In today’s rapidly-evolving technology landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as an integral force shaping our everyday experiences and business operations. However, as AI solutions become increasingly sophisticated, they also begin to exhibit human-like characteristics, prompting critical questions about the psychology behind AI. Particularly, this is relevant for designing and implementing behavioural science-based Employee Reward and Recognition (R&R) programs that harness the power of AI-led insights.

A global leader and India’s foremost in providing tech-enabled employee engagement solutions, BI WORLDWIDE brings you the key focus areas to be considered while conceptualising AI-driven R&R strategies:

Making Artificial Authentic: Embedding Human-Like Traits in AI

AI solutions must evolve continuously to effectively demonstrate human-like qualities. For instance, a nuanced understanding of human preferences and enhanced decision-making capabilities are critical to eliminate biases – a challenge even humans grapple to overcome. Moreover, AI must be engineered to mitigate the risks of errors stemming from flawed or insufficient data inputs, a phenomenon called ‘hallucination.’ Addressing these complexities is essential for fostering trust and reliability in AI-driven systems.

From Bias into Balance: Turning AI Fairer

AI-driven recognition models are susceptible to various biases that must be eliminated to uphold fairness and precision. A proactive approach to identify, analyse and mitigate biases embedded in data, algorithms or decision-making processes is essential.

1. Recency Effect: AI models should balance the influences of recent and past data to preserve human tendencies as well as analytical accuracy. For instance, a manager consistently appreciating specific behaviours may unintentionally create a pattern in recognitions. So, when this manager is trying to recognise a different behavior, AI should not fall trap to recency effect by generating repetitive or overly similar outputs. Instead, the system should provide nuanced and contextually appropriate responses, reflecting the unique nature of the new recognition.
   
2. Emotion-Specific Recognition Bias: AI models must align with an organisation’s communication culture and interpret emotional cues (including facial expressions) to provide accurate, meaningful recognition recommendations. Leveraging advanced models like Affectiva’s emotion AI technology and Claude Sonnet LLM models can prove instrumental. The models are designed to identify emotional biases through training on diverse datasets, fostering equitable and inclusive interactions across varied cultural contexts.  
   
3. Inequality Bias: Algorithmic bias can lead to issues like ‘data colonisation’, where certain groups may remain underrepresented or marginalized. Regular auditing and continuous training are essential to prevent such biases and foster inclusivity. For instance, AI-led recruitment tools like HireVue leverage video interviews to evaluate candidates, yet actively mitigate bias through frequent algorithm audits and integration of varied training data. This is achieved by implementing Explainable AI (XAI) models, designed to make AI decisions more transparent to humans through clear, interpretable insights. Techniques like SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) and LIME (Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations) are key in XAI, enabling understanding, documentation and audit of AI decisions, ensuring fairness and accountability across diverse candidate groups.
   
4. AI and Choice Architecture: AI-led choice architecture can transform managerial decisions, particularly for recognition and loyalty programs. However, its implementation demands human oversight and real-time feedback loops, ensuring that the AI-led choices are valid and beneficial. Additionally, ‘hypernudging’ – where AI continuously adapts to the decision-maker’s preferences – must be controlled to prevent biases and unintended outcomes.
   
5. Impact of AI in Alleviating Decision Fatigue: Decision fatigue occurs when individuals become mentally exhausted from making numerous decisions, leading to diminished decision quality. AI can mitigate decision fatigue by automating routine decisions and providing robust decision support for more intricate scenarios. For instance, AI can efficiently manage repetitive tasks like sending festival greetings or event invitations, reducing the cognitive load on decision-makers. However, for more nuanced tasks like recognising contributions in a challenging project or crafting a special motivational acknowledgment, AI can provide thoughtful, context-driven recommendations. Further personalisation of such recommendations can be realised with a human touch, depending on the recogniser’s affinity with the recognisee, striking a balance between efficiency and human judgment.

Transforming Insights to Impact: Revolutionising Employee R&R with AI

1. Recognition Authoring: Advanced AI models like Claude and ChatGPT empower recognisers to craft thoughtful and meaningful messages with ease. By providing contextual suggestions and pre-structured templates, these tools ensure that recognitions are personalised and impactful, reducing the effort needed to articulate sentiments while maintaining authenticity.
   
2. Performance and Productivity Incentives: AI can set clear performance goals and design exciting reward systems for driving excellence. By aligning recognition with quantifiable accomplishments, AI fosters a culture of accountability, inspiring individuals to consistently exceed expectations.
   
3. Performance Amplifier: When an individual creates their performance record, AI can efficiently bring together all third-party recognitions received during the evaluation period. Often, individuals and managers focus on recent achievements, inadvertently overlooking earlier recognitions. By ensuring a holistic showcase of accomplishments, AI reinforces the full spectrum of contributions that merit acknowledgment.
   
4. Wellness Initiatives: AI-driven wellness programs enhance engagement in activities like step challenges and mental health campaigns by incentivising participation with rewards. Integrating wellness with recognition programs, AI can cultivate a culture of wellbeing and positivity at workplace

AI that Speaks the Language of Appreciation: Personalising Gratitude with LLM Models

1. OpenAI’s GPT-4: Renowned for its versatility, GPT-4 generates personalised recognition notes, analyses feedback and provides actionable insights to elevate employee engagement. It can also assist in crafting comprehensive performance reviews and impactful recognition announcements, tailored to individual contributions.
   
2. Anthropic’s Claude: Designed with a strong focus on alignment with human values, Claude helps create fair and unbiased recognition programs. It analyses employee interactions, identifies patterns of positive behaviour and proactively recommends meaningful recognition opportunities, ensuring inclusivity and equity in workplace appreciation.
   
3. Google’s Bard: Bard is adept at crafting creative and engaging content for recognition initiatives, including newsletters, social media posts and internal communications. Additionally, it offers robust sentiment analysis capabilities, enabling monitoring and enhancement of employee morale.

Responsible AI: The New Foundation for Futuristic Workplace

AI is making transformative waves in the employee rewards and recognition landscape. AI-led R&R programs empower organisations to cultivate an inclusive work culture, boost employee morale and drive productivity. However, the success of these programs relies on maintaining human oversight, ensuring ethical implementation and establishing robust audits to maintain transparency and accountability. By leveraging AI responsibly, organisations can design compelling R&R programs that not only celebrate achievements but also foster a work culture rooted in positivity, equity and inspiration.

In the business world, where nurturing connections is paramount, festive gifting is an age-old tradition. It not only fosters a sense of belonging among employees, channel partners, salesforce and customers, but also enhances brand image. However, choosing the right gifts, aligning with your brand values and resonating with your audiences is pivotal.

With 72+ years of expertise in Behavioral Science and Rewards Efficacy, BI WORLDWIDE stands tall as a global leader in corporate gifting solutions, offering a premium and inspiring assortment, in collaboration with top-notch brands. Our unique gifts selection – #GiftsOfInspiration – is thoughtfully curated to transform your festive gifting into meaningful engagement, helping forge lasting business connections.

Beyond Gifting: The Key to Meaningful Inspiration and Bonds

Festive gifting goes beyond the mere exchange of presents. It is a gesture of appreciation, a token of gratitude and a means to strengthen business relationships. This tradition holds great importance, as it establishes meaningful connections between a brand and their employees, channel partners, salesforce and customers. A well-crafted festive gifting strategy also enhances your brand image, leaving a lasting impression on the recipients.

Beyond relationships, festive gifting can reignite inspiration, boosting the morale of your audiences by making them feel valued and connected to organisational culture. In turn, this cultivates lasting engagement and loyalty, while strengthening long-term relationships.

Create the Most Sought-after Gifting Experience with BI WORLDWIDE

Choosing the right gifts for your audiences during the festive season is not merely about the monetary value but also about thoughtful personalisation behind the gesture.

Curated and thoughtful gifts that matter

We bring you the power of choice with 25K+ merchandise rewards and 1K+ once-in-lifetime experiences, ensuring you can find a perfect gift for everyone.

Premium brand partners

Celebrate festivities in style with a finest gifts selection, sourced from 1K+ top-notch brands. Our gifts perfectly blend style and functionality, leaving a lasting impression.

Hedonic experiences

Let your audiences create unforgettable memories with 1K+ global travel, adventure sports, wellness and other pleasurable experiences.

Brand logo gifts

Bring your brand to life with a diverse range of custom merchandise rewards, personalised gift boxes and onboarding/long service awards kits, creating a strong brand recall.

Eco-conscious gifts

Give back to nature with sustainable gifts, from eco-friendly daily essentials to plants bouquets and more.

Swift doorstep delivery

Enjoy rapid door-to-door delivery across 19K+ pin codes, with 96% of orders delivered within 5 days. We also have a dedicated support team to resolve all your queries. 

Budgets that fit into your plan

Our wide assortment of gifts is spread across price points, letting you give the best of the best gifts to your audiences, within your budget.

Gifting with Purpose: Inspiring Experiences that Leave a Lasting Impact

Designing the right festive gifting experiences goes beyond mere gift-giving. It’s about creating a strategy that resonates with your organisational values and goals, leaving an exceptional impact on your recipients. Here are some ideas to elevate your approach:

Custom gifting programs

Implement tailored gifting programs, catering to different audience segments, that can be personalised, as per the preferences and needs of each group.

Sustainable gifts

With growing eco-consciousness, sustainable gifting is gaining popularity. Choose gifts that are eco-friendly, aligning your gifting practices with your corporate social responsibility values.

Virtual gifting

As remote and hybrid work become the norm, virtual gifting options like e-gift cards and online experiences are gaining traction. These gifts can be enjoyed from the comfort of one’s home.

Donation initiatives

Incorporate social responsibility into your gifting strategy by initiating donation drives or partnering with charity groups. This not only reflects your organisation’s values but also allows your business associates to participate in meaningful causes.

Bespoke Gifting Experiences with a Global Leader in Engagement Solutions

This festive season, we at BI WORLDWIDE are thrilled to turn your festive gifting into lasting inspiration, helping strengthen your business ties. With decades of research and expertise in Behavioural Science and Rewards Efficacy, we partner with Fortune 500 and blue-chip organisations around the world, helping them curate their custom gifting solutions, aligned to their brand values, themes, audiences and budgets.

Create a memorable impact with distinctive gifting experiences, reflecting your brand values, that help you stand out in the industry. Reach out to us at: marketing.in@biworldwide.com to get started.

The ‘right’ rewards keep channel partners focused, directed, and willing to repeat positive behaviours. In terms of behavioural economics, rewards have a dopamine effect on the brain. But what does a channel partner consider and value as a reward? Is it cash, trips to popular destinations, concert tickets, luxurious merchandise, utility items, or something else? Rewards are strong and powerful drivers that can build a highly motivated and engaged set of channel partners. Understanding the nuances of this deeply layered and sophisticated driver is imperative for successful and profitable channel partnerships.

“Money, as it turns out, is very often the most expensive way to motivate people.” – Dan Ariely

Say-Do Gap or Preference Reversal

Often, there is a say-do gap between what people say they would like to do versus their actual actions. Our study shows that when asked, most partners say cash will change their behaviour, but when it comes to actually exhibiting the behaviour, more partners are motivated by a non-cash reward. Hence, in actuality, cash is not the king! Travel, luxury and business infrastructure rewards drive extreme satisfaction over cash-based rewards.

What Partners Want from Brands – Future Preference vs. Satisfaction

During the course of the study, we asked the channel partners what they would like to receive as rewards in the future. Plotting the data on the satisfaction scale established that Travel and Luxury rewards sit right at the top over cash, driving extreme satisfaction on both the preference and satisfaction scales. And while the partners say that they prefer cash, cash-based rewards lag behind when it comes to driving satisfaction.

Overall preference and satisfaction scales show that a mix of transactional (cash or cash-based), functional (utility or business infrastructure), and aspirational (travel or luxury) rewards drive rewards efficacy.

Cash Is Spent on Necessities, Not Hedonically

Hedonic rewards drive pleasurable, inspiring, and positive experiences, and hence have a huge impact. This is where cash rewards fall short. When we asked channel partners how they spend their cash rewards, we found out that cash is absorbed by necessities, as a large number of partners feel guilty for spending money on their pleasures and aspirations.

Mostly mid-size partners such as dealers, big retailers, or distributors spend cash on business improvement, while daily wagers are especially likely to spend cash on utility items or save it in banks, resulting in no differentiation and an easy switch.

Cash Doesn’t Talk, Only Whispers

Behavioural economics contends that socialisation of rewards can be important to drive positive brand experiences. It was observed that channel partners do not share information about cash rewards with many people and feel uncomfortable bragging about receiving cash. Cash has no trophy value; once spent, it’s gone.

It has also been observed that when people are offered hedonic rewards — something they can show or talk about among their friends and family members while reiterating their success story — their chances to take instant measures increase manifold. Lastly, the principle of sociability too shows immense results, as it enables channel partners to share their rewards experience with friends or family or on social media, cultivating a greater brand affinity and connection.

The New Reward King: Brands, Invest in Aspirations

More than anything, brands need to think about the feelings they are trying to evoke through their rewards. We asked channel partners about their reactions to getting various types of rewards and the feelings these rewards evoke.

We discovered that, while cash may provide short bursts of motivation triggers, aspirational rewards are a brand’s best investment for long-term brand engagement and loyalty. Travel, luxury, business infrastructure, and utility rewards motivate and also evoke a sense of emotional gratification, accomplishment, and social credibility, which cannot be achieved through cash rewards.

Aspirational rewards are the best investment for brands in the long-term, especially for brand engagement, loyalty, incremental business, and greater brand advocacy.

Yet, there lie many challenges for brands in India to pave the path to this strategic mix of utilitarian and experiential rewards. Sukesh Jain, CEO, BI WORLDWIDE, highlights, “A strong pain point facing brands today is one-size-fits all and short-term recognition programs. Essentially, this doesn’t bring channel partners an opportunity to invest in and prefer a certain brand in the long run. Brands rely on cash, credit notes, discounts, and other monetary rewards, failing to realise that competition can win over their channel partners with slightly higher monetary benefits. Unfortunately, experiences constitute only 10% of the total rewards ecosystem in India, even though they are a powerful channel partner engagement driver globally.”

To identify the communication preferences of channel partners, in terms of modes, timing, and frequency, BI WORLDWIDE and KANTAR, conducted a first-of-its-kind research, involving interactions with 700+ distributors, retailers, and influencers across 6 prominent industries in India. The inquiry uncovered interesting insights, which can help trade marketing brands devise the right channel partner communication strategy, ensuring it drives measurable business results.

“In today’s digital world, communication must be an essential part of strategy setting, and not an afterthought. To drive synergy with channel partners, brands need to craft the right business narrative and take this narrative to channel partners squarely through their preferred communication mediums. BI WORLDWIDE’s pioneering research underscores the pivotal role digital communication plays in empowering brands to nurture strong channel partnerships and achieve their high-stakes business KPIs, such as tapping into new markets, increasing sales, enhancing brand advocacy and more.”

Ashish Kumar, Marketing Director, BI WORLDWIDE India

What Channel Partners Prefer – Voice, Digital, Social Media, Mobile Apps, and More

If you think that messaging apps and social media are only for channel partners in their youth or in urban areas, our study has some revelations for you.

78% of channel partners prefer receiving communication from brands through voice calls. And a rather significant 50% prefer receiving it through app-based messaging platforms such as WhatsApp. Most importantly, the best time to talk with channel partners is between 3 to 5 pm. In fact, the onus is on the brands to devise an appropriate communication format after understanding the communication preferences of their partners.

Brands Need to Go Digital

Channel partners across all industries prefer digital media over traditional media. Digital media not only includes social media and mobile applications, but also programme brochures & catalogues, online promotion banners, websites, product/programme videos, podcasts or audio books, and online articles & blogs.

Unsurprisingly, a clear preference for social media platforms is undisputed across all sectors.

Social media is an important space that channel partners are exploring. Half of the channel partners use social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram for business purposes. Two out of three channel partners use mobile apps, programme brochures and catalogues each for the same purposes. For example, 56% of B2B channel partners use social media, compared to 46% of B2C. This means brands that are not present on social media platforms and mobile apps are missing half of their target audience.

The sectoral breakup of channel partners and their usage of social media shows that 61% of the channel partners in pharmaceuticals sector use social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, which is the highest. Channel partners from FMCG sector record the lowest level of use of digital media for business purposes. Only 43% of them use social media, and only 3% of them read/rely on online articles and blogs to learn about brands.

Digital Communication: The Secret Sauce to Building a Compelling Channel Partner Engagement Strategy

Brands need to evolve with time and embrace digital platforms when it comes to communicating effectively with their channel partner ecosystem. In the long run, it is this strategic digital communication that can help brands foster a sense of trust and collaboration with their channel partners, ultimately leading to business success.

BI WORLDWIDE and KANTAR’s unique research underlines that voice, messengers, and apps are the most significant mediums to consider while developing channel partners’ communication strategy. These new-age communication channels can positively impact business communication and empower brands to deliver meaningful experiences to their distributors, retailers, dealers, and influencers.

A distinguished panel of industry luminaries shared cutting-edge leadership and managerial strategies to elevate employee engagement in 2024 and beyond.

The world of work is witnessing tremendous disruption. According to Gallup Global Workplace Study, employee engagement has slumped to a new low (21%), failing to return to pre-pandemic levels. BI WORLDWIDE’s ‘New Rules of Engagement’ research points out that only 56% of employees are enabled by their employers to lead a healthy lifestyle. Clearly, the setbacks of the past few years have given rise to a new wave of disengaged workforce, lacking opportunities to learn, grow, feel connected to organisation’s mission and make meaningful contributions.

Leaders & Managers: New Changemakers in Resetting Employee Engagement

As the frontline link between organisations and employees, modern-day managers can play a pivotal role in revitalising engagement masterplans. They establish goals, delegate responsibilities, provide guidance, track feedback and recognise team members, setting the tone for elevating employee experience.

BI WORLDWIDE, a global leader and India’s foremost in delivering tech-enabled, behavioural science-led employee engagement solutions, in association with SHRM, hosted an exclusive webinar – Elevate Employee Experience (EX), Episode 3: ‘New Role of Managers to Amplify Modern Day Workforce Engagement’. The session brought together industry stalwarts to discuss how managers are at the forefront of transforming workplaces into inspiring and inclusive environments where everyone thrives.

Christina Fortier, Senior Communication Director, BI WORLDWIDE, expertly led the conversation, sharing immersive insights from BI WORLDWIDE’s ‘New Rules of Engagement’ global research. The study shines light on the foundation of a great company culture – leadership, purpose, belonging and recognition.

Shifting Gears of Engagement with Inclusive Leaders & Managers

Employees who are connected to their managers are 5.7X more likely to feel inspired at work. 

Inclusive managers have a compelling vision for future, encourage innovative ideas and empower team members to build their career. They are trustworthy, eliminate bias and support team members’ interests in critical decisions. They also drive ongoing learning & development, foster employee wellbeing and maintain an open culture for team members to share their concerns. But how can inclusive leaders boost engagement?

Inspiring with Impactful Recognition

Recognition helps nurture an inspiring work culture, where accomplishments and milestones are celebrated for all. The industry experts delved into how managers can transform everyday recognition into a tech-powered, real-time, personalised and inclusive practice, making a lasting impact.

Underscoring the hallmarks of a differentiated R&R strategy, Rajat Sethi, Head Total Rewards, Employee Retentions & Talent Management, Daimler Trucks, stated, “A future-focused recognition program must empower managers to cater to generational, gender & cultural diversity, offer standardised as well as personalised rewards, celebrate small & big wins, enable peer-to-peer & managerial recognition and appreciate outperformers on a weekly/monthly basis.”

Christina Fortier affirmed the power of technology in fostering a culture of recognition, “New role of managers has to be made their second nature. Next-gen tech tools with features like nudges, automated notes, peer-to-peer/team recognitions and more, can enable managers to make recognition intuitive and frequent.”

Similarly, Sanjeeva Maithani, Head – HRSS, Mobility, HR Tech, Performance & Rewards, Zensar Technologies, reinforced the need for managers to recalibrate their approach to recognition in the hybrid work era, “In today’s dynamic work landscape, innovative recognition tech solutions can merely help managers extend their outreach. However, it is 1:1 personalised managerial recognition that will be key in driving personal and business growth in a hybrid work model.”

Elevating Results by Connecting to Purpose

Managers must focus on connecting employees to the larger organisational mission and purpose, making them key contributors in driving business results that matter. Connecting workforce to the bigger picture and telling them they make a real difference boosts inspiration by 19%.

Rajat Sethi put it brilliantly, “Managers must articulate the overarching mission and vision of their organisation, focusing on the larger contributions it makes to the world. Connecting employees to this purpose will make them realise the value of their endeavours in the bigger scheme of things, driving ownership of responsibilities. Leaders can also spotlight exemplary success stories and recognise extra milers embodying organisational values to drive desirable behaviours.”

Retaining Talent with Onboarding

Onboarding best practices drastically reduce intent to leave by 54%.

The 3 crucial considerations for a compelling onboarding are: connection, consistency and community. Connection with new hires must begin with decision day and strengthened over time. Consistency is all about building multiple checkpoints, connection opportunities and providing frequent recognition. Community is getting new hires to stay by having managers, team members and employee resource groups to nurture a sense of belonging.

Christina Fortier highlighted strategies instrumental in delivering a seamless onboarding experience:

• Curating engaging pre-joining communications
• Planning managerial, team and role inductions
• Acquainting new hires with role expectations and offering continuous support
• Reinforcing connection to organisational purpose
• Communicating new hires’ futuristic career growth trajectory

Sanjeeva Maithani remarked, “A winning onboarding must engage new hires before joining. As the key custodian, managers must proactively ensure cultural integration, understanding of role responsibilities, 24/7 support, setting of project expectations and smooth sailing through induction processes. Enthusiastic mentors can be appointed through Buddy Programs, accomplishments of new hires recognised, and an open culture maintained for propelling new ideas & perspectives, making new employees feel valued.”

Investing in Managers to Recharge Workforce

The industry experts reinstated the importance of cultivating people-centric and not outcome-centric managers. Key strategies that can be pivotal are:

• Hiring intelligent, future-ready and competent workforce
• Empowering employees to steer their career growth forward through consistent learning and development
• Establishing a lasting rapport with real-time, personalised recognition and informal connects
• Avoiding seeking a mirror image of oneself in team members and remaining mindful of individual differences while setting expectations
• Entrusting employees with the right balance of freedom and responsibilities

Contrarily, AI, robotics and other technologies can be leveraged to simplify corporate functional processes for managers, letting them focus better on building an engaged workforce of tomorrow.

The competition for talent is intensifying and organisations are shifting focus from conventional employee engagement to a more holistic concept called employee experience (EX). With the power to make or break an organisation’s road to continued success, EX pays dividends across the business – from increased productivity, reduced attrition, maximised value, to ultimately a boosted bottom line. However, as the industry stands on the cusp of a new era in employee engagement, CHROs and HR leaders need to deliver a more inspiring, fulfilling, and enriching EX to steer ahead of competition.

Unleashing Futuristic EX Strategies to Stay Ahead of the Pack

After the successful conclusion of Bangalore and Delhi Chapters, BI WORLDWIDE, in association with People Matters, hosted the Mumbai Chapter of their exclusive roundtable discussion on – Future of Employee Engagement Reinvented: New Rules for Disruption-proof Employee Experience (EX) in 2024. A power-packed panel of HR luminaries across industries shed light on engagement pathways that can help shape dynamic workplaces of tomorrow.

Rajan Jain, Regional Director (West), along with Prasad Poosarla, Chief Technology Officer, and Ruchi Bhatnagar, Business Development Director (West), BI WORLDWIDE India, led the charge in enlightening the gathering with insights from BI WORLDWIDE’s global research – ‘𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭’. The extensive research identifies the 12 pivotal ‘rules’, having the greatest impact on the dynamics between employees and their organisations. The rules lay the foundation of a future-ready and thriving work culture, helping HRs drive the most desirable outcomes of engagement – high commitment, effort, and inspiration.

The New Rules of Engagement research focuses on 5 key parameters: onboarding, recognition, talent mobility, deskless EX, and belonging. The industry experts shared multifaceted strategies, real-life success stories, and key measurable results, pertaining to the various ongoing and past initiatives that they implemented in their organisations, on the 5 key parameters.

Elevate Employee Retention with Seamless Onboarding

New hires decide if they feel at home at an organisation within the first 3 weeks.

Onboarding is a sustained journey with multiple interactive touchpoints. Strategies that can help leverage these touchpoints to deliver a compelling onboarding experience include:

• Building ‘Vision Statements’, capturing new joiners’ ambitions, skills, and goals. Measuring the realisation of this ‘vision’ through AI-driven solutions and enhancing outcomes through L&D initiatives.
• Transforming ‘Operations Managers’ into ‘People Managers’, who are skilled at leadership and team mentoring, driving engagement effectively.
• Managerial discretionary awards to recognise new employees, strengthening belonging and minimising silos between tenured and new workforce.
• Designing induction programs like structured mentoring, culture decoding, EX score surveys and buddy programs for cultural integration.
• On-site projects, field visits, interactions with channel partners and knowledge sharing through business collaterals to enhance new hires’ domain knowledge.
• Designing AI-led, visually-appealing training content, focused on managerial integration, performance management and role responsibilities.

Harness Recognition for Sustained Inspiration

Employees who received a travel or experience reward are 5X more likely to be inspired than those who didn’t.

A thriving culture of recognition starts with ‘us’. Continual peer-to-peer recognition creates a strong ripple effect in an organisation, boosting motivation and performance. Strategies that can be pivotal are:

• Recognising ‘Resilience Stories’ of top leadership, spotlighting how they overcome challenging times, to set benchmarks and inspire workforce.
• Theatre Workshops, Recognition Trees, Wall of Fame, and Recognition Weeks to symbolically build excitement around employee accomplishments.
• Coffee connects with top talent on their work life challenges and best practices followed, making them feel valued.
• Role modeling initiatives like ‘I failed, I learned’ and ‘Fail fast, Fail forward’, led by senior leadership to reinforce right behavioural practices.
• Appreciating ‘Recognition Maximisers’ – managers and peers giving the highest recognitions consistently.
• Recognising the right employee ‘behaviours’ before ‘outcomes’ to appreciate ‘consistent performers’ before ‘one-off achievers’, reinforcing the right work practices in an organisation.
• Enhancing the ‘trophy value’ of recognition by not treating it as a ‘closed-door phenomenon’. Spotlighting employees on social media and in cultural celebrations to acknowledge their accomplishments.

Foster Belonging for Meaningful Engagement

While 85% of managers say they want to be equitable and inclusive, only half of employees rate their leaders as inclusive.

Nurturing belonging involves cultivating DEI&A, driving new-age upskilling, enabling career growth, facilitating advanced technology and more. Strategies that can aid in achieving these goals are:

• Allocating ESOPs to employees across the board, driving their ‘ownership’ in the organisation.
• Holistic Wellbeing Awareness Programs to help workforce improve their physical, mental, financial, and emotional wellness.
• Tech-powered inclusion advisors to turn managers into proficient DEI specialists through timely recognition nudges, guidance on rewards, team & individual recognition cues and more.
• Cultural events, CSR initiatives, family celebrations and townhalls to drive purpose, community feeling, camaraderie and belonging.
• Employee grievance-resolution sessions, led by CHROs and HR leaders to address work life challenges instantly.

Build Futuristic Workplaces with Talent Mobility

Employees who are confident their careers will advance as the organisation grows are 7X more likely to say they belong.

In a talent-centric world, employees must be prepared for the future. Build thriving workplaces by empowering the workforce to take their career growth forward. Strategies that can be effective are:

• Active industry partnerships with reputed institutions and B-schools to drive employee reskilling and upskilling.
• Incentivising employees through promotions for acquisition of new skills and adoption of cross-functional roles & responsibilities.
• Building ‘Capability Academies’, powered by data insights that enable cross-functional talent fungibility and career progression.

Make Deskless Employees Feel Included

80% of deskless employees have a work-connected electronic device, but only 34% report having received recognition on it.

Deskless employees desire an equitable approach to their deskbound counterparts when it comes to engagement. Strategies that can help show these ‘essential’ deskless employees that their contributions are truly valued are: 

• On-site and virtual learning programs for remote and hybrid employees, driving their learning and development.
• Training people managers to establish on-ground connect with deskless employees through social inclusion initiatives like team recognitions, family day celebrations, cultural/corporate events and more.

The Evolving EX – Needed for Today and Tomorrow

The future of employee experience is exciting, dynamic, and brimming with potential. The roundtable discussion highlighted how modern-day organisations can tap into and lead this change by embracing emerging trends in onboarding, recognition, talent mobility, belonging and deskless EX. Digital transformation will be at the forefront to thrive in this evolving landscape – leading to sustained business success and keeping organisations ahead of competitors.