What Is the Next Step for Employee Experience? The Why, What, and How of Hope

by Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Partner, The RBL Group ([email protected]) and Wendy Ulrich, PhD, Psychologist, Author; Consultant, The RBL Group ([email protected])

Why does mental health matter for employee experience?

How many people that you know (including yourself) have one or more of the mental health concerns in figure 1?

They (you) are not alone. Mental health is a growing challenge—even more so post-COVID (figure 2)—with profound implications for work:

• The cost of mental illness and related consequences is projected to rise to $6 trillion globally by 2030 (up from?$2.5 trillion?in?2010).
• Depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy $1 trillion every year in lost productivity.
• Loneliness affects 58 percent of adults, with lonely adults two to five times more likely to miss work. Costs are $154 billion annually.
• Forty-one percent of surveyed employees feel emotionally drained from work.
• The UN has defined mental health as a global development priority and has created an ambitious plan to tackle the world’s mental health challenges in the coming fifteen years.

In the work setting, mental health often connects to the employee experience that then impacts stakeholder outcomes (figure 3).

What does hope contribute to employee experience?

Over the decades, many concepts have evolved to track employee experience (see figure 4). Each row in the figure has a logic, vast literature, and actionable insights related to improving the employee experience.

We believe this evolution continues with an additional fifth wave focused on hope. Hope is not a new concept and often draws on religious principles from Buddhism, Christianity, Hindu, Islam, and Judaism. Hope has also been part of political promises, medical care, social movements, behavioral economics, and positive psychology.?

Drawing on this vast hope database, we propose six principles that define what hope means in an organization setting. Organizations with hope:

1. Transform the future. Hope emphasizes what can be with the ability to grow from but leave behind the past. Organizations articulate inspirational, future-focused strategies that deliver stakeholder value.
2. Are based in healthy relationships and conversations. Hope flourishes when people care for, serve, and hear one another. Organizations prosper through collaboration, relationships, and teamwork.
3. Ensure efficacy. Hope increases when current efforts lead to future positive outcomes. Organizational investments in human capability impact stakeholder outcomes.
4. Rely on realistic optimism. Hope focuses on what is right and possible, not merely desirable. Organizations set aspirational but doable goals.
5. Empower people. Hopeful people have better health, are more resilient, and live longer. Organizations help people become better.
6. Address personal needs. Hope serves individual needs in a personalized and scalable way. Organizations turn individual competencies into organization capabilities.

These principles become the assumptions of the “hopeful” employee experience (wave five in figure 4). When employees have more hope at work, they will have a more positive work experience that leads to increased stakeholder value (figure 3)

How do we create hope?

Turning these principles into actions requires practical, teachable skills. As a psychologist, Wendy emphasizes personal skills. As an organization advisor, Dave focuses on leadership skills. Together, we have identified seven specific skills people in general and leaders in particular can master to turn principles into actions that increase hope.?

1. Practice self-compassion: Find a benevolent explanation for past regrets or failures instead of ruminating on things you cannot change. Rewrite your story with a new ending based on what you’ve learned. Leaders who show compassion and curiosity for themselves and others help turn attention away from old mistakes and toward future possibilities to transform the future.
2. Find certainty amid uncertainty. Uncertainty is prerequisite to creativity and choice. Focus on what you are certain of, even amid uncertainty. Slow down and look for beauty and goodness to train your brain to scan for the positive. Leaders bring certainty in uncertain conditions by having a clear point of view about the future, acting consistently on values, and empowering people with confidence that they can accomplish the tasks ahead (ensure efficacy).
3. Ponder meaning and purpose: Ask yourself what you would do if you were guaranteed success or what you value enough to work at even if you were not guaranteed success. Explore or plan ways to live that value now. Leaders who meld organization visions with individual aspirations have realistic optimism about the future. “Hope . . . is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense [or has meaning], regardless of how it turn out” (Vaclav Havel, playwright and first president of the Czech Republic).
4. Practice a growth mindset: You’re not failing; you’re learning. Break it down. Try again. Practice more. Get feedback. Get help. Innovate. Leaders who help others grow empower them to accomplish ambitious goals.
5. Fix problems—not people. “People aren’t the problem; the problem is the problem” (Michael White). Define the problem and tackle it together. Leaders who focus on fixing problems more than people (address personal needs) ?foster healthy relationships through teamwork and realistic optimism about what can be accomplished.
6. Increase influence. Think about what others have done that leaves you either resistant or open to their influence. When trying to influence others, remember to really listen, point out what’s right, lead by example, be clear about what you expect, and stay calm. Strive for these actions rather than their opposites. Leaders who influence others effectively personalize relationships to help others feel better about themselves and what they can accomplish (efficacy).
7. Start small, now. Motivation follows action, so don’t wait to get motivated to change. Build hope by starting small or by making and keeping a daily promise to yourself to tackle a task or live a value. Leaders who start with small, simple, and b make progress now.

When business and HR leaders recognize, learn, and master these skills, they practice them in their personal lives and institutionalize them throughout the organization.

Summary: Hope matters, can be defined, and is improved with skills.

Why: Hope is an emerging fifth wave of managing mental health challenges that shape employee experience which in turn impacts stakeholder value.

What: Six principles of hope define work assumptions and organization culture.

How: Seven skills of hope can be identified, mastered, and demonstrated.

What do you hope for that will evolve the employee experience?

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