The New Factors

Driving Employee
Experience Now
A Persona-Based Approach to
Understanding Your Workforce
& Winning in the Future of Work
Emily Killham, M.A.
November 2021
Introduction

Employers are highly focused on The Great Resignation – they

want to know who’s leaving and how to replace them. However,
there’s a much larger population of employees who need our
attention: the workers who choose to remain in an environment
that fails to connect with them. New research shows that
the measures most human resources organizations have
been listening for in years past tell only a piece of the story: a
necessary, but insufficient piece.

Standard measures of the employee experience (EX) are

missing key elements of what job seekers need and want from
their employers today, and must be updated to account for
employees’ evolving expectations for their careers and their
lives. The hard truth for many organizations is that nearly half
of their employees are missing key elements of the factors that
matter now, and are at risk for engaging in behaviors that are a
detriment to the business. Organizations who are positioning
themselves to win in the future of work understand this and
are looking deeper into what’s driving the employees who
stay to produce, recommend, and plan their futures with the
organization.

Understanding the experience of those who stay and will

be motivated to join – and evolving your listening and
EX measurement strategy accordingly – is the key to
organizational success today and into the future.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 2

History

From “employee
satisfaction” to “employee
commitment” and landing
on “employee engagement”
Since the Industrial Revolution and the onset of ultimately landing on “employee engagement” as an
large organizations full of paid laborers, employers important outcome that’s connected to a variety of
have been interested in listening to employees. The performance metrics in the workplace.
earliest recorded employee surveys were in the
1920s, with the understanding that employees who Most organizations from 5 to 500,000 employees
were hostile to their employers were more likely have some type of formal or informal listening
to sabotage or strike. Since then, each generation program in place to measure the engagement of
has made incremental changes to the employee its people. However, much like the safe and clean
experience. While early on, laborers were focused on workplaces of the early 20th century, effective
safe, clean conditions and fair wages, those quickly people management has become a commodity
became commodities. For employers to continue to for employees. It’s an expectation – table stakes.
compete for talent, understanding the psychological The competition for talent has moved beyond
state of their employees was not only helpful, it was these essential elements – commodities – and
also necessary. organizations that will thrive need to know what the
new bar for employee expectations is, how best to
In the early 1990s, there was a shift again – from achieve it, and how to measure it.
“employee satisfaction” to “employee commitment,”

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 3

Current Landscape

While 2020 was all about

the unknown and the
massive pivot to remote
work, returning to
“business as usual” has
not been usual at all.
Many employees and employers alike were happy
to see 2020 behind them, but the truth is that the hits
keep coming. While 2020 was all about the unknown
and the massive pivot to remote work, returning to
“business as usual” has not been usual at all.

Employers are either in a hurry to get employees

back to the office full time or they have made public
announcements that they will be remote forever.
Organizations with essential workers are feeling the
strain of burnout and a worker shortage, disrupting
supply chains for everything from automobiles to
hot holiday toys. Workers are striving to balance
their professional and personal lives, preferring
the flexibility to work remotely, and utilizing skills
built during 2020 shutdowns to enter new career
paths entirely. Both employers and employees
have demanded an increased emphasis on issues
of workplace diversity and inclusion in response to
highly visible sexual harassment and abuse cases, as
well as the Black Lives Matter movement.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 4

The Great
Resignation
Organizations 1
are facing Retention of
their key talent.
For retention
and attraction,

three key organizations must

identify what the
current factors

challenges. 2
are that drive a
person to leave an
organization or join
a new one.
Attraction and
recruitment of
new talent to
This is not the first macroeconomic disruption to the replace those
workplace in the last generation, which included a who have left.
recession, a financial collapse, and the September
11th terrorist attacks. However, the novel and

3
prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted –
and significantly accelerated – a new generation’s For the third
ideas about the optimal employee experience in an challenge, it’s
unprecedented way. more complicated,
Maintaining the as there are
engagement, several types of
Employers have simply not been able to adjust fast employees who
enough, and in 2021, we’ve seen employees leaving productivity, and are left in the
their jobs at a breakneck pace – more than 4 million health of the organization and
of them in August alone – with resulting disruptions workforce they’re need ongoing
support.
throughout the economy. able to retain.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 5

The New Bar for Employee Experience

What do those employees

that remain need from
their employer?
The big question is: what do those employees who Perceptyx researchers began their investigation into
remain need from their employer? With all of these what has changed about the employee experience
new issues colliding in the workplace, how has the by analyzing the company’s global survey benchmark
employee’s expectation of their employer changed? database of more than 15 million employees, from
What is the new bar for employee experience? hundreds of organizations, across every major
industry, collected through the end of 2020. These
Human resources departments across industries are data are collected across an employee’s lifecycle with
hoping to find a new silver bullet – a set of a few, easy their organization, including onboarding, workplace
checkboxes to ensure their organization can retain, surveys, and exit data. Many of these organizations
attract, and maintain a high level of talent into the also provided employee attrition data to Perceptyx.
future. But does such a checkbox exist? That’s the Researchers also utilized data collected throughout
question Perceptyx set out to answer. 2021 from Perceptyx’s monthly research panel of the
American workforce.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 6

Three distinct
workplace factors
of employee
experience became
clear as researchers
examined the data.

Basics of people management

The first factor encompasses traditional employee engagement measures –
the basics of good people management, such as having what they need to be
successful in their roles, working in a respectful environment, and cooperating
with coworkers toward a common goal. These components have long been
enough to explain almost all of why an employee might choose to stay or leave
an organization.

Fitting into the organization’s future

The second measures three components of an employee’s future within
the organization: the personal – do I fit here?, the developmental – does my
manager support my growth?, and the aspirational – can I envision where we
are headed together?

Healthy workplace climate

The third factor, a healthy and psychologically safe atmosphere within the
workplace, has become uniquely important during the past two years, with a
global pandemic, increased stress and mental health pressures, and a renewed
focus on equity and inclusion fueled by the Black Lives Matter and #metoo
movements. Employees need to know that they work in an environment where
stress is manageable and well-being is important. They also want to work in a
place that values diversity, and where it’s safe to be different

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 7

 A Persona-Based
Approach to Understanding
Employee Experience

One modern approach organizations can take to emerged along a continuum. Each one brings its
make sense of these new experience influences is own characteristics and challenges. Interestingly,
through the development of employee personas. industries, specific demographic groups, and
Personas are useful because they take the complex employee types also fall along this continuum and
similarities – and differences – among employees the culture can be impacted, positively or negatively,
and simplify them into broad groups that can be by the characteristics of the dominant personas.
managed, communicated with, trained, and engaged Understanding these characteristics can be useful
via solutions to improve their overall experience with in helping executives and their HR business partners
the employer. make key strategic decisions.

This approach reflects a substantial shift in the It’s important to note that unlike some persona
view of employees as simply parts of a larger identifications, these personas are not fixed.
productivity machine to humans with unique needs Instead, each is a product of both the person and the
and circumstances for an employer to manage. workplace situation, and specific actions can be taken
While the shift from employee satisfaction to by organizations to change an employee’s situation,
employee engagement represented one step in the thus changing their persona. In fact, without any
humanization of employees, this is the next phase organization-wide actions to drive positive change,
in understanding the full scope of the employee as employees leave the firm and new employees join,
experience, both in and out of the workplace. organizations will simply see these new employees
take on the same personas as the ones who left.
Through this research, four unique personas

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 8

 Persona 1

The
Energized
Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 9
 The
Energized

9%
of Employees in the Perceptyx Benchmark Database.

Employees or groups who take on this persona are truly

firing on all cylinders. That is, each of the three identified
factors are being maximized within their situation.
These are an organization’s go-to performers and they hope to spend their career with
the organization. When these employees leave an organization, it’s not because they
plan to, but often due to an opportunity that cannot be passed up. These employees are
often where the best future employee and customer referrals come from. These are an
organization’s promoters, brand ambassadors, and informal leaders of company culture.

Basics of people Healthy Fitting into the

management workplace climate organization’s future

The basics of their The climate they work Company leadership is

workplace are being in is both physically and setting them up for a clear
met consistently. psychologically healthy. future within the organization.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 10

 Persona 2

The
Contented
Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 11
 The
Contented

44%
of Employees in the Perceptyx Benchmark Database.

Employees or groups who take on this persona are the

backbone of the workplace and represent the largest
portion of the workforce.
This group is often positive about their experiences with the organization when asked,
though they may not actively seek out ways to add it to a conversation. They tend to
be productive and add positively to the culture. They often feel passion for their work,
though perhaps not passion for the organization itself. They have no intention of leaving
in the near-term, but for the right opportunity or position, they could be persuaded to quit.
Employees in this group may have all needs met to satisfactory levels simultaneously,
but more likely they have at least one set of needs that is lagging behind the others.
Understanding this asymmetry is key to positively impacting their workplace experience
and the performance outcomes of their teams.

Basics of people Healthy Fitting into the

management workplace climate organization’s future

The basics of their The climate they work The leadership of their
workplace are being in is not detrimental to organization is doing a
met on a regular basis. their health. satisfactory job at giving them
options for the future.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 12

 Persona 3

The
Disconnected
Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 13
 The
Disconnected

34%
of Employees in the Perceptyx Benchmark Database.

Employees or groups who take on this persona are

in a complicated, precarious situation and require
organizational triage.
Employees in this group will have at least one set of needs met, if barely, but find
their organizations fall short of expectations on most of their needs. It is essential for
organizations to probe further, because the negative outcomes vary depending on
which needs are missing. They are far more likely to leave in the near-term than either
the Contented or Energized employees, but often the biggest risk to an organization is
when they stay and remain stuck in a frustrated state. They will likely do exactly what is
expected of them, but no more. And why should they? They are giving back what they
perceive their organization is investing in them.

Those who find they have only the basics are likely to be unfulfilled and even aimless in
their roles, while those who see a future for themselves but lack management connection
tend to be indifferent and difficult to reach. The most concerning are those whose
negativity becomes infectious as they are active detractors from the work, the culture,
and the organization’s brand in the community.

Basics of people Healthy Fitting into the

management workplace climate organization’s future

The basics of their The climate they work in is The leadership of their organization
workplace are being met creating a negative impact on is giving mixed messages about
on an inconsistent basis. their health and well-being. whether these employees fit within
the company’s future,

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 14

 Persona 4

The
Neglected
Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 15
 The
Neglected

13%
of Employees in the Perceptyx Benchmark Database.

Employees or groups who take on this persona

are really struggling.

They are twice as likely to leave the organization as other groups. Some may say that those
who are disconnected should leave the organization and improve the culture. However,
these employees are often talented or productive employees who truly care enough to
be upset about their circumstances, but they are burned out. They feel hopeless about
a future at the organization because they know they aren’t going to be around for long.
While keeping them at the organization in their present state will nearly always be a net-
negative, direct intervention or a change in situation – a new manager, new project, new
responsibilities – may be enough to start them on the path toward increased productivity,
attitude, and well-being. When a team or group of employees begins to take on these
characteristics, they are sending a message that they need support to change.

Basics of people Healthy Fitting into the

management workplace climate organization’s future

The basics of their The climate they work in is They do not see how they
workplace are not being likely damaging their physical fit within the future of their
met on a regular basis. and mental health. organization.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 16

 The Growing Healthcare Talent Crisis

Early data from 2021

suggests that not only has
there been a boomerang
to pre-pandemic levels of
optimization, but a far greater
number have dropped down
into the Disconnected or
Neglected personas.
Early on in the pandemic, healthcare organizations
rallied their teams. They were hailed as heroes
and weathered the first overwhelming wave of
hospitalizations by coming out on the other side
more connected to their organizations. Early data
from 2021 suggests that not only has there been a
boomerang to pre-pandemic levels of optimization,
but a far greater number have dropped down into
the Disconnected or Neglected personas. There is
already a shortage of healthcare workers across the
United States. Although hospitalizations for the most
recent, Delta-driven wave of COVID-19 infections
appear to be on the decline, many systems are
stretched beyond their staffing capacities. Given
that Neglected employees are twice as likely as
Energized or Contented healthcare workers to leave
their jobs, the prospect of the coming winter season,
with the potential for both traditional flu and COVID
illness, is daunting.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 17

The Information Economy Sees a Pandemic Lift

Employees in these sectors,

particularly those who have
maintained the flexibility
to work remotely or in a
hybrid position, continue
to maintain a mostly
Contented state.

White collar employees, including those in finance

and insurance, professional services, and information
technology saw a bump in their connection with their
organizations during the pandemic. While many
organizations have since seen that connection wane,
employees in these sectors, particularly those who
have maintained the flexibility to work remotely or
in a hybrid position, continue to maintain a mostly
Contented state.

While this group is not looking to leave the organization

anytime soon, because many of their roles can be
done from anywhere, they are also more vulnerable
to poaching. Employers in this segment would do well
to ensure that each of their employees has a clear
understanding of their value today, and their prospects
for growth and opportunity in the future.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 18

 Reconnecting
the Disconnected
Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 19
Reconnecting the Disconnected

70% of these Disconnected

employees intend to remain
at their organization, nearly
one-third indicating this
intent is strong. Yet only 18%
of them feel a strong sense
of personal accomplishment
at work, compared to 92% of
Energized employees.
The Great Resignation has understandably spurred resources – putting in their time, without producing
organizations to tackle the crisis of employee exodus much of anything, while infecting team members and
and actively recruit workers to replace them, yet an customers around them with the same hopelessness
overlooked population is those whose needs aren’t they’re experiencing.
being met, but stay anyway. Perceptyx research
indicates that focusing on this group may have a In fact, one particularly scary finding is that 70% of
greater impact than chasing those who move on. Not these Disconnected employees intend to remain
only is this group larger in size, but ensuring that the at their organization, nearly one-third indicating
workplace is living up to the expectations employees this intent is strong. Yet only 18% of them feel a
have of their experience goes a long way to making strong sense of personal accomplishment at work,
the organization attractive to new job seekers as well. compared to 92% of Energized employees. They
are clearly not giving their best to the organization.
Particular focus should be placed on The But that’s not all. Disconnected employees are also
Disconnected. While Disconnected individuals are actively detracting from the employment brand of
certainly likely to attrite, resignations are not the their organizations. Eight times as many Disconnected
primary issue companies should be concerned about employees disagree that they would recommend
with this group. Disconnected employees also have their organization as a place to work when compared
the potential to become a drag on organizational to Energized or Contented employees.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 20

Perceptyx found that
Disconnected employees
show dissatisfaction in
three distinct ways, based
on their unmet needs.
Negativity:
Employees who believe their organization doesn’t deliver
on the basics and see little opportunity for themselves tend
to be the biggest detractors. They are 44 times less likely to
recommend the company than Energized employees, and 71
times less likely to say they feel pride in the organization or
that they are committed to delighting customers.

Despair:
Employees who feel hopeless about their organization’s
climate and don’t see a path forward drift through their jobs
in a state of frustration. They are 35 times less likely to feel
optimistic about the future of the company than Energized
employees, 6 times less likely to feel a sense of personal
accomplishment in their work, and 50 times more likely to
indicate they don’t understand the expectations of their role,
department, or organization. Only 25% are willing to put forth
extra effort, and 23% say they wouldn’t chip in something extra
(a rate 4.5 times lower than those whose needs are met).

Indifference:
Employees who don’t feel their workplace is functional or
healthy, but expect to stay on, become numb and detached,
just going through the motions. Though unlikely to promote
their employer, they are also unlikely to disparage it.
However, they are less than 33% as likely to recommend
the organization’s products and services as Energized
employees. Indifference also manifests in a lack of concern for
safety in the workplace, as these employees are only one-
third as likely as Energized employees to report safety issues.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 21

 The good news is that
organizations hold the
power to reconnect
with these employees.
Developing an active listening
strategy with an ongoing dialogue,
and most importantly, a willingness
to act on the factors most important
to each employee can re-engage
them for the long term. This is
essential, not just for the one-third
of employees in this category today,
but for ensuring that the conditions
are such that newly hired employees
do not end up Disconnected as well.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 22

Three Things Organizations
Must Do Today
There’s no question that the events of 2020 and 2021 have
permanently changed the world of work. A shortage of high-quality
employees has made the competition for talent fiercer than most of us
can remember. So, what should organizations do to stay in the game?

1. Assess
Organizations should take a hard look at their information needed to make the best organizational
overall listening strategy. If the strategy includes an decisions. Instead, you should start with the major
annual survey with the same few items they began factors and probe deeper to understand what
with two decades ago, this research indicates specific components of the workplace are most
something is missing. Employees still need those important for the strength and health of your
necessary elements, but they are no longer enough. organization. Consider more focused pulse or
An organization’s strategy must also address the crowdsourcing survey approaches to drill-down into
essential components of the modern employee specific employee sub-groups, inquire about specific
experience that are not only fueling attrition, but business questions or challenges, and engage these
greatly influencing employees who stay to boost or personas in a dialogue that allows them to co-create
detract from your employment brand, and impact solutions that will be not just adopted, but embraced.
the personal productivity of all employees. Ensure
that your listening approach encompasses all the 3. Act
key factors of the employee experience that are Listening is only the beginning. When the key
important to today’s employees, and if not, act quickly components of struggle or success for the
to make the necessary adjustments. organization are identified, it’s time to make a
change. One proven strategy is to involve employees
2. Analyze in an action planning process. Organizations that
People analytics teams, HR business partners, include employees in this process are considerably
and senior leadership need to isolate where they more likely to increase feelings of engagement
are falling short. This cannot happen only at an and connection throughout the year. In addition,
organizational level, but needs to be specific about a real-time dialogue program can ensure that the
the groups and personas most in need. While the conversation continues to flow long after the annual
best place to start is to diagnose where these groups survey is closed for the year. Look for ways to identify
stand on the three key factors, the survey itself must and remove barriers that are in the way of employees
remain flexible. The current research demonstrates connecting, boosting, and reaching their full potential
that there is no single survey that will yield all of the within their roles.

Copyright @ 2021 Perceptyx, Inc. All rights reserved. 23

About Perceptyx
Since its founding in 2003, Perceptyx has been
redefining the employee insights industry,
delivering enterprise-level employee listening and
people analytics solutions to more than 500 global
customers, including one-third of the Fortune 100.
With an unrivaled technology platform and a tailor-
made, flexible approach, the Perceptyx platform
makes it easy for managers, HR executives, and
business leaders to discover insights deep within
large and complex organizations, driving meaningful
action to improve business outcomes. Driven by a
For more info, or to speak with
deep intellectual curiosity and a culture of innovation,
Perceptyx is challenging the status quo — to help a member of our team, visit
people and organizations “see the way forward.” [Link]