{"id":7384,"date":"2024-12-16T11:46:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T11:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/us\/?post_type=resources&p=7384"},"modified":"2026-02-16T06:26:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:26:57","slug":"digital-employee-experience","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/us\/resources\/hr-strategy\/workforce-planning\/digital-employee-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital employee experience (DEX): A practical guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Natasha K. A. Wiebusch<\/strong>, JD<\/strong>, Marketing Content Manager at Brightmine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A great digital employee experience that attracts and retains top talent is not just about quick IT ticket turnarounds. Those days are long gone, and they’ve been replaced by better technology, higher employee expectations and a new definition of the digital employee experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this resource, you’ll learn how to build an excellent digital employee experience for today’s \u2014 and tomorrow’s \u2014 workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the digital employee experience?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The digital employee experience, or DEX, is a culmination of all an employee’s perceptions of and interactions and connections with the technology they use to function at work. This includes the technology employees use to complete tasks related directly to their work and personal tasks. Personal tasks may include enrolling in health care benefits or requesting family leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DEX is an essential element of the overall employee experience<\/a>. And its role in the overall experience continues to increase as organizations pursue their digital transformations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following are a few examples of the digital employee experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Example 1: The deskless car mechanic<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Good experience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A car mechanic uses an app on their phone to track their progress on an inspection. They can take photos and add notes directly to the photo. The app can then create a form in real time showing what repairs the car may need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the app, the mechanic no longer needs to carry a clipboard or try to remember what they’re seeing. The mechanic can also move around or under the car with ease since their phone can fit in their pocket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Example 2: The remote salesperson<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Mediocre experience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A salesperson working from home in Chicago uses a customer relationship management (CRM) software to track their leads. The CRM allows them to create profiles, add notes, track communications with customers and much more. The salesperson uses their CRM and Microsoft Teams to triage work with fellow coworkers located in New York. Unfortunately, the CRM has a Microsoft integration, so they need to copy and paste important notes to team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company uses more than one CRM because they recently acquired companies that already had their own CRMs. This helped them expand into new regions, but they haven’t yet fully integrated the companies under the same platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the salesperson is ready to pass a new customer to the customer onboarding team, they can do so directly in the CRM. The process is smooth and efficient. However, if they need to pass the customer to the New York office, they need to do so manually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Example 3: The employee seeking family leave<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Poor experience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

An employee is gearing up to go out on family leave, and they want to confirm their parental leave benefits. First, they browse the company’s Sharepoint site to find the family leave policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The policies are hard to find in the company’s intranet. The employee eventually finds the policy stating that they must create a ticket with human resources (HR). The policy links to another document that provides directions for creating tickets through the HR information system (HRIS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the HRIS, the employee tries to create a ticket but realizes there are several types with little explanation. They’re not sure which ticket they need to create, so they email HR directly and ask for assistance. HR responds two days later with additional directions. After the employee submits their ticket, HR reaches out again to inform the employee that they need to register with a provider, FamilyLeave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employee then must contact FamilyLeave to complete the process. Only then does the employee learn which documents they need to provide. FamilyLeave requires the employee to register with a document management platform to upload their documents. This requires a separate login, and though secure, the system times out frequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employee is finally able to submit their application for family leave.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Elements of the digital employee experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As you can see from the examples above, in today’s digital workplace, employees use technology all the time. And, how you build an employee’s digital environment can greatly impact their productivity, engagement and personal well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what exactly makes up the digital experience? Some organizations define it as, simply, what software programs employees use and how happy they are with their IT department. If you do this, you may find yourself counting dozens of software programs without context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A better way to break down the digital employee experience is by how<\/em> employees experience technology at work. Generally, employees experience technology in three “spheres” in the workplace \u2014 which often intersect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. Work: Completing work tasks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Employees engage with technology at work regularly to complete tasks. Today, this includes both employees who work at their desks and deskless employees. Employees may use technology to write their reports, build designs, and most importantly, make decisions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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2. Social: Collaborating with team members<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A key part of the digital employee experience is communication and collaboration through technology. Various types of technology facilitate this in the workplace for both remote and on-site employees. As a group, business leaders generally refer to them as collaboration tools. However, these tools can take many forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employees may use video conferencing software, chat tools, or project management software to collaborate with other employees. Even when employees are on site, collaboration tools can help employees coordinate and manage team meetings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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3. Personal: Engaging with total rewards and administration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Employees regularly experience technology at work when they’re engaging with their employee benefits and managing their personal affairs. For example, to request time off, the large majority of employees submit requests online. Employees also engage with HR software programs to complete open enrollment, manage their retirement plans and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employees also often use technology to manage their own career development. They can update their organizational profiles, select development courses and track development progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The convergence of the physical and digital experience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It may seem counter-intuitive, but the digital employee experience can also include technology that influences employee’s physical environment. Many call this the convergence of the physical and digital experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technology can influence both a remote employee’s environment and on-site environments. The following are common examples of how workplace technology can influence the digital employee experience through the physical environment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n