Designing Employee Experience through Culture: A Framework for Culture Shift in Organizations

Abstract

In recent years, Employee Experience (EX) has become a critical focus in organizational management, shifting from traditional human resource administration to maximizing employee engagement. Driven by diversifying work styles and the correlation between EX and Customer Experience (CX) under Service-Dominant Logic, organizations are increasingly leveraging "EX Design" to enhance employee satisfaction, motivation, and productivity. This paper explores EX Design and conceptualizes it through three relational dimensions: brand contracts (addressed via brand experience design), transactional contracts (addressed via service design), and psychological contracts (addressed via culture design). Because psychological contracts involve implicit expectations and shared assumptions, culture design plays a paramount role in shaping a positive EX. The paper defines culture design as the intentional and strategic shaping of shared values and mindsets, making implicit norms visible and embedding them into organizational practices. To operationalize this transformation, the study proposes a comprehensive four-step framework for "Culture Shift": (1) redefining organizational vision and mission, (2) assessing the current organizational culture, (3) co-creating the desired culture, and (4) implementing design-driven interventions. Furthermore, we present practical strategies for executing these interventions across four key domains: communication, community, events and rituals, and services and systems. By integrating EX Design with strategic culture shift methodologies, this paper provides a holistic framework for organizational transformation. The findings suggest that culture-driven EX Design goes beyond formal systems, designing shared meanings and relationships that serve as vital drivers for sustainable innovation, talent retention, and competitive advantage in dynamic business environments.

Keywords: Employee Experience, Culture, Design, Culture Shift, Service-Dominant Logic, Organizational Transformation

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008150