Give Employees the Experience They Want: Advice for HR Leaders

Angela Cheng-Cimini is all about the employee in the employee experience. Her passion for people isn’t simply because of her role and 30-year career in HR, but her lived experience informs her leadership strategy to help employees experience work in a positive way.

“When I was coming up through the ranks, particularly as a female person of color, there weren’t a lot of role models. And so, I carry that with me. And if ever there’s an opportunity for me to help people, I try to do that,” she explains.

HR Daily Advisor recently sat down with Cheng-Cimini, Head of Human Resources at The Chronicle of Philanthropy, member of CNBC’s Workforce Executive Council, HCI faculty, and former CHRO at Harvard Business Publishing, to discuss her best advice on employee experience strategy.  

What’s your approach to the employee experience?

Staying closely tethered to the employees and how they’re experiencing the organization is super important to me.

I want the employee to feel when they’re part of an organization, that they are part of something bigger, that our mission is worth getting up for every morning. People need to know that they are valued and that they matter.

What’s the most straightforward approach to addressing employee experience issues?

Spend a lot of time talking to [employees]. Through those conversations, you will know what’s not working. And they may have fantastic solutions. I don’t have all the answers. Making space for other people to contribute … often gives me a better solution than had I just thought about it all on my own.

What leadership strategies do you use?

Sometimes in human resources, we have a tendency to over-engineer the solution. We add a lot of bells and whistles, and if we just went back to basics: listen more, talk less, give feedback in a respectful manner, play nicely with other people—that will get you through any change, any process implementation, any difficult decision you have to make.

For more exciting insights from Angela Cheng-Cimini, be sure to attend SPARK HR 2025 in Lake Buena Vista, FL, April 30–May 2, where she will be speaking. We’ll be diving even deeper into engagement, leadership, and workplace culture with additional speakers from LinkedIn, Chobani, Microsoft, and more. It’s not just another conference—it’s hands-on, interactive, and a chance to connect with people who really get it. Plus, we’re adding some Disney magic, so you know it’s going to be a great experience. We‘ll see you there!

This article is presented in partnership with HR Daily Advisor. HR Query is a Q&A series by HR Daily Advisor that focuses on HR professionals' insights on current HR trends and dives into their personal stories, helping HR peers connect with challenges and opportunities.