Transforming the digital workspace to cope with the pandemic

The Covid-19 crisis has challenged organisations on a global scale and employee experience (EX) remains at the heart of it. Heres a timely guide on how to engage today's rarest resource – talent – as it reveals the secrets for not only hiring and retaining top talent, but on building a deeply engaged workforce for organisational success.

"Winning With Employees: Leveraging Employee Experience for a Competitive Edge" (SAGE India) by D.N. Venkatesh, Professor in OB & HR at the Goa Institute of Management, unfolds the mantra of turning employee experience into fuel for customer satisfaction, profit, and growth of the organisation.

With deep industry insights, the book shows that before an organisation can deliver a transcendent customer experience (CX), it must first build a superlative employee experience (EX). To this end, it covers several aspects of execution of EX strategy across all facets of HR functions.

Touching upon managing multi-generational workforce, it talks about various aspects of change and transformation that an organisation must undergo to become ‘experience focused'. Last but not the least, the book guides readers on the journey of creating a place where people do not need to show up but want to show up to work.

Thoroughly researched, this book blends in-depth interviews and expert insights to examine the role of HR, crowdsourcing strategies, and performance management processes that help transform the digital workplace. It talks about various touchpoints between the employer and the employees ranging from hiring, onboarding, performance, rewards, L&D, and employee exit.

Commenting on the change in work dynamics and sustaining employee engagement in the wake of the pandemic, the author said: "Covid has brought into focus the urgency for organisations to deal with hybrid workplaces and hybrid talent. This calls to seamless connection and customisation of all facets of HR services to their employees. This book offers both strategic and operational insights that will help organizations and HR leaders to redesign their processes/policies to align them to digital and hybrid workplaces."

D.N. Venkatesh has 30 years of experience across industry, academics and research. In his current role, apart from facilitating learning for students of PGDM, he is involved in designing and delivering of executive learning programs and offers HR consulting solutions to organisations. He is actively involved with industry bodies like NIPM, CII and AIMA.