Improving the Employee Experience (hereafter, EX) is a must that is on the table of any successful organisation. It is a systematic and continuous process that, as I explain in this post “Employee Experience and the Christmas tree decorator”, is enhanced by having a systematic framework in 3 areas.
The digital age has brought with it a number of changes and advances that have radically transformed the business world. Among these, Design Thinking and Hackathons have emerged as key strategies to improve organisational efficiency, innovation and employee engagement, but how do EX, Design Thinking and Hackathons relate to each other? How can they be integrated to drive business growth?
Design Thinking is a problem-solving approach that prioritises empathy and collaboration to develop user-centred solutions. It is based on five stages: empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test.
Hackathons, originally events where programmers came together to solve software challenges, have evolved to become powerful accelerators of innovation in companies, helping to evolve organisational culture. They now span multiple disciplines, such as EX, and are used to drive creative thinking and problem solving in record time.
So how do these three elements connect? The answer lies in the people-centred nature of each.
Design Thinking can be applied to improve EX by using its user-centred approach methodology to better understand employees’ needs, expectations and experiences. This approach allows companies to identify areas for improvement and co-create solutions that improve EX.
In addition, Hackathons can be a powerful tool for implementing both Design Thinking and improving EX. Hackathons can be organised with a focus on improving EX, where employees come together to identify problems and develop solutions. This approach not only promotes multidisciplinary collaboration (not silos) and creative thinking, but also empowers employees by making them part of the decision-making process. This in turn improves their engagement and satisfaction, key elements of a positive EX.
For example, we have worked with our clients to redesign specific people processes (efficiency in onboarding, promotions, ease of transport and parking, …) or rethink broader and more ambitious aspects (rethinking the HR function, challenges around work-life balance, …). The employees, organised in multidisciplinary teams working in parallel, use the Design Thinking framework to develop creative and employee-centred solutions. This sprint work in Hackathon format encourages the generation of as many ideas out of the box as possible, which must then be landed and concretised in order to develop them with agile frameworks.
The integration of EX, Design Thinking and Hackathons reinforces the culture of innovation in the organisation as employees who participate in Hackathons or Design Thinking projects tend to be more creative, more engaged and have a greater capacity to innovate as these approaches encourage collaboration, experimentation and risk-taking.In conclusion, the intersection between EX, Design Thinking and Hackathons offers a powerful platform to improve the work environment, drive innovation and foster a culture of engagement and collaboration. By adopting these employee-centric approaches, companies can improve not only their employees’ experience, but also their overall performance and ability to navigate the changing business world. The company of the future, or the present (rather), will be one that understands the importance of employee-centricity and uses innovative strategies such as Design Thinking and Hackathons to constantly improve EX.
