Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

Did you know we drink 517 million cups of coffee every day in the U.S.? Those 3.1 cups per person add up to one whopper of an industry. And it’s no surprise who’s at the top of the coffee game: Starbucks. But there’s an alternate timeline out there with no pumpkin spice lattes. One where CEO Howard Schultz didn’t return to the helm in 2008 to turn the company around in the wake of store closings, widespread layoffs, and a significant drop in share price. How did he do it?

Stephanie Briggs, director of employee experience at Ivanti, knows what it takes to provide the ideal employee experience. Storytellers are a special breed of people who understand the nuance of communication and the sacredness of words. They comprehend how people may need to hear messages in various ways to grasp a story’s essence and inner meaning. You’re a lucky company when you have such an individual leading your employee experience.

If you have seen the movie Office Space (1999), you know all about pointless TPS reports, impossible-to-understand printer instructions, (“PC Load Letter”), and micromanaging superiors. Office Space was an office comedy, so the portrayals were a little extreme. But who can’t relate to the annoyances of working in an office, even if we work remotely?

When you’re living in the middle of a workplace revolution, it can be hard to see the forest for the trees, especially if you’re a Millennial who grew up with technology — literally. Born between 1981 and 1996, Millennials ranged from eight to twenty-three when Facebook was first released on the Harvard campus in 2004. (Yes, Facebook is that young.) After that, more social networks followed: Twitter in 2006, Instagram in 2010, and now TikTok in 2016.

The quote above sits on my desk, right next to my favorite quote from tennis legend Arthur Ashe, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Both of these quotes motivate me to evaluate what’s happening in my field, how I can impact it, and what that impact can make on the future.

Confession: I’m a white-knuckle flyer. Even though I travel a lot, every clang, rattle, and clink on an airplane can send me into a tailspin (pun intended). To stay as calm and collected as possible, I look for reassurance. And I always find it—in the flight attendants.

A couple of years ago, Erik was straight out of college and beyond excited to land his first real job. To make it even better, his team members were welcoming and dedicated. Erik was thrilled to be part of a team that was making a difference for the company. But as time went on, the shine began to wear off. Erik lost interest in his work and started to see his job as a paycheck more than anything else. What happened? Erik became a disengaged employee. How does an engaged employee become disengaged?

What’s in a name? For Mary Poppen, her’s is synonymous with organizational knowledge and understanding that the employee experience contributes significantly to the customer experience. Mary’s insights are widely respected across the customer success industry, and she has been a speaker and contributor to many articles and books on the subject.

The Great Resignation of 2021. And 2022. And 2023? If economic trends continue, that may well be the case. Attrition is increasing across the board and a lot of it has to do with employee disengagement. Harvard economist Lawrence Katz calls this “a once-in-a-generation ‘take this job and shove it’ moment.” But it doesn’t have to be. Employee engagement can dramatically lower attrition rates in both high and low turnover industries.

When you work at a company called Human Interest, it would only make sense that employee connection is central to your company culture and employee experience. But for Debbie Gunning, VP of People, connection has been at the forefront of her career since she discovered the field of recruitment and talent acquisition. Connection has been a long-running theme in her jobs and life.