The latest research by Kincentric, a Spencer Stuart company focused on improving leadership impact by unlocking the power of people and teams, identifies a number of compelling business outcomes that can be achieved when organizations deliver a consistent and cohesive employee experience (EX) across the organization. The Global Employee Experience Trends 2023 Report reveals that employee engagement has plateaued over the last five years, and CEOs and CHROs must now shift their approach to EX if they want to accelerate business outcomes through their people.
The study, backed by extensive data from over nine million respondents across 2500 organizations, 162 countries and 62 industries, emphasizes the need for leaders to act on employee experience more holistically, with consistency of experience emerging as a key factor in driving business impact. In addition to consistency, which is achieved when multiple core experience elements create similar positive perceptions across employees, the report also outlines the importance of the alignment of EX to culture and business strategy, as well as endorsement by the C-suite. The data indicates that leading organizations are enjoying notable advantages in terms of employee engagement, retention, financial performance and customer satisfaction as a result of this groundbreaking new approach.
Key findings of the research include:
- Ratings of customer satisfaction and financial performance are over 2X higher when the work experience is consistent, yet almost one third (29%) of employees have a highly inconsistent experience, with significant negative impact on engagement and business outcomes.
- Employee engagement is 5.5X higher when EX is aligned to culture and strategy, yet only 36% of organizations have indicators that all three elements are truly aligned.
- Nearly half (49%) of employees feel their employers are failing to provide the employee experience they were promised.
- Senior leaders have 6X the impact on the consistency of EX compared to managers, demonstrating their critical role in bringing this to life.
In addition, Kincentric’s 2023 report indicates employees have increased expectations regarding their day-to-day work experience, and while employees have expressed more positivity around things such as long-term career aspirations and virtual work arrangements, there has been a decline in measures around inspirational leadership, organizational values and support and connection.
According to Jeff Jolton, Managing Director of Research and Insights at Kincentric, leaders looking to drive exceptional business results should focus on the transformative power of a consistent and cohesive EX, instead of solely measuring employee engagement as an outcome. “Organizations must take a fresh, holistic and highly intentional approach to drive greater consistency in their EX – which is not about providing the same experience for everyone, but instead, striving to ensure employees have the same positive perception of the work experience,” Jolton says. “The reality is that the majority of organizations globally are not providing the level of consistency required to translate EX into critical business outcomes and are missing a huge opportunity to unlock the full potential of their people and create competitive advantage.”
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