How Career Experience Can Help Shape the Future of Work

The concept of Career Experience? has recently evolved as a key element in shaping organisational culture, helping improve employee engagement and retention. I first looked into their concept of Career Experience when I interviewed Nick Holmes for the HR Means Business podcast. Nick was Global Head of Career Experience at Avalere Health - a?leading global commercialisation partner for the biopharmaceutical, medical technology, and wellness?sectors - and is now their VP of Employee Experience.

As part of my research and writing into the factors that drive engagement and retention I was becoming convinced that, despite the best efforts of the Talent Acquisition and Human Resources teams, there was a need for organisations to look more holistically at how they can support and enable their people to help them achieve their best results - thereby creating a culture which supported engagement and achievement, and helped drive business success.

From my conversation with Nick it was apparent that Career Experience is more than just another HR role; it embodies a more holistic approach to nurturing talent, shaping culture, and facilitating growth throughout an employee's journey within an organisation. It encompasses everything from the initial onboarding process to ongoing development, performance management, and eventual progression or transition within the organisation.

There were 5 ways in which having ‘Career Experience’ specialists can achieve this:

The Purpose of Career Experience

At its core, Career Experience is about creating an environment where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to thrive. By focusing on the human aspect of work, organisations can enhance employee engagement, retention, and productivity. Rather than merely fulfilling job roles, employees become active participants in their own career development, which helps drive both personal development and therefore organisational success.

Addressing Organisational Challenges

Career Experience can be seen as a strategic response to various organisational challenges, primarily talent engagement and retention, succession planning, and adapting to rapid organisational growth. Proactive shaping of the employee experience can help reduce turnover, better identify and nurture talent, and maintain the culture of continuous learning and improvement that our digital talent needs.

Integration with HR Operations

While Career Experience can operate within the broader HR framework, it really represents a specialist function that is dedicated to optimising the employee journey. Collaborating closely with other parts of the HR and Talent ecosystem, Career Experience professionals can ensure alignment with organisational goals and values, and help foster a cohesive and supportive work environment.

Promoting Employee Wellbeing

One of there central tenets of Career Experience is the prioritisation of employee wellbeing. Initiatives such as mental health first aid training, as well as financial, physical and emotional wellness programmes, and offering a range of flexible and hybrid work arrangements that help support our people, all contribute to creating a culture of care and support. By valuing employee health and work-life balance, organisations will be able to enhance overall employee satisfaction and improved performance.

The Future of Career Experience

Looking ahead, Career Experience should evolve into a hyper-personalised and technology-enabled ecosystem. As organisations are increasingly able to leverage data and emerging technologies, they can tailor their employee and worker experiences to meet individual needs, enhance connectivity, and promote overall wellness. Career Experience can continue to evolve and play a crucial role in shaping the future of work, driving innovation, and fostering a culture of engagement and growth.

The emergence of Career Experience as a specialism could represent a much-needed shift in HR practices, placing emphasis on human-centric approaches to talent management and organisational development. By investing in Career Experience, organisations can create environments where their people not only thrive but can also contribute meaningfully to collective success.?

You can check out my full podcast chat with Nick on this episode of HR Means Business

Find Out More in Amsterdam

If you want to know more about Career Experience and how it can help improve your organisation then I will be interviewing Nick on stage at the HR Technology Conference & Expo Europe on Friday 3rd May in a session entitled ‘The Hyper Human Workplace : How to Make Work Meaningful Again’. Hope you can join us at the RAI, Amsterdam!

Talking AI, Skills Based Hiring, Employer Branding and The Future of the Talent Acquisition Team

Earlier this week I helped out on special edition of Matt Alder 's The Recruiting Future Podcast . You might recall last week I helped him celebrate the 600th episode with a look back on whether our 2016 predictions on the Future of Work were coming to fruition.

This week myself and the knowledgeable and ever insightful Jenny Cotie Kangas joined Matt for a special 'Ask Us Anything' edition of the show in which we discussed and, hopefully, answered a range of questions from whether AI was something to be embraced or to be fearful of, to how recruiters can really differentiate themselves, the latest thinking on skills-based hiring, and the role of Employer Branding in 2024!

You can watch the show here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wfyswU-0Z4 - and let me know what you think of some of our discussions!