What is Employee Experience Design (EXD)?

Employee Experience Design (EXD) is the disciplined, end‑to‑end design of every interaction an employee has with an organisation, from first contact as a candidate to alumni status. It applies service design and behavioural science to shape moments, systems, and environments so people can do their best work and feel valued. EXD treats employees as users of an experience. It aligns business goals with human needs to increase engagement, performance, and retention.

Why EXD matters

Great employee experience reduces attrition, improves productivity, and strengthens employer brand. Design it deliberately and you decrease time‑to‑productivity for new hires, lift eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score), and cut avoidable costs (rework, absenteeism, replacement hiring). Poor experience creates friction, slows delivery, and harms customer outcomes because unhappy teams ship slower and serve worse.

How EXD differs from HR and UX

HR manages people processes and compliance. EXD designs how those processes feel and work for employees and managers, then tunes them based on evidence.
UX focuses on product users. EXD uses similar toolkits—journey maps, prototypes, usability tests—but the “product” is the workplace: policies, tools, spaces, and norms.

Core principles of EXD

Start with moments that matter. Prioritise high‑impact interactions—offer acceptance, first day, first 90 days, first promotion, return from leave, performance reviews, exits—because they shape trust and memory.
Co‑create with employees. Include cross‑sections of roles, tenures, and locations to uncover real needs, not assumptions.
Design across the system. Align policies, technology, physical/digital spaces, and leadership behaviours so they reinforce the same intent.
Measure, then iterate. Instrument journeys with clear metrics and run regular experiments to improve them.
Accessibility and inclusion by default. Design for different abilities, work patterns, languages, and time zones to remove barriers.
Transparency beats perfection. Tell people what you’re changing and why; set expectations for timing and trade‑offs.
Evidence over opinion. Use mixed methods—quantitative and qualitative—to guide decisions.

The EXD lifecycle

EXD spans five continuous loops:

Discover: Map journeys, spot friction, quantify impact.
Define: Prioritise opportunities by value and feasibility.
Design: Prototype policies, communications, and tools; test with real employees.
Deliver: Ship incrementally, enable managers, and support change.
Evolve: Track outcomes, learn, and refresh quarterly or after major org shifts.

Employee journey stages and example interventions

1) Attract and recruit

Job discovery: Make role pages task‑focused, include day‑in‑the‑life examples, and state salary ranges because clarity reduces drop‑off.
Apply: Cut forms to essential fields; allow CV parsing and save‑and‑return.
Interview: Standardise rubrics, train interviewers, and send same‑day expectations to reduce bias and candidate anxiety.
Offer and pre‑boarding: Share a simple checklist, a single point of contact, and access to a “Welcome Hub” with FAQs and a short video from the hiring manager.

2) Onboarding (first 90 days)

Day 1: Ensure equipment is ready, system access works, and the manager schedule includes a 30‑minute welcome. Small failures here erode confidence.
Week 1: Assign a buddy, ship a learning plan, and schedule three checkpoints (Day 5, Day 20, Day 60).
First 90 days: Define success outcomes (e.g., ship one pull request, shadow three client calls). Measure time‑to‑first‑value.

3) Growth and performance

Role clarity: Maintain up‑to‑date career paths with example work and pay bands.
Feedback: Replace annual reviews with quarterly check‑ins and monthly 1:1s tied to clear goals.
Learning: Offer curated pathways (e.g., people management, data literacy) with 70‑20‑10 learning mix: on‑the‑job practice, coaching, formal courses.
Mobility: Publish internal gigs and make transfers lightweight to keep talent circulating.

4) Everyday work experience

Tools: Rationalise apps; use single sign‑on; document “golden paths” to complete common tasks in under five clicks.
Meetings: Adopt default 25/50‑minute meetings, documented agendas, and “camera optional” norms to reduce fatigue.
Space: For offices, provide quiet focus areas, collaboration zones, and video‑first rooms with decent microphones. For remote, provide a stipend and ergonomic guidance.
Wellbeing: Offer confidential mental health support, clear PTO guidance, and visible manager role‑modelling of healthy boundaries.

5) Recognition and reward

Everyday recognition: Enable peer‑to‑peer thanks tied to values, visible in a central feed.
Pay and benefits: Publish how pay decisions are made, with bands, criteria, and timing. Predictability builds trust.

6) Transitions and exits

Parental or medical leave: Provide a single, plain‑English guide, named contacts, and re‑entry plans.
Offboarding: Conduct fair exit interviews, disable access smoothly, and invite alumni to a community. Alumni advocacy boosts hiring and business development.

Methods and tools that power EXD

Journey mapping

Map stages, tasks, emotions, pain points, and backstage processes. Use emotion curves to highlight low points. Quantify pain with frequency and severity scores. Prioritise with a simple value × effort matrix.

Personas and archetypes

Build 5–7 evidence‑based personas (e.g., frontline shift worker, remote engineer, field seller, new manager). Include constraints such as device access or schedule control to avoid one‑size‑fits‑none solutions.

Service blueprints

Extend the journey map to include frontstage touchpoints (emails, portals, meetings), backstage actions (HRIS workflows, IT tickets), and support systems (identity, payroll). Fix the backstage first to prevent visible failures.

Prototyping and testing

Prototype content, policies, or flows with low‑fidelity artefacts—docs, mock emails, screen sketches. Run 5–7 usability sessions per iteration. Measure task completion, time on task, and comprehension.

Behavioural design

Use clear defaults, commitment devices (e.g., pre‑booked 1:1s), and timely nudges. Avoid dark patterns—employees must be able to opt out.

Communication design

Write in plain English. Front‑load the action. Replace mass blasts with segmented, moment‑based messages so people only receive what matters. Link to a single source of truth rather than duplicating.

Data you need for EXD

Listening systems: Always‑on pulse surveys, lifecycle surveys (new hire, post‑onboarding, manager change, exit), and open feedback channels.
Operational data (O‑data): Ticket volumes, onboarding completion, time‑to‑access, LMS progress, internal mobility rates.
Experience data (X‑data): eNPS, satisfaction with key moments, psychological safety indicators.
Qualitative inputs: Interviews, focus groups, diary studies, open‑text analysis. Use thematic coding; validate with follow‑up polls.

How to measure EXD

Define a small, durable scorecard:

Engagement index: eNPS and favourability on “I would recommend this organisation as a great place to work.”
Enablement: “I have the tools and information to do my job” and “Decisions here are made quickly enough.”
Time‑to‑productivity: Median days to first meaningful contribution.
Retention: 12‑month regretted attrition and acceptance rate for internal offers.
Mobility and growth: % roles filled internally and training completion for target skills.
Wellbeing: Absenteeism trends and usage of support programmes (without breaching privacy).
Equity: Representation, pay parity by level, and promotion‑rate parity.

Set baselines for each business unit. Publish targets annually. Review monthly at the exec level and quarterly with managers.

EXD governance and operating model

Ownership: A cross‑functional EXD team (HR, IT, Comms, Facilities, Legal, DEI) sets strategy and standards. Business units own execution within agreed guardrails.
Decision rights: Create a design council that approves journey standards and prioritisation. Use RACI for major initiatives.
Cadence: Quarterly experience reviews per journey. Monthly run‑state metrics (access, ticketing, sentiment).
Funding: Ring‑fence a percentage of HR/IT budgets (e.g., 5–10%) for experimentation and experience debt remediation.
Standards library: Maintain reusable patterns—email templates, policy playbooks, manager checklists, onboarding kits, and measurement dashboards.

Roles and skills in EXD

EXD Lead: Sets vision, manages portfolio, tracks outcomes.
Service Designer: Maps journeys and blueprints systems.
Researcher: Runs studies, ensures methodology quality.
Content Designer: Writes policies and communications in plain English.
Product Manager (Internal): Prioritises improvements, aligns stakeholders.
Data Analyst: Builds dashboards and runs experiments.
Change Partner: Enables managers and local champions.
People Tech Architect: Connects HRIS, identity, collaboration, and knowledge systems.

Technology stack for EXD

Core systems: HRIS, identity and access management, collaboration suite, knowledge base, case/ticketing tool, learning platform, recognition tool.
Experience layer: Intranet or employee experience platform to orchestrate content and tasks, with personalisation and analytics.
Listening: Survey and text‑analytics tools that support lifecycle triggers and pulse cadence.
Automation: Low‑code workflows for onboarding, approvals, and nudges.

Integrate systems so employees move through a single, guided experience. Use APIs to pass context (role, location, start date) to personalise tasks and content.

Designing for different worker types

Frontline and shift‑based workers: Prioritise mobile‑first access, offline capability, and manager cascades. Keep policies printable and concise.
Remote and hybrid knowledge workers: Default to asynchronous comms, shared documentation, and flexible hours. Provide home‑office support.
Managers: Give ready‑to‑run playbooks for hiring, feedback, and performance issues. Automate reminders for 1:1s and check‑ins.
New graduates and early careers: Offer micro‑mentoring, social onboarding, and explicit norms for feedback and career moves.
Contractors and gig workers: Provide scoped access, clear deliverables, and prompt payment. Include them in safety and relevant comms.

Accessibility and inclusion in EXD

Bake accessibility into every artefact—colour contrast, captions, keyboard navigation, screen‑reader support, and plain language. Provide alternatives (transcripts, translated summaries). Schedule inclusive meeting times across time zones. Offer quiet channels for feedback to improve psychological safety.

Security, privacy, and compliance

Only collect data you need. Explain why you collect it, who sees it, and how long you keep it. Anonymise survey data where feasible. Gate sensitive insights behind aggregated thresholds (e.g., minimum 10 responses) to protect individuals. Partner with Legal early when designing new journeys like surveillance‑sensitive IT controls or AI‑assisted tools.

A practical 90‑day EXD jumpstart

Days 1–15: Pick one journey—onboarding. Interview 12–15 recent hires and 8–10 managers. Pull access logs and ticketing data. Draft the current‑state map and quantify the top five pain points.
Days 16–30: Define a target experience. Set success outcomes (e.g., 80% of new hires ship first deliverable by Day 21). Pick three improvements.
Days 31–60: Prototype changes—one email sequence, one manager checklist, one access automation. Test with a pilot cohort of 30–50 new hires.
Days 61–90: Launch at 1–2 business units. Instrument metrics and run A/B tests on key steps. Document the playbook, then plan the next journey.

Common EXD anti‑patterns to avoid

Designing for the average. Solve for edge cases you actually have—night shifts, low bandwidth, shared devices.
Policy sprawl. If employees can’t find the rule, it isn’t real. Consolidate to one policy library with version control.
Change without enablement. Shipping a new process without manager training guarantees reversion.
Vanity metrics. Track outcomes (time‑to‑productivity, internal fills), not only opens and clicks.
One‑and‑done surveys. Use lifecycle triggers and close the loop on feedback with “you said, we did” updates.

Manager essentials for a better everyday experience

Weekly 1:1s with documented notes and actions.
Quarterly growth conversations aligned to skills and opportunities.
Clear goals that ladder to team priorities, with no more than five per person.
Public recognition of values‑aligned behaviours every week.
Load‑balancing checks to prevent burnout during peak periods.

Provide managers with templates: onboarding schedule, first‑week agenda, feedback scripts, and a 30/60/90 plan. Good managers are the strongest distribution channel for a designed experience.

Building an evidence base

Run small experiments and publish results. Example: switch onboarding from a single 3‑hour webinar to three 45‑minute modules with self‑paced tasks. Measure completion, time‑to‑access, and first‑week output. Keep the variant that improves time‑to‑productivity by ≥15% without hurting satisfaction. Share numbers, not adjectives.

Calculating ROI of EXD

Quantify value with simple formulas:

Reduced attrition: (Baseline regretted attrition − new rate) × average replacement cost (often 50–100% of salary for specialised roles).
Faster time‑to‑productivity: Days saved × daily loaded cost × new‑hire count per year.
Fewer tickets and escalations: Ticket reduction × average handling cost.
Internal mobility: External hiring avoided × recruiting fees and ramp time saved.

Tie these savings to specific design changes (e.g., access automation cut Day‑1 failures by 70%, saving 200 hours per month across IT and new hires).

EXD maturity model (quick rubric)

Level 1—Ad hoc: Firefighting. No journey maps. Surveys once a year.
Level 2—Emerging: One mapped journey, basic metrics, sporadic pilots.
Level 3—Integrated: Standardised journeys, design council, quarterly reviews, linked HR/IT roadmaps.
Level 4—Optimising: Personalised experiences by role; continuous experiments; outcome‑based funding.
Level 5—Adaptive: Predictive signals trigger interventions automatically; employees co‑design features; experience debt backlog near zero.

Use the rubric to set the next target state, not to chase labels.

Templates and artefacts to standardise

Candidate communications: status updates, interview guides, and rubric templates.
Onboarding kits: manager schedule, buddy guide, system‑access checklist, 30/60/90 plan.
Performance toolkit: goal library, feedback scripts, calibration guide.
Recognition: values definitions, peer‑recognition prompts, monthly awards criteria.
Departure pack: knowledge transfer plan, exit interview guide, alumni invitation.

Store these in a single, searchable space and keep owners accountable for updates.

Legal and ethical edge cases

Monitoring and analytics: If you track activity data, explain the purpose, limit scope, and offer alternatives. Favour outcome metrics over surveillance when possible.
AI in HR processes: Test for bias, keep a human in the loop for consequential decisions, and document model limitations in plain English.
Global differences: Adapt benefits, holidays, notice periods, and works council engagement by country. Publish what varies and why.

A practical 90‑day EXD jumpstart

Days 1–15: Pick one journey—onboarding. Interview 12–15 recent hires and 8–10 managers. Pull access logs and ticketing data. Draft the current‑state map and quantify the top five pain points.
Days 16–30: Define a target experience. Set success outcomes (e.g., 80% of new hires ship first deliverable by Day 21). Pick three improvements.
Days 31–60: Prototype changes—one email sequence, one manager checklist, one access automation. Test with a pilot cohort of 30–50 new hires.
Days 61–90: Launch at 1–2 business units. Instrument metrics and run A/B tests on key steps. Document the playbook, then plan the next journey.

Common EXD anti‑patterns to avoid

Designing for the average. Solve for edge cases you actually have—night shifts, low bandwidth, shared devices.
Policy sprawl. If employees can’t find the rule, it isn’t real. Consolidate to one policy library with version control.
Change without enablement. Shipping a new process without manager training guarantees reversion.
Vanity metrics. Track outcomes (time‑to‑productivity, internal fills), not only opens and clicks.
One‑and‑done surveys. Use lifecycle triggers and close the loop on feedback with “you said, we did” updates.

Manager essentials for a better everyday experience

Weekly 1:1s with documented notes and actions.
Quarterly growth conversations aligned to skills and opportunities.
Clear goals that ladder to team priorities, with no more than five per person.
Public recognition of values‑aligned behaviours every week.
Load‑balancing checks to prevent burnout during peak periods.

Provide managers with templates: onboarding schedule, first‑week agenda, feedback scripts, and a 30/60/90 plan. Good managers are the strongest distribution channel for a designed experience.

Building an evidence base

Calculating ROI of EXD

Quantify value with simple formulas:

Reduced attrition: (Baseline regretted attrition − new rate) × average replacement cost (often 50–100% of salary for specialised roles).
Faster time‑to‑productivity: Days saved × daily loaded cost × new‑hire count per year.
Fewer tickets and escalations: Ticket reduction × average handling cost.
Internal mobility: External hiring avoided × recruiting fees and ramp time saved.

Tie these savings to specific design changes (e.g., access automation cut Day‑1 failures by 70%, saving 200 hours per month across IT and new hires).

EXD maturity model (quick rubric)

Level 1—Ad hoc: Firefighting. No journey maps. Surveys once a year.
Level 2—Emerging: One mapped journey, basic metrics, sporadic pilots.
Level 3—Integrated: Standardised journeys, design council, quarterly reviews, linked HR/IT roadmaps.
Level 4—Optimising: Personalised experiences by role; continuous experiments; outcome‑based funding.
Level 5—Adaptive: Predictive signals trigger interventions automatically; employees co‑design features; experience debt backlog near zero.

Use the rubric to set the next target state, not to chase labels.

Templates and artefacts to standardise

Candidate communications: status updates, interview guides, and rubric templates.
Onboarding kits: manager schedule, buddy guide, system‑access checklist, 30/60/90 plan.
Performance toolkit: goal library, feedback scripts, calibration guide.
Recognition: values definitions, peer‑recognition prompts, monthly awards criteria.
Departure pack: knowledge transfer plan, exit interview guide, alumni invitation.

Store these in a single, searchable space and keep owners accountable for updates.

Legal and ethical edge cases

Monitoring and analytics: If you track activity data, explain the purpose, limit scope, and offer alternatives. Favour outcome metrics over surveillance when possible.
AI in HR processes: Test for bias, keep a human in the loop for consequential decisions, and document model limitations in plain English.
Global differences: Adapt benefits, holidays, notice periods, and works council engagement by country. Publish what varies and why.

A practical 90‑day EXD jumpstart

Days 1–15: Pick one journey—onboarding. Interview 12–15 recent hires and 8–10 managers. Pull access logs and ticketing data. Draft the current‑state map and quantify the top five pain points.
Days 16–30: Define a target experience. Set success outcomes (e.g., 80% of new hires ship first deliverable by Day 21). Pick three improvements.
Days 31–60: Prototype changes—one email sequence, one manager checklist, one access automation. Test with a pilot cohort of 30–50 new hires.
Days 61–90: Launch at 1–2 business units. Instrument metrics and run A/B tests on key steps. Document the playbook, then plan the next journey.

Common EXD anti‑patterns to avoid

Designing for the average. Solve for edge cases you actually have—night shifts, low bandwidth, shared devices.
Policy sprawl. If employees can’t find the rule, it isn’t real. Consolidate to one policy library with version control.
Change without enablement. Shipping a new process without manager training guarantees reversion.
Vanity metrics. Track outcomes (time‑to‑productivity, internal fills), not only opens and clicks.
One‑and‑done surveys. Use lifecycle triggers and close the loop on feedback with “you said, we did” updates.

Manager essentials for a better everyday experience

Weekly 1:1s with documented notes and actions.
Quarterly growth conversations aligned to skills and opportunities.
Clear goals that ladder to team priorities, with no more than five per person.
Public recognition of values‑aligned behaviours every week.
Load‑balancing checks to prevent burnout during peak periods.

Provide managers with templates: onboarding schedule, first‑week agenda, feedback scripts, and a 30/60/90 plan. Good managers are the strongest distribution channel for a designed experience.

Building an evidence base

Calculating ROI of EXD

Quantify value with simple formulas:

Reduced attrition: (Baseline regretted attrition − new rate) × average replacement cost (often 50–100% of salary for specialised roles).
Faster time‑to‑productivity: Days saved × daily loaded cost × new‑hire count per year.
Fewer tickets and escalations: Ticket reduction × average handling cost.
Internal mobility: External hiring avoided × recruiting fees and ramp time saved.

Tie these savings to specific design changes (e.g., access automation cut Day‑1 failures by 70%, saving 200 hours per month across IT and new hires).

EXD maturity model (quick rubric)

Level 1—Ad hoc: Firefighting. No journey maps. Surveys once a year.
Level 2—Emerging: One mapped journey, basic metrics, sporadic pilots.
Level 3—Integrated: Standardised journeys, design council, quarterly reviews, linked HR/IT roadmaps.
Level 4—Optimising: Personalised experiences by role; continuous experiments; outcome‑based funding.
Level 5—Adaptive: Predictive signals trigger interventions automatically; employees co‑design features; experience debt backlog near zero.

Use the rubric to set the next target state, not to chase labels.

Templates and artefacts to standardise

Candidate communications: status updates, interview guides, and rubric templates.
Onboarding kits: manager schedule, buddy guide, system‑access checklist, 30/60/90 plan.
Performance toolkit: goal library, feedback scripts, calibration guide.
Recognition: values definitions, peer‑recognition prompts, monthly awards criteria.
Departure pack: knowledge transfer plan, exit interview guide, alumni invitation.

Store these in a single, searchable space and keep owners accountable for updates.

Legal and ethical edge cases

Monitoring and analytics: If you track activity data, explain the purpose, limit scope, and offer alternatives. Favour outcome metrics over surveillance when possible.
AI in HR processes: Test for bias, keep a human in the loop for consequential decisions, and document model limitations in plain English.
Global differences: Adapt benefits, holidays, notice periods, and works council engagement by country. Publish what varies and why.

A practical 90‑day EXD jumpstart

Days 1–15: Pick one journey—onboarding. Interview 12–15 recent hires and 8–10 managers. Pull access logs and ticketing data. Draft the current‑state map and quantify the top five pain points.
Days 16–30: Define a target experience. Set success outcomes (e.g., 80% of new hires ship first deliverable by Day 21). Pick three improvements.
Days 31–60: Prototype changes—one email sequence, one manager checklist, one access automation. Test with a pilot cohort of 30–50 new hires.
Days 61–90: Launch at 1–2 business units. Instrument metrics and run A/B tests on key steps. Document the playbook, then plan the next journey.

Common EXD anti‑patterns to avoid

Designing for the average. Solve for edge cases you actually have—night shifts, low bandwidth, shared devices.
Policy sprawl. If employees can’t find the rule, it isn’t real. Consolidate to one policy library with version control.
Change without enablement. Shipping a new process without manager training guarantees reversion.
Vanity metrics. Track outcomes (time‑to‑productivity, internal fills), not only opens and clicks.
One‑and‑done surveys. Use lifecycle triggers and close the loop on feedback with “you said, we did” updates.

Manager essentials for a better everyday experience

Weekly 1:1s with documented notes and actions.
Quarterly growth conversations aligned to skills and opportunities.
Clear goals that ladder to team priorities, with no more than five per person.
Public recognition of values‑aligned behaviours every week.
Load‑balancing checks to prevent burnout during peak periods.

Provide managers with templates: onboarding schedule, first‑week agenda, feedback scripts, and a 30/60/90 plan. Good managers are the strongest distribution channel for a designed experience.

Building an evidence base

Calculating ROI of EXD

Quantify value with simple formulas:

Reduced attrition: (Baseline regretted attrition − new rate) × average replacement cost (often 50–100% of salary for specialised roles).
Faster time‑to‑productivity: Days saved × daily loaded cost × new‑hire count per year.
Fewer tickets and escalations: Ticket reduction × average handling cost.
Internal mobility: External hiring avoided × recruiting fees and ramp time saved.

Tie these savings to specific design changes (e.g., access automation cut Day‑1 failures by 70%, saving 200 hours per month across IT and new hires).

EXD maturity model (quick rubric)

Level 1—Ad hoc: Firefighting. No journey maps. Surveys once a year.
Level 2—Emerging: One mapped journey, basic metrics, sporadic pilots.
Level 3—Integrated: Standardised journeys, design council, quarterly reviews, linked HR/IT roadmaps.
Level 4—Optimising: Personalised experiences by role; continuous experiments; outcome‑based funding.
Level 5—Adaptive: Predictive signals trigger interventions automatically; employees co‑design features; experience debt backlog near zero.

Use the rubric to set the next target state, not to chase labels.

Templates and artefacts to standardise

Candidate communications: status updates, interview guides, and rubric templates.
Onboarding kits: manager schedule, buddy guide, system‑access checklist, 30/60/90 plan.
Performance toolkit: goal library, feedback scripts, calibration guide.
Recognition: values definitions, peer‑recognition prompts, monthly awards criteria.
Departure pack: knowledge transfer plan, exit interview guide, alumni invitation.

Store these in a single, searchable space and keep owners accountable for updates.

Legal and ethical edge cases

Monitoring and analytics: If you track activity data, explain the purpose, limit scope, and offer alternatives. Favour outcome metrics over surveillance when possible.
AI in HR processes: Test for bias, keep a human in the loop for consequential decisions, and document model limitations in plain English.
Global differences: Adapt benefits, holidays, notice periods, and works council engagement by country. Publish what varies and why.

A practical 90‑day EXD jumpstart

Days 1–15: Pick one journey—onboarding. Interview 12–15 recent hires and 8–10 managers. Pull access logs and ticketing data. Draft the current‑state map and quantify the top five pain points.
Days 16–30: Define a target experience. Set success outcomes (e.g., 80% of new hires ship first deliverable by Day 21). Pick three improvements.
Days 31–60: Prototype changes—one email sequence, one manager checklist, one access automation. Test with a pilot cohort of 30–50 new hires.
Days 61–90: Launch at 1–2 business units. Instrument metrics and run A/B tests on key steps. Document the playbook, then plan the next journey.

Common EXD anti‑patterns to avoid

Designing for the average. Solve for edge cases you actually have—night shifts, low bandwidth, shared devices.
Policy sprawl. If employees can’t find the rule, it isn’t real. Consolidate to one policy library with version control.
Change without enablement. Shipping a new process without manager training guarantees reversion.
Vanity metrics. Track outcomes (time‑to‑productivity, internal fills), not only opens and clicks.
One‑and‑done surveys. Use lifecycle triggers and close the loop on feedback with “you said, we did” updates.

Manager essentials for a better everyday experience

Weekly 1:1s with documented notes and actions.
Quarterly growth conversations aligned to skills and opportunities.
Clear goals that ladder to team priorities, with no more than five per person.
Public recognition of values‑aligned behaviours every week.
Load‑balancing checks to prevent burnout during peak periods.

Provide managers with templates: onboarding schedule, first‑week agenda, feedback scripts, and a 30/60/90 plan. Good managers are the strongest distribution channel for a designed experience.

Building an evidence base

Calculating ROI of EXD

Quantify value with simple formulas:

Reduced attrition: (Baseline regretted attrition − new rate) × average replacement cost (often 50–100% of salary for specialised roles).
Faster time‑to‑productivity: Days saved × daily loaded cost × new‑hire count per year.
Fewer tickets and escalations: Ticket reduction × average handling cost.
Internal mobility: External hiring avoided × recruiting fees and ramp time saved.

Tie these savings to specific design changes (e.g., access automation cut Day‑1 failures by 70%, saving 200 hours per month across IT and new hires).

EXD maturity model (quick rubric)

Level 1—Ad hoc: Firefighting. No journey maps. Surveys once a year.
Level 2—Emerging: One mapped journey, basic metrics, sporadic pilots.
Level 3—Integrated: Standardised journeys, design council, quarterly reviews, linked HR/IT roadmaps.
Level 4—Optimising: Personalised experiences by role; continuous experiments; outcome‑based funding.
Level 5—Adaptive: Predictive signals trigger interventions automatically; employees co‑design features; experience debt backlog near zero.

Use the rubric to set the next target state, not to chase labels.

Employee Experience Design (EXD)