It’s not a typo. I’m not talking about the importance of work experience. I’m talking about the experience of work, meaning how we experience our work and those we work with. Have you thought about this for yourself and your team? I propose that leaders must take an experiential focus as they look at work and the workplace. And that when they do they have a chance to change everything for the better.

The Importance of Experience

In Future Shock Alvin Toffler wrote about the importance of those who create experiences. 25 years ago, Joseph Pine II and James Gilmore wrote The Experience Economy and codified how businesses could drive for and create loyalty by focusing on and improving the experience customers have with products and services.

This idea seems far from insightful now as so many of the gifts we give are experiences, and the products we love, we love because of how they make us feel.

While leaders have thought extensively about these ideas with customers, far fewer have thought about this in terms of their employees. That is the idea behind the experience of work.

In organizations from sports, to entertainment, to restaurants, to call centers, to your local manufacturing plant and corner store, businesses are seeking to attract and retain talent. The efforts we make for team members look more and more like how we work to attract and retain customers.

If experience is valuable to a customer, it certainly is (or could be) to team members.

Is the Experience of Work Just Engagement?

Employee engagement has been studied, poked at, and measured for the last 25 years. Most of this work has been helpful. Ultimately though, employee engagement is a choice individuals make – do I choose to engage in my work or not? – not something leaders can manage.

The experience of work is related to engagement in that it includes many of the factors that influence the engagement choice. Here is a partial list:

  • Culture. Do people have a positive feeling and experience with how things are done at work?
  • Inclusion. Do people feel included socially, collaboratively and in work processes?
  • Relationships. Do people like and “click” with those they work with (including their boss)?
  • Success and Meaning. Do people find they are achieving things of value?
  • Value. Do people feel they are valued for their contribution and who they are?
  • Enjoyment. Do they like their work, or are they counting the minutes until the weekend?

Simply put, if we want employees to choose engagement we need to think more about the experience of work. Because the more positively people feel about their experience of work, the more likely they will be engaged, stay engaged, and remain on your team.

What Can We Do?

There is more that we need to do than can be explored in a short article. But once you see the power of experience, as a leader, you will start focusing differently. Start with these four things:

  • Bring it up. Talk to people about how they are experiencing work. Waiting for exit interviews is far too late!
  • Create more psychological safety. The feeling of safety itself is a positive experience, but the safer people feel, the more likely your questions about the experience of work will be answered honestly.
  • Look for smiles. If there are smiles and laughter, it is likely a good sign. A quiet and tense environment likely is less so.
  • Build relationships yourself. Be both a model to others and build them with members of your team. This extra-curricular. It is part of your job.

As a leader, you are a curator of the experience of work. Once you realize that you will see your work differently and begin to create better results – and experiences.

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Kevin Eikenberry is a recognized world expert on leadership development and learning and is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He has spent over 30 years helping organizations across North America, and leaders from around the world, on leadership, learning, teams and teamwork, communication and more.

Twice he has been named by Inc.com as one of the Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World and 100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next Conference. The American Management Association named him a “Leaders to Watch” and he has been twice named as one of the World's Top 30 Leadership Professionals by Global Gurus. Top Sales World has named him a Top Sales & Marketing Influencer several times, and his blog has been named on many “best of” lists. LeadersHum has named him one of the 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership in 2023.

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