This article is sponsored by Simpplr.

Organizations are paying attention to employee experience (EX) trends and moving forward with emerging must-haves by degrees, but this will not be good enough in 2023. To help you out, we’ve listed five areas where your organization can strive to be a trailblazer. Your employee churn rate year-end will reflect whether or not you’ve done so!

At Simpplr, we’ve identified the top five EX trends based on the insight we’ve captured when listening to our customers, researching and analyzing data, combined with a smidge of crystal-ball gazing.

No. 1 | Accelerating Frictionless EX

For most employees, their current digital experience is antiquated and ineffective. Their patience grows thin as they waste time shifting between 15+ places to connect, communicate and build community. It’s just too much.

In 2023, conversations about recognizing where friction exists and ways to lessen its impact on EX will accelerate. We’ll see EX professionals at organizations everywhere turn to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models to create a unified, personalized and increasingly seamless experience for the estimated 3.32 billion people employed worldwide. They’ll demand more from technology and analytics to prove strategic value and continuously improve the experience of employees.

The reality is, there will always be friction, but organizations will use advanced AI capabilities to find creative solutions and propel the workplace forward. Having capabilities driven by AI will equip you with insights to understand employees’ overall sentiments, helping make decisions across the organization. Some useful insights given by AI include people analytics, personalizing relevant content based on individual interest and assessing message comprehension. 

No. 2 | Helping Managers Realize Their EX Power

Although they’re undoubtedly an organizations’ most important channel for delivering an effective EX, managers often report feeling under-supported and ill-equipped to cope with the complexity of demands placed on them.  

Managers are tasked with becoming communication, connection and culture ambassadors; they are integral to diversity, equity and inclusion program implementation; and they act as a two-way conduit for leadership and worker engagement. When these managers have what they need, the impact they can make on EX is monumental.

In 2023, manager enablement will shift from theory to practice, with HR, internal communications and IT functions at leading organizations collaborating to equip managers with the content, support, insights and messaging they need by way of advanced technologies, training and analytics. Providing managers with a single source of truth — with all the essential information they need to keep their employees in the know — will be monumental in improving EX. This information could be shared on an internal company site or in a newsletter dedicated to managers.

No. 3 | ​​Reframing the EX Trifecta With Unprecedented Innovation

In the past 10+ years, we’ve seen beta versions of EX positions sitting primarily in HR functions. Of late, more of these roles have been popping up in communication and technology departments. This expansion is happening across a broader range of organizations as well.

At the same time, organizations have slowly adopted holistic EX platforms that provide access to a network of resources. Using these platforms, organizations have been pioneering initiatives designed to make work more productive, convenient and enjoyable.

The move away from static office environments to location-agnostic collaborative workspaces will require digital tools and mobile platforms to maximize accessibility options. More than ever, employees need a virtual headquarter where they can access important information and communicate.

These innovations, from how-to and who does the work, can be considered early stage investments, but the shifts are promising. To meet these evolving EX roles, responsibilities and relationships, we’ll see the EX trifecta — HR, comms and IT — collaborating and innovating in new ways, such as using an employee experience platform with a mobile solution to help modernize the digital workplace.

This year, we expect to see EX roles continue to expand and branch out beyond the confines of HR, and even beyond comms and IT, with unprecedented alignment around metrics, tracking and budgets, to support a combined approach.

No. 4 | Making Deskless Employees Feel at Home

One of the biggest challenges organizations face today involves meeting the needs of a substantial — and growing — deskless workforce. Improving employee experience goes beyond desktop communications, yet organizations have been slow to adopt measures that account for technologically detached workers.

Deskless workers often feel left out and ignored. Compounding this, they’re notoriously hard to reach.

In 2023, organizations will place greater emphasis on bringing these workers into the fold and creating mobile-first opportunities for this significant subset to engage, connect and feel included in company communications.

No. 5 | Reigniting the EX Fire

Organizations spent much of the past few years reacting and adapting to crises; their cultures were forged in the pandemic flames.

Today, industry leaders are putting shape to the form, reigniting that fire to craft a more robust and adaptable culture that will endure — one that accommodates a variety of different skill sets, backgrounds and ideas. They’re creating a culture that reimagines and strengthens EX and workplace connections to ensure everyone feels supported and connected, with a focus on nurturing previously overlooked subgroups. The resulting culture will entice and retain top talent due to its growth potential, inclusivity and dynamic personalization, which will be evident in every interaction.

Comparatively, when we reflect on EX of years past, organizations are accomplishing amazing things, but the work is far from over. In 2023, as organizations seek to reconcile existing gaps and identify emerging priorities, they’ll turn to correspondingly advanced solutions and EX technology that can meet these evolving expectations, live up to demands and take its place on the center stage of the organization’s strategic planning.

Want to read more on EX technology? Download our “Top 10 Employee Experience Features that Matter” eBook for free!

Simpplr is the leading AI-powered employee experience platform. Organizations use our forward-looking, adaptable products to deliver personalized experiences that inspire and engage their employees. Trusted by more than 500+ leading brands, our customers are achieving measurable productivity gains, increased employee engagement and accelerated business performance. Simpplr is headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA, and is backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Salesforce Ventures and Tola Capital. Learn more at simpplr.com.

---