Conceptualizing the digital employee experience
| Pages | 131-135 |
| Published date | 14 February 2020 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-01-2020-0004 |
| Date | 14 February 2020 |
| Author | Yasaman Gheidar,Mehdi ShamiZanjani |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Conceptualizing the digital
employee experience
Yasaman Gheidar and Mehdi ShamiZanjani
Abstract
Purpose –One of the hottest topics in today’s professional and academic debates is digital
transformation;some even prefer to use the term ‘‘digitalbusiness transformation’’ that is more in linewith
the business aspectsof transformation. On the other hand, in today’s workplaces, humanresource (HR)
approaches have come into a new era named employee experience (EX). The digital employee
experience (DEX), one of the outcomes of entrancing digital transformation in workplaces, has
revolutionized the business world by shifting the priorities of organizations from focusing solely on the
needs of managers to focusingon all the employees and their experiences in the workplace. Despite the
importance of this concept,there is not a unified and complete definition for it. Thus,the purpose of this
paper is to conceptualizethe DEX.
Design/methodology/approach –In this study, a systematic literature review was conducted in
academic and professional databases, and then to complete and confirm the definition, 11 academic
and professionalexperts in the field of HR and digital transformationin the country were interviewed.
Findings –A definitionof the DEX was provided that covers previous gaps about definingthis concept.
Research limitations/implications –It should be notedthat research on conceptualizing EX ratherthan
DEX has been conducted on academic grounds, and in the professional world, there havebeen some
initial attempts on conceptualizingthe DEX. Therefore, this study was defined as the need to provide a
definitionof the DEX.
Originality/value –The importance of implementing the positive DEX, on the one hand, and failing to
conduct comprehensivestudies to understand this concept and provide a precise definitionof it, on the
other hand,have become critical issues in organizations.
Keywords Workplace, Human resources, Digital transformation, Digital employee experience
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Today, we are in the midst of a global productivity crisis. Although the productivity growth
trend has been declining in recent years, it is wrong to blame the financial problems alone
(Sage people, 2018). The emergence of new topics such as digital transformation in the
business world and governments has made the importance of productivity more prominent
than ever. Some experts agree that not only increasing productivity but also the survival of
organizations and governments depends on joining the digital transformation journey in
following years. Digital leaders need to continually challenge their organization to ensure
that the changes made a competitive advantage and productivity for the organization
(Edmead, 2016). Also, some experts believe that successful digital transformation is not
about technology, it is about people, and they claim digital transformation is human
transformation (Satell, 2018;Wigston, 2019;Tabrizi et al.,2019). Although some experts
believe customer experience as the heart of the digital transformation (Clark, 2017),
customers are often overlooked by other essential groups in the organization. Employees
are a crucial part of the organization, and thismust be considered to bring about the digital
transformation, because if an organization is looking to create a successful customer
Yasaman Gheidar and
Mehdi ShamiZanjani are
both based at the Faculty of
Management, University of
Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-01-2020-0004 VOL. 19 NO. 3 2020, pp. 131-135, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 131
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