Enhancing the employee experience: How technology can transform your HR functions

As someone who has spent my career in workforce consulting, with a real passion for putting people at the centre, I can see huge shifts in how technology will strengthen the employee experience.

There have been several key shifts in workforce expectations that are impacting the future of technology. Expectations between leaders and employees have widened. According to a recent Capgemini report, only 28% of employees say they are satisfied at work today, compared to 80% of leaders who believe employees are satisfied. For the first time, organisations have five generations employed, all with different needs. (Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z). Finally, employees in general have increasing expectations on the technology provided at work, which are often unmet by the current technologies in place.

Experience covers a range of things; I define it as the totality of perceptions and sentiments people have about their interactions with an organisation. This ranges from the office culture, their relationship with their manager, the processes they have to follow, how flexible their job is, and so much more. Underpinning all of this is technology. Technology is a key enabler of experience for all: prospective, current, former employees, and gig workers. Curating a positive and inclusive experience is where I see technology heading.

Previously, the HR function was viewed as back office, operational, and a cost base. Now, organisations are seeing the value the HR function can deliver, improving the experience for its most expensive asset, its people. Too often, HR delivers an inconsistent experience with disconnected systems, archaic interfaces, and a lack of real-time data.

For organisations in the defence sector, some of these problems can be further exacerbated by security challenges. This often culminates in lengthy processes, manual workarounds, limited cloud document collaboration, and traditional video meeting applications, to name a few. This only describes the office-based experience. When we look at those in the field, the experience is often more dire: limited to no technology access, paper-based data capture and so on. This limits the functions’ ability to strategically serve the business and retain top talent at a time when there are critical skill shortages.

Technology is often described as a growth engine, which it is if harnessed effectively. We’re starting to see organisations rolling out market leading technology to improve the workforce experience, such as digital twins to get employees familiar with their new office before their first day, conducting career fairs, interviews, training in the metaverse and much more.

For me, I would urge organisations to consider the holistic experience they’re delivering. Too often, companies roll out multiple technologies to solve discrete use cases without considering the end-to-end experience across the suite. Making technology more inclusive and accessible will be essential.

To read more blogs on the experience gap, please go to: https://www.capgemini.com/us-en/insights/expert-perspectives/the-experience-gap-you-didnt-know-you-had/

To read more blogs in our powering your digital capabilities defining your digital culture DSEI series, please see quick links below.

1. Digital defence: Powering your digital capabilities, defining your digital culture
2. From my office in Bath to across the globe: Developing safety critical systems in an ever-expanding digital world
3. Embracing a digital culture: A journey through digital transformation in aerospace and defence
4. Embracing a digital culture: How to unlock the power of digital transformation in defence
5. How to unlock your company data’s full potential: Lessons from two decades in IT data and architecture
6. Gaining competitive advantage: How the latest tech attracts top talent. – Needs linking to once live