Winning Secrets: Why everyday interactions matter more than engagement programmes at PlayFACTO by Funworks

Employee experience is shaped less by one-off initiatives than by how people work together every day. PlayFACTO by Funworks' Karren Batara shares how trust, communication, and human-centred collaboration became the foundations of stronger teams and better employee engagement.

Many organisations believe employee experience initiatives begin with engagement programmes, wellbeing campaigns, or workplace perks. For PlayFACTO by Funworks, however, the biggest breakthrough came from focusing on something far more fundamental: the everyday interactions between colleagues.

Rather than treating employee experience as an HR-led initiative, the education provider embedded it into daily work by helping leaders, managers, and employees better understand one another's communication styles, working preferences, and approaches to collaboration. The result was stronger trust, more effective teamwork, and teams that could adapt more easily as operational demands evolved – and a silver win for 'Best Skilling Strategy' at the Employee Experience Awards 2026, Singapore.

In this edition of Winning Secrets, we speak to Karren Batara, Administration & Human Resource – Senior Executive, about why psychological safety became their biggest challenge, why employee experience should be a shared responsibility across the organisation, and why HR leaders may need to rethink how they measure success beyond engagement scores.

Q Tell us about the biggest insight or lesson that influenced your EX approach this past year.

The biggest lesson was that employee experience is shaped more by everyday interactions. Employees experience how their leader communicates, how work is shared during busy periods, and whether they feel supported by their team.

That insight shifted our focus towards human-centred collaboration by helping employees better understand different working styles, communication preferences, and approaches to teamwork. As people gained greater awareness of how colleagues communicate and respond under pressure, we saw stronger collaboration and more effective teamwork across our centres.

We also learned that experience improves when teams can adapt how they work together as demands shift. Our goal was never simply happier employees. It was an environment where people could collaborate effectively, adapt without friction, and perform together over the long term.

Q How did you bring leaders, managers, and employees together to support the execution and success of the initiative?

We approached employee experience as a shared responsibility rather than an HR initiative. Senior leaders acted as visible sponsors, while supervisors played a critical role in translating ideas into daily practice. Employees were actively involved in shaping how teams communicated, collaborated, and supported one another.

Through structured conversations and team discussions, employees reflected on behaviours they wanted to strengthen, such as speaking up more, listening actively, and being more adaptable. This helped teams develop practical ways of working that suited both their people and operational realities.

Beyond improving communication, our goal was to build responsiveness. By helping employees understand one another's strengths and working preferences, teams became better equipped to solve problems, support colleagues, and respond to changing demands. The result was stronger team connection, greater trust, and shared ownership of the employee experience.

Q What challenge behind the scenes tested your team the most, and what did it teach you about building stronger employee experience programmes?

Trust was our biggest challenge. Whenever organisations introduce changes to how people work, there can be concerns about increased expectations or hidden agendas. As we focused on strengthening collaboration and communication, some employees initially worried that discussions about working styles could lead to labels or assumptions about capability.

Rather than viewing those concerns as resistance, we treated them as valuable feedback. We were transparent about our intentions, reinforced that roles and expectations would not change, and created opportunities for employees to openly share concerns and ask questions.

Teams only adapt quickly when people feel psychologically safe enough to speak up, ask for help, challenge ideas, and adjust their approach when circumstances change.

Building that trust ultimately became one of the most important outcomes of our employee experience journey.

Q As you reflect on the journey, what this recognition at the Employee Experience Awards 2026 mean to you and your team?

This recognition matters most because it acknowledges the people who create the employee experience every day. Our educators, supervisors, and centre teams invest significant effort into supporting one another while delivering quality outcomes for the students.

For us, the recognition validates our decision to invest in leadership, communication, and human-centred collaboration rather than relying solely on traditional engagement activities. We focused on improving how people experience work daily, how they communicate, support one another, and navigate challenges together.

It also reinforces our belief that employee experience and organisational agility go hand in hand. When people trust one another, communicate effectively, and understand how to work together, teams become more resilient and adaptable. This recognition encourages us to continue building a workplace where people feel supported, valued, and able to perform at their best.

Q Finally, as employee expectations continue to evolve, what is one area of EX you believe HR teams will need to rethink in the year ahead?

Measurement. Many organisations still rely heavily on engagement surveys and satisfaction scores. While those metrics remain important, they often fail to capture the behaviours that truly shape employee experience.

I believe HR teams will need to move beyond measuring satisfaction alone and start measuring behavioural outcomes.

The focus should be less on how people feel immediately after an initiative and more on whether teams communicate better, collaborate more effectively, handle conflict constructively, and adapt successfully under pressure over time.

As workplaces become increasingly dynamic, organisations will need to pay closer attention to indicators such as communication quality, collaboration, psychological safety, adaptability, and problem-solving. These behaviours are often the strongest predictors of long-term performance, resilience, and team effectiveness.

The organisations that can demonstrate both the human and operational impact of employee experience will be best positioned to sustain investment in it, strengthen organisational agility, and continue improving over time.

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