Technology has changed the way we work in profound ways. But it’s not just our job titles that have transformed over the last fifty years; the standard employee experience has also radically shifted to a predominantly online space.
From AI-powered onboarding to apps that track mental wellbeing, technology is reshaping everything about the employee experience. In this article, we’ll define what employee experience means in the digital age and explore five ways that technology is driving transformation.
Whether you’re in HR, operations or leadership, these insights will help you build a more connected, supported and high-performing workplace.
What Will We Cover?
- HR Technology
- AI and Automation
- Remote Work Technology
- Digital Wellbeing Tools
- Cybersecurity
If you’re interested in harnessing the power of new technology to improve employee experience in your organisation, we have created a cutting-edge engagement platform designed to make work a more enjoyable and productive space for everyone.
We use communication, recognition and reward strategies to enhance your employee experience, so book a demo with our team to hear how Mo could work for you.
What is Employee Experience?
Employee experience is a general term that encompasses many elements of how work impacts us, including pay, culture, opportunities and mental health. A positive employee experience will ensure your teams are motivated to reach their potential, preventing issues like “quiet quitting”.
Is employee experience important? Absolutely. It determines how successfully your organisation will hire and retain your people, according to leading voices like Harvard Business Review.
A Definition for the Digital Age
Since the internet took over our working lives, the definition of “employee experience” has changed to keep up. Not sure what we mean? Here are some examples. Remember staff notice boards? Many organisations have switched to online notices, in addition to digital greetings cards, online “meet ups” and mixers, and virtual team bonding activities.
Many of the latter examples have emerged due to the prevalence of remote work, but there is no doubt that digital payrolls and electronic onboarding would have taken place regardless of the rise of hybrid working patterns.
We live in a globalised age, and the average employee experience reflects this. Even if an employee works in a customer-facing role in a small, local shop, they will meet people from around the world who speak various languages. On a larger scale, many employees are encountering co-workers, clients and employers who live thousands of miles away in another time zone — needless to say, the experience of this working environment is very different than if they worked in a small business fifty years ago.
Old and new ways of working each have their pros and cons. Rather than compare them directly, we’re interested in how new technologies have transformed how employees experience their work lives, from being hired to bonding with their peers. Whether they work in hospitality or in big tech, remotely or in-office, there is still a long way to go to ensure that employees feel valued and seen in the new world of work. Let’s jump into the first of our key areas that has been transformed by technology: human resources.
HR Tech is Changing the Employee Journey
Human resources departments have faced many challenges in recent decades. Employees are increasingly likely to change roles to escape stagnant pay or to find a better work-life balance. The days of “a job for life” are long gone.
In a happier development, HR professionals are also supporting employees in more positive ways, such as through maternity pay and sick leave. However, the scale of these benefits, which include legalities, interim hiring and emotional support, can be overwhelming for small teams.
Gallup found that only 12% of employees strongly agree their organisation does a great job onboarding new hires. That means most employees begin their roles feeling unsupported and disconnected.
How does HR use technology to overcome these challenges to ensure workers have a good experience throughout their employment? They are turning to one of the biggest HR trends: automation.
Automating elements of the employee journey has become an efficient and cost-effective way for HR departments to save time.
Since as early as 2017, HR has been using AI to streamline the hiring process.
More recently, we’ve seen a boom in people leaders automating awards and anniversaries like long service awards through engagement software.
While online greetings cards used to be a lacklustre and impersonal prospect, platforms like Mo have revolutionised the concept by moving staff communications from random email threads into an all-in-one platform.
Other HR areas being transformed by technology including employee onboarding, engagement, staff training and offboarding. Employee engagement is a crucial metric for your entire organisation, influencing everything from productivity to job satisfaction. By using engagement software to drive better results at work, many HR teams are reducing employee turnover and enhancing team productivity.
You can find out more about the future of HR technology by attending one of the dedicated conferences across the UK and Europe, such as HR Technologies and HR Tech Europe.
AI and Automation in the Workplace
Much has been written about the rise of AI in the workplace. Typically, these conversations involve fears that AI will take our jobs. While the sector needs more robust regulation, many areas of the employee experience are being changed by AI for the better.
Repetitive email replies are being crafted in our inboxes while we sleep. We have a personal assistant in our pocket, regardless of our pay or status. While AI has caused much concern, it has also granted driven employees the tools to experiment in areas like coding, design and video editing beyond their prior training.
AI is also helping to support managers in the workplace. Research shows that managers dictate the effectiveness of an HR initiative, accounting for 70% of the variance in employee engagement.
Activating your management team is essential to create real cultural change in your organisation. AI tools or software automations like Mo’s Assistant can help managers fulfil their potential through “nudges” to engage their team.
Is AI enhancing or replacing the human touch?
Automating your HR approach is a balancing act between efficiency and the “human touch”. While nobody likes it when a busy manager or HR professional forgets a work anniversary, receiving an impersonal message or giftcard can have an equally negative effect.
That’s why automated reminders are a great solution: they prompt team leaders to send personal notes of encouragement or recognition that show their people that they care.
If you’re concerned about the impact of HR automation on your employees, try a trial run or send out a survey. You could also book a demo with our team to explore our automated employee experience solutions.
Technology for Remote Work
The rise of remote work has been one of the most topical issues of the last ten years, and a new crop of tech software has emerged to support our online work lives. Beyond bandwidth limits, some challenges have emerged as teams have gone hybrid or remote:
- Emotional disconnection
- “Quiet quitting”
- Burnout
- Lack of feedback
- Slowed career progression
It’s clear that the remote employee experience is going through a maturity phase, with wellness and mental health being primary issues.
Gallup measures “wellbeing” by looking at metrics like life evaluation, daily negative emotions, burnout and an employee’s belief that their organisation cares about their wellbeing. Here’s what their 2025 findings uncovered:
- 41% of employees said they experienced significant stress the previous day
- Only 34% report that they are thriving in their lives
- 1 in 5 feel lonely, a number that rises among remote teams
Communication Tools
Video conferencing tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams have taken the brunt of our demand for instant communication, but the picture of asynchronous messaging is still in flux. Many teams use Slack or Teams to communicate, while others rely on email and opt to leave comments in collaborative project management tools like Monday or Asana.
Many of these tools miss out on the bigger issues that plague remote teams: a lack of connection. Sending instant messages does not necessarily build a sense of “camaraderie”. That’s where employee experience tools like Mo have developed platforms that bring together the four essential pillars of workplace engagement: recognition, rewards, communication and culture.
When measuring remote employee experience, it’s important to assess it holistically, i.e. not just through one metric. Engagement surveys, feedback, attrition rates and peer-to-peer communication are all important pieces of the overall picture.
Why does this matter? A better employee experience is the secret to improved productivity and lower attrition rates in most work scenarios, but especially in remote and hybrid settings.
Employee Feedback
Does remote work impact productivity? A 2023 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research looked at teams of software engineers and the feedback they got on their work. Half of the engineers in the study worked in teams that were grouped in the same physical office, while the other half were in distributed teams working across multiple buildings on their company’s campus.
The report found that engineers who worked in a different building from the rest of their teammates received 22% less feedback than engineers whose teams shared a workspace. It also found that new members of the team (aka. young people) received and asked for less feedback when they worked remotely.
If employees in hybrid or remote teams are missing out on important career feedback, it also means they’re missing out on opportunities to develop new skills. When workers feel like they’re not getting opportunities, they’re more likely to become disengaged over time. Empowering your employees and managers to share feedback or kudos on employee engagement platforms is a long term and cost-efficient way of addressing this issue.
Digital Wellbeing Tools for Mental Health
Gallup has reported that employee mental health is plummeting globally. But what can be done to solve the issue? Tech is stepping in to address some of the strain; many corporate organisations have opted for meditation apps like Headspace or Calm, which can be very effective when practiced consistently.
However, figuring out the mental health picture is about a lot more than corporate perks and wellness tools. Employees need to feel safe and motivated at work, and a lack of managerial skills across the board is leaving many workers feeling cast out at sea.
When times are politically or economically uncertain, people just want stability. A volatile work environment is the opposite. To provide better support to employees, software like Unmind has combined AI with coaching and therapy to help teams keep better track of their mental health. Whether software will serve as a good replacement for human care is yet to be seen, but at least there are interim solutions.
Cybersecurity for Online Privacy
In the wake of high-profile data leaks at companies like M&S, cybersecurity is more important than ever. Data security tools can be broken down into five key areas:
- Network security tools (e.g. firewalls, VPNs)
- Endpoint security tools (e.g. antivirus)
- Cloud security tools (e.g. CSPM)
- Data security tools (e.g. encryption)
- Application security tools (e.g. data masking)
Where cybersecurity intersects with employee experience is usually through encrypted passwords like 2FA and 1Password. They will also encounter it in training sessions for GDPR and online data security. There are dozens of interactive courses that will streamline this process for teams working with digital tools.
Technology is changing faster than many employees can keep up with, which is why it’s important for HR teams to keep pace with the changing cybersecurity and compliance landscape on their behalf.
How Will Tech Change the Employee Experience in the Future?
There is little doubt that AI will transform the workplace in the coming decade. Cybersecurity will continue to take priority, though we’re likely to see more data leaks. The employee journey will continue its journey to automation, with hiring being the biggest area of AI usage.
We predict that positive changes will happen in the areas of management, culture and communication, where tools like smart recommendations will help managers better coach their employees.
We’ve already started this process by introducing a tool called the Assistant to Mo. It helps “nudge” managers to recognise and engage employees who need support.
Transform your culture with Mo
Book a free demo to learn how Mo can help you:
- 🤝 Improve employee engagement scores
- 🚀 Reduce employee churn
- 😍 Build a collaborative culture
Mo is an online platform that empowers leaders to reward and recognise hard work. Our software is designed to make appreciation a daily habit by encouraging employees to celebrate the Moments that matter via a centralised social feed.
We help improve engagement, reduce attrition and bring teams together. Book a demo with our team to learn more about our features, including the Assistant.
