Explorance CEO Samer Saab Interviewed by Medium on Building a Highly Supportive Work Culture

Montreal, Quebec — September 21, 2021 — Explorance CEO Samer Saab was recently interviewed by Authority Magazine, a Medium publication, on how Explorance, the leading provider of Experience Management (XM) solutions, has succeeded in realizing a highly supportive work culture.

Published this month, the interview reveals how Explorance has evolved over “two decades of growth and innovation” to establish itself as “organic, people-centric, and guided by leadership principles”, with the company having recently been named as the #1 Best Workplace in Canada by Great Places to Work Canada.

Recounting the company’s growth, Samer describes shepherding the company from a scrappy start-up to a thriving business that employs hundreds of employees (known as Explorers) across four continents. He places huge significance on a healthy work-life balance as a key factor to employee happiness.  

“We spend more than a third of our waking lives at work…if we can find the right balance between our careers and personal lives, we can live a full life, not two-thirds of one.”

The interview goes on to discuss the challenges in delivering employee satisfaction that have arisen in the wake of COVID-19 – with the so-called ‘Great Resignation’ ongoing. However, Samer offers a viewpoint that this disruption can result in happier employees in the long-term, so long as they are supported to find the new roles that best suit them.

“41% of people say they are likely to consider leaving their jobs within the next year. I take the perspective (that) when employees find roles that are a good fit, fulfilling, and balanced, they will be happier, productivity will rise, and profitability will increase.”

Samer goes on to describe the specific approaches that Explorance has taken to cut out the restrictive policies and processes that he believes at the root of much of this employee dissatisfaction.

These include no policy towards time off, instead stressing the message that employees should take the time off that they feel they need. Additionally, Explorance does not carry out performance reviews, stresses the importance of celebrating every win, and regularly gives back to the community.

Together, these approaches inform what Samer calls a Culture of Reciprocity, which runs through the entire organization and encapsulates his own philosophy.

“I seek to balance what I ask of my employees with what they need to find balance in their lives. How can I expect them to give Explorance as much time, heart and soul…as they need in the name of their own personal balance and success? These are not two different things, but two sides of the same coin…they must be balanced.”

Explorance’s latest offering – BlueML, is the only machine-learning powered comment analytics solution trained on real employee responses. Samer describes BlueML as an effective tool to help organizations in this task of listening to, and truly meeting, employee concerns.

“With employers everywhere facing the challenges of recruiting, engaging, and retaining their employees, ensuring that they are truly listening to the feedback employees are sharing is critical to optimizing the employee experience.”

Read the full interview via the link below.