From “customer centric” to “employee centric

In our Council and Executive Committee consultancy work, we are hearing more and more about ” employee centricity “, where until now the emphasis has been on ” customer centricity “.

What does this development reflect? Should we oppose these two notions? Can experience of the historic subject help accelerate the more recent one? Zoom in on a shift in focus, which translates into profound transformation challenges for the organization.

Customer centric: now a mature priority

The notion of ” customer centricity“, which emerged in the 90s, took off a few years later, with the aim of putting the customer at the center of all organizational thinking and decisions.

We study his profile, we try to know him, to understand him, to understand his interests, what he feels, his “customer experience”. We can go as far as putting an empty chair in meetings to symbolize the presence of the client. What would he say if he attended this meeting? We imagine his journey in its different phases, from the beginning of the experience, and not only at the moment of the purchase. We move away from the idea of making more or less rational decisions, and build real relationships with our customers, offering them a quality customer experience.

This approach has generated many benefits for all those who have experienced it and, in fact, is not questioned at all. But in organizations, there is a theme that is “taking over” from ” customer centric “, namely ” employee centric“. It’s not a question of neglecting the customer, but of putting the employee “first” in terms of attention.

Developing Human Resources focused on employees means putting in place processes to attract the right candidates, support their professional development and retain them.

This is well illustrated by the title of the book “Employees first, customers second” by Vineet Nayar, CEO of an Indian multinational, the HCL IT group. Released in 2010, this bestseller marked the beginning of an awakening for many players interested in Human Resources, and more broadly in the transformation of their company.
The author describes his iconoclastic approach to turning the company around. His strategy: put employees first. He recommends putting employees at the center, focusing on what they experience, how they feel, and trying to make their “experience” as positive as possible.

Shift of focus: from customer to employee?

Organizations are faced with a changing, increasingly complex and uncertain world, in which responsiveness and continuous innovation are essential. However, faced with these new challenges, having sharpened or optimized processes is not enough. What makes the difference, what creates added value, is thecommitment of the employees. And this commitment leads to performance.

The figures speak for themselves: according to Gallup’s *Stateof the Global Workplace* 2025 report, only 21% of employees worldwide say they are engaged in their work, down two points on the previous year. This disengagement cost the global economy $438 billion in lost productivity in 2024. In Europe, the situation is even more worrying: only 13% of employees declare themselves engaged, one of the lowest rates in the world.

Taking care of employees is all the more important in Human Resources Departments as they face the challenge of developing theiremployer brand and attractiveness. The development of Human Resources must therefore be done around the employee who will take his place and make his contribution in line with the relationship he expects to have with his employer.

The message “employee commitment makes the difference” will therefore gradually be translated into various HR actions: QWL, training in more caring management, communication, and even happiness at work… As a result, all HR processes are impacted, and these transformations require structured support to avoid the classic mistakes that cause change projects to fail.

How to think “employee centric”?

Thinking ” employee centric ” means taking a similar approach to the ” customer centric ” approach. It’s a question of looking at the subject in terms of theemployee experience and the employee journey, and thinking about the employee’s impressions and pain points at every stage:

• Before joining the company: image of the company (employer brand), recruitment process, onboarding

• On a day-to-day basis: the value of one’s work, the trust and autonomy accorded to one, one’s relationship with management, one’s sense of belonging, the collective dynamic, the work environment, one’s work-life balance.

• In the long term: job changes, training, career development, and even the way in which they will one day leave the company (offboarding), so that they can continue to project a positive image.

To think ” employee centric “, we therefore need to consider each stage individually, taking into account the employee’s digital experience, or DEX (Digital Employee Experience). An HRIS transformation project that neglects this dimension risks generating frustration and resistance, even if the technical solution is high-performance.

We can also add to this a global reflection for greater coherence: thinking about the company’s people strategy, the broad guidelines so that this employee experience is completely in line with the organization’s new strategic orientations, raison d’être and values.

Employee Centric: a shift in focus, not a revolution

The employee-centric approach does not replace the customer-centric approach: rather, it shifts the organization’s focus and priorities. Above all, the former can benefit from extensive feedback from the latter, thereby accelerating the process.

Human resources are increasingly integrating this strategic mission. They become essential partners in developing employee commitment and guaranteeing an ” employee-centric ” policy, a policy regularly measured by internal barometers.

HR issues that make it all the more urgent to act :

In 2026, HR departments face a convergence of challenges: persistent tensions on the job market, rising expectations from new generations, the rise of AI in work processes, and the obligation to demonstrate the ROI of every HR initiative.

In this context,employee experience is no longer a “nice to have”: it’s a documented performance lever. The National Employee Experience Barometer 2025 (Parlons RH / Cornerstone OnDemand) establishes a clear correlation between employee experience and economic growth: 61% of “practicing” companies are growing, compared with 39% of non-practicing companies.

Conclusion: Employee Centric, a challenge of profound transformation

The challenge for organizations is to strike a balance between the digital transition of human resources, support for change and the employee experience. This shift in focus cannot be decreed: it must be built gradually, by aligning HR processes, managerial practices and digital tools around the same ambition: to make the employee the organization’s primary ambassador.

Making a success of this transformation means anticipating resistance, training managers in new postures and steering the adoption of new practices over the long term. This is precisely where structured change management makes all the difference between strategic intent and real transformation.

Is this topic relevant to your current challenges? SQORUS HR consultants are available to discuss your employee-centric strategy and help you implement it. Contact us for an initial discussion.

FAQ – Employee Centric and the employee experience

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