#1 THE WORKPLACE: Rich in options, poor in experience

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Story-time:

Sasha stared at their laptop screen, the glow reflecting off their tired eyes. As a hiring manager at Kaleidoscope SL, they had access to every talent management tool imaginable – AI-powered candidate matching, automated interview scheduling, virtual assessment platforms, ai-agent taking notes during interviews and making summaries and a state-of-the-art applicant tracking system, automated pulse survey, ai-enhanced skills-based performance management, automated pay gap tracker, coffee-chat matchmaker to help colleagues meet, GenAI note takers for meetings, smart boards for workshops. Yet, something felt hollow about the whole process.

They thought back to Rowan, a promising candidate who'd gone through their "streamlined" hiring process last month. Despite all the sophisticated tools, they'd waited four weeks for feedback after their final interview, navigated through three different communication platforms, and received contradictory information from various team members. They eventually declined their offer, citing poor communication throughout the process.

The irony wasn't lost on Sasha when, later that afternoon, they attended a company-wide meeting about a new employee advocacy platform – the second one they'd implemented this year. While their current team members had access to countless learning modules, wellness programs, and feedback channels, they rarely used any of them. "We have so many options," their colleague Jun had said during their coffee break, "but I just want someone to ask me how I'm doing and actually listen."

As Sasha closed her laptop that evening, they realised that in their quest to provide every possible tool and option, they'd somehow lost sight of the fundamental human elements – timely responses, clear communication, and genuine connection. They were drowning in options but starving for meaningful experiences.

How many HR/TA tools are too many?

As we are being sold tool after tool, as we are made responsible for maximising time and resources, our own and others, this will probably not stop very soon. But it is clear candidate experience is at an all-time low, and it should give us a pause.s

If you do take that pause, here are two steps that you can start doing tomorrow:

Establish an experience journey map

• Nurture internal options - Partner with a UX researcher from the product/tech team (or consultant) to conduct journey mapping sessions - I’m sure they would love the challenge
• Dare to dream - Document both current and desired states for candidates and employees
• Don’t reinvent the wheel - Use existing UX research methodologies and tools already available
• Quick start - Begin with 2-3 key personas and their most critical touchpoints, aka moments that matter. Implementation: Have the UX researcher dedicate 50% of their time for 2-3 weeks, running 4-5 intensive workshops with key stakeholders, candidates, and employees.

Design a human connection protocol

• Create clear accountability for response times (e.g., 24/48-hour maximum for candidate queries)
• Establish a (human??) "buddy system" for new hires
• Set up weekly micro-check-ins (15 mins max) with hiring managers/team leads Implementation: Begin with one department as a pilot, create templates and guidelines, then roll out company-wide within 2 weeks.

Speaking of trust - did we irremediably break it?

Surprisingly enough, amid the general socio-economical agitated year, mass layoffs in some sectors, such as tech and a severe swerve towards the right politically, the employer remains the most trusted authority vs NGOs, Government and Media.

The power! The responsibility!

The problem is that in 2019, when asked by Edelman if they agree with the statement: “My family and I will be better off in 5 years”, between executives and associates, there was a gap of 26pts, and now we see that gap widening, and not by a little, by 39pts.s

I believe it would be a mistake to ignore this new polarisation in the workplace. This chasm is affecting performance, productivity, and mental health, and employers have an opportunity to close it to increase trust throughout society.

Employee experience, is anyone doing it right?

Spotify has been a lot on the front page of HR news around inclusive design of their employee interactions and experience, and I think any one of us here has the highest respect for Katarina Berg! But large companies have such a huge level of complexity, and I do think with scale, there is fragility and getting this right is a bit of a looping cascade type of work.

Personally, I do see some small and medium organisations though really focusing on business innovation and inclusive work environments and setting good examples: DICE or DeepL or Storyblok .

???Do share your examples of change and transformation here, would love to give them a cameo in the next editions.

Bets for 2025 biggest focus points in employee experience:

New age Performance management - we’ve been following some models that proved a decent outcome for equity in evaluation and promotions, but lack speed and are very process-heavy. With overall smaller teams and resources, and an increased level of frustration, organisations will seek more agile methods. Throwing this to Dave Garcia for some insights.

A revival of L&D - I think the philosophy of “ own your learning path” had the best intentions, and especially large organisations have poured millions into employee access to platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, Linkedin Learning, etc. Still, we failed to offer guidance on ‘’what is actually valuable for you” in practical terms (money, promotions, new opportunities). Now we face a higher “replaceability” and dissatisfaction with the level of skills, especially in domains with high scarcity (research, healthcare, education, etc). Is there a model where organisations can make that igikai more the guiding post for the learning path: for what will we pay you more + what you enjoy doing/learning + what you can learn with relative ease. I'd be keen to know your thoughts Amanda Nolen ?

?? Now, I am a bit of a Negative Nancy so here's What I wish would happen in 2025, but won’t: More investment in preparing and supporting first-time managers. I’ll dive into that more next edition.

?? And for sure we are all a bit of a Curious Kat, so if you are a talent or business leader - what did you focus on improving in 2024 and moved the needle in your NPS scores?

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