There’s a reason HR professionals are banging the employee experience (EX) drum louder than ever — because it works. Not in a fluffy, warm-and-fuzzy, “yay team” kind of way. In a hard, measurable, bottom-line-impacting kind of way.
But to get there, businesses need to undergo one of the biggest mindset shifts of all: from business-first to people-first. And no, that doesn’t mean ignoring business goals. It means understanding this truth:
👉 You don’t get sustainable business success without exceptional people experience.
Let’s break it down, the easy way.
What’s Business-First vs. People-First?
A business-first mindset says: “The business comes first. People are here to deliver outcomes.”
A people-first mindset says: “People are the business. Outcomes come from how well we support, lead, and engage them.”
If the first one sounds like how we used to run things in the ‘90s, it’s because… it is. We’ve since learned that disengaged, burnt-out employees don’t exactly power innovation or customer loyalty.
Enter: The EX Maturity Model (Thanks Josh Bersin)
Josh Bersin’s EX Maturity Model lays out four stages that show where your organisation might sit on the spectrum from people-afterthought to people-powered.
Level 1: Transactional – HR is focused on compliance and admin. Experience is reactive. (If you think a good onboarding means “the payroll form was filled in,” you’re here.)
Level 2: Standardised – You’ve got engagement surveys, policies, and perks. But no integration. It’s still about efficiency, not meaning.
Level 3: Exceptional – Experience starts to feel intentional. There’s design behind it. EX aligns with leadership, learning, wellbeing, and tech. Leaders are accountable.
Level 4: Irresistible – People experience is embedded into every layer of the business. It’s not an initiative; it’s how you operate. Performance, purpose, and people are in lockstep .
If you’re thinking, “We’ve got a ping-pong table and an EAP, so we must be at Level 3,” think again.
This isn’t about perks. It’s about intentionality — designing employee experiences as rigorously as you design customer ones.
So Where Does the Barrett Values Model Fit In?
Let’s talk values. The Barrett Values Model maps how organisations and their leaders evolve. It’s all about consciousness — from survival mode (fear, control, short-termism) to contribution and service (purpose, trust, legacy).
When you compare it to the EX Maturity Model, the overlap is obvious:
| Barrett Stage | Leadership Focus | EX Maturity Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Survival | Control, rules | Level 1 – Transactional |
| Relationships | Loyalty, hierarchy | Level 2 – Standardised |
| Self-esteem | Performance, success | Level 2-3 transition |
| Transformation | Adaptability, purpose | Level 3 – Exceptional |
| Internal Cohesion | Shared vision, trust | Level 4 – Irresistible |
| Contribution | Making a difference | Level 4 – Irresistible |
What does this tell us?
⚠️ Your EX efforts will only go as far as your leadership values allow.
You can’t create a high-trust, purpose-driven culture with fear-based, transactional leadership. Culture doesn’t trickle down from posters. It shows up in every decision, every manager, and every conversation.
Want to Get Intentional? Start Here.
You don’t need to overhaul your entire organisation in a week. But if you want better retention, engagement, and performance (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?), you need to:
- Stop confusing compliance with culture
- Design EX like it matters — because it does
- Align leadership values with the experience you’re trying to create
- Understand that employee experience = leadership experience
Don’t worry — we won’t leave you hanging.
Through Engagement Champions: Retain by Design™, we help businesses shift from reactive to intentional, using tools grounded in research, not guesswork. We don’t just talk about values — we measure and operationalise them.
Because culture might feel like a vibe, but it’s built through structure, leadership, and choices.
You must be logged in to post a comment.