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Enhancing the Employee Experience with Management 3.0

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April 14, 2022 - AGILE HR

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An article by Thiago Brant, Management 3.0 Facilitator from Brazil, looks into the
trending topic of Employee Experience.

In this article youʼll learn about:

What is meant by Employee Experience (EX)?

Why is it important?

What is a good Employee Experience?

 Employee Experience Design

Relation between Employee Experience and Employee Engagement

Employee Experience Examples

Employee Experience Best Practices

What is meant by Employee Experience (EX)?

Employee Experience, or simply EX, has been a hot topic in todayʼs business world. It
is a theme that HRs and companies, in general, have borrowed from the product
world, where UX (User Experience) and CX (Customer Experience) have been much
addressed. It is the use of agile tools to deal with people.

There are many definitions for EX, and Iʼll highlight one from my Strategic Human
Resources Management professor:

“
EX is the sum of interactions between an
organization and its employees that impa
performance and how each person thinks a
feels. It is the employee journey.

Why is it important?
In 2021 a WTW survey found that 92% of companies are likely to prioritize EX
improvements in the next three years.

The Management 3.0 team asked leaders all over the world what topic they would
most like to address at an upcoming conference, and the number one response was
“The Great Employee Experience Awakening”.

Looking into this topic becomes urgent in a world where people are increasingly

seeking meaning and purpose in their work, where all work relationships and
working methods are changing, and everyone is searching for job satisfaction and
work/life balance.
I believe in this, and my experience based on this quote, is that we are indeed facing
this reality:

“
My philosophy has always been, if you can
staff first, your customers second, and
shareholders third, effectively, in the end,
shareholders do well, the customers do bet
and your staff remains happy.
— Richard Branson

I always ask my students which priority their managers have: customer focus or
employee focus? In general people tend to think about the customer, but arenʼt the
employees the ones who make the customers happy?

I end up quoting a famous statement from the CEO of CI&T, a Brazilian so ware
company that recently went public:

“
We develop people before we develop
software.
— Cesar Gon, CEO of CI&T

What is a good Employee Experience?

It is difficult to define a good Employee Experience since each experience is very
particular for a specific individual. This is good to consider when building your EX. A
good starting point is to map the Employee Journey to gain insight on how they
interact at each stage of their relationship with the company, and thus seek to grasp
the ups and downs of each stage, for each employee or persona that represents
employees.
Below are some examples of Journey Maps, inspired by the Customer Journey, that
can help in this task:

See that it is common to map the emotion / satisfaction curve, barriers and enablers,
needs and opportunities. And these are evaluated at each stage of the journey. There
are a few journey mapping options, but each organization can build their own, and

they look something like this:

Attract ➞ Recruit➞ Onboard ➞ Engage ➞ Develop ➞ Perform ➞ Reward ➞ Exit

(from Agile People)

Instruct ➞ Inspire ➞ Inform ➞ Incent ➞ Involve (The five Iʼs of the Employee
Journey)

Recruitment ➞ Onboarding ➞ Development ➞ Retention ➞ Exit (The 5 stages of

Employee Experience )

Employee Experience Design

Journeys are a good starting point to design your Employee Experience, or an EX
Strategy. But since we are dealing with the Employee Experience here, it is the
employee who should be at the center of it. A good approach can come from
Design Thinking, with Human-Centered Design, which is to center your design on the
human being.

In any case, the only way to map and improve this experience is by listening to the
employee themself. We need to collect regular feedback throughout the employeeʼs
lifecycle, and at every touchpoint mapped in their journey.

Engagement, onboarding and exit surveys, and even 360 and performance reviews
are great sources about the Employee Experience . Building a good Employee
Analytics strategy will also support your EX design.

The more traditional climate surveys can be important, but today we are also
focusing on more frequent and shorter surveys, which end up being more specific on
latent employee pains, so much so that it is commonly called a Pulse Survey. Some
companies do this daily.

This data can be consolidated as a Happiness Index, and we can use this index to
correlate with the stages and moments of the Employee Experience.

Cultural, Technological, and Physical

When working with your EX Design, keep in mind the three spheres of the Employee
Experience: Cultural, Technological, and Physical.
The Cultural Sphere is how people feel when they experience interactions with
people in the organization. According to the Management 3.0 Values and Culture
module, you cannot change an organizationʼs culture. What you can change are the
guideposts, transparency, and boundaries.

The Technological Sphere consists of the interactions with the tasks and tools in
your organization. An example from the module Agile Product Development: Agile
so ware development needs teams to be motivated. But repetitive tasks are boring,
not motivating, so they should be automated. An even more important reason is,
automated tasks are more reliable than when team members have to do those tasks.

The Physical Sphere consists of the interactions with the tangible surroundings. In
the Management 3.0 Complexity Thinking module, A typical analyst/reductionist

mistake is described as designing human systems instead of growing them. As an

example: cubicles, traditional methods and frameworks.

Employee Experience and Employee Engagement – how do they

relate?
Employee engagement is related to what the employee thinks and feels along their
journey.

A good Employee Experience generates engagement and satisfaction.

The Motivation and Engagement module of Management 3.0 has something very
interesting on this:

“Managers must seek ways for the CHAMPFROGS motivators to become systemic

properties of the firm” and the idea of “setting up the right conditions that maximize
the probability that it (make people feel motivated or engaged) will happen (even
though success is never certain).?

CHAMPFROGS is a motivation model that combines intrinsic and extrinsic motivators

and helps us better understand what motivates each individual. Linking this
knowledge to the employeeʼs journey can (and will) greatly enrich the construction
of an EX that enhances motivation and engagement.

Employee Experience Examples

Use your time to understand how to make the organization a system that engages
people” (from Management 3.0 Motivation and Engagement Module)

This quote always comes to mind when I think of employee satisfaction and
engagement, and then their experience. Improving EX will not happen magically

through a big program or change. The Employee Experience depends on small

interventions that happen along their journey.

I will list some examples of interventions, techniques and tools that have generated
good results at each stage of the employee journey: Attract – Recruit – Onboard

– Engage – Develop – Perform – Reward – Exit

Employee Experience: Attract Stage

When it comes to attracting the best people for our positions (yes, the Employee
Experience starts before they join the company, when weʼre still in the attraction

phase) it is important to think about how people react to job ads. Management 3.0
(this time, the company!) recently published job positions with an unusual

description focused on what people should accomplish in the job, rather than a list

of qualifications they should have.

I did this same experiment at my company Agilers and got amazing results! In
addition to better engaging the candidates, this initiative united all our current

employees in the effort to search for a great professional with a fit to work with us. A
humanized process with frequent contact with the people interested makes all the

difference!

Employee Experience: Recruit Stage

I have seen some exceptional experiences at the recruitment stage! Still inspired by

the Management 3.0 effort, we have been using candidate videos as a way of
applying for vacancies, which enables the human relationship before even following

the process. In the interview phase, the use of Personal Maps to get to know the
candidates better (and to help ease the anxiety caused by this tense moment) brings

an incredible experience both for the candidate and the interviewer.

Moving Motivators is also a great addition to the interview, as it helps the recruiter to
better understand the candidateʼs motivators. It also creates a deeper relationship
and a great experience. My colleagues who combine these two techniques are

getting great results, and people, when hired, enter the company much more
motivated and engaged.

“
I really liked Personal Maps in my interview
was the first time I came across the tool, a
still remember the experience every tim
someone mentions it.
— Miriam Santos, Agilers employee

Employee Experience: Onboard Stage

Onboarding is a very important step in the employee journey process. This crucial

phase can determine whether the new employee will stay longer in the organization.
I know three very good examples to improve the onboarding experience:

Onboard yourself – A way for the employee to do their own onboarding. In

Management 3.0 this is done in a Trello created for the new employee. Here at
Agilers we do it with Clickup tasks that help the person to know all the companyʼs
processes (and the other collaborators).

Onboard site: In companies with more complex processes and programs, the use
of a hot site that follows this journey, with periodic reminders is a good thing! I
know of an example where this site follows the employee for one year!

Onboard passport: there is a fintech company in Brazil that gives the employee a
passport. He needs to visit areas and meet people, and at each step he completes,
he gets a new stamp in his passport! A very creative way to onboard.

Check out this article from my colleague Erick Masgo for many other tips and this

article from Forbes with interesting insights!

Employee Experience: Engage Stage

We can also count on Moving Motivators to engage employees. Thinking about how

to work on each of the ten motivators that must be systematically incorporated in

the organization.
A clear purpose tied to the use of OKRs is also a powerful engagement tool. People

frequently ask me how to engage people and make them feel that they “own” the
business. The formula is simple, but it requires a lot of dedication from

management: purpose and good goal setting. Only when employees are involved
and actively participate in shaping the organizationʼs strategy can they really

feel ownership.

Employee Experience: Develop Stage

Daniel Pink tells us in his great book Drive that “high job performance and

satisfaction are based on our need to do better by ourselves and our world” and this
happens when there is purpose, mastery, and freedom.

When thinking about the employeeʼs experience, remember to give him autonomy to

establish the paths for his development.

Ambev Tech is a great example of a company that puts the employee in charge of the
training budget. They offer an annual budget in which they can choose which

training to invest in.

Employee Experience: Perform Stage

When thinking about performance, we need to look at performance models that are

more focused on the developmental experience of the employee than on

performance appraisals based on numbers and grades.

Here are a couple of experiments I have done at this stage with great results:

360 Degree Dinner: I havenʼt exactly been able to host a dinner, but the outcome is
always positive when I gather the team for constructive feedback. Everyone leaves
the room motivated and inspired by each otherʼs contribution, and willing to
improve even more.

Improvement Dialogues: I have been inspired to try this tool when I read about
Ralph van Roosmalenʼs experience of using it in performance meetings in his
insightful book “Doing It“. A conversation where the employee himself finds his
own improvement paths without my having to point or give opinions is a very
positive outcome. There is nothing better than making something happen by
deciding how to do it yourself.

Also read: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, & Adjourning: Tuckmanʼs stages
of team development explained

Employee Experience: Reward Stage

Using Merit Money is one of the most amazing reward experiences I have had. I
ended up opting for Bonus.ly, which works all Six Rules for Rewards, and the

Employee Experience has been amazing. Everyone feels excited and energized about
rewarding their colleagues (and of course, receiving rewards as well).

In addition to improving the Employee Experience, Merit Money systems can also be

used to encourage expected behaviors. Here at Agilers everyone is rewarded when

they learn new content (also encouraging the development of individuals).

Employee Experience: Exit Stage

The departure of an employee is also an experience and requires great care. Offering
an Alumni structure, understanding the reasons for leaving, and treating the

employee in a humanized way are some important aspects of this stage.

Something simple, and that can be a huge differential: a gratitude letter. When
someone leaves our team here at Agilers, everyone gets together to write a letter of

gratitude to this person, expressing all the positive things that happened in this
relationship. It is a way to mark this closure in a very positive way.

The eight stages of Employee Experience and how to combine them with Management 3.0 Tools

Employee Experience Best Practices: Things You Should Include in

Your Employee Experience Strategy
Thinking about all the examples and experiments Iʼve mentioned so far, I see two

main points that cannot be le aside when building a great EX strategy:

humanization and positive psychology.

When we think about positive strategies in the employee journey, we also contribute

to creating happier environments (and individuals).

Renata Rivetti, Chief Happiness Officer and TEDx speaker, has something very
pertinent to say about the connection between EX and happiness:

“
So what is our role as a leader or as HR in t
happiness? We have to work on wellness a
mental health programs, we also have to loo
the Employee Experience through Jacob Morg
equation: culture, technology, and physical sp
However, when we talk about happiness we
little further. There is no point in a mindfuln
program if the person does not feel that it m
sense for him/her. There’s no point in the pe
employee journey if the person doesn’t feel
they belong or are recognized.
— Renata Rivetti, Chief Happiness Officer and TEDx speaker

And I also suggest that you read about the 12 Steps to Happiness suggested by

Management 3.0 which Iʼm sure, when considered, greatly improves the Employee
Experience.

Conclusion
There is no better way to close this article than to mention one of my favorite quotes
about management and leadership:

“
 Managing can be seen as taking place with
triangle where art, craft, and the use of scie
meet.
— Henry Mintzberg, Simply Managing

All the reflection and research on the topic of Employee Experience helped me to see

how this truth also applies to it. To ensure a great Employee Experience, we must
rely on scientific studies, we must experiment, and we must do it in a

customized way for each situation. A truly handcra ed job. There are no ready-

made formulas, or the so-called one-size-fits-all.

Google once decided to go deep and research what makes teams successful. Its
conclusion, through the Aristotle project, was that the crucial factor is Psychological

Safety. And this conclusion was the result of much research, experimentation and, of
course, focus on the human being.

I hope all these insights are useful to you and I wish you much success in your
journey to create the best journey for your employees!

Header Photo by Alireza Hatami via Unsplash

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