MARCH - APRIL 2016HR TECH OUTLOOK8onversations for how to create the perfect "employee experience"are taking place across industries, driven by the increased competition for talent and attempts to respond to the changing expectations of the workforce.While reimaging the employee experience can be intellectually interesting, making traction is another matter. It requires consideration of the intersection between culture, technology, and space. CultureCulture is essentially a set of common assumptions, values and beliefs, which influence how people behave within a system. For a company, this includes the vision, norms and symbols. In other words, it's the behaviors and actions that keep individuals from getting "voted off the island." Organizational culture is foundational in making design decisions. While this may be stating the obvious, this cannot be emphasized enough. Suppose you want an employee experience that empowers people to innovate. As a starting point, look closely at the management practices within your organization. How much control and choice does the employee have? Are they invited to participate in decisions that impact their work? Are there formal or informal practices that drive or hinder creativity? Every touch point an employee has within an organization becomes the "experience," good or bad. If the employee experience you are seeking involves seamless onboarding, then being intentional about what you want a new hire to do, feel and believe must go beyond the "welcome portal" consisting of, albeit important, direct deposit and 401K elections. But more importantly, the culture itself must be invested in the success of new talent and play an active role in integrating all people into the system. How welcoming are people in your organization? Do they easily share information to enable other's success? In another case, let's say you want an employee experience that values diversity in all its forms. Then look at how "inclusive" your practices are. Do you invest in leadership development that makes leaders self-aware of unconscious biases? Technology Relying on culture, aligned with a beautifully architected employee experience, is just not enough. Combining technology decisions with culture is the second necessary pillar in achieving an employee experience that not only satisfies, if done well, but increases performance. Let's go back to culture for a IN MY OPINIONBy Susan Lovegren, SVP, Human Resources, Juniper NetworksCPillars of the Employee Experience3Susan Lovegren
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