Improving the experience of users and employees contributes to the development of human-centric companies

The second FIRESTARTER regional conference, which tackles the topics of Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experience (EX), last week in Belgrade gathered renowned world experts and representatives of companies from Serbia and the region, who shared their insights, experiences and practical advice from these areas of business. The participants agree that the Serbian market is developing in the direction of awareness of the importance of a human-centric approach in companies with the aim of competitiveness, development and sustainable success. 

The first day of the two-day conference was dedicated to improving the user experience, with a reminder that caring for users must not be reduced to solving crises, but requires proactive, continuous work, emphasizing the need for mindset change, constant education and humanization. Nevertheless, both new technologies and the use of AI can help in the fields of efficiency, productivity and personalization of the experience, in order to meet and even exceed user expectations. 

Inseparable from the user experience, improving the employee experience was the main topic of the second day of the conference. EX has no beginning or end point – it is a process that does not necessarily require large investments, but it implies persistence and continuity. As some of the key points that affect the satisfaction of employees in human-centric companies, which directly affects business results and resistance to the talent crisis, the participants highlighted communication, transparency, consistency, trust, valuation and recognition of merit, as well as the introduction of innovations in business. 

"Our future depends on how we treat our employees and users today. What is great today will be average tomorrow due to rapid changes in the market. The solution lies in upgrading and learning new skills. We need to learn to learn and understand that the goal of knowledge is action. Employees who engage at work will go home smiling," said Dragan Đorđević, founder and director of Skills Innovative Learning Experience. 

Vladimir Joksić, one of the founders of the CEXAS organization, the organizer of the conference, presented the CEXAS Academy and the Customer Experience Professional Program, which enables participants to, after successfully completing eight modules, among the first on our market to obtain a certificate and the title of Certified Customer Experience Professional. 

The FIRESTARTER conference was organized with the idea of strengthening management awareness of the importance and necessity of strategic planning in the areas of Customer and Employee Experience for successful business. A total of 36 experts, through 26 presentations and 3 panel discussions, focused on these two concepts, which cannot exist without each other, because without a satisfied employee, there is no satisfied user. 

Among the speakers were Ian Golding, the first Customer Experience trainer in the world, lecturer, consultant and author of the world bestseller "Customer What?", Eytam Hattem, CEO of Cemantica, a company specialized in CX and certified for leading tools in this field, Nikolaos Dimitriadis, expert for neuroscience, well-being and education, Laura Bosser, corporate HR manager at MAPEI, Elena Panova, marketing and digitization manager at A1 North Macedonia, Zoran Nikolić, vice president of the National Consumer Organization of Serbia and many others. 

The sponsors of the FIRESTARTER conference were companies NLB bank, A1, Alma Quatro, and assapp, and the media sponsors were Nedeljnik, Danas, Nova ekonomija, Ekapija, BizLife, Mondo and Progressive. 

The conference was organized by the business association CEXAS – Customer & Employee Experience Association of Serbia, whose founders are certified consultants with many years of experience, including representatives of the company Skills Innovative Learning Experience, which has been engaged in people development for 27 years.