The title of CEEO gained traction in business-speak when, in 2015, Airbnb’s Director of HR, Mark Levy, rebranded his company role as the “employee experience chief.”
The introduction of the role of Chief Employee Experience Officer (CEEO), is a testament to HR’s shift to the function of a strategic business partner. HR is no longer waiting for passive signs of employee satisfaction in the workplace.
Analysts state that HR departments equipped with employee data are proactive in identifying the challenges involved with managing human capital.
The Chief Employee Experience Officer spearheads the design and implementation of the organization’s digital transformation. In some companies, the CEEO might report to the head of HR. In other organizations, the CEEO is part of C-Level management and leadership and has the task of aligning business goals with talent programs.
The concept of EX in organizations is still relatively new. Most CEEOs surveyed have only had the position for 2-years or less. The position requires a bevy of skills, ranging from experience with analytics to employee communications.
CPO vs. CHRO vs. CEEO
The traditional role of the CHRO belongs to an era of personal management that values processes and procedures over people. The more recent introduction of the CPO focuses on acquiring, compensating, and retaining top talent.
The CEEO widens the scope of these functions, using principles of people management that encompass an employee’s entire career.
The role of HR in the modern workplace is to walk employees through a journey that’s as professionally enriching to them as possible, ensuring that the top talent remains at the company for the long term. The CEEOs objective is to build the company’s roadmap outlining the specifics of this journey.
The CEEO must communicate with all departments, from HR to finance, marketing, sales, and legal, to uncover ways to innovate with employee programs that form the employee experience.
CEEOs tie development initiatives to recruitment strategies to form a meaningful culture of recognition and rewards. They also need to include a policy of long-term employee development that consists of some foresight into business succession planning.
Challenges Facing CEEOs
An effective CEEO is fluent in the use of tech and big data in crafting positive employee experiences. The CEEOs mission is to what makes employees productive at work, and that employees have all the tools they need to boost efficiency and productivity in the workplace.
The challenge that exists for the CEEO is finding insights into translating the data.
Tech transforms HR into an architect of the entire employee lifecycle, from a candidate to exiting the company. The CEEO has to help HR use the data to create personalized employee experiences that bring a “wow” factor to the workplace.
By aligning employee interest with development programs, CEEOs and HR present a culture that’s supportive of its employees. CEEOs use the metric of “Lifetime Talent Value” to measure the investment the organization makes in the employee’s development.
By working with HR to analyze this data, CEEOs can help improve employee engagement and reduce resistance to the introduction of automation in the company’s digital transformation.
