Employee Experience is Breaking in 20 Places
Most Leaders Only See 3
Introducing EX20:
The 20 Gaps Undermining Customer Experience
Let’s be blunt.
Most leaders think they’re focused on employee experience.
Employees don't. And that disconnect? It’s not minor—it’s quietly eating away at your culture, productivity, and retention.
We call it the Experience Disconnect- the widening gap between what leadership believes it’s delivering and what employees actually live.
It’s not about culture slogans. Or perks. Or a good onboarding plan.
It’s about Misalignment. Fragmentation. Silence.
And it’s happening across your systems, tools, teams, and decisions.
That's why we created the EX20 Framework.
Why We Created EX20
At Amdocs Studios, we've spent years helping global enterprises connect employee experience to business performance. What we’ve seen repeatedly is that while most companies are working on EX, they’re working on the wrong things.
There's investment. There's intent. But there are also blind spots. Too much focus on engagement scores and HR programming. Not enough focus on the systemic gaps that make daily work harder than it should be.
Too much focus on engagement scores and HR programming. Not enough focus on the systemic gaps that make daily work harder than it should be.
We built the CX20 Framework - a model to map the 20 most damaging and consistent blind spots in customer experience.
The EX20 Framework exposes those gaps. It identifies the 20 hidden breakdowns that show up across infrastructure, leadership, technology, communication, and feedback loops.
Each one is specific. Actionable. And measurable.
Together, they give you a full picture of where experience is breaking and how to fix it.
The EX20 Framework:
What It Is
EX20 is a diagnostic model that maps the 20 most persistent experience gaps inside organizations. These aren’t surface issues. They’re embedded. Structural. Often invisible to those at the top. But always felt by employees.
They affect how people show up, how they perform, how long they stay and what they say after they leave.
Perceptual Gaps
Where leadership's beliefs don't match employee reality.
EX Perception Gap
Leaders believe morale is high; employees feel invisible.
Trust Gap
Employees don’t believe leadership acts with fairness or transparency.
Expectation Gap
The employee experience doesn’t match the job that was sold.
Value Alignment Gap
Mismatch between what your brand stands for—and how it behaves internally.
Operational Gaps
The day-to-day friction that creates drag and dysfunction.
Consistency Gap
Experience varies across managers, roles, or geographies.
Process Gap
Inefficiencies make daily work harder than it should be.
Service Gap
Core functions like HR and IT don’t meet evolving expectations.
Integration Gap
Disconnected tools and workflows drain energy.
Scalability Gap
Growth outpaces support structures.
Talent Gap
There aren’t enough skilled people to get the job done.
Technological Gaps
Where digital transformation misses the human layer.
AI Readiness Gap
Teams aren’t prepared for AI’s role in their work.
Human-Tech Balance Gap
Inefficiencies make daily work harder than it should be.
Automation Gap
Manual, repetitive tasks still dominate when they shouldn’t.
Innovation Gap
Your workplace doesn’t feel future-ready.
Communication &Engagement Gaps
Where messaging fails to connect or even reach.
Channel Gap
Messaging tools are fragmented and frustrating.
Personalization Gap
Every employee is treated the same—regardless of role or need.
Communication Gap
Messaging is vague, late, or just doesn’t land.
Segmentation Gap
One-size-fits-all doesn’t work for a diverse workforce.
Data & Feedback Gaps
Where insights exist but don’t lead to action.
Feedback Gap
Employees share concerns. Then nothing happens.
Measurement Gap
You're tracking what’s easy not what matters.
These Gaps Are Quiet Until They're Not
You don't see them in leadership dashboards.
You see them in exit interviews. In burnout. In workarounds. In Glassdoor reviews.
By the time they surface publicly, it’s too late.
The EX20 gives leaders a way to get ahead of that.
It’s a clear, structured approach to:
Diagnose where experience is breaking
Align leadership intent with employee reality
Prioritize what actually improves retention, trust, and performance
Build a credible people strategy—rooted in transparency, consistency, and systems that work
Because when employee experience works, business performance follows.
EX20 Is Not a Philosophy. It’s a Tool.
You don’t need more EX buzzwords.
You need visibility. You need alignment.
You need a framework that doesn’t just flag symptoms but shows what to do next.
What's new
This is just the foundation. Here’s what’s coming:
EX20 2025 Global Report
Data from hundreds of business leaders and thousands of employees across industries, roles, and regions.