Employee experience (EX) is a priority for organizations looking to boost engagement, retention, and overall business performance. But as the insights from our webinar on employee experience trends confirm, many companies are still navigating major roadblocks.

We asked attendees about their biggest EX challenges, and the results were clear:

• 38% struggle with engaging employees across multiple locations.
• 31% are battling burnout and high turnover.
• 29% say scattered tools, lack of team alignment, and limited resources are holding them back.

The good news? Every challenge has a solution. Let’s break down the biggest EX obstacles and how to tackle them head-on.

The 6 biggest challenges organizations face when it comes to employee experience

Engaging employees across multiple locations

The top concern from our poll was engaging employees across multiple locations. In an era of hybrid, remote, and frontline workforces, keeping everyone connected is harder than ever.

Common issues include:

• Frontline workers feeling disconnected from company culture.
• Remote teams missing out on informal, in-office interactions.
• Important messages not reaching every employee.

How to tackle it:

• Standardize communication channels – Employees should know where to find key information, whether they’re in an office, warehouse, or on the road.
• Use an employee experience platform – A central hub for updates, training, and engagement ensures no one is left out.
• Encourage leadership visibility – Executives should regularly communicate with all employees - from HQ to frontline. This can be done via emails, regular updates on the internal comms platform or even town halls.
• Recognize employees across locations – Ensure every team, not just HQ, gets celebrated for their contributions.

Pro tip: If employees feel “out of the loop,” your communication strategy is likely the problem. Conduct a quick pulse survey to see where gaps exist.

Burnout and high turnover

According to UKG, 75% of frontline employees across all generations report experiencing burnout. And when employees feel drained, unsupported, or undervalued, they leave.

The problem is even worse in frontline industries:

• 74% of hospitality workers leave within a year.
• 60% of retail employees churn annually.
• 37% turnover in manufacturing is now the norm.

Retention is no longer just an HR issue—it’s a business survival issue.

How to tackle it:

• Address workload imbalances – Ensure fair workloads and realistic performance expectations. Overworked employees are flight risks.
• Train managers to recognize burnout – Managers are the first line of defense. Give them tools to spot and address burnout before it escalates.
• Improve career growth opportunities – Employees often leave not because they dislike the job, but because they don’t see a future. Clear career paths help.
• Promote well-being initiatives – Mental health programs, stress management resources, and flexible work options are only effective if employees know and use them.

Pro tip: The easiest way to reduce turnover? Improve onboarding. Employees who experience a structured, engaging onboarding process are 69% more likely to stay for three years.

Scattered tools and platforms

Let’s be honest—most companies have too many tools. Between HR systems, internal comms platforms, and team messaging apps, employees often feel overwhelmed and disconnected.

Signs your EX tech stack is messy:

• Employees struggle to find important information.
• Different departments use different tools, leading to silos.
• Important messages get lost in the noise.

How to tackle it:

• Audit your tech stack. Identify what’s actually useful and eliminate unnecessary tools.
• Invest in an integrated employee experience platform that brings everything together in one place. Because tool consolidation = great employee experience.
• Provide training to ensure employees actually use the tools available to them.

Pro tip: More tools don’t mean better communication. In many cases, fewer, better-integrated platforms lead to higher engagement.

Lack of leadership buy-in

HR and comms teams can launch all the EX initiatives they want, but if leadership isn’t actively engaged, efforts will fall flat. Employees take their cues from leadership—when leaders prioritize EX, employees feel valued.

How to tackle it:

• Give leaders easy ways to engage – Not every executive wants to write a blog post, but they can record a short video message or join a live Q&A.
• Train leaders on communication – A lack of transparency or authenticity from leadership can kill employee trust. Provide training on effective employee engagement.
• Set leadership KPIs for engagement – If leaders are responsible for business outcomes, they should also be responsible for employee engagement.

Unclear ROI on employee experience initiatives

One of the biggest barriers to EX investment? The perception that it’s a “nice-to-have” instead of a business necessity. If you can’t prove ROI, securing budget and resources becomes a challenge.

How to tackle it:

• Connect EX to business performance – Engagement scores correlate with lower turnover, higher productivity, and better customer satisfaction. Make those connections clear.
• Use AI and analytics – AI-powered tools can help spot trends, measure engagement, and predict turnover risks.
• Gather employee stories – Hard data matters, but real employee testimonials add depth to the numbers.
• Or simply read our blog that highlights 5 steps part of the ROI Impact Framework to secure stakeholder buy-in.

Pro tip: The cost of replacing an employee is 1.5x to 2x their salary. A strong EX strategy that improves retention saves companies millions.

The "we collect data but do nothing with it" problem

Most companies run engagement surveys, but too many do nothing with the results. Employees stop responding when they don’t see action.

How to Tackle It:

• Close the feedback loop – Communicate survey results and outline the actions being taken.
• Take immediate action on small wins – Don’t wait for a full strategy overhaul—fix small pain points fast.
• Tie EX data to strategic decisions – Make EX metrics a key part of leadership dashboards.

Pro tip: Organizations that act on employee feedback are 4x more likely to see engagement improvements.

The bottom line: every challenge has a solution

The challenges in EX aren’t new, but now, they’re more urgent than ever. The companies that address burnout, centralize communication, unify their tech stack, and gain leadership buy-in will be the ones that thrive.

So, where do you start?

1️⃣ Identify your biggest EX pain point.
2️⃣ Implement one targeted change.
3️⃣ Measure impact and iterate.

Improving EX isn’t about sweeping changes overnight. It’s about continuous, meaningful improvements that drive engagement, retention, and business success.

Ready to master the shift to employee experience?

You know where to find us 😉

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