10th June 2025
Why 79% of HR Leaders Say Poor Employee Experience Damages Business Performance
Scarlettabbott’s World Changers 2025 report reveals that 79% of HR leaders believe poor employee experience harms business performance. The survey identifies leadership buy-in, value misalignment, and inadequate recognition as key challenges. As AI integration rises and return-to-office tensions persist, human-centered strategies are critical for impactful, future-ready employee experience programs.
This article was written by Rowan Manning and published in HR Director.
Scarlettabbott’s World Changers 2025 Report – based on a survey of 750+ senior HR Decision Makers – has highlighted the impact great employee experience can have on business performance and the challenges that People leaders are facing to deliver it in the current climate.
The bottom line? Poor EX equals poor performance.
A staggering 79% of respondents agreed that poor employee experience directly harms business performance. In today’s climate, where employee experience is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ but a strategic business imperative, this is a wake-up call.
The survey also highlighted key areas impacting the ability of People Leaders to deliver world-class employee experience including:
The Value of Values
While 94% of HR leaders believe company values are essential in shaping employee experience, only 1 in 3 felt those values were truly embedded in their organisation’s strategy. A clear signal that values can’t just live on the intranet– they need to live in practice.
Moreover, 64% said employee experience expectations aren’t aligned with the reality people face at work. That misalignment is eroding both trust and momentum.
Despite a more turbulent political landscape and massive 84% of respondents said that social ESG aspects have become more important to EX in the last five years – suggesting any rash decisions to change or dilute strategy risks an organisation quickly becoming out of step with its people.
Business Challenges
The biggest barrier to improving was a lack of leadership buy-in – cited by 43% of respondents. Add to that a misalignment between what employees’ need and what leadership is prioritising (27%), and you have a recipe for disconnection and disengagement.
Compensation, benefits and recognition also came under scrutiny, with respondents highlighting that reward strategies are often out of sync with what today’s workforce values. Whilst 1 in 5 respondents also found translating employee survey data into actionable insights difficult and 1 in 4 respondents believe employees don’t feel their feedback is valued or acted upon – highlighting the clear limitations of current practices.
Leadership Matters
The path to better EX starts at the top. 85% of People leaders said leadership buy-in is critical to a successful EX strategy. Encouragingly, only 7% said their senior leadership team wasn’t yet on board with EX – showing real momentum, yet only 40% said their senior leadership are strongly committed to their EX strategy – highlight a clear need to turn buy-in into priority action. But leadership doesn’t stop at the C-suite and increasingly battles for a positive employee experience are being fought in the minefield that is middle management. An EX strategy which puts leadership skills and training at its core can help businesses thaw that frozen middle and have a significant impact on both culture and performance…
Read this article in full here: 79% of HR Leaders Say Poor Employee Experience Directly Harms Business Performance
