DEX, or Digital Employee Experience, is the new thing to orient around. The term “intranets” has been deprecated for a while, and even the term digital workplace could become last year’s idea. Leveraging the ideas of customer experience (CX) to address employee issues, DEX offers a new way of looking at current issues and challenges in how staff are enabled to get their work done, along with all other points of engagement between staff and the organisation.

That’s lovely. But employers need ta get something in return. The spending of all this money to create a better digital employee experience, on top of better intranets, awesome search, and new collaboration tools needs to find a receptivity and resonance among the ranks of employees.

And here’s what I think that is: XED, or Excellent Employee Delivery.

Which means employees who step up and bring passion and excellence to work.

Which means a commitment to lifelong learning.

Which means dealing with employee engagement in yourself – identifying your compelling and driving reason for getting up and going to work each day, not just because you have to but because you want to be there. Because it enables and furthers your goals. Because it offers a way to contribute, and you’re fighting to contribute as much as you can.

Which means taking responsibility for attitude, and character, and teach ability, and competence.

Which means getting better each day.

Which means learning to use the tools at your disposal to be awesome. Because with AI, machine learning and other mega trends coming down the pike that threaten many jobs, learning to see the opportunities and positioning yourself and your team with the skills and abilities to thrive in the new world of work is essential.

Which means searching for ways to become more valuable to your employer, to the marketplace, and to those you work with. And then doing something about the identified gaps.

Which means becoming better at focusing on priorities, concentrating on your core work, minimising busy work, and pushing forward on the mission of the organisation, not playing petty games or delivering a half-hearted performance.

Which means that every employer would look at a request for DEX from XEDers as a “you bothered to ask permission” request, not an “not another request for more by people who can’t even give average.”

XED. What’s your plan?