2023 GLOBAL EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE FINAL

@ KincentricCo

About Kincentric Kincentric, a Spencer Stuart company, helps organizations unlock the power of people and teams to ignite change and drive better business results. With decades of experience and specialist expertise in areas such as culture; employee engagement; leadership assessment and development; HR and talent advisory; and diversity, equity and inclusion, we use data-driven insights to architect solutions that add value, enhance agility and increase organizational effectiveness. For more information, visit kincentric.com.

Strength in the Beauty of Consistency

Global employee experience trends 2023

Our research points toward the need for change — to unfreeze old ways of thinking. Our global trends reveal that employee engagement scores have plateaued while employee expectations have evolved. CEOs and CHROs must explore new ways to achieve business outcomes through their people, and the answer can be found deep in the employee experience (EX). Organizations out in front are achieving exceptional jumps in engagement, retention and performance through the power of EX, and the secret lies in the beauty of consistency, which is achieved when multiple core experience elements create similar positive perceptions. But surprisingly, the majority of organizations are not providing a consistent experience to employees, and therein lies a missed opportunity. A consistent, cohesive EX, enabled by connection and courage, will open a new world of possibility — one that will help leaders unlock incredible business results.

A bold refocus: The business case for a consistent employee experience

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Unlock organizational vitality through a groundbreaking employee experience approach

Although often cited as a goal in its own right, fundamentally, employee engagement should be viewed as an outcome — a reflection of the experience your employees are having. To achieve the largest return on critical business outcomes, leaders must intentionally act on the employee experience to make it consistently great. This may sound obvious, but the reality is that over half (58%) of employees do not have a work experience consistent enough to have the fullest impact on business outcomes. A differentiated employee experience doesn’t just stem from one thing, but a combination of factors that are happening together in the workplace. Achieving consistency is about striving to ensure every experience creates the same effect. This doesn’t mean “one size fits all” but that the experience is shaped to meet the needs of various groups of employees in a way that they all end up having the same positive perceptions. Creating reliable and consistent experiences across all elements for all employees translates into real business impact.

New realities. New expectations.

CEOs and CHROs must not only focus on creating a consistent employee experience but take a holistic approach that aligns to the business strategy and organizational culture.

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How are new realities and evolving employee expectations impacting the employee experience?

View 2023 employee experience trends

Consistent employee experiences translate into business outcomes

Connected employee experiences accelerate your north star strategy

Financial Performance (% Above Average)

32%

47%

65%

30%

52%

69%

Customer Service (% Above Average)

Shift the ownership back to senior leaders

Consistency is achieved when multiple core experience elements work together to create a similar positive perception of the work experience across the organization. This does not mean the lived experience is the same for everyone.

Employee Engagement

Intent to Stay

17%

63%

91%

43%

73%

89%

Consistency drives engagement and retention

BUSINESS STRATEGY The goals, plan, and capabilities needed to achieve the organizational vision for the future

CULTURE The values, beliefs, behaviors, artifacts and reward systems that influence behavior

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE Employee perception about their journey at an organization from hire to retire

BUSINESS IMPACT Progress and return on business (e.g., financial, customer, productivity) and people (e.g., engagement, retention) outcomes

Leading organizations put employee experience into the broader context and consider it a natural extension and reflection of their unique strategy and culture. This deeply integrated approach is the only true pathway to business vitality and sustainable results.

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Courage from the C-suite makes employee experience a business asset

Driving business results through a consistent and connected employee experience cannot happen without courage, commitment and alignment from the C-suite. So, what can your leaders do?

Senior leaders must set the priorities, provide clear direction and lead the change to create a truly engaging and consistent work experience.

Empower managers to amplify through personalization

Managers need support to enrich and personalize the day-to-day experience through the priorities and processes leadership and HR have established.

Drive HR with intention

HR must go beyond the basics, delivering more mature, personalized experiences intentionally and cohesively to support the business strategy.

Senior leadership has:

1.5x

greater influence on employee engagement than managers

higher impact on the consistency of EX

6.0x

Only

of people managers believe they are fully supported in their role

16%

of employees rate their company above average on financial performance when senior leader influence is paired with high manager support

76%

When HR moves beyond the foundations to include more mature, intentional EX elements, we see

higher engagement

+28

higher intent to stay

+14

Consistency translates to better business outcomes

pts

Reimagine the employee experience. Reimagine the possibilities.

New realities, new employee demands and higher engagement maturity all point toward the need for a bold refocus. What worked for organizations in the past will no longer drive the same results. Employee engagement still matters. But this is just one of many powerful business outcomes that derive from the employee experiences you create. This is not the time for your organization to freeze and fail. It’s time to flourish by evolving your approach. It’s time for the C-suite to take charge. It’s time to use employee experience as a competitive edge to unlock business vitality. Consistency. Connection. Courage. Now you’ve uncovered the unlikely secrets behind the world’s most successful employee experience design.

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Opportunity:

A consistent EX results in

Challenge:

2X higher

ratings of financial performance

Only 42%

of employees have a consistent EX

Untapped opportunity to boost your bottom line

Low consistency

Moderate consistency

High consistency

Opportunity:

Engagement is

5.5X higher

when EX is aligned to culture and strategy

Challenge:

Only 36%

of organizations have indicators that all three elements are truly aligned

Opportunity:

C-suite is in a unique position to drive a consistent, connected EX

Challenge:

1/3

of employees do not feel senior leaders take the necessary actions now to position the company for long-term success

New approach. New possibility. New powerful business impact.

Employee experience needs alignment to strategy and culture to drive business impact

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73%

of employees experienced some type of exclusion in the last 12 months

An overwhelming number of employees are enduring some form of exclusion. And while people of all backgrounds experience exclusion, our research shows that people from underrepresented and marginalized groups face experiences of exclusion at higher rates. As many as 63% of all employees have also witnessed a person being excluded or unfairly treated, and senior leaders are 2X more likely to witness an act of exclusion than individual contributors. Common ways employees experience exclusion includes an individual’s ideas getting shut down in a group or someone being demeaned because of their cultural background. Everyone stands to lose when exclusion takes place, regardless of whether they were the recipient of or witness of an exclusionary act. Leaders and organizations as a whole must assess the prevalence of these behaviors to and root out exclusion to ensure all employees are valued and can grow and thrive.

Cultivating a culture of inclusion requires a deep look beneath the surface of an organization to better understand the unwritten rules, norms and behaviors that may be derailing or driving inclusion. Alarmingly, more than 40% of employees report working in a culture that stalls inclusion, where behaviors such as creating an environment in which an individual is afraid to speak up, exerting pressure on others to conform to norms, making biased performance decisions, and viewing one person’s gain as another’s loss run rampant. Leaders must focus on the positive aspects that will strengthen a culture of inclusion while working to eliminate the real-time exclusionary behaviors that get in the way. With this understanding and a focus on inclusive leadership behaviors, organizations can foster an environment with more consistent experiences of inclusion for everyone.

employees say they work in a culture that powers inclusion

only

For many leaders, creating an inclusive workplace culture is a top priority, yet inclusion is not happening consistently in organizations. We found that 19% of employees have unfavorable views of inclusion and 39% report inconsistent experiences — which can produce similar if not worse talent outcomes than unfavorable experiences. Our research also shows that senior leaders are having more favorable day-to-day experiences of inclusion than managers or individual contributors, with as many as 62% of senior leaders feeling valued for their contributions, compared to 50% of managers and 28% of individual contributors. Leaders must dig deeper to better understand the experiences of inclusion in their organization to ensure more consistency among employees at all levels. CEOs and CHROs can’t take a piecemeal approach to inclusion or they will miss the opportunity to unlock talent and create powerful business outcomes.

42%

only

employees report an overall favorable experience of inclusion

@ KincentricCo

Companies have been measuring employee engagement for decades. Many have focused on engagement and taken actions to improve it, driving global scores steadily up to the high 60% engaged range over the last six years. But as organizations reach a more mature state in their engagement journey, they must shift their approach to create change in the experience: What worked in the past won’t necessarily move the needle now.

New realities. New expectations.

Glimpses of "normalization"

Difficulty meeting increasing needs

Employees finally see a clearer path forward, with stronger manager appreciation and positivity around effectiveness of virtual work.

Leadership connection is waning, connectivity and inclusion show signs of decline, while company values are understood, but not lived.

49%

52%

51%

56%

58%

61%

59%

68%

70%

63%

66%

65%

67%

69%

68%

65%

64%

59%

63%

64%

68%

70%

78%

74%

75%

77%

75%

78%

76%

Global Top Quartile Engagement

Global Engagement

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2010

2012

2013

2014

2011

2009

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2022

2020

2021

Employee engagement over the last 20 years

Organizations have made progress, but many now feel "stuck" on their engagement journey

Although global employee experience trends in 2023 indicate some “normalization” of the new work experience with many positive shifts in EX over the last year, employees have also become more demanding in the expectations they have of leaders and of their desired employee experience.

51%

feel that their organization is delivering on the experience they promised

Only

69%

Optimism about one’s future

of employees globally feel they can achieve long-term career aspirations

pts

59%

-10

Leaders are falling out of touch

of employees globally say that senior leadership makes them hopeful about the future

pts

87%

Confidence in the effectiveness of how work is done

of employees globally say that the virtual work arrangements allow them to meet the customer needs

pts

53%

-5

Connectivity and inclusion show signs of struggling

of employees globally feel that their opinions and suggestions are given significant consideration in the organization’s decision-making process

pts

82%

Increasing appreciation and trust in managers

of employees globally feel their manager demonstrates consistency between words and actions

pts

62%

-6

Increasing criticism about demonstrating organizational values

of employees globally say they see the organization’s values being demonstrated every day

pts

Global experience trends also indicate that core aspects of work — pay, recognition, career, and wellbeing — are still top of mind. However employees don’t feel heard on decisions that affect them most, or understood by decision-makers when it comes to their experience and needs. So how can CEOs and CHROs balance the change in expectations and break through the barriers they may face to create business outcomes through an inspiring work experience?

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Global employee experience trends 2023

North America

64%

2023 YTD Engagement

LATAM

76%

APAC

71%

Europe

55%

MENA

67%

from 2021

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2023 YTD

67%

75%

52%

64%

54%

43%

59%

+3pts*

0pt*

+1pt*

-1pt*

2022-2023 YTD Engagement change

Delivering on the EX promised

@ KincentricCo

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