The role of a workplace experience manager

Workspaces are living things. Employees and clients move through workspaces to collaborate and accomplish goals. In most cases, companies believe their office space is good enough to promote healthy collaboration. However, this may not be the case.

Disorganized workplaces result in feelings of distress, poor motivation, and disengagement from even the best employees.¹ By disorganized, we don’t mean spaces like a college dorm room—we mean spaces that are not yet optimized for collaboration and analytics within the Internet of Things (IoT).² Disengaged workplaces result in disengaged employees and millions of dollars lost to low productivity annually.³

^‍As it relates to the employee life cycle, engagement is highly important for maximizing productivity and happiness. But how is workplace engagement different from workplace experience? Employee engagement is a continuous process of reiteration and testing throughout the employee life cycle.⁴ In the macro environment, employee experience is the entirety of an employee’s role, tasks, relationships, wellbeing, and interactions with your company.

To improve employee engagement and promote a positive workplace experience, businesses have developed new roles.Introducing the workplace experience manager.

Let’s take a look at the role of a workplace experience manager. We’ll cover why the job matters and how to optimize a workplace for optimal experience and engagement.

‍The role of a workplace experience manager

A workplace experience manager oversees and contributes to the aesthetics and productivity of their office space. Beyond increasing employee satisfaction and employees’ sense of value, the workplace experience manager develops a positive workplace experience through numerous variables, including:

• Easing travel between spaces and controlling the physical layout of all spaces
• Improving the aesthetics and ambiance in collaborative and private spaces (e.g., lighting, noise levels, privacy shutters, accessibility services)
• Implementing IoT throughout the office (e.g., movement sensors, security cameras, networking, power, conferencing systems, and office management software)
• Optimizing pre-existing environments to match the company’s vision and goals and employee desires
• Maintaining an oversight into key internal activities (e.g., hiring, corporate culture, real-time employee feedback, and resource allocation)

The workplace experience manager wears many hats. IT Systems, human resources, office management, and more come together in one. Locating a candidate capable of maintaining a harmonious relationship between multiple departments may be challenging, which is why many large companies opt for multiple workplace experience managers. Of course, smaller organizations can get by with one or two of these roles. ‍Now that you know what a workplace experience manager does, we’ll explain why their role is significant to the long-term success of an organization.

Why workplace experience managers matter

‍Workplace experience managers are essential. Especially now in 2022, they could be the deciding factor for a company’s success or failure. Why? Let’s explain:‍

• 54% of managers say leadership is out of touch with employees.⁵ A workplace experience manager can bridge the gap between departments, executives, and other employees.
• 74% of managers say they don’t have the influence or resources to make change for employees.⁵ Assigning a specific person the powers and resources to implement change can allow for changes to outdated policies and procedures.
• 30% of respondents to the 2022 Qualtrics Employee Experience survey said their experience with their company’s technology exceeds or greatly exceeds their expectations.⁶ On the flip-side, 70% of employees are not satisfied with their company’s technology. A workplace experience manager can advocate for cost-smart overhauls of company technology and software.
• 91% of respondents felt engaged when their company had productivity-enabling tech, while only 24% felt engaged without the same tech.⁶ Workplace experience managers can test products and roll out productivity-enabling software to improve company-wide engagement.
• 70% of employees say their organizations have made sufficient progress towards greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).⁶ 67% of the same employees say senior management is genuinely committed to building a diverse and inclusive company. Workplace experience managers can assist with DEIB initiatives to promote long-term engagement with all employees.

We’ve laid out several reasons why having a workplace experience manager matters in the modern workplace. Next, let’s look at what qualities, skills, and qualifications you should look for in a potential candidate for your office’s workplace experience manager role.

Qualities of a workplace experience manager

Workplace experience managers need a variety of skills, experiences, and knowledge to support the employees of a company. Job listings, such as this listing from Weave, are a good place to look for qualifications. For now, we’ll list some items you’ll want to be on the lookout for:

• Education (or an equivalent experience). Human resources management and business operations are good resume items to look for. However, be sure your candidate has experience with managing finances as well. Budgets and vendor relationships will be essential in this role.
• Technical Skills. A workplace experience manager needs to regularly provide data-backed, actionable insights. In addition, a portfolio of leadership and project management experience is essential.
• Communication Skills. This role will require an irregular amount of interpersonal and interdepartmental communication—people skills are a must. No amount of experience, education, or charisma can make up for poor collaboration.

The future of the workplace experience

The future of work is changing. We don’t know what will happen next, but we do know people will be at the center of it all. To manage employee experience in a dynamic workplace, you need to find the right people and software to stay on track. Envoy provides real-time analytics to support key decisions for day-to-day or long-term goals. Request a demo or visit our homepage to learn more!‍

‍Sources

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8236875/
2. https://www.oracle.com/internet-of-things/what-is-iot/
3. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/285674/improve-employee-engagement-workplace.aspx#ite-357548
4. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321743/increase-productivity-lowest-possible-cost.aspx
5. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index
6. ‍https://www.qualtrics.com/news/qualtrics-announces-top-workplace-trends-to-watch-for-in-2022/