What Consumer Apps Can Teach Us About Creating a Great Employee Experience

Remember how easy it was to order that ostrich pillow from Amazon (you know, to re-energize with five-minute power naps between Zoom meetings)? No? Me either.

But I bet you are familiar with how simple Amazon has made it to purchase virtually anything you could think of to solve for real, everyday needs — whether that be for your survival, personal development, or comfort.

It all comes down to the user experience: Just about anything you might be looking for is accessible in one place. And once you’ve found what you need, getting it delivered is a matter of one click.

Imagine if it were that easy for employees to find solutions to their individual needs at work. 

What’s standing in the way?

Overwhelming Options

Although your organization may have centralized locations for some employee resources, companies today are facing pressures to overload their tech stacks with an assortment of new point solutions to address a host of maturing priorities.

Whether you’re looking for solutions to improve wellness, remote collaboration, learning, rewards, planning, or something else entirely, choosing technologies to support a modern employee experience today often results in implementing a fractured network of systems that end up having very low utilization rates.

There are simply too many hoops people have to jump through to get what they need.

Lack of Personalization

The technology we use in our everyday lives has become very good at tailoring experiences to our personal interests. For example, earlier today Spotify accurately guessed that I would enjoy hearing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” while making my usual breakfast — turns out oatmeal and guitar solos do pair nicely.

The point is, we’ve become accustomed to technology doing a lot of the work required to use it for us. But work systems have largely lagged behind, creating a stark contrast between the tools employees use for healthcare, communication, or skill development, for example, and those used for everything people do outside of work.

It doesn’t have to be this way. And to create an employee experience that actually improves important metrics like retention and performance, business leaders must raise the bar for how new applications are used.

How to Invest in Employee Experience the Right Way

Getting employee experience right isn’t about checking off a new set of boxes with shiny technology. That approach will only net a messy, confusing gauntlet of screens, brands, apps, and logins that end up driving your people away.

Instead, it’s about designing a portfolio of enterprise applications tailored to the specific needs of your workforce. You’ll know when you’re on the right track. It will start to feel like using Amazon: quick, easy access to resources that solve each individual need.

In our latest e-book, we share more details on how to use technology to meaningfully support every aspect of the employee experience.