Redefining Employee Experience for Today’s Workforce

September 5, 2025

Employee experience is the beating heart of your workplace. And for benefits leaders, it’s one of the most powerful levers you have to drive engagement, retention, and well-being. When employee experience is positive, people do their best work. When it’s not, even the best benefits can fall flat.

What is employee experience?

Employee experience is the sum of everything an employee encounters at work—interactions with co-workers, the tools and systems they use, leadership behaviors, culture, and support. It spans the entire employee journey, from their first interview to their last day. 

Employee engagement is the indicator. Business results like performance, turnover, and health care costs are outcomes. Employee experience is the input. You can’t demand employee well-being and engagement, but you can design an experience that makes people want to show up, stay, and thrive.

Why is employee experience important?

Employee experience shapes every corner of your organization, from performance to retention and innovation.

A strong employee experience can: 

• Boost performance and profits - Companies with high employee experience scores consistently outperform their peers.
• Improve retention - A poor experience fuels turnover and burnout. A better one keeps people energized, present, and committed.
• Support mental and physical health - Chronic job stress is linked to depression, anxiety, and physical illness.
• Build psychological safety - When employees feel safe and supported, they’re more likely to speak up, take smart risks, and innovate.
• Strengthen inclusion and belonging - A thoughtful experience makes people feel seen, heard, and valued—key drivers of equity and inclusion.

Stages of the employee experience 

Employee experience unfolds over time, with each stage shaping how people feel and perform.

• Recruiting - This is where first impressions are made. Transparency, respect, and communication set the tone for what’s to come.
• Onboarding - A strong start helps new hires feel welcome, prepared, and connected from day one, providing the best employee onboarding experience.
• Engagement - Day-to-day support, tools, and culture drive how  people feel in their roles.
• Performance - Ongoing feedback, recognition, and growth opportunities show employees their work matters.
• Development - Stretch assignments and learning paths build long-term commitment and satisfaction.
• Transition/exits - Thoughtful offboarding creates alumni who may return, refer, or advocate.

How to improve employee experience

A strong employee experience is about more than policies or perks. It requires clear strategy, consistent action, and a culture that puts people first. Here are some tips to boost employee experience:

#1 Measure psychosocial risks

Leaders need to understand how aspects of work are impacting employees adversely so that they can take action to make improvements. A psychosocial risk assessment can also help to measure outcomes like levels of psychological safety and burnout.

#2 Build psychological safety

People do their best work when they feel safe to be honest, take risks, and admit mistakes. Psychological safety is the permission slip your team needs to be fully engaged. It starts with small, consistent actions like leaders modeling vulnerability and inviting feedback, which signal that it’s safe to show up authentically.

#3 Get everyone involved

Employee experience isn’t just top-down. Research shows that even a 15-minute weekly check-in from a manager can significantly improve employee engagement and well-being. Equip managers to lead with empathy and consistency, give leaders the tools to act on what they hear, and invite employees to co-create culture and norms.

#4 Prioritize mental health

For today’s workforce, a supportive culture often matters more than salary. Culture is stronger when mental health is core, not a side benefit. Normalize open conversations, train managers to recognize burnout, and ensure employees have easy access to high-quality care. Small actions, like modeling boundaries or starting meetings with check-ins, reinforce that well-being is valued.The lasting impact of employee experience

#5  Provide real flexibility

Work-life balance looks different for everyone. Redefine it as freedom within a framework—whether that’s hybrid models, flexible core working hours, or recharge days during high-stress periods. For shift and gig workers, this could mean the ability to choose schedules that fit with personal commitments and childcare needs. 

#6 Fuel growth and purpose

People do their best work when they see a future for themselves and understand why their work matters. Generic learning libraries aren’t enough. Personalize development paths, connect employees’ work directly to your company’s mission, and celebrate the impact they create.

#7 Offer recognition that resonates

Recognition should be frequent, specific, and meaningful. Public shout-outs, peer-to-peer kudos, handwritten notes, team-based awards (“Most Creative Problem-Solver”), or even extra time off show people they’re valued.

#8 Supercharge your managers

Managers shape the daily employee experience more than anyone else. Equip them with training in particular for  hybrid leadership, trust-building, and sensitive mental health conversations. Give them the tools to support, not just supervise, their teams.

The lasting impact of employee experience

Improving employee experience isn’t a one-time initiative. It’s an ongoing commitment to your people’s well-being, growth, and sense of belonging. When you design that experience with care and intention, you build a workforce that’s resilient, high performing, and ready for what’s next.