When Samantha Gadd began her career in HR, she quickly noticed traditional HR processes and practices often overlooked the people they were meant to serve. Struggling to find the “human” in human resources, Samantha took a leap of faith and founded Humankind, an organization dedicated to putting humanity at the center of work.
Today, Humankind is New Zealand’s leading HR and employee experience (EX) consultancy, partnering with over 1,200 organizations to create more human-centered workplaces that prioritize employee well-being and drive business success.
Samantha Gadd is a seasoned business leader and expert in employee experience (EX) with over a decade of industry expertise. She is the founder and CEO of Excellent and Founder and Director of Humankind.
In this episode, Dart and Samantha discuss:
- Samantha’s journey from HR to EX
- Who buys into EX in organizations
- The origin and principles of the EX Manifesto
- Links between workplace culture and employer brand
- The EX Design School curriculum
- Values of EX that reframe success metrics
- The PREP model: purpose, relationship, enabling, and performance
- Who is best suited for the EX curriculum
- And other topics…
Samantha Gadd is a seasoned business leader and expert in employee experience (EX) with over a decade of industry expertise. She is the founder and CEO of Excellent, an organization dedicated to transforming how organizations approach EX. She is also the Founder and Director of Humankind, New Zealand’s leading HR and EX consultancy which has collaborated with over 1,000 organizations to design impactful employee experiences.
As an EX expert, Samantha has spent over a decade helping high-profile clients transform workplace environments to enhance employee engagement and well-being. In 2022, she also led a group of 34 contributors to co-author The EX Manifesto, which defines key principles of EX design. Signed by leaders in over 30 countries, this document represents a global commitment to reimagining employee engagement and well-being.
Resources mentioned:
www.EXmanifesto.com
The Experience Economy, by Joseph Pine II: https://www.amazon.com/Experience-Economy-Updated-Joseph-Pine/dp/1422161978
Customers Included, by Phil Terry: https://www.amazon.com/Customers-Included-Transform-Products-Companies/dp/0979368111
University of Toronto, service design certificate: https://learn.utoronto.ca/programs-courses/certificates/service-design
Connect with Samantha:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthagadd
www.excellent.io

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.