Employee engagement vs. Workplace experience

Employee engagement and workplace experience are two terms that can be nebulous but are essential for every company’s success.  Employee engagement refers to how well a company retains talent and how product their people are. Typically. engaged employees feel a sense of purpose, are productive, and commit to staying with their organization for a while. Typically, levers that can be pulled with in the HR and people ops realm affect employee engagement like benefits, culture, progression plans, and so on.  Workplace experience is how well office design, technology, and culture interact to create an environment employees can thrive in. Generally, workplace experience focuses on flexibility and visibility for all employees -- including the remote workforce -- resulting in improved recruitment, retention, and productivity. While not the same thing, if employee engagement and workplace experience were two circles, there would definitely be overlap to create a venn diagram. For example, a subpar workplace experience can contribute to lower employee engagement (I can’t find a place to sit, how am I supposed to get my work done? now I’m frustrated) and fantastic employee engagement can contribute to a great workplace experience (people at my company are content and productive, that makes it easier for me to come to work and feel motivated to get my own work done which contributes to the greater workplace as a whole).