Thinking Further – the Experience Organization

In one of my last posts I introduced the CXA – The Chief Experience Architect. Today, I would like to spin the wheel a bit further and introduce the concept of a new Experience Function. 

Home is where the heart is

The home-base of the Experience Function is the HR Function – my home for a long time and where my heart is. But not only because of this. It is also the home-base due to its main interactions with employees. HR processes and policies are guiding each and every employee every day – they are experienced by every employee every day. This makes this function special and the best home-base for a new Experience Function. However, not all of what currently sits with HR should be part of the Experience function – and, some aspects that HR tried to push out need to come back as well. 
Let’s think of the HR function in its facets of 

• Centers of Expertise or Excellence that are accountable for setting the philosophy and policy on core experiences like Performance Management, Talent Management, Rewards, etc.
• HR Business Partner that are the key-account managers and the business interface to other functions or business units
• HR Operations – often nowadays consolidated under Business Services entities – that are delivering day to day HR processes (or experiences)
• and last but not least HR Technology that is enabling the above mentioned philosophies, policies and administrative activities

I know, I already put it out there in the way I described the different building blocks of the HR function – but to be explicit: three of the above (CoEs, HR Ops and HR Tech) are forming the main experiences that employees see and feel on a daily basis and therefore should be part of the new Experience function. One not – HR Business Partners.

Re-think HR

This basically concludes that we need to rethink what HR is when we want to build up an Experience Organization. I propose to focus HR truly on Business Partnering. Having true experts in Business Partnering continues to be a real asset and a differentiator in the Human Resources space. Focus on the overall team and key individuals to make them better, to build the right team and to support the strategy are core. Going back to the resource based theory that I also mentioned in my earlier posts (here) the only asset a company has, the only strategic differentiator that is not imitable is the human resource – as individual as well as as collective, as skills as well as culture. Everything else is sooner or later easy to imitate or substitute – not though the human resources. And a focused HR function on business partnering can make sure that this resource is making an even bigger difference than it does today. Especially, if such core-HR function is freed up from all the operational matters and daily administrative burdens. It can take business partnering and managing the talent serious and will be accepted in that regard because it is what it brings to the table. In the more traditional setup – regardless if within HR or within a business services function – business partnering is often interrupted by HR operations or administrative HR processes not functioning the way they should. If you once and for all split this out completely, business partnering has a real chance to flourish.To support proper business partnering, certain aspects of CoEs that are not focusing on philosophy or policy, but on active management of talent or organization effectiveness should be placed into this core HR function as well, so that it can work and function independently.

The Experience function Part 1

And when business partnering can flourish, so can the rest of the former HR function – but in a new function: The Experience function. Under a Chief Experience Officer and supported on the strategic setup and enablement (as described here) by the CXA, this new function will be the sole home of the Experiences an employee sees and feels on a daily basis. This new function is a newly formed organization that focuses on experience only – and makes sure that all experiences are treated equal. Now, when referring to “all” experiences, what does this actually mean? This includes of course the remaining pieces from the former HR function as outlined above:

• all of HR Operations of course – and as always for the function that owns the Operations part – is the hygienic factor. Operations need to be delivered flawless and with a simple and engaging experience. This by itself is a big piece to get right and will focus a lot of attention to get it right: What is the right sourcing approach? How do I create a breathing Operational function? How much automation vs. personalization is required? – This needs to be set up and delivered right before anything else is looked at as this is core – no one will ask for anything else if payroll isn’t right or not on time. So get Operations right and make sure it is a focused, expert delivery activity.
• but also the former HR CoEs should form part of such an organization as they conceptualize key moments in an employee’s work-life. What is the Rewards strategy and how is it connected to Performance Management? How are objectives set, measured and reviewed? What is the companies approach to Learning and how can it be delivered? What is the organization’s view on work-life balance, benefits and flexibility? How do we build an inclusive workplace for everyone? – more than ever the experience of these core policies and philosophies are important to ensure an engaged, motivated and long-term focused employee base. The Great Resignation might not be what we thought initially as it is more focused on US front-line workers, but also globally, we are seeing a shortage of key-talent and a focus of this key-talent to join companies where the Experience is right (see my predictions 2022). 

Being able to build ONE cohesive Experience strategy and making sure it is delivered as cohesive and frictionless as possible is core, and such an Experience function can take care of it as it owns the Experience end-to-end. Not only the administrative parts, not only the process & technology enablement, not only the philosophy – but all under one leadership team. This is the future of Experience Management and important to get right if you rely on your Talent (read your employees) to be the key differentiating factor.

The Experience function part 2

There is however, a but – as I wrote, it is important to have ALL of the daily touching and culture building processes and accountabilities within ONE function. Above though only focuses on the HR parts. What is as important and makes the extended case to split up the HR function is to include the remaining non-HR-based activities into this function. The additional core processes, philosophies and policies to capture are related to the workplace – the digital one and the physical one. These are the two other main experiences that touch every employee on a daily basis – regardless if home-office or office. Physical and digital workplaces define and form culture in the same way the HR philosophies and policies do. They are key moments for an employee to get their best work done on a daily basis – and they need to be frictionless, enabling and simple. Therefore, both should be carved out of their current structural set-up and placed into the Experience function. 

Like this, a true Experience function can be built that will be a differentiator in employee and therefore business performance. 

I know that I have laid out my case here in a significantly shortened way and have not brought sufficient light into every aspect of my thinking, my hypothesis and my conclusions. I will try to make this into a book about the “Future of Experience” – can though not promise when I will be able to deliver on that. But for now, this is my thinking and I will share further bits and pieces on a regular basis – as in 2021.