Samantha Gadd, a seasoned business leader and founder of Humankind, discusses her journey from traditional HR to a focus on employee experience (EX). She shares insights on the importance of nurturing talent and redefining success metrics through the EX Manifesto. The conversation explores how effective leadership and a human-centered approach can transform workplace culture. Gadd emphasizes the need for organizations to adapt to the gig economy and prioritize employee well-being, ultimately unlocking potential for both personal and organizational growth.
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insights INSIGHT
Unlocking Existing Talent
Everyone has talent, and organizations should focus on unlocking that potential.
This approach is more effective than competing for a small pool of "top talent."
insights INSIGHT
From HR to EX
Samantha Gadd's career transitioned from traditional HR to employee experience (EX) design due to disillusionment with HR's limitations.
She founded Humankind and EX Design School to promote human-centered workplaces.
insights INSIGHT
EX Investment Challenges
Organizations often deprioritize EX investments due to unclear links to immediate business results and short-term leadership focus.
This is a challenge for EX practitioners.
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Originally published in 1999, 'The Experience Economy' by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore outlines the progression of economic offerings from commodities to goods to services and finally to experiences. The authors argue that in the experience economy, businesses must stage memorable events to engage customers. The book uses the metaphor of theater to explain how businesses can create these experiences, emphasizing themes such as esthetic, escapist, educational, and entertainment experiences. An updated version released in 2019 focuses on competing for customer time, attention, and money in the digital age[1][2][3].
Customers Included
Customers Included
Phil Terry
When Samantha Gadd began her career in HR, she quickly noticed traditional HR processes and practices often overlooked the people they were meant to serve. Struggling to find the “human” in human resources, Samantha took a leap of faith and founded Humankind, an organization dedicated to putting humanity at the center of work.
Today, Humankind is New Zealand’s leading HR and employee experience (EX) consultancy, partnering with over 1,200 organizations to create more human-centered workplaces that prioritize employee well-being and drive business success.
Samantha Gadd is a seasoned business leader and expert in employee experience (EX) with over a decade of industry expertise. She is the founder and CEO of Excellent and Founder and Director of Humankind.
In this episode, Dart and Samantha discuss: - Samantha’s journey from HR to EX - Who buys into EX in organizations - The origin and principles of the EX Manifesto - Links between workplace culture and employer brand - The EX Design School curriculum - Values of EX that reframe success metrics - The PREP model: purpose, relationship, enabling, and performance - Who is best suited for the EX curriculum - And other topics…
Samantha Gadd is a seasoned business leader and expert in employee experience (EX) with over a decade of industry expertise. She is the founder and CEO of Excellent, an organization dedicated to transforming how organizations approach EX. She is also the Founder and Director of Humankind, New Zealand’s leading HR and EX consultancy which has collaborated with over 1,000 organizations to design impactful employee experiences.
As an EX expert, Samantha has spent over a decade helping high-profile clients transform workplace environments to enhance employee engagement and well-being. In 2022, she also led a group of 34 contributors to co-author The EX Manifesto, which defines key principles of EX design. Signed by leaders in over 30 countries, this document represents a global commitment to reimagining employee engagement and well-being.
Work with Dart: Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.
Work For Humans 