Digital employee experience: A human-centred imperative for the C-suite

Digital employee experience

In an era obsessed with automation and AI, the real source of progress remains unmistakably human. At a recent roundtable with senior digital and technology leaders, hosted in partnership with Nexthink, the conversation on Digital Employee Experience turned from tools to trust, from systems to culture.

In this age of AI, automation and augmentation, it can be easy to forget that the real engines of innovation and productivity are not algorithms or platforms. It’s people. This was the—encouraging—central theme of a recent roundtable for technology, digital, and data leaders, hosted to explore the evolving terrain of Digital Employee Experience (DEX), in partnership with Nexthink. 

What emerged from a lively two hour debate was no sterile conversation on efficiency gains or talent roadmapping, but a frank, funny, and at times frustrated discussion about culture, trust, leadership, and the unglamorous art of getting things done. Digital tools have done much to connect teams together and to the rest of the business, yet the parameters for good employee experience remain rooted in the physical and tangible. 

Read this write-up to unpack what today’s executives are looking to do to lead digitally, decisively and humanely.

Reactive IT to proactive transformation

In an anecdote that spoke volumes, one panellist described how a financial services firm moved from a purely reactive IT service model to one where support staff proactively tackled systemic issues, reducing tickets and elevating the employee experience, all within a year. The shift was not technical, they stressed; it was mental. It required breaking silos, finding and empowering so-called ‘doers’, and, crucially, having honest conversations across all levels of the organisation.

The outcome? Industry-best service scores and a re-energised support team that began thinking like product designers rather than troubleshooters.

This outcome resonated with the table as it referenced a key enabler—and blocker—to workforce engagement: the “permafrost of middle management”, as one Chief Data Officer mentioned.

While most of the C-suite understands the importance of transformation (or can at least repeat the jargon), middle management was repeatedly identified as the chokepoint.

This layer is often overburdened, under-informed, and caught between strategy and operations. Without proper alignment, transformation initiatives get stuck in purgatory. Agile in name only, digital in deck but not in delivery.

True transformation requires translating vision into action at this layer, with consistent communication and incentive alignment. One speaker noted: "You can't change the whole company, but you can find the chink in the armour."

Trust: The hidden currency of transformation

Throughout the whole conversation, if there was one word that silently ran beneath the entire conversation, it was trust.

From employees working overtime in the shadows because systems do not allow data access, to anonymous venting on internal platforms like Fishbowl, the message was clear: many employees no longer feel they are being listened to—or even understood.

The consequence? A quiet erosion of morale, engagement, and ultimately performance. One executive joked that the only reason people are staying is because the job market is tight. It is hardly the culture of a thriving business or, indeed, economy. The antidote? The table agreed transparent leadership, co-created solutions, and rethinking communication as a loop that includes active listening and course correction.

That’s because technology, the digital experience, is rarely the problem in and of itself.

Nearly all the time the technology works as it should do. The issue here is two-fold. First, the technology has been designed without properly understanding how it will be used in different contexts. Second, good technology is being implemented within bad cultures.

From catering teams struggling with digitised till systems to developers unable to get laptop replacements, the misalignment between product teams and frontline realities was glaring.

As one attendee said with exasperated wit: “The best tech doesn’t always win. The tech that gets used well does.”

The return-to-office tangle

No modern workplace discussion is complete without a heated segment on the hybrid working tug-of-war. Some companies, it seems, are charging ahead with five-day return mandates…complete with threatening tone and chatbot-only HR interfaces. The fallout has been predictable: resignations, petitions, lost clients, and shareholder lawsuits. And this is feedback from senior leadership.

Others are trying a softer approach: using food, flexible days, and social connection to rebuild community. Still, the deeper issue remains and questions bubble to the surface: do your employees believe in the vision? Do they trust leadership? Do they feel safe?

If the answer is no, then where someone works from is beside the point.

So, what should leaders take away from all this? Here are four conclusions from the room:

1. Digital experience is now indistinguishable from employee experience.
   If your internal systems are slow, siloed, or clunky, you’re not just frustrating staff, you’re haemorrhaging productivity and goodwill.
   
   
2. Culture is not soft—it’s strategic.
   Teams with strong, supportive cultures adopt technologies faster, work smarter, and outperform those where fear and opacity reign.
   
   
3. Communication is everything.
   Whether it’s the lack of vision translation, or tone-deaf return-to-office mandates, the message is clear: what you say and how you say it matters.
   
   
4. Your employees are your first customers.
   Treat them with the same care, responsiveness, and strategic intent as you would your paying clients.
   
   

Closing thoughts

For all the frustrations voiced at the roundtable, there was also an undercurrent of hope. Executives shared initiatives that are working. From walk-up IT bars to in-office afternoon teas. One speaker described his junior staff choosing to be in the office, hungry for mentorship and meaning. This should be celebrated and encouraged.

That tells us something powerful: people still care. They want to be part of something meaningful. The question is whether your organisation is giving them that chance, and whether your systems, your culture, and your leadership are enabling or obstructing that possibility.