Digital Employee
Experience (DEX) in
the Enterprise:
Progress, Patterns,
and Gaps

Foreword
Mark Banfield, CEO, 1E
If 2020 was the year enterprises experimented with remote and hybrid work,

Move toward digital empathy

2021 and 2022 saw these modes mature into permanent norms for millions
of knowledge workers. For many enterprises, this was the start of the journey

Slapping a “DEX band-aid” over the problem

to digital employee experience (DEX). They introduced new technologies,

won’t fix deep and pervasive employee

undertook DEX maturity assessments, and created centers of excellence (CoE).

experience issues; 95% of professionals surveyed

Now it’s time to check in on the status of this momentous transition and refine

highlight that IT issues disrupt employees’ digital

DEX practices.

experience in their organization, hindering
productivity and diminishing workplace morale.

We surveyed 300 enterprise (5,000+ employees) IT decision-makers (ITDMs)
and knowledge workers* in the US and UK to understand their experiences,

The only true solution is to replace digital friction

perceptions, and the state of DEX in 2022.

with digital empathy. But only one in three ITDMs

Ready to move from good to great

say digital empathy will be a priority over the

Say their organization’s DEX hasroom for improvement

68%
Say DEX has a high or criticallevel of influence on revenue

next 18 months (33%). This is despite 40% ofknowledge worker respondents saying they’d like

When analysts and other experts spoke about the importance of DEX,

90%

a greater focus on empathetic IT.

69%

enterprises listened. A whopping 91% of respondents said that their

Say DEX has a high or criticalorganization has a strategy in place – or is in the process of implementing alevel of influence on operational

strategy – designed to improve DEX.

Digital empathy: to empathize with and/Overwhelmingly, respondents recognize the importance of DEX as a key

or be considerate of the digital experience

consideration in digital transformation strategy (80%), but almost all surveyed

employees receive and their feelings whenindicate that there is a need for improvement (90%).

using ITefficiency

95%
Say they struggle with digital
friction such as software and

DEX affects everyone

network issues, workplaceapplication access problems,

It’s undeniable. DEX has a direct impact on the business bottom line. And it’s

Read on for many more fresh, unexpected

not just bad Glassdoor reviews. A good or bad digital employee experience

insights about DEX in the enterprise.

influences everything from employee retention to organizational revenue.
Unsurprising then that 81% of respondents agree that enterprises that don’t
make DEX a board-level priority will soon fall behind their competitors.

*Knowledge workers: Employees from any non-IT function and any seniority level.
They must use a PC or laptop (or similar) as part of their normal working day.

and slow devices

DEX in 2022

DEX is an enterprise priority
Most enterprises have embraced DEX as a priority and have done a respectable job
implementing their initial strategies.
74% of knowledge workers surveyed say their business has a fully implemented DEX strategy
and 16% say they are in the process of implementing a strategy. Rewind to a pre-pandemic
workplace and it’s doubtful you would see attainment anywhere near this level.

74%
40% 40%

ITDMs

Knowledge workers

34%
30%
22%
16%
7%

5%
2%

Fully
implemented
and refined
strategy

Fully implemented
strategy but withfurther refinement
neededIn the processof implementing
our strategy

Currently
developing ourstrategy

1%3%

No strategy
in place0%
Don’t know

Which of the following best describes where you believe your organization currently is in terms of its
Digital Employee Experience (DEX) strategy and implementation?

80% of those surveyed agree that DEX is now a key consideration within

DEX has enormous potential for enhancing employee happiness andtheir enterprise’s digital transformation strategy. Likewise, 81% agree thatjob satisfaction. As many enterprises struggle with skills shortages andorganizations that don’t make DEX a board-level priority will soon fall

recruitment challenges, it’s important to do whatever you can to keep

behind their competitors.

staff committed and content – delivering remarkable digital
experiences is essential.

The influence of DEX

The link between DEX and happiness

40%
88%
Believe DEX
influences employee
retention

92 %Believe DEX
influences employee
job satisfaction

91%
Believe DEX
influences operational
efficiency

86%
Believe DEX
influences organizational
revenue

89%

50%

Believe there are links
between DEX and workforce
happiness, but it isn’t the be
all and end all

Believe DEX
influences employee
wellbeing85 %Believe DEX
influences go-tomarket speed

To what extent do you believe that digital employee experience (DEX) influences thefollowing variables for your organization? (Percentage of all respondents that selected
at least moderate level of influence)

Believe there arestrong links between
DEX and workforce
happiness

3%
Don’t
know

6%

Believe there are no real
links between DEX andworkforce happinessDo you believe that the Digital Employee Experience (DEX) has a direct link to how
happy your organization’s workforce is? (All respondents)

From strategy to delivery
Simply having a strategy won’t cut it. Now is the time for organizations to act on theirstrategic objectives and deliver a top-tier digital experience if they want to enjoy DEX benefits
like better operational efficiency, more revenue, and improved employee retention.
Two-thirds of ITDMs say there needs to be a complete overhaul or significant improvement
to current DEX arrangements (66%).
Both IT decision-makers and knowledge workers agree on the need for more DEX
refinement. Interestingly, ITDMs are more likely to highlight this need for improvement,
indicating that leaders aren’t blind to the pitfalls in current DEX strategies and understandthere is still a way to go.

DEX room for improvement
All respondents

13%

ITDM

15%

Knowledge worker

11%

41%

36%

51%

31%

7% 3%

29%

43%

3% 1%

11%

A complete overhaul needed

Significant improvement needed

Slight improvement needed

No improvement needed

Don’t know

To what extent does your organization’s Digital Employee Experience (DEX) have room for improvement?

4%

Challenges to DEX

The DEX doctor will see you now

The biggest challenges include security and regulatory policies (37%),
overburdened IT resources (37%), lack of training for IT personnel (35%),
changing working models (34%), and an increasing number of endpoints tomanage (32%).

Let’s paint a picture: you’re experiencing random pain, so you go to see yourdoctor. They acknowledge your symptoms, fail to diagnose a cause, andprescribe you general pain relief. Chances are, you won’t see any long-term

Challenges to the employee’s digital experience

improvement because the “solution” only masks the pain instead of fixing theissue.
Just as you would need to understand the cause of physical pain before
treatment, the same goes for digital pain. It’s vital to understand why 95% of
ITDMs and 85% of knowledge workers believe their organization’s DEX requires

Security/ regulatory
policies

37%

IT overwhelmed by number ofissues that need resolving

37%

Lack of training for IT
personnel

35%

some degree of improvement.

The next level of DEX
Don’t be disheartened; DEX efforts to date haven’t failed. Challenges areinevitable, especially when we consider that a year ago many of these programs
didn’t exist! But as enterprises settle into the “new normal” of hybrid work it’stime to level up.
Enterprises are fighting several battles at once as they seek to improve
employees’ digital experiences – the exception being the lucky (oroverconfident?) 2% of ITDMs who say they face no challenges. The other 98%
highlight challenges relating to highly burdened IT resources, changing working
models, and limitations of current technologies for supporting DEX.
On the one hand, it’s a relief that, when it comes to DEX, a lack of knowledge(27%), budget (25%), or buy-in from leadership (19%) are the least-common
challenges. This means that organizations should have an easier time making
the necessary improvements without too much pushback from budget andstrategy owners.

Handling the shift to hybrid /remote work

34%

Increasing number of
endpoints to manage

32%

Technology in place is not
appropriate for supporting DEX

31%

Lack of knowledge around
DEX

27%

Lack of budget to support DEX
efforts

25%

Lack of buy-in from leadershiparound importance of DEX
No challenges being
faced

19%

2%

Which, if any, of the following challenges is your organization facing in relation to its
Digital Employee Experience (DEX)? (ITDMs)

The race to keep up with changing employee expectations
The move to hybrid and remote working changed digital experience expectations. And so, thevery definition of “effective DEX” has evolved, and enterprises need to keep up.

“Consumerization is the specific impact that
consumer-originated technologies can have on
enterprises. It reflects how enterprises will be affected

The consumerization of IT reflects employees’ desire to experience at work the speed andconvenience they are used to in their personal lives. Failure to meet these changing expectations
could see your workforce jump ship. And with hybrid work set to stay, demands for speed andconvenience will intensify. This is especially true with younger, digital-native employees now
joining the workforce.
Worryingly, enterprises aren’t keeping up with expectations (67%). Respondents say that digital
experiences outside of work are better, with more than two-thirds stating that digital experiencesin their personal life surpass those of the workplace.

by, and can take advantage of, new technologies andmodels that originate and develop in the consumer
space, rather than in the enterprise IT sector.
Consumerization is not a strategy or something to be‘adopted.’ Consumerization can be embraced and it
must be dealt with, but it cannot be stopped.”
Gartner, Information Technology
Glossary

8%
Digital experiences in personal life are better thandigital experiences at work

24%

They are roughly the same

67%

Digital experiences in personal life are worse thandigital experiences at work

How much better or worse do you believe
the Digital Employee Experience (DEX) in yourorganization is when compared with the levelof digital experience that you encounter in yourpersonal (outside of work) life? (All respondents.
Due to rounding, percentages do not total 100%.)

These figures speak to an interesting disconnect when we consider that 58% of all
respondents see their organization as being ahead of others in terms of DEX.
Considering the results above, it’s clear that even those workplaces whose digital
employee experience is outperforming the market are still failing to provide a truly
competitive digital experience for the hybrid workplace.

Digital friction in the employee experience

3%
Legacy technology limitations are causing digital friction at work that employees
don’t experience in their personal lives.

Digital friction is more common than you think

2%
16%

20%

For as long as technology has been used by businesses, there have been challenges.
The move to hybrid work has produced new forms of digital friction, leaving
employees to struggle with software, connectivity, access, and hardware issues that
dramatically affect their digital experience.
With only a small minority of respondents suggesting that their organization manages
to escape digital friction completely (3%), it’s clear that this is an area for DEX
refinement.

35%
24%

Digital friction is an issue faced by all employees

78%

20%

Digital friction is an issue faced by the majority of employees
Digital friction is an issue faced by around half of employees
Digital friction is an issue faced by a minority of employees
Digital friction is an issue faced by no employees

agree their organization has
made great progress, but still
struggles with some elementsof supporting IT in a hybrid
working context

say hybrid working has
caused considerably moredigital friction

Don’t know

To what extent does digital friction exist when considering employees’ digital
experience in your organization? (All respondents)

During the early days of the pandemic

Digital friction can include thingsand initial stages of DEX implementation,such as problems running required

businesses understandably struggled toapplications when needed, PCs crashingmanage widespread remote working andor running slowly, disruptive software

IT issues. However, at this stage, it is

updates, and time and productivity

fundamental that they target digital

lost to IT remote accessing/controlling

friction to improve DEX initiatives anddevices to resolve issues.

meet employee expectations.

Respondents identified the most frequent types of digital friction they experience, showingthat there is no main culprit when it comes to DEX disruption. The range of common sources for
digital friction in the data speaks to a larger challenge. Enterprises can’t focus only on improving
connectivity, for example, because their employees also have issues linked to software, hardware,or access. Companies need solutions that address all forms of digital friction.

Common types of digital friction
Top three most common types

81%

74%

31%

Application /software-based

Most common type71%

Which of the following
types of digital friction
are most common inyour organization? (Allrespondents)

68%

21%

24%

21%

Connectivitybased

Identity /access-based

Hardware /device-based

74% place connectivity issues in the top three most common types of digital friction. In the
hybrid workplace, where devices are our main link to the enterprise, this problem cannot be
overstated. If an employee can’t connect to their team, they can’t do their job. It’s a similar story
when looking at hardware and identity-based issues, which further highlights the need for aconsiderable reduction in IT disruption.

More than one third of respondents tell us that the average employee deals

The digital friction DEX butterfly effectwith application or software-related IT disruption either daily or multiple times
per week (38%). This is the digital workplace equivalent of the office fire alarm

High-friction digital employee experiences, poorly utilized resources, andwidespread frustration will have further-reaching consequences than bad
Glassdoor reviews and venting on Blind.

misfiring sporadically throughout the day, disrupting everyone’s flow. At enterprisescale, this drains an enormous amount of resources and causes widespread
frustration.

If you don’t properly address digital friction, expect to see a DEX butterfly effect:

Combination of “Daily” and “2 - 3 times per week”

Leadership doesn’t resolve digital friction sources

45%
33%

31%

30% 29% 31%

29%

Friction causes a bad employee experience

39%

39%

38%

33%
28%

Employee engagement and productivity plummetYour bottom line suffers

Application/
software-based

Connectivity-based

All respondents

ITDM

Identity/accessbased

Hardware/devicebased

Average resolution time

Knowledge worker

47%

How often do you believe the average employee in your organization encounters thefollowing IT disruption issues?

18%

12%

Across all four types of IT disruption, knowledge workers are more likely to

15%
5%highlight that the average employee faces these issues multiple times per week.

2%

1%

0%

A coupleof weeks

A monthOver amonth

IT leadership, then, underestimates the extent to which an organization suffersfrom digital friction.

Almostimmediately

A few
hours

A day

A coupleof days

A weekApproximately, how long do you/your colleagues have to wait for your organization’s IT
team to resolve an average IT issue? (Knowledge workers)

Digital friction’s harm isn’t limited to the financial or operational realms (e.g., missedagree slow resolution of IT issues

work deadlines, lost sales opportunities) but also in company culture (e.g., conflict82%

between departments, lower employee morale). Knowledge worker respondents are
more likely to recognize most of these consequences, except for increased security
risks, increased IT spend, and higher turnover, areas which are more concerning to IT

not only slows employees down
but also damages their overall
digital experience at work

decision-makers.

Consequences of digital friction over the last 12 months
46%

47%
45%
42%

44%

43%

39%
35%

33%

36%

33% 33% 34%

31%

35%
32%
29%

27%

29% 30% 28%

4% 3% 4%
Increased IT expenses(including increased
headcount)

Conflict between IT
department and nonIT departments

Increased securityrisks
All respondents

Missed work
deadlines

Lower employee
moraleITDM

Missed opportunities
for new sales
Knowledge worker

Which of the following consequences have you/your organization’s employees encountered in the last 12 months as a result of digital friction?

Employees leaving
the company

There have been noconsequencesEmployees don’t want faster IT
remediation

75%

No, really. They don’t. But if employees aren’t seeking
faster remediation from IT, what do they want?

Proactive remediation.
Almost half of respondents felt that IT issues are always
or mostly handled reactively (47%), and IT never knowsof an issue until they get a ticket. But some organizations
are headed in the right direction: 33% feel their IT ismostly or always proactive. We imagine a new statusquo, one in which IT resolves issues proactively andautomatically before anyone else notices.

of all respondents say that fast
resolution of issues by IT is nolonger good enough – issues
need to be fixed before theyeven make themselves known
to employees

1%

IT never knows there is an
issue first

IT has automated visibility
and reaches out first

Mostly reactive /rarely proactive

Mostly proactive /rarely reactive

An even split ofreactive and proactive

Don’t know

12%
17%

21%
30%

19%

Hypothetically, if you faced an IT issue at work, how doyou think this is typically handled by the IT department –reactively or proactively? (Knowledge workers)

To get there, enterprises need to do more to reverse the gap between employees and IT. Most
solutions on the market today are not effective enough at delivering the required visibility andautomation for proactive, superior DEX. After all, only 12% of knowledge workers say they have analways-proactive IT department.

Set up for DEX success

For each of the IT metrics that cover
several areas where IT disruption

66% of respondents say IT is doing a good or excellent job with DEX. But there’s
room to improve.

is frequently experienced (such as
hardware or application performance)roughly one in five ITDMs say their

By equipping IT departments with the tools they need to support the evolving
hybrid workplace and close the employee/IT divide, we can set up enterprises
for DEX success.

3%

department has complete visibility. It’sno surprise then that IT is limited in
how proactive they can be in solving
employees’ IT issues.

1%

By introducing automation into yourThe bare minimum

9%

An average job

27%

A good job

organization, IT will be able to better
monitor these key variables andorganization’s IT department tohave “complete visibility” into

apply a more proactive approach toall six variables

remediation.

An excellent job

24%

Don’t Know

39%of ITDMs consider their

How would you describe the work that
the IT department in your organization
does to support Digital Employee
Experience (DEX)? (All respodents)

IT needs better visibility
Start by giving IT better insight. Many teams lack complete visibility in at least one
important variable that contributes to overall IT performance and digital employee

IT’s current level of visibility
Device start-up analytics

21%

Device stability/crash analytics

17%

31%

Device performance analytics

21%

29%

Network performance/accessibility

21%

39%

23%

Employee engagement and satisfaction

22%

34%

31%

Application start-up and performance
analytics

19%

33%

33%

22%
24%
31%

20%

4% 1%

23%

4% 0%

14% 4% 1%

25%

15%

3%0%

11% 3%0%
15%

7% 0%

Complete visibility

High level of visibility

Moderate level of visibility

Low level of visibility

No or negligible visibility

Don’t know

experience, including device performance, employee engagement/satisfaction,
and application start-up and performance analytics.

Thinking across all employees, office-based and remote working, what level of visibility do
you consider your organization’s IT department to have in relation to the following variables?
(ITDMs)Work smarter, not harder with automation
It’s not possible to create more hours in the day, but you can help your employees makethe best use of their time. Automation is a great way to do this, eliminating the need fortime-consuming manual tasks. Although many organizations use automation to someextent, its use is relatively limited. ITDMs say that only 26% of IT issues are resolved with
automation, on average. This indicates that enterprises need to increase investment intechnologies to support DEX, and there’s considerable room for improvement when it
comes to automation.
Automation improves IT proactivity and directly contributes to a better digital experiencefor employees. For example, just some of the positive outcomes seen when automation isused include higher employee productivity (41%) and an improved relationship between IT
and non-IT employees (41%).

Positive outcomes when automation is used in
IT issue resolution
55%
46%

43%

41%

41%

39%

36%

0%
Improved IT
Costresponsiveness efficiencies

Frees upHigherImproved
Frees up IT
IT resource
employee relationship resource forfor innovation productivity between IT
strategictasks
and non-IT
thinking
employees

Happier
employees /higheremployeesatisfaction

Where your organization is able to utilize automation in resolving employees’ IT issues,
which of the following positive outcomes do you experience? (ITDMs)

No
positiveoutcomes

If enterprises can effectively address these IT issues by implementing technology that
improves visibility and increases automation, they will likely see other, more human-centricbenefits. For example, employee engagement and satisfaction should improve with fewer IT

Hybrid solution

15%

Cloud-based solution

challenges. Collaboration and innovation, too, are more fluid if employees face fewer day-to-

On-premises solution

day digital friction issues.

50%

Take to the cloudIf we’re setting enterprises up for DEX success, we can’t ignore the clear preference ITDMs

Regardless of what tools/solutions yourorganization is currently using to support
Digital Employee Experience (DEX), whichof the following deployments would be
your preference for a DEX solution? (ITDMs)

35%

show toward cloud-based or hybrid DEX solutions, with only 15% stating that on-premises
solutions are their preference. Factors such as scalability, ease of updates, and security areamong the most common reasons to favor a cloud-based or hybrid solution.
No single driving factor stands apart from the rest, which suggests vendors must be able
to illustrate how their solution delivers across the board on scalability, ease of updates, andstrong security and compliance capabilities.

Factors in choosing cloud or hybrid DEX
51%

48%

47%

47%

44%
38%
Which of the following factors are driving
your preference towards a cloud-basedor hybrid deployment model for a Digital
Employee Experience (DEX) solution? (ITDMs)

Greaterscalability

Improved
security

Easier to
updateBetter end-user
experience

Improved
compliance

General company
policy on IT
deployment

Replacing digital friction with digital empathy

1 in 3

Approaching IT issues with a purely technical mindset no longer cuts it. Just as the consumerization of IT reflects employees’ desire for
digital speed and convenience, digital empathy highlights employees’ expectations that IT will be thoughtful about DEX.

see the IT department as having
We’ve already seen evidence of empathy in the numbers; most knowledge workers rate IT as doing a good or excellent job. But despitea high level of empathy whenregular disruptive IT issues, hindered productivity, and diminishing workplace morale, both respondent types agree that IT could improve

it comes to digital experiences

their empathy towards employees’ digital experience.

throughout the organization

Our data indicates the need for senior leadership to take the initiative. They must act if they wish to reduce digital friction and improve
DEX, rather than leaving it to everyday IT workers. Giving IT better visibility into the organization will help them to understand what issues
are being faced, how often, and to what extent, equating to increased digital empathy and – by extension – improved DEX.

Level of empathy from IT in terms of digital
experience received by the wider organization

1%

Perceived level of empathy from IT in terms of digital
experience received by the wider organization

0%

1%

2%

No empathy whatsoever

16%

15%

Low level of empathy

Moderate level of empathy

35%

No empathy whatsoever

Moderate level of empathy

35%

High level of empathy

47%

Don’t know

To what extent do you/does your department empathize with thelevel of digital experience that employees in your organization
receive? (ITDMs)

Low level of empathy

High level of empathy

48%

Don’t know

To what extent do you believe that the IT department in yourorganization empathizes with your digital experience when you
are working? (Knowledge workers)

The ITDM / knowledge worker disconnect
There are subtle differences between what ITDMs say the IT department will be prioritizing in DEX for the next 18 months and what knowledge workers want themto prioritize. But for the most part, there is a consensus as to the important areas of DEX improvement. Almost half of respondents from both groups identify “moreefficiency in resolving issues” as the number one concern (49% of ITDMs and 47% of knowledge workers).
Interestingly, knowledge workers ranked increased proactivity from IT as their second-most preferred priority for the next 18 months (43%). ITDMs have placed
increased employee self-service options in second place (46%). It seems that in an ideal world, employees want IT to be more proactive, but IT wants employees
to be more autonomous. There may be a disconnect on expectations, or on what self-service options are available to knowledge workers. Happily, improved
automation capabilities should appease both sides.
We see the biggest disconnect in the area of digital empathy. The research shows that a move toward replacing digital friction with digital empathy could generatemassive productivity and morale progress – and ultimately improve enterprise success. However, only 33% of ITDMs say digital empathy will be a priority over the next
18 months, whereas knowledge workers rank this priority higher (40%). In fact, “greater focus on digital empathy” was the least-selected answer among ITDMs but
not even in the bottom three choices among knowledge workers. This indicates that IT is not currently thinking enough about the importance and impact of digital
experience on employees’ overall well-being when they are at work, and employees want that to change.

Actual IT priorities for improving DEX
over the next 18 months

Preferred IT priorities for improving DEX
over the next 18 months

1. More efficiency in resolving issues

49%

1. More efficiency in resolving issues

47%

2. More/better self-service options within IT

46%

2. More/better proactivity from IT

43%

3. Improved automation capabilities

45%

3. More/better self-service options within IT

42%

4. Improved IT analytics

41%

4. Greater focus on digital empathy(employee feelings when using IT)

5. More/better proactivity from IT

40%

5. Improved IT analytics

36%

6. Improved automation capabilities

35%

7. Reducing tension between IT and
employees

34%

6. Reducing tension between IT and
employees
7. Greater focus on digital empathy(employee feelings when using IT)

Which of the following do you believe are the greatest priorities foryour organization’s IT department for the next 18 months in terms ofimproving employees’ digital experience? (ITDMs)

36%
33%

40%

Which of the following do you want your organization to prioritize
for the next 18 months in terms of improving employees’ digital
experience? (Knowledge workers)

About Vanson Bourne
Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market
research for the technology sector. Their reputation
for robust and credible research based analysis isfounded upon rigorous research principles and theirability to seek the opinions of senior decision makers
across technical and business functions, in all businesssectors and all major markets. For more information,
visit www.vansonbourne.com

About 1E
More than 500 organizations in 42 countries trust
1E to help them create a better Digital Employee
Experience (DEX). The 1E Tachyon Platform provides
real-time diagnosis, remediation, and automation toproactively fix issues before they ruin the workday.
Reduce costs, move faster, and increase employee
happiness with 1E. For more information, visit 1E.com.