I loved recording this podcast because it gives a look at the background and theory as well as practical experience, hints and tips for reviewing and improving Employee Experience. In this episode, I am joined by Lara Plaxton (@_Lara_HR on Twitter or here on LinkedIn https://uk.linkedin.com/in/lara-plaxton-7927aaa) who is the head of HR at FDM UK. Lara has a fairly unique perspective on employee experience as the work that FDM do, doesn’t necessarily match with the standard model. FDM support organisations and graduates, ex-forces and returners by placing graduates in client organisations but importantly, those graduates remain as employees of FDM. So FDM’s employees experience two (potentially) different cultures; one for being an employee of FDM and then working in a client’s business every day.

During this podcast, we explore some key terms and definitions around User Experience, Employee Experience and Design Thinking before going more specifically into what Lara and FDM do to measure and improve their employee experience. We cover some key things to think about, tips and techniques to review or improve employee experience and we delve deep into the thinking and theory behind this area.

As always, links and references:

Systems thinking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V38HrPnYkHI – short video with Peter Senge

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050915002860 – research paper (open access)

http://amj.aom.org/content/58/1/1.short – short article on design thinking

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0011-7315.2004.02611.x/full – Pullman and Gross (2004) Ability of experience design elements to elicit emotions and loyalty behaviors

https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Interaction+Design:+Beyond+Human+Computer+Interaction,+4th+Edition-p-9781119020752 – Preece, Sharp and Rogers (2015); Interaction Design – Beyond Human-Computer Interaction

Employee Experience

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_experience_management – Short definition

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2017/01/05/the-employee-experience-is-the-future-of-work-10-hr-trends-for-2017/#13666e8920a6 – summary article

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13678868.2014.886443 – Cascio (2014); Leveraging Employer Branding, performance management and human resource development to enhance employee retention

User Experience

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience

The Service – Profit chain HBR article

https://hbr.org/2008/07/putting-the-service-profit-chain-to-work

Moira Clarke 10 year causation analysis

https://www.henley.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Moira-full-article.pdf

Human Centred Design

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175630614×14056185480186 – Giacomin (2015); What is Human Centred Design

Gamification

https://www.routledge.com/The-Business-of-Gamification-A-Critical-Analysis/Dymek-Zackariasson/p/book/9781138824164 – Dymek & Zackariasson (2017); the business of gamification

Design Thinking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-hzefHdAMk – Video with Tim Brown CEO of IDEO

If you would prefer to read the podcast click here: Transcription – Episode 21 – Emotion at Work in Employee Experience