THE EVOLUTION OF EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE RESEARCH (2016–2025): A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND AN INTEGRATED EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE ECOSYSTEM FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Employee Experience (EX) is one of the most important concepts in Human Resource Management, which reflects a shift from managing employees as one of the organizational resources to designing overall workplace experiences. The dimensions like employee well-being, engagement, innovation, and organizational sustainability are positively enhanced because of the shift in EX. But still the literature remains disconnected across various conceptual definitions of EX, theoretical perspectives and various methodological approaches. The existing literature mainly focuses towards bibliometric trends, descriptive summaries, which provide very limited theoretical integration. Also, there are very limited insufficient understanding that how EX emerged as an independent research domain. Addressing this gap, the present study systematically reviews EX research published between 2016 and 2025. This study examines its conceptual evolution, theoretical foundations, methodological development, and emerging research directions. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, fifty peer-reviewed Scopus-indexed journal articles were selected using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The selected studies were analysed through a combination of systematic literature review procedures and NVivo 12 Plus qualitative thematic analysis. The review identified significant shifts in EX research over the past decade, revealing a transition from a human resource practice centred on engagement and workplace satisfaction to a multidimensional organizational capability integrating employee well-being, inclusiveness, organizational cohesion, achievement orientation, vitality, and physical–digital work environments. The findings further demonstrate an increasing convergence of organizational behaviour, psychology, strategic HRM, digital transformation, and sustainability within Employee Experience journey. Based on the findings, the researcher proposes the Integrated Employee Experience Ecosystem Framework (IEEF), a theory building framework which includes external environmental influences, various organizational drivers, EX dimensions, employee and organizational performance into an integrated conceptual model. This model is unique in such a way that the framework conceptualizes EX as a dynamic organizational ecosystem characterized by reciprocal interaction among leadership, organizational culture, emerging technology, employee perceptions and strategic organizational outcomes. The study makes four principal contributions. First, it provides complete synthesis of ten years of EX research by identifying the evolution of the field across two developmental phases. Second, it includes theoretical perspectives into a comprehensive explanatory framework. Third, the study presents empirically derived EX dimensions supported by systematic NVivo analysis. The study finally proposes a future research agenda which identified priority areas which consists of artificial intelligence, digital employee experience, hybrid work, sustainable employee experience, employee analytics, and human–AI collaboration. Collectively, these contributions advance EX from a fragmented organizational concept toward a mature interdisciplinary research domain. This study provides a practical guidance for organizational leaders to design employee-centred workplaces capability by supporting innovation, resilience, and sustainable competitive advantage.