The connected

employee experience
Capturing hearts and minds drives
greater employee engagement and
business performance

Technology Institute

February 2014
The youngest generation of We know that we need to honor our You’ve read the statistics around em-
professionals was leaving PwC in strong history of employee engagement ployee engagement. Gallup estimates
growing numbers after just a few in new ways. Our plans for the future that US businesses lose between $450
years. Perhaps even more alarming, require that we (re)think talent—from billion to $550 billion each year due to
a significant majority appeared to lack how we recruit to how we engage, disengaged employees.2 Based on stock
interest in the traditional professional retain and reward employees. performance, Wharton professor Alex
services career path, one that required Edmans determined that companies on
Like us, you are a business leader who
an intense work commitment early in the Fortune list of “best companies to
recruits, hires, develops and tries to
their career in exchange for the chance work for” outperformed their peers by
retain talent every single day. You work
to make partner later on. 2–3 percent per year.3 You also see first
hard to attract the best people—and
hand the generational differences in
We knew our future success depended you know your top performers will
managing work teams.
on increasing engagement in this leave if they aren’t engaged with
cohort—but wanted to base decisions your brand and the business. Your workforce is changing—but is
on data, not myths about millennials. your company keeping pace? What
As part of a massive generational can you do? (re)Think talent.
study, the largest of its kind, we ran
a NextGen jam in late 2012.1 For
72 hours, over a thousand staff and
leadership from around the world
convened online and talked about
what engages workers as employees.
We learned that millennials are truly
different from previous generations.
They view work as a “thing” not a
“place.” They believe that productivity
should be measured not by hours
worked at the office but by productivity
output. And, like most generations,
they want work flexibility—but for
different reasons.
Insights such as these led to a major
employee initiative at PwC focused on
flexible work arrangements. Employees
were engaged to define options that
would meet their needs but also
maintain the highest level of service to
clients. After the new practices were
piloted and woven into daily work,
retention rates improved significantly.

1 PwC, PwC’s NextGen: A Global generational 2 Gallup, State of the American Workforce Report,
study, 2013. 2013.
3 Edmans, Alex (2011): Does the Stock Market Fully
Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction and
Equity Prices. Journal of Financial Economics
101(3), 621–640

PwC 1
Why (re)think talent?

Everyone knows the current Employers are no longer in the

environment is faster paced and more driver’s seat—“if I build it (and,
complex than ever before. Rapid build it cooler), they will come.”
business model shifts, increased Now individuals have incredible
globalization, the rise of online choice. They are exercising that choice
social connectivity, and the changing not only by evaluating a company’s
expectations of employees make products or services but also by
managing employee engagement considering whether that company
and the lifecycle of your workforce is “changing the world” in a way that
far more challenging. is meaningful to them.
Anxiety over skills needed is rising as It isn’t enough to have the most
a result: “70% of US business leaders innovative product, coolest technology
are concerned about the availability or best cafeteria. You have to have
of key skills, compared with 54% linked your business strategy to
in 2013,” per PwC’s most recent your employee value proposition
Global CEO Survey.4 Competition for and created an employee experience
technology talent is not limited to that attracts and motivates your
the technology sector either. “New workforce to give their best and take
growth strategies require delivering real ownership in your mission and
new value propositions to customers, your brand.
which in turn require having access
Let’s face it, when an employee can
to skills that are in other industries or
take a new job two buildings down
companies. Developing the nation’s
with a 20% higher base and equal
smart grid, for example, requires talent
“perks,” you need something more
that resides in the communications and
powerful, a connected employee
technology industries.”5
experience that fosters a committed
Is it just that the right individuals are relationship to the organization’s
tough to find in today’s hypercompeti- business performance over the
tive market for talent? Or is it that long term.
you haven’t given enough thought to
the changing paradigm in the “war
for talent”?

4, 5 PwC, 2014 US CEO Survey, January 2014.

2 The Connected Employee Experience
Challenges driving a new approach to talent Rise of online social connectivity: Social connectivity,
Catalysts for rethinking talent include: used effectively, can supercharge a technology
company’s ability to become agile. The connectedness
Business model shifts: Industry lines are blurring as of employees is directly tied to the speed with which
both technology and non-technology companies jump they interact and the value of the innovations they
into new markets. Technology is one of the drivers— produce. Everything happens faster when there is
though not always the biggest—in the rapid tearing 24x7 access to global networks of people and ideas.
down and rebuilding of business models we see now. And crowdsourcing—among employees but also with
Changing what they do requires companies to build partners, customers, and larger ecosystems—creates a
new competencies. And an inability to fill critical roles global pool of new ideas for winning in the market.
with top-tier talent can grind strategy to a halt.
The line between work and social has blurred. New
Technology companies are in need of different kinds hires are now a valuable source of talent. Attracting a
of talent to drive their entry into non-tech markets prospect’s friends is a double-win: the prospect is more
like entertainment (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu), employee likely to sign and more positions can be filled at the
recruitment (LinkedIn, Facebook and Jobvite), retail, same time.
phone (Apple, Amazon and Microsoft’s Skype), and
advertising (Google, Facebook, Twitter). War for talent: As a leader responsible for sourcing,
acquiring, hiring and developing talent, you know you
Increased globalization: The workforce is being are at high risk of not having the right people in the
retooled in all parts of the world. In mature economies, right locations at the right time. You are not alone:
older workers are learning new skills and working 68% of respondents in PwC’s 17th Annual Global CEO
longer, and some of their work is being supplemented survey are concerned that lack of access to key skills will
by migrant populations. In emerging growth markets, threaten their company’s prospects. That’s up 4% from
the gaps between supply and demand for those with last year.***
university-level education have to be filled.*
To further complicate matters, digital natives and their
Growth countries (e.g., China, India, Brazil, Russia) are predecessors have vastly different profiles. Millennials
transitioning from centers of labor into consumption- expect ready access to information, 24x7 connectivity
oriented economies. As they become exporters of capital and collaboration. They are motivated by team cohesion,
and innovation—and as trade and investment flows supervisor support and appreciation, co-innovation as
grow between them—mature markets may lose influence well as work/life balance. Members of older generations
and capital and become less attractive for talent.* That have different expectations—they particularly value
impacts the rising percentage of US Millennials who autonomy, personal interaction and achievement.
expect to work abroad at some point in their career.**
* PwC, Five megatrends and possible implications, August 2013.
** PwC’s NextGen: A global generational study. PwC, 2013.
*** PwC, 17th Annual Global CEO Survey, 2014 — Key findings in the
technology industry.

PwC 3
What is the connected employee experience?

The connected employee experience employee experience tailored to your

The connected employee arises from the interactions that occur organizational needs, you can harness
experience is unique to within an ecosystem of internal and the power of your talent’s connections,
external employee relationships. It is boost motivation and engagement,
your brand, business the sum of rational actions, evoked increase retention, and achieve
strategy and employee perceptions and emotions enabled common business goals.
value proposition by a technology infrastructure and
a cultural mindset that nurtures Connected Experience
each employee’s effectiveness. In Dimensions
this experience, diversity and shared The connected experience is based
leadership are recognized as increasing on your employee value proposition’s
innovation and organizational agility. alignment to your company’s business
Top-down organizational structures and talent strategy. The elements
and management used to be the that will really move the needle on
norm for interacting with employees. employee engagement are unique
Today, employees can connect to your to each organization. Our experience
business through a network of people working with technology firms
and interactions using a variety of indicates four major dimensions:
technologies—across, adjacent and leadership, development, recognition
within your enterprise. This shift and culture.
both improves their productivity and The dimensions of your company’s
transforms their interactions with connected employee experience are
customers. By designing a connected unique to your brand, business strategy
and employee value proposition. There
is no one size fits all.

Figure 1: Employee value propositon

1. Leadership Dimension Descriptions:

Leadership—focused thought and
energy that inspire and direct and are
cascaded through the organization
Development—Coaching and training
Vision & Management
that allows employees to continuously
Strategy
learn and grow personally and profes-
sionally
2. Development

Day to Day
Recognition—the hand, heart and
4. Culture

Flexibility & Employee Work

Diversity
Value mind are recognized and rewarded
Proposition to motivate employees to do their
best work
Culture—The shared assumptions that
Environment
Learning and drive organizational norms for how
Development
people interact and get work done

These four dimensions do not exist in

isolation, but influence the employee
Compensation Benefits experience through a combination of
3. Recognition eight elements.

4 The Connected Employee Experience

Unpacking the connected employee experience

Consider each of the four dimensions Managers give employees opportunities Culture
of the connected employee experience to explore outside their current environ- Environment. It’s important to
in relation to the value your business ment (e.g., through special projects as understand the role of workspace
offers its workforce. Ask, given our em- well as international and cross-team and how you can leverage it to
ployee value proposition, what should assignments). Collaboration on innova- enhance your company’s culture and
we emphasize to provide the greatest tive solutions to business problems is create physical and virtual spaces
value? How are we leveraging our encouraged and celebrated. where workers want to be. The work
unique strengths to create a connected environment needs to provide places
Learning & Development fosters
experience tailored to our business? for team interaction as well as quiet
personal and professional growth
through an open learning environment reflection. It’s aesthetics should reflect
Leadership your brand and your corporate values.
and a diversity of learning opportuni-
Vision and Strategy generate
ties and formats. There are mecha- Today’s 24/7 social media tools can
purpose through meaningful work
nisms in place to help employees greatly expand an employee’s capacity
that contributes to larger ideas and
identify competency gaps—and to engage and transact with people and
goals. Leaders clearly articulate and
support is available (e.g., tuition information — anywhere, anytime,
communicate their organizational
reimbursement, mentors, coaches) on multiple devices, and across
vision, regularly refreshing that vision
to fill those gaps. organizational lines. As a result, it’s
to keep pace with environmental
changes. They maintain the integrity Employees feel that they are well possible for employees to more easily
of the vision and strategy even when trained and prepared for the work that learn about and “own” brand value and
faced with difficult business and they currently do, and they understand customer offerings. Employees at every
personnel decisions. their career path options within the level can be heard and acknowledged
organization. To prepare for their through dialogue and collaboration
Management facilitates employee up and down and across traditional
journey, employees constantly learn
commitment to the job, team and organizational reporting structures.
and develop new skills.
company; indeed, people more often
leave their managers than their jobs. Flexibility & Diversity reflects an
Recognition organization’s capability to adapt to
Not only must managers have a clear
Benefits are designed with a holistic changing employee needs; variations
sense of company vision—they must
approach to well-being. Examples in perspectives and backgrounds
also define and clearly communicate
include flexible hours (e.g., reduced are valued, and differences among
team strategy that supports that vision.
off-peak hours), health and wellness individuals are celebrated. Companies
People management is critical: programs, healthy living incentives, are creative in developing work
managers must lead, motivate and employee transportation and value for arrangements for the right reasons
develop talent while also responding the family. Company-sponsored events (e.g., video conference calls,
to employee feedback. Managers must are designed to fit generational values. telecommuting, compressed work
also be ready to engage in difficult schedules, or nontraditional work
Compensation includes a variety
conversations with senior leaders on hours) and a culture that encourages
of rewards and incentives. Pay for
behalf of their teams. employees to bring their authentic
performance is the underlying principle
for compensation, but some of the selves to work in a professional manner.
Development
greatest contributions to employee Other clues: Diversity and personal
Day-to-Day Work is supported
communities come from those seeking interest circles are active in the
by personal and professional
status or intellectual reward. Social company. Teams embrace individuals
development. Engaged employees
tools offer the ability to add rankings with divergent perspectives. The
are passionate about what they do,
or kudos with a simple click within organization reflects the demographics
recognizing their role in the company’s
an online community. A mixture of of its customers. Management values
success. They understand the
options is available to appeal to different innovative ideas even though they
importance of the “not so sexy” work
needs. For example: individual and disrupt the status quo.
and how it contributes to the vision.
team rewards; short- and long-term
incentives; and financial and non-
PwC 5
financial incentives.
Create a common vision — take your employee
experience pulse
As you decide where to focus, identify Here are two examples of what tech companies may uncover when they take
the best opportunities within the four their employee experience pulse. These examples show how the different dimen-
dimensions to increase employee sions of the experience work together. Further, they show how tech companies
engagement. Ask questions such can intentionally create connected experiences that increase their competitive-
as these: ness as an employer.
• How can we use technology and
Performance management, development and recognition
collaboration methodology to
engage employees most effectively? Traditional: The company ranks employees Connected: Annual performance reviews are
during annual reviews that focus on past abolished, or their role changed. Instead, the
• What are the drags on their performance and recognizes employees company has implemented a system of real
productivity? through monetary rewards based on those time coaching and mentoring. Managers are
rankings. Employees are reliant on their themselves coached on how to sustain the
• What do we need to do to support managerial chain for professional and new model regardless of the heavy demands
our employee value proposition personal development, taking classes on their time. With regular messaging from the
from the prescribed curricula as required. top, the new model has been embraced. The
and long-term talent strategy?
They work primarily within the silos of their tempo of recognition has also picked up, with
departments, and they follow career paths an emphasis on innovation and agility.
Involve everyone, from the CEO down, directed by their immediate supervisors.
in defining the “connected” states for the Employees have opportunities to talk with
Goals are set for individual employees at people from the top to the bottom of the
four dimensions—and then in moving the departmental level, and these goals are company; as a result, they better understand
beyond the traditional tactics that have aligned with those of their manager. There the metrics on which business performance
failed to build engagement in the past. is no system in place to ensure that the is measured. The customer’s needs—made
collective output from all the employees in visible through online forums and more
The trick is to execute your plan in such
different departments meets the collective sophisticated data analytics—more directly
a way that the varied pieces connect to needs of the business. Many workers are drive employee productivity. Employees from
form a holistic execution that avoids unable to see how their job duties directly different departments around the world are
inconsistency or competing elements.66 or indirectly contribute to adding business able to coordinate their contributions and
value. Individual employee goals conflict innovate together to meet customer needs.
with each other, often drawing on the
same scarce resources. Employees learn about opportunities in
other parts of the business and expand
their professional acumen. And how they
contribute is not limited by the silo in
which they sit—for example, a hardware
salesperson in Massachusetts may provide
a tip in a global consumer forum which
“We all need a pat on our backs. Appreciation and helps to close a sale in Australia.

recognition are important aspects of our professional Careers paths are defined to suit the needs of
different generations and emerging business
lives. Appreciation is the spark that keeps the fire in models. Leaders and managers talk openly
me alive.” about the value provided to the company by
employees forging paths that increase both
their performance and their job satisfaction.
— Millennial Jammer7

6 PwC, The keys to employee engagement,

October 2013.
7 PwC, NextGen: A global generational study, 2013.

6 The Connected Employee Experience

 Rethink talent acquisition
Technology companies need to
take full advantage of networks
in finding talent. They can create
events, such as hackathons and
contests, to not only generate ideas
but also to identify the generators
of those ideas. And they need to
make it easy for employees
to spread the word outside
the company.
One large technology firm, for
example, recently shared its search
for a new VP with its employees.
All the employees had to do was
to click a button in the message to
send a prescribed tweet to their
Twitter network. Clicking a second
button sent a prewritten notice
of the job opening to all of the
employee’s LinkedIn connections.
Searches to fill new roles such as
social data analysts and community
managers should focus on the
business impact with interview
questions such as:
• How have you mined data to
determine different drivers of
Corporate responsibility and personal values customer satisfaction, and how
was your analysis used to help
Traditional: Corporate responsibility is Connected: Employees are motivated
the business to drive change?
limited to annual fund raising organized and by and feel personally connected to
controlled by the values of the headquarters the company’s corporate responsibility • What strategies did you use to
corporate responsibility function. Employees program. And no wonder—they have had
measure the effectiveness of
feel limited connection from the causes to a hand in determining which programs
which the company contributes. In fact, few are supported. Donations are given higher those changes?
are even aware of the causes to which the visibility in the company, and employees
company contributes. are encouraged to donate time as well as
• What key performance
funds to local nonprofits and those that indicators (KPIs) have you
have personal meaning to them. used to demonstrate meaningful
Shared value for things like environmental
business impact through online
sustainability are considered as part of social activity?
doing business. Sustainable practices
are encouraged as a means to innovation
• How do you measure brand
ranging from social entrepreneurship reach digitally?
to operating decisions to corporate
fundraising and volunteerism. • What strategies have you
employed to engage your
Employee achievements as volunteers, followers? (a 500-strong
both individually and in teams, are
celebrated through the company and are community is a better indicator
tied directly to the company’s goals and of top talent in social marketing
vision. Metrics with nonmonetary rewards than 10,000 individuals
are established, such as giving employees
recognition, for every 1000 conversations
incented in some way to
with customers and, at the same time, follow the candidate).
donating $1000 to a world hunger bank.

PwC 7
Making it agile makes it sustainable

Design the connected experience with the pace of global change in mind. Consider the megatrends driving the industry
and build in mechanisms to periodically renew your connected employee experience. Companies that build a connected
experience tied to their employee value proposition enjoy a range of benefits. Bottom line, the level of employee
engagement serves as a barometer for the health of the company as a whole.8

Figure 2: Benefits of the connected employee experience

Employee greater job Employer innovation

satisfaction and at speed
engagement

Increased productivity
Greater agility

To get started:
1. Align your business strategy with your talent strategy and create your unique
employee value proposition.
2. Evaluate the current state of employee engagement. Prioritize the dimensions
of the connected experience that will create the most value and can become
part of the organization’s core identity.
3. Design and implement the prioritized connected experience initiatives.
4. Measure the impact of the elements of the connected experience initiative to
determine its impact on employee engagement, talent and business objectives.
5. Review your connected employee experience as part of the periodic review of
business and talent strategies.

8 PwC, The keys to employee engagement, October 2013

8 The Connected Employee Experience

Winning the war for talent

Given global and industry trends,

there are no signs that the war for What rethinking talent • Create a connected experience
talent will abate any time soon. means for your business for employees—just as you do
In light of the intense demand for To adapt to the forces outlined here, for consumers. The connected
talent, employee engagement is HR functions in technology firms experience is not only about
more important than ever before. need to: tools and technology. Map out
Absenteeism and turnover are lower the journey each employee
• Take the long view. 61% of takes from hire to separation,
when employees feel a sense of
executives say they are unable to the impact the connected
belonging and community. Innovation
forecast labor costs three years experience has on business,
rises and execution rates double.
from now.* And 26% haven’t and how the suite of technologies
Performance-related business
evaluated their workforce mix your organization has chosen
outcomes jump by 240%.97
in the past two years.* To bring will contribute.
Your unique connected experience is new value propositions to market
key to (re) thinking talent in the tech • Create the conditions that
and/or protect market share,
industry—where employee expecta- enable everyone (e.g., from
companies need to balance short-
tions are high and evolving different work experiences,
term capacity planning with
as generations mature and millennials cultures, and generations) to
strategic workforce planning.
are becoming the dominant demo- advance up the connectedness
• Work with the business. HR curve. Traditional thinking
graphic of the workforce. To win the
Business Partners are the face of is often the biggest hurdle
war for talent, you need a connected
HR to the business. They need to companies face. Tailor the
employee experience that is both
continue to drive HR transactions experience to the different
agile and sustainable.
for the business—while at the needs of each generation for
same time broadening their recognition and reward.
skills and competencies, taking
a more consultative approach.
• Ask the right questions prior * PwC Saratoga 2013 US Human Capital
to hire. Focus more on business Effectiveness Report
impact, and less on technical
statistics that would be of little
interest to business leaders.

9 PwC, 16th Annual Global CEO Survey, 2013;

Gallup, State of the American Workforce, 2013.

PwC 9
www.pwc.com

PwC can help

Creating a connected employee experience and (re) thinking talent can drive
business value. Is your company prepared? For a deeper discussion on the
connected employee experience, please contact one of our leaders:

Antonia Cusumano
US Technology Industry, People & Change Leader
408 817 1286
[email protected]

Let’s talk
Please reach out to any of our technology leaders to discuss this or other
challenges. We’re here to help.

Tom Archer Cory Starr

US Technology Industry Leader US Technology Assurance Leader
408 817 3836 408 817 1215
[email protected] [email protected]

Kayvan Shahabi Diane Baylor

US Technology Advisory Leader US Technology Tax Leader
408 817 5724 408 817 5005
[email protected] [email protected]

Acknowledgements
The following PwC professionals contributed their experience and knowledge
to produce this paper.

Len Devanna Lucy Garrick Todd Shimizu

Director, Customer Competency Manager, People & Change Managing Director,
408 817 5878 971 544 4443 Customer Competency
[email protected] [email protected] 408 817 4109
[email protected]

About PwC’s Technology Institute

The Technology Institute is PwC’s global research network that studies the
business of technology and the technology of business with the purpose of
creating thought leadership that offers both fact-based analysis and experience-
based perspectives. Technology Institute insights and viewpoints originate
from active collaboration between our professionals across the globe and their
first-hand experiences working in and with the technology industry. For more
information please contact Tom Archer, Technology Industry Leader.

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This content is for general information purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors.
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