Enterprise Solutions / Employee Experience / Financial Services
Envisioning a Digital Experience for M&A
As a company that grew through M&A, our client struggled to deliver a unified digital experience for their employees.
In 16 weeks, we defined a vision for the future experience based on the voice of the employee, and delivered a roadmap of solutions that paved the way. To socialize the vision, fictional before-and-after stories brought the impact of investments to life.
note taking & synthesis
creating prioritization formula
developing opportunities
defining key areas of friction
drafting experience principles
guiding solution cards
writing final narratives
compiling quote library
I was responsible for...
The Ask
Represent the voice of the employee in a plan for future IT rationalization efforts across the Digital Experience.
Approach
To inform current state needs, we conducted 30 qualitative interviews across 30 employees.
By forming our discussion guide around "hero" and "villain stories" we were able to dive deep into use cases. This gave us a more holistic understanding of people and processes surrounding technological needs.
Participants represented a breadth across...
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5 heritage organizations
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6 international regions
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unique roles and departments
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gender, tenure and seniority
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We love the ticket, but we have no idea where it goes, down a black hole. There is a lot of confusion around who it goes to. I sent this a few weeks ago, but it sat in somebody's queue.
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Our Findings
Our client's hunch was the IT rationalization was the answer, but we found that the people and processes surrounding the technical tools, were equally if not more important. Without things like tech support, instruction manuals or hybrid collaboration, even the best technology out there will be hard to use.
To help our client see the bigger picture, we developed a formula to demonstrate the impact of compounding needs (dependencies). If an opportunity was foundational to improving other opportunities, it would be prioritized higher. This helped to convince our client to look beyond the hardware and software, and compare the demand for existing initiatives/ pet projects.
Insights & Opportunities Readout
After each opportunity received a prioritized score - we arranged them in concentric rings to map importance.
Matching opportunity cards helped show at a glance, key areas of concern, who was most impacted and any relevant metrics.
Using Behavioral Archetypes to Explain Impact
Employees who were more empowered to self-solve or had the support of a manager to escalate issues - were less impacted, and more less likely to leave the company. By identifying where employees fell in the matrix, our client could take steps to target groups most impacted by sequence solutions to first "Empower" then "Integrate" employees.
Future State Definition & Solutioning Workshop
In the stakeholder workshop, we started with an Experience Principles exercise to help them align on what a "good" digital experience looks like. After that framing, we used the opportunity cards to brainstorm solutions, bring existing initiatives into the fold and identify essential change champions.
Throughout digital pain points, the path to resolution became a story of power and support. Employees that were well supported could be directed to the right solutions, while managers without connections or opportunities to self-solve could be left in the dark for days.
Choosing Experience Principles helped our client stay true to the ideal experience. Any initiatives going forward would need to support these principles.
Final Readout of Current & Future State Journey Maps
In collaboration with SME's, we identified 34 solutions that were key to improving the digital employee experience. Our rankings of priority and impact helped sequence these solutions into a 3 year roadmap.
Like most complex problems, few solutions are a "quick wins" and the first step was earning back their employee's trust. To show their understanding of current state needs, our client wanted something emotional and inspirational, that really brought intended solutions to life.
By crafting 2 fictional protagonists, we were able to showcase a spectrum of unique needs through Sunita, a newly hired developer, and Dale, an acquired salesperson. Inspired by real stories, the "current state" highlights the emotional rollercoaster of fighting against technology, frustration and eventually leaving the company. Their "future state" narrative then draws on recommended solutions that help the characters to be more successful and confident in their work.
So what?
When employees are held back, it feels like their fault rather than the fault of the technology. Discouraged, they will be less productive and seek better job openings elsewhere.
If their time spent troubleshooting went to up skilling and experimentation, employees would feel more successful, valued and fulfilled - strengthening their loyalty to the company. This kind of investment in the digital experience, would save a company from declined productivity and the costs of replacement hiring - roughly 32.5K over the first 6 months.
What I like about both narratives is that they are bringing the opportunities for improvement from a tech perspective all together. It’s relatable to people
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- Senior Director of Digital Associate Experience
