We are in a period where we work for experience, not to ‘gain’ experience.
We are in the Age of Experience. In other words, the new society that emerged with the Digital Revolution is the “Experience Society[1]”. So much so that this word often finds its place in our daily conversations. People now refer to a vacation, eating at a restaurant, an education, or working somewhere as ‘experience’. For example, instead of “the restaurant was good”, s/he says “it was good for me as an experience”. Instead of evaluating something that has already happened, we started to evaluate what is happening, the process.
Everything that was expressed as ‘experience’ in our language for a while pointed to an earned treasure, and now the treasures entered a chest never to be opened. All the meanings that express experience as a ‘result or outcome’ is now in the chest which is in the attic. What we call experience today has nothing to do with what we call experience in the past. Experience is no longer a result or an outcome. Customers express their appreciation by saying “it was a good experience for me”, that is, by putting this word in the center. If the experience was still seen as a result, of course, we would not be able to talk about the restaurant experience. I would say good or bad to a meal whose output was in my stomach. It has been revealed with the possibilities of the Digital Age that experience is a process. Before, it was only the scientists or experts who might see experience as a process. Now, the ‘layman’ sees the experience as a process and wants to enjoy all the moments of it. Dozens of platforms on the smartphones s/he uses accompany the individual in the “moment”; mediates the individual to record and share the moment
[1] First used by Gerhard Schulze (1992).
Technology has offered people transparency in the ‘moment’. Thus, the experience has become a process that can be lived moment by moment, recorded and shared while it is being lived, and whose value is known without waiting for a result.
The person who experiences is the person who compares, weighs and evaluates. Today, the transformation of an ordinary moment into an experience in daily life has a positive meaning that highlights individuals as ‘subjects’. In other words, the evaluating person has a more determinant position. Thanks to digital tools, the individual is an experience designer who can make instant evaluations. Experience society is not only about services. It also applies to tangible products. Products presented to customers are no longer a solid object. They are in a more fluid, more dynamic form, and something more transparent that makes visible the interactions of all the actors involved in its emergence.
Today, working ‘to gain’ experience is replaced by working ‘for experience’.
The fine distinction between the two is the fault line between the Industrial society and the Experience society. Experience is no longer something the employer promises to the employee as an output. For new generations, work is an end-to-end experience where they can feel good in its every moment. Recent studies[2] show that the new generations want to be included in the workforce and expect “connection with people” more than material expectations. They want to participate, to be involved in the design of the “work” experience. At this point, listening to employees is more important than ever. It is necessary to open as many listening channels as possible and to keep the existing listening channels alive.
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2021/05/04/how-gen-z-is-bringing-a-fresh-perspective-to-the-world-of-work/?sh=23acbeeb10c2