The capability gaps that are costing you trust, time and talent

Emma Bridger

Minutes
28th September 2025
Employee Experience
Human-centred
Internal communication
Most EX teams don’t lack effort - they lack the tools to build experiences that actually work. If you feel stretched, reactive, or unsure where to focus, you’re not alone. Our research with EX pioneers uncovered consistent capability gaps that hold practitioners back.
The gaps we see most often

1. Human-centred design methods
Many of us come from HR, comms or L&D backgrounds, but few were trained in design thinking or service design. Without these, it’s hard to move from process to experience.

2. Analytics and measurement
We hear it all the time: “I know this is the right thing to do, but I can’t prove it.” Building the skills to gather, interpret and communicate data is essential to win senior buy-in.

3. Influence and storytelling
Practitioners often find themselves educating leaders about what EX actually is. This takes courage, communication, and the ability to tell a clear story about why experience matters.

4. Core strengths
Empathy, curiosity, resilience and courage consistently came up in our research as the strengths that differentiate great EX practitioners. Yet these rarely appear in capability frameworks.

Why this matters now

AI is already taking on the repetitive admin. What’s left is the human work—listening, designing, experimenting, influencing. If we don’t close these gaps, we risk losing credibility and momentum at the exact moment EX is moving centre stage.
Where to start

  • Try mapping a single journey (like onboarding) using design thinking.
  • Start small with data—track one experience metric that matters.
  • Practice storytelling—frame your EX initiatives in terms leaders care about.
  • Focus on building strengths as much as skills—resilience, empathy, curiosity.

That’s exactly why we created The EX Space: a place to learn these capabilities, share practical tools, and build confidence. Explore our courses and masterclasses to start closing your own gaps—and design experiences that genuinely work.

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