While completing my undergraduate studies in the late 1990s, I worked for a major clothing retail store. When referencing the clothes we sold, my manager would say, “We should treat these items as if they are gold.” I also heard the common phrase, “the customer is always right,” and remember thinking about how much focus the entire team would put on the customer experience. Everything we did was to ensure that the customer had a fabulous experience at our store. We wanted the customers to feel special, taken care of, and happy so that they would become repeat customers.
There is a relationship being built between consumer and service or product provider. The capitalist world has, of course, demanded this relationship building. However, as we see a more socially conscious lens being applied in many industries, so too are we seeing employers turning their attention to nurturing another relationship — the one between them and their employees.
Back in my retail days, as an employee I was not privy to any conversations management had about us. Perhaps they talked about training we required, how we were doing in sales, and maybe which one of us showed potential to progress into a leadership role. They might have even talked about whether we were engaged — that is, motivated and emotionally connected to the company. I’m not sure they talked about what our experience was like as an employee — perhaps because it was a concept that was not widely used.
When I dove into working in human resources management (HRM), also in the late 1990s, the concept of “the employee experience” was around, but it was not prevalent. I like the idea of using a systems-thinking approach to understand employee experience, because at the end of the day, the employee experience is part of the most complex and beautiful system — the individual human. It stands to reason that we would look at it in the realm of HRM.
Let’s explore through systems thinking how employers can create employee experiences that result in employees feeling happy, and not just so they will be a “repeat customer,” that is, stay with an employer for a good chunk of time, but because I believe enjoying where you work and being treated with the same reference that customers or clients are treated is an employee (human) right.
Employee experience and systems thinking
Systems thinking is an approach to understanding things in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting them down into parts. It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective action in complex contexts — like the employer and employee relationship — enabling change. Systems thinking is a holistic approach that can be applied to any areas of interest, including education, health care and human resources management.
The definition that I love using is Peter Senge’s from his book The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization: Second edition. He defines systems thinking as an approach to problem solving, seeing it as “a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns rather than static snapshots.”
Employee experience (EX) was first conceptualized by Kaveh Abhari, PhD, as part of employee experience management. Employee experience refers to the various interactions and perceptions that an employee has during their time working for an organization. It encompasses everything from the job application process to onboarding, work culture, relationships with colleagues and managers, professional development opportunities, compensation, benefits, and offboarding. It is the sum total of an employee’s physical, emotional and psychological experiences while working for a particular organization.
Abhari’s concept describes parts of two systems: HRM and the employee. And Senge, through systems thinking, encourages us to look at the interrelationships and patterns between these two systems.
Systems-thinking terminology and the employee experience
Several systems-thinking concepts impact employee experience, including feedback loops, interdependence, archetypes, and leverage points. Let’s see how these concepts can be used to understand the employee experience.
A feedback loop refers to a situation in which the output or result of a system is fed back into the system as input, creating a cycle of cause and effect. This feedback loop can be either positive or negative. A positive employee experience can lead to increased motivation, which can lead to even more positive experiences. Conversely, a negative employee experience can lead to decreased job satisfaction. In these feedback loops, consider: what are the outputs and inputs?
Interdependence refers to how different parts of a system are interconnected and affect each other. It can influence employee experience by affecting elements of teamwork such as collaboration and communication. For example, if one team member is not meeting deadlines, it can impact the work of others, leading to a whack of emotions, including frustration but also possibly concern. What might be causing deadlines to be missed?
Systems archetypes are common patterns that can help identify underlying problems and develop effective solutions. Examples of systems archetypes connected to the employee experience can include career stagnation and interpersonal conflict. Understanding these archetypes, that is, patterns, can help organizations identify and address the root causes of negative employee experiences. What systemic barriers, that is, which HRM policy, practice, or procedure, can be removed or modified?
Leverage points are the areas in a system where small changes can have a significant impact. In the HRM system, by identifying leverage points within smaller systems, such as during onboarding or talent development, employers can make strategic changes to improve employee experience. For example, when onboarding new employees, don’t just hand them a bunch of manuals to read, incorporate activities that are fun and welcoming. What HRM system component leverage points need a little nudge or even overhaul?
The art of the employee experience
According to Indeed, Canadians on average spend 2,087 hours a year working. That’s a lot of time at work! And for employers that include people as one of their espoused values, that is, employees matter and are important, creating positive employee experiences seems like a logical thing to do. Forbes Council Member Michael Hinshaw provides six reasons why employers should invest in employee experience, including better work performance and less employee turnover.
I have invited you to consider creating employee experience using systems thinking without going into details about humans as systems. Recall, though, that the EX concept created by Abhari includes the physical, emotional and psychological experiences of employees. And so, although there will be HRM system benefits to positive employee experiences, it would be remiss not to consider the impact on employees themselves.
Ultimately, I believe you can see organizations as a social system with employees being the most important part. You could see organizations as a place where employees gather. In her book The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker is asking us to consider how we can be intentional in crafting experiences that foster connection, belonging and growth. To me this translates into looking at the dynamic nature of HRM systems, because in the end, employees are dynamic not static. Treat them with the same reverence shown to customers or clients — maybe even “like gold.”
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