Popelka - Experience, Inc.

Jill Popelka, former SAP executive and advocate for improving the experience of work, offers compelling evidence that organizations of all sorts need to change. The specific change is that they should prioritize employee experience in order to foster motivation, commitment, and innovation and all of these contribute to the bottom lines of productivity, profitability, and sustainability.

Experience, Inc. (Popelka, 2022) is relevant to all types of organizations, although the author is coming from over 25 years as a technology executive. Think schools, not-for-profits, community, churches, and for-profit businesses. None can escape the reality of 2022, a time when post-pandemic recovery is underway but with the new twist of employees being empowered to demand better compensation and working conditions. Even organizations that rely on volunteers would do well to heed Popelka’s advice; perhaps these settings require even greater focus on experience – the experience of being involved, contributing, and spending time in ways that bring meaning to one’s life.

 What do employees (e.g., workers, volunteers, contributors) want?

·      Purpose: to find meaning in their work

·      Agency: to have some say over how, when, and where they work

·      Belonging: to feel part of a community, even if they are remote, freelance, or part-time; to be part of a diverse community.

·      Recognition: to be acknowledged for their contributions, in multiple forms, on a regular basis (p. 12).

It's not about simply going through the motions of employee responsiveness. These conditions must be based on a sincere belief in people and in their desire to both advance themselves and contribute to something greater than themselves.

Agency and autonomy are core to ongoing growth and innovation and, therefore, deserve special attention. Popelka references Dr. Autumn Krauss to explain the primary challenge – “Marketing has got it all segmented down to a sample size of one… we shouldn’t be surprised that employees come to work wanting an individualized experience, specifically catered to them” (p. 54). Agency allows workers to figure out what is important to them and propose ways to achieve what they most want. Agency and autonomy require cultivation, especially among new members of any community. When you’re new, the inclination is to go along with what you believe is expected which tends to disempower. Helping newcomers identify their vision for themselves and how they will contribute may involve ambiguity that is initially challenging but it ultimately contributes to much greater involvement and satisfaction.

Leadership is obviously very important when attempting to create better workplaces or more engaging communities. And the most important responsibilities of contemporary leadership are:

·       Driving clarity of purpose

·       Creating connection

·       Requiring transparency and building trust

It’s not about charisma or power – it’s about the people and leading in ways that engage them.

Popelka’s book is easy to read, provides numerous examples, and offers “Take this with you” boxes at the end of each chapter to remind the reader of key points. Near the end of Experience, Inc. she offers the bold statement “Perhaps my single greatest motivation for writing this book is to argue that what is good for the company can never again be separated from what is good for its workers” (p. 196). Rephrase this for any organization – what is good for the collective can never again be separated from what is good for those who contribute to it. Purpose, a sense of belonging, and recognition of value naturally foster greater productivity.