10 Mistakes IC Pros Need To Avoid When Looking for a New EXP

When assessing new employee experience platforms (EXPs) it can be tempting, as with many purchases, to go for the shiny and new. However, your choice of EXP will have a significant impact on every employee within your organization. It’s a big decision, so it requires careful consideration of the risks as well as the opportunities. 

To this end, I’ve compiled the key mistakes internal communicators need to avoid when looking for a new EXP. For each one, I’ve included the impacts of making such a choice, and preventative measures to help keep you on the right track. 

1. Ignoring or downplaying security 

Security isn’t the first thought that comes into internal communicators’ heads when reviewing EXPs. It’s not sexy or fun, and can be perceived as simply a technicality. But robust security is far from a given, and with cyberattacks happening on the daily (Disney being the latest victim), this has to be a priority (and your IT department will love you for it).

You ignore, or even downplay, security at your peril. Cyberattacks can cause irreparable damage to companies financially and reputationally. 

Preventative measure

Rigorously scrutinize the security credentials of potential providers.

2. Limiting social features

Internal communicators are often in a bind. We want, and need, employees to engage with our content, but we have leaders and managers who may want to constrain, or even mute, channels for feedback. EXPs should be a sacred, safe space for your people to express their views, build communities, and showcase your culture in action. In short, they must be social. 

EXPs with limited or non-existent social functionality will fail to get traction in a world in which our attention currency is counted in likes, comments, and shares.

Preventative measure

Choose an EXP with plenty of social features, and preferably one that mirrors social media platforms.

3. Keeping it separate from your main tech stack

There’s one thing your employees don’t need, and that’s another tool to have to sign into, check, and use. To make your EXP a destination place for your people, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to get there, and stay there.

However you do it, it needs to be frictionless for your employees to move between their other various platforms and your EXP. 

EXPs that feel like too much effort will quickly become a content and engagement graveyard. With heavy workloads and contracting timelines, splintering people into different ecosystems will lose them – and they won’t come back. 

Preventative measure

Make sure any EXP you choose can integrate into your current technology stack.

4. Too little or too much governance 

Getting governance right is critical, but it’s a fine line to walk. Employees should be empowered and enabled to use your EXP, but you also need to reassure various stakeholders (such as your legal team) that you have robust governance in place for them to feel comfortable. 

Too little governance, and you run unnecessary risks around security, privacy, unsuitable content, and more. Too much, on the other hand, and training may be resource-heavy and appear burdensome rather than fun, and employees will be put off engaging with your EXP.

Preventative measure

Work with your legal team on getting an appropriate level of governance that balances company safeguards with individual freedom.

5. Choosing an EXP provider, not an EXP partner

Mistakenly, EXPs can be viewed as transactional technology purchases. You compare features, benefits, and costs, and make a call. This overlooks a crucial fact that EXP providers have a wealth of knowledge and experience – what has worked for other clients, what hasn’t, and lessons learnt – that you can, and should, tap into. 

Simply choosing a tactical EXP provider means you miss the opportunity to make your migration smoother, training more impactful, and engagement rates higher. 

Preventative measure

Assess providers as potential partners, focusing on the added value they can bring over the long term.

6. Overcomplicating it 

Sadly, this mistake is easy to make. Partly this is on us as internal communicators – we want the EXP to be as useful as possible, which can make us drawn to providers who stuff them with as many features as possible. But it’s also reflective of the modern trend in consumer technology to layer on complexity when we all know that, usually, less is more. 

If your EXP drowns your employees with too much information and too many choices when they load it up, they’re going to feel overwhelmed and shut it down. 

Preventative measure

Map out some potential user journeys before reviewing EXPs.

7. Buying off the shelf

With so much choice and so little time, it can be tempting to choose an off-the-shelf EXP solution. While it may be expedient, it misses the point that employee experience is about putting individuals at the heart of your organization (personalized EX), and choosing, designing, and implementing products and solutions around them. 

The risk with standard solutions is that they are everything and nothing at the same time. That is, they functionally work for everyone, but no one feels like the EXP has been made for them, and as they can’t make it their own, they don’t engage with it, let alone take ownership. 

Preventative measure

Look for EXPs that are easy to customize, and ask for demonstrations.

8. Going too ‘corporate’ 

As I wrote earlier, internal communicators need to walk a fine line between delivering for our leaders and serving the needs of employees, as these two are not always the same. Yes, an EXP may be a centrally run channel, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be too corporate and serious. With most workers spending less than 15 minutes per day consuming work news, you don’t have much time to bait and capture them. 

In fact, if your people see your EXP as simply a mouthpiece for leadership or ‘Group’ communications, and there is no fun, frivolity, or feedback mechanisms, they will stay away.

Preventative measure

Think of your EXP as a playground, and include ‘fun’ as a criteria in your assessments.

9. Shiny Penny Syndrome 

It’s human nature to be drawn to the shiny and new, but with EXPs, be careful. Think about what problems you’re looking for your EXP to solve, and work from there. Yes, you want social features and an EXP that engages, but at the same time, it needs to be functional, and that means improving your employees’ experience. 

People are very quick to see through the novel. Your EXP has to deliver on the basics, because if it doesn’t, your people won’t use it. 

Preventative measure

Take the time to scope out a clear set of essential requirements before reviewing EXPs.

10. Forgetting who it’s for 

The clue is in the name – your EXP is for your employees. So, involve them in looking for your new EXP. Too often as internal communicators, we forget to ask the people we’re working for what they want. Yet listening is quick, easy, and cost-effective, and secures buy-in and engagement before you’ve even purchased and launched your EXP. 

Trying to get traction for an EXP can be hard enough, but if you haven’t listened to your employees during the assessment process, the challenge will be much greater. 

Preventative measure

Gather employee input and use it to help you define your EXP requirements.