct and ongoing reference points for employees regarding workplace culture. When leaders are modeling unhealthy behaviors (some classic examples include poor communication/lack of transparency, an imbalance of power/power struggles, and ongoing gossip/conflict), employees can feel a sense of confusion and distrust, leading to dissatisfaction and disengagement.
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About Inspirus
A Human-Centered Approach
Employee Turnover and Morale
Great Expectations: Employee Entitlement or Empowerment
Designing a Strategy for Hybrid Work
Toxic Workplace Culture
Disengagement
Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
Pioneer the Future: Design Your Hybrid Work Strategy
How to Know if Your Workforce is Disengaged
Do you have a toxic workplace culture? Take our quiz to find out.
Designing a Strategy for Hybrid Work
Armed with limited data and best practices offering proof of concept, organizations are working feverishly to define and activate solutions that bring consistency and clarity to the hybrid work environment. Organizations can, however, begin by asking key questions in the context of some foundational strategic planning frameworks to develop guidelines and practices to guide organizations and their people through the unchartered post-pandemic waters and into a successful human-centered hybrid workplace.
Question #1:
How can we involve employees in the process of defining and living a high-performing hybrid work model
?
Collaborating to share and integrate diverse ideas and perspectives has long been a proven approach for fueling innovation. Gathering insight that represents the collective stakeholder population, versus developing a strategy in a leadership vacuum, helps ensure a strategy considers and serves the needs and expectations of the broadest range of the employee population. Co-creation also cultivates higher levels of buy-in and adoption as people feel more invested in change when they have been part of shaping it.
Answer: Use consistent communication and feedback from managers and employees to best optimize the work model.
?
How can we communicate in ways that create clarity and transparency
Question #2:
The world-rocking dynamics of the pandemic have left people desperately seeking stability but also flexibility. As organizations work to co-create new hybrid work practices, it is critical to set clear expectations and keep employees informed throughout the process. Prioritize explaining why key decisions have been made and acknowledging how those decisions will affect various aspects of the employee experience. Effective communication has the power to influence a variety of positive outcomes, including employee engagement and commitment to change initiatives. Lack of information breeds fear, rumor mills, and distrust of leadership and is counter-productive to bring new ways of working to life.
Answer:
Set clear expectations and reinforce messaging through multiple channels.
Question #3:
How can strategies be translated into ways of thinking and acting that employees can integrate into their day-to-day work
?
Other Questions to Consider:
What stakeholders will be most important in securing buy-in and traction?
How will progress and success be measured, both short-term and long-term? OR What measures will be used to track progress and success, both short-term and long-term?
Bringing a strategy to life in any organization involves translating ideas into mindsets and behaviors that can be lived by employees day-to-day. As employees look for more autonomy and flexibility, think about framing strategic direction in the form of guidelines and new practices versus rules and procedures. Real-world examples and storytelling can go a long way to closing the idea-to-action gap. Employees should have a clear understanding of accountability measures in a hybrid work model and create practices and tools to empower employees and teams to achieve desired and agreed upon goals. Consider outcome-based measures versus the old school ‘butts in seats’ mentality to promote goodwill, trust, and engagement.
Answer: Communicate with your employees in ways that they can relate to and internalize.
Question #4:
How can the viability and impact of a hybrid work model be assessed
?
Answer: Measure, monitor, and optimize.
Working theories must be tested and refined. Once a hybrid work strategy has been designed, start by introducing it to the organization in a manner and timeframe that minimizes disruption as well as aligns and supports the positive aspects of workplace culture. Seeking feedback on how the new model is impacting operational, cultural, and business outcomes and utilizing that information to make course corrections will go a long way toward continuing to build employee trust and commitment. Be careful to consider how certain models, like fully remote, might be hard to unwind before communication and implementing.
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Understanding Employee Entitlement vs. Empowerment
Blaze a Trail: Conquer Toxic Workplace Cultures
Other Questions to Consider:
What are the roles and expectations we must establish and socialize around hybrid work for managers and employees?
What information needs to be shared and when to ensure a successful change journey?
Other Questions to Consider:
What practices and habits will be most important to establish as required versus giving flexibility to adapt and integrate as teams and individuals?
How will employees and managers be held accountable for adopting and living hybrid work practices?
Other Questions to Consider:
How should feedback be used to evolve the hybrid work model?
How must changes to the hybrid work model be integrated and communicated to maintain and build trust and improve outcomes?
Great Expectations: Employee Entitlement or Empowerment?
It is the new age of the empowered employee. Employees are pushing the boundaries of the traditional organization-led mindset in which organizations and leadership hold the reins and set the rules. Employees want things like increased flexibility and a clear commitment to DEI practices and policies, and they are not asking. They are telling organizations through clear signs like walking away from job opportunities or leaving for other organizations where their needs can be met.
Many organizations are beginning to question how to maintain the balance between meeting the often competing needs and expectations of employees and the organization. Taking an approach that considers the whole employee – both in and outside of work – will better position organizations to attract, retain, and develop productive and engaged employees.
01:
Flexibility
02:
Connection
03:
Career Growth, Development
and Alignment
04:
Better Total Compensation and Benefits
Bonus:
Creating a More Equitable Experience for Frontline Workers
Prioritize
DEI Initiatives
56% of workers view investing in DEI at work positively, and over 60% of workers say that focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing.
PewResearch
Although 58% of employed respondents say they can work from home at least part of the time, 65% of employed respondents say they would be willing to do so all the time.
McKinsey
The majority of employees (92%) say mental healthcare coverage is important to creating a positive workplace culture.
NAMI
Better
Wellbeing Benefits
Hybrid Work
01: Flexibility
Perhaps one of the most unexpected outcomes of the pandemic is the revelation for organizations (particularly those with a significant number of knowledge workers) that remote and hybrid work models are not only viable and sustainable but the default preference for employees. Giving employees more choice in where they work has also created an organic desire to have flexibility in when and how they work. Organizations that are slow or unwilling to adopt flexibility as a lens through which to view employee experience risk costly consequences, such as the inability to attract top talent, higher rates of turnover, lower productivity, and employee disengagement.
02: Connection
As people spend more of their workdays in a virtual environment, some of the innately human aspects of work have been compromised. According to the Pew Research Center, “65% of employees indicated they feel less connected to their co-workers” following the pandemic. This phenomenon can be particularly prevalent in new hires as onboarding and the beginning stages of the work experience is completely or mostly remote. 77% of respondents to a survey conducted by the Institute of Leadership and Management indicated building close work relationships was the most important factor influencing job satisfaction.
04: Better Total Compensation and Benefits
Employees are asking for and expecting higher wages and more robust benefits that support total well-being. With inflation outpacing wage growth (particularly in the U.S.), people are looking for ways to level up salaries to better align with the cost of living. Additionally, the definition of total compensation and benefits continues to expand and stretch based. Offerings such as mental health support and insurance coverage, generous and flexible PTO, and reward and recognition programs that validate employees’ contributions to the organization and bolster employee experience can go a long way toward helping employees feel supported and engaged.
03: Career Growth, Development and Alignment
People, and specifically younger generations, want to do work that inspires them and taps into their skills and abilities. Employees are seeking confirmation – when being hired and throughout their career journey – that they will have access to opportunities to grow and elevate their careers. Employees who don’t think their current employer will enable them to achieve their career goals are 12x more likely to consider leaving. New employees are 30X more likely to consider leaving in the same scenario.
Expectations for a Multi-Generational Workforce
The Top 5 Influences for Job Satisfaction for Each Generation
#1
Flexibility in when and where I work
#5
Opportunities for career advancement
#3
Competitive salary with regular merit increases
#2
Positive work culture and team dynamic
#4
Supportive manager
BABY BOOMERS
(1946 - 1964)
GEN X
(1965 - 1980)
MILLENNIALS
(1981 - 1996)
GEN Z
(1997 - 2005)
GEN Z
(1997 - 2005)
#1
Competitive salary with regular merit increases
#5
Supportive manager
#3
Flexibility in when and
where I work
#2
Fair workload and job expectations
#4
Positive work culture and team dynamic
MILLENNIALS
(1981 - 1996)
#1
Competitive salary with regular merit increases
#5
Supportive manager
#3
Positive work culture and team dynamic
#2
Fair workload and job expectations
#4
Flexibility in
when and
where I work
GEN X
(1965 - 1980)
#1
Competitive salary with regular merit increases
#5
Flexibility in
when and
where I work
#3
Positive work culture and team dynamic
#2
Fair workload and job expectations
#4
Supportive manager
BABY BOOMERS
(1946 - 1964)
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About Inspirus
A Human-Centered Approach
Employee Turnover and Morale
Great Expectations: Employee Entitlement or Empowerment
Designing a Strategy for Hybrid Work
Toxic Workplace Culture
Disengagement
Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
Bonus: Frontline workers are also pushing organizations to think equitably about flexibility. While certain roles require in-person work, what workers work on, hours worked, and even consistency in their work schedule are ways to bring increased flexibility to frontline workers. Recent research from Gallup states "Either because it seems unrealistic in their current career path or because they simply prefer working on-site, frontline workers rate time flexibility higher than location flexibility." This research indicates there are three flexibility benefits that are most valued by frontline workers, including more PTO, the option for a 4-day work week, and the ability to choose which days per week you work.
Forge a Path to Lower Turnover: Understand and Address Costs
Pioneer the Future: Design Your Hybrid Work Strategy
The Cost of Employee Turnover
Many of the factors that influence employee turnover are the same ones that collectively shape other measures of employee and cultural health, illuminating the correlation between these metrics. Organizations that harness and harmonize the interplay of variables that engender employee engagement, motivation, and happiness will cultivate a healthy workplace culture that attracts and retains high performing employees and ensures organizational growth and long-term success.
Click Here to See How Much Turnover is Costing You
10%
15.8%
1x - 2x
Determining how to prioritize efforts to reduce turnover can prove challenging for organizations and HR leaders. To get started, it can be helpful to start by creating a strategic framework that addresses the following questions:
Tackling Employee Turnover
How are employees thinking, feeling, and acting at work?
Are we seeing change happen?
What steps need to be taken to affect positive change?
How are employees thinking, feeling, and acting at work?
Take advantage of existing data collection tools like employee engagement and opinion surveys to harvest information about the current mindset and behavior of employees. Pay particular attention to widely known influencing experiences or areas such as flexibility, work/life balance, professional development opportunities, compensation and benefits, and leader/manager sentiment. If this information isn’t available, consider designing and implementing listening strategies such as pulse surveys, focus groups, and interviews to gain clarity and insight into what factors represent the greatest areas of opportunity.
What steps need to be taken to affect positive change?
Are we seeing change happen?
Take advantage of existing data collection tools like employee engagement and opinion surveys to harvest information about the current mindset and behavior of employees. Pay particular attention to widely known influencing experiences or areas such as flexibility, work/life balance, professional development opportunities, compensation and benefits, and leader/manager sentiment. If this information isn’t available, consider designing and implementing listening strategies such as pulse surveys, focus groups, and interviews to gain clarity and insight into what factors represent the greatest areas of opportunity.
Take advantage of existing data collection tools like employee engagement and opinion surveys to harvest information about the current mindset and behavior of employees. Pay particular attention to widely known influencing experiences or areas such as flexibility, work/life balance, professional development opportunities, compensation and benefits, and leader/manager sentiment. If this information isn’t available, consider designing and implementing listening strategies such as pulse surveys, focus groups, and interviews to gain clarity and insight into what factors represent the greatest areas of opportunity.
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About Inspirus
A Human-Centered Approach
Employee Turnover and Morale
Great Expectations: Employee Entitlement or Empowerment
Designing a Strategy for Hybrid Work
Toxic Workplace Culture
Disengagement
Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
Forge a Path to Lower Turnover: Understand and Address Costs
Pioneer the Future: Design Your Hybrid Work Strategy
Average cost to replace an employee is 1 to 2x and employee's annual salary.
Average turnover rate is 15.8%.
Voluntary turnover rate is at 10%.
Sometimes in the midst of accelerated change and complex dynamics, returning to the basics can prove the most simple but profoundly effective approach. As organizations navigate the dynamic intersections that define the new world of work, prioritizing the needs, experiences, and well-being of employees is paramount.
A human-centered approach acknowledges that the heart of any successful workplace lies in its people.
In this transformative era, where flexibility, agility, and collaboration are essential, centering in the human experience primes organizations to weave a unique, strong, and resilient workplace culture, keeping employees’ and organizations’ eyes on the horizon as together they navigate through the unchartered territory of the modern workplace.
Designing for Success in the New World of Work: A Human-Centered Approach
Experiences are the reference points for how people understand and define their stories – personally and professionally. If work is viewed through the lens of experiences (both micro and macro-level), organizations can design and create experiences that shape a healthy culture and ensure that both employee and organizational well-being are being nurtured and put first. So, how can organizations create experiences that, when woven together, define an exceptional holistic ‘employee experience?’ Every interaction and every day at work represents an opportunity to define and redefine the employee experience, so intentionality in planning and activating experiences is a necessary step in creating the holistic employee experience. The employee lifecycle can be a highly effective strategic framework for thoughtfully defining and integrating in moments that matter to write a story that employees will feel, live, and share about the organization.
Lead with Experiences
As confirmed by research, the manager-employee relationship carries the most weight in influencing engagement, retention, and performance. Managers, however, require the right tools, resources, and approaches to support the unique needs and work styles of their employees, keeping them happy, engaged, and performing.
Prioritize the Manager-Employee Relationship
Foster Trust
Flexibility & Choice
Growth & Development
Evolving and growing - as humans and organizations - requires a continual but sustainable cycle of collecting, analyzing, and applying data to inform effective change.
Make Data-Informed, Human-Inspired Decisions
Utilize existing and new listening strategies...
Only ask about what the organization is willing to respond to...
Tell stories with data...
Experiences
Expectations
Communication
Consider what experiences - from the first touchpoint as a recruit through the exit process and every phase in between - employees must have to feel valued and connected to the organization and one another. In hybrid work models, this means optimizing interactions and work, both in-person and virtually at the team and individual levels.
Managers should seek to build an understanding of employees’ individual needs, experiences, and perspectives, all of which shape how they approach life and work. Operating and communicating with clarity and transparency demonstrates managers’ commitment to nurturing a relationship where honesty and inclusion are not only encouraged but celebrated.
Empower employees with flexibility and choice. Now more than ever, employees value having influence over their work experience. Instead of viewing employees’ desire for increased agency as a loss of control, rethink choice and flexibility as opportunities to redefine accountability measures as well as further engender trust and belonging.
Provide line of sight to opportunities for growth and development. Employees want proof that their manager and the organization are invested in their professional growth. Growth doesn’t always have to come in the form of promotions. From new roles to special projects, managers should be scouting and targeting opportunities - whether upward or lateral - for employees to continue to expand the depth and breadth of skills, capabilities, and experiences they have at work.
Tell stories with data. Share the stories that emerge from the data with employees. When people understand the main themes and messages, it is easier for them to see and hear their own narratives reflected, inspiring them to become and stay invested in the organization’s collective story. Again, transparency and clarity are key to continuing to cultivate trust, engagement, and commitment among employees. Storytelling encourages employees to play the role of shepherds and owners of workplace culture, employee experience, and, ultimately, a thriving organization.
Make expectations clear and support work and performance through aligned processes, technology, and resources that set employees up for success.
Prioritize communication and coaching as well as cultivating appreciation. When employees see and feel that the organization and leaders are making daily efforts that tap into their needs and expectations and build an inclusive and shared community, they will organically stay engaged and happy at work, driving both individual, team, and organizational performance and success.
Utilize existing and create new listening strategies to capture critical insight on what’s working well, areas of opportunity, and innovative ideas in order to evolve practices and elevate employee experience and engagement. Integrate both quantitative and qualitative methods and tools to ensure the data tells an accurate and contextually informed story about where the organization is and where it needs to go.
Only ask about what the organization is willing to respond to. If organizations seek input from employees but employees don’t see that input, in some capacity, being used to influence change, then the organization isn’t truly listening. This behavior can lead to distrust, frustration, and disengagement, creating bigger downstream issues like decreased productivity, increased attrition, and lower customer satisfaction.
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About Inspirus
A Human-Centered Approach
Employee Turnover and Morale
Great Expectations: Employee Entitlement or Empowerment
Designing a Strategy for Hybrid Work
Toxic Workplace Culture
Disengagement
Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
Learn How Inspirus Can Help You Thrive in the Modern Workforce
Pioneer the Future: Design Your Hybrid Work Strategy
About Inspirus
Inspirus is a leading employee engagement and recognition solutions provider recognized by Everest Group as a star performer and major contender in the 2023 Rewards and Recognition Solutions PEAK Matrix. Offering a holistic solution through tailored engagement and recognition programs, we empower organizations to create a thriving workforce that reduces turnover, boosts engagement, and more. As a leading employee engagement solutions provider, we keep measurable impact and business outcomes at the heart of what we do. Our passion for inspiring engagement through everyday interactions and helping companies uplift their culture in meaningful, sustainable ways underpins our approach to transforming the employee experience with solutions that bolster organizations’ bottom lines. For more than 130 years, we have helped organizations bring joy to work, serving businesses of all sizes across industries and geographies. Talk with an Inspirus specialist today to see how we can partner with you to elevate your organization's employee experience. Inspirus is a Pluxee Company, the global leading employee benefits and engagement partner that creates meaningful, engaging, and personalized experiences to contribute to the well-being of individuals at work and beyond.
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About Inspirus
A Human-Centered Approach
Employee Turnover and Morale
Great Expectations: Employee Entitlement or Empowerment
Designing a Strategy for Hybrid Work
Toxic Workplace Culture
Disengagement
Challenges on the Horizon
Evolving Landscape of the Workplace
The Modern Workplace
