Every executive team collects employee feedback. Fewer know how to handle it once the results come in. Leaders have to decide which signals deserve attention, which patterns point to deeper cultural issues, and which actions will actually make people want to stay. 

As Co-Founder of Workforce Science Associates (WSA), Kris Erickson helps companies make those decisions using a database of over 10 million respondents and 191 million corporate responses across 163 countries. By parsing these large-scale datasets, she helps leaders move past data that is merely "interesting" and focus instead on the levers that drive frontline motivation and performance.

Kris’s perspective is shaped by more than three decades at the forefront of behavioral workplace science, including consulting roles at Gallup, Talent Plus, Kenexa, and IBM, alongside hands-on corporate leadership as the senior vice president of HR for e+CancerCare. At WSA, she has intentionally built a culture that mirrors her data's core finding: that employees thrive when given deep autonomy and clear purpose.

In this conversation with The Consulting Report, Kris discusses how WSA turns employee feedback into action, what unmanaged “shadow AI” is revealing about workforce anxiety, and why exceptional employee experiences require both data and empathy.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Consulting Report: Can you provide an overview of WSA’s areas of specialization?

Kris Erickson: Workforce Science Associates (WSA) is a leading provider of employee experience management programs. Our mission is to bring clarity to organizations and leaders, enabling them to focus on actions that will create better experiences for their employees. We utilize surveys to unlock what is most important to employees that will cause them to be more motivated, committed, and conscientious in their work. 

We deliver on that promise through scientific rigor, human understanding, embedded partnership, and simplicity. That means grounding our programs in ongoing research, applying decades of behavioral science expertise, building long-term relationships with clients, and helping leaders separate the insights that matter from data that is merely interesting. We keep the guidance clear, simple, and actionable.

When organizations focus on their most important asset, their people, they are rewarded with higher productivity, safer work environments and a workforce that becomes a predictable lever for improving business outcomes.

“We know what will cause employees to want to work harder, stay longer, and care more about their work.”

The Consulting Report: What makes WSA’s approach distinct?

Kris Erickson: WSAdata is one of the largest databases of employee feedback in the world and is our biggest differentiator in the employee experience space. We refresh our three-year rolling database at the end of each calendar year. We replace the oldest dataset with all survey responses we collected throughout the current year.

As of 2026, our updated database consists of more than 10 million survey respondents and more than 191 million responses across 163 countries. Our team of data scientists uses advanced statistical analysis and analytics to determine the top global predictors of engagement year over year. In other words, we know what will cause employees to want to work harder, stay longer, and care more about their work. Organizations that follow WSA’s methodology and recommendations see, on average, a 10.6 percent increase in engagement.

Our team consists of I/O psychologists with an average tenure of 20 years and technical experts with an average of 15 years of experience. These seasoned professionals have boardroom presence and highly respected thought leadership. In short, our people are a key differentiator.

“We don’t care where you work, how you work, or when you work, as long as clients are taken care of and you don’t let your colleagues down.”

The Consulting Report: How would you describe your firm’s culture?

Kris Erickson: Several years ago, we embarked on a culture study of ourselves. We wanted to understand who we were then and who we wanted to be in the future. We call the result Our WSA DNA: ten tenets that define what it is like to work at WSA and who will thrive in the environment we created. Those tenets include having each other’s backs, finding the answer when we do not have it, being allergic to arrogance, and making our clients better.

At WSA, we believe in hiring the very best in the business and unleashing their potential. We have a saying: we don’t care where you work, how you work, or when you work, as long as clients are taken care of and you don’t let your colleagues down. We currently have a technical expert who lives and works in her recreational vehicle and will complete more than two years of travel across the U.S. to visit every national park, all while doing amazing work for WSA.

Our philosophy related to our people is simple: we want our associates to play to their strengths, becoming more of who they are naturally. Lastly, many of us have spent our lives in airports and hotel rooms, far away from the ones we care about most. At WSA, we are purposeful: your family and those you care about come first. Work will always be there, but soccer games, parent-teacher conferences, and other important milestones won’t.

The Consulting Report: How is AI changing the employee experience questions clients bring to WSA?

Kris Erickson: AI is emerging in nearly every client conversation these days. Clients are asking themselves, and us: How are employees using it, and how consistently? What fears do people have around it? How do we enable the workforce with the right skills to use it effectively? How do we improve efficiency without creating resistance, fear, or security risks?

WSA has collected quantitative feedback on this. Our employee research into AI reveals consistent themes across industries.

Leaders recognize that employees are already experimenting with AI, often without formal support or governance. This can create “shadow AI,” which poses security risks while also signaling intense demand.

AI readiness spans the spectrum. Some organizations are providing no enablement, guidance, or tools, while others, such as one of the largest technology and social media companies, are providing all employees with required AI enablement and training, as well as curated resources and tools specific to functions and roles.

There are major readiness divides, specifically related to adaptability and confidence in using AI. Executives struggle to demonstrate AI’s value, particularly to individual contributors, who remain skeptical about its impact on their roles and concerned about job security. Even the largest technology companies acknowledge they are still “figuring it out.” Fear has entered the mind of many workers today, leaving them uncertain about how AI may affect their work or their ability to stay employed.

We would also say that if leaders are not asking these questions within an organization, they are falling behind.

The Consulting Report: What leadership ideas from your book also shape how you lead WSA?

Kris Erickson: My book, “The Enduring Impact: The Art and Science of Crafting Exceptional Employee Experiences,” encapsulates not only how we advise organizations to lead, but how we lead at WSA.

The book focuses on how to create a culture where people do more than show up; they thrive. Drawing on three decades of global research and real-world insights, it offers a framework to help leaders build lasting engagement, purpose, and performance. That framework is built around WSA’s Six Tenets of an exceptional employee experience: trust, mission, communication, appreciation, support, and growth.

Those ideas shape how we lead internally. We believe leaders have to turn employee feedback into actionable change, create alignment between roles and organizational purpose, and build a workplace rooted in fulfillment, not just function. For us, leading with empathy, data, and purpose is central to creating a culture where people feel connected, inspired, and committed to their work.

The Consulting Report: What helps you recharge outside of work?

Kris Erickson: Even after spending most of my career traveling the globe for work, I still jump at the chance to board a plane. For me, it’s all about the thrill of diving into new cultures, people and places. When I’m home, you’ll find me on my Peloton for a heavy cycling or strength session, out on the golf course, or cheering on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I love to cook and hunt down a great bottle of wine. My shadow through all of this is Togwotee, my 11-year-old Dutch Shepherd. Best of all, I get to share every single one of these adventures with my son, my business and life partner, and my closest friends.