Bill is a managing director in Deloitte Consulting’s Human Capital practice and the general manager of ConnectMe, a digital workplace platform that uses data and insights to connect the workforce to what they need, when and where they need it. Bill has more than 25 years of experience in leading the delivery of enterprise software development, with a special focus on Human Capital Management (HCM) platforms.

Bill is also a recognized leader, speaker, and author in the areas of learning and talent management. He currently serves as the talent group leader for Product Management & Development within Deloitte’s Human Capital as a Service offering.

Bill graduated from Syracuse University with a master’s degree in Mathematics.

Why has employee experience become a top priority for business leaders across the world? Has it not always been about customer experience?

You are exactly correct. Organizations have always been focused on customer experience but that has not always translated to the same focus on employee experience. The combination of employees’ expectations of their experience in the workforce being informed by their consumer experience and the realization of organizations that they can leverage their successes in providing an exceptional customer experience to deliver the same to their employees has accelerated that focus. Employees are now demanding an employee experience that provides them with the empowerment and the technology to address many of their needs in a self-service manner and a seamless experience when they need support.

Employee experience remains a top talent concern for HR leaders, yet 46% of surveyed employees report they are largely dissatisfied with their overall experience at their organization, according to a study. Why are organizations failing to provide the best employee experience?

In many cases, organizations have not fully defined what they consider an optimal employee experience and a roadmap on how to transition from their current state to that desired objective. In addition, organizations may have chosen to build customized technology solutions as part of their employee experience without fully appreciating the investment required to maintain and evolve these solutions. This is why you have seen the rise of off-the-shelf solutions such as the Deloitte’s ConnectMe offering that takes industry best practices in world-class employee experiences and enables organizations to rapidly evolve the services they deliver to employees.

What are some of the techniques that companies can pursue to track and measure EX in their organizations?

Organizations that excel at continuous improvement of their employee experience not only listen to what their employees say about their experience but also use advanced analytics to identify workflow and usage patterns that uncover latent needs that are critical to improving that experience. The most progressive organizations listen intently to what employees say about their experience via surveys and social listening and measure the actual experience they have through advanced interaction analytics that track their navigation/usage experience and measuring service delivery metrics such as employee case resolution time and satisfaction.

How can employers leverage AI and next-gen technologies to fuel differentiated employee experiences?

Advanced machine learning and natural language processing solutions can assist organizations in empowering employees to address their most common workplace challenges in a more rapid self-service manner. Most employees would prefer to be empowered to resolve a workforce need on their own without having to reach out for assistance. Technologies such as chatbot solutions are enablers. Along a typical employee journey, there are several areas where a chatbot can reduce friction and add value by automating processes and simplifying employee inputs. For example, imagine an intelligent online agent walking you through every aspect of the workflow that is required when you need to go on a leave of absence or upon the birth of a new child that needs to be added to your benefits plan. The additional benefit of empowering employees to address the most common workforce or HR needs on their own is that it enables the team members that have traditionally fielded those inquiries to focus on strategic initiatives that advance the mission of the organization.

What are some of the biggest pitfalls you see organizations making when executing their employee experience strategy?

One of the biggest pitfalls is that many organizations start from the perspective that they are a “unicorn” and have completely unique needs and challenges that will form their employee experience strategy and their technology choices to support that strategy. This has led many organizations to develop completely customized strategies, policies, communications, and technology solutions that are too costly to sustain. Organizations that are able to leverage the successes of peers and adopt employee experience strategies and solutions that serve as a strong foundation that they can build upon and configure to their unique circumstances typically develop a more sustainable employee experience that they can evolve more rapidly and cost-effectively in an agile manner.