People
Roles, responsibilities, skills, and organizational structure. Defines who owns the program and how they interact, using RACI frameworks and team-design principles. Without this layer, programs quietly stall.
The standard
The DEX-COS Framework
DEX-COS stands for the Digital Employee Experience Common Operating System. It is not a tool. It is not a vendor product. It is an operating standard, the way Windows or macOS gives applications a common foundation to run on.
Three layers
The structure
Process
The operational cadence: signal collection, friction prioritization, change governance, and value measurement. This is the engine that keeps the program moving.
Technology
Tooling for DEX visibility and action. Intentionally vendor-neutral, any platform with the required capabilities can fulfill this role, so the standard outlasts any single product.
Two overlays
Turning signals into influence
Overlays sit across all three layers, connecting the work to the people who fund and feel it.
Five maturity levels
Know exactly where you stand
Level 1
Reactive
Unplanned, incident-driven activity with no structured program.
Level 2
Responsive
Visibility tools in place; data collected but not systematically actioned.
Level 3
Proactive
Defined processes for collection, prioritization, and governance.
Level 4
Preventative
Anticipates issues and drives continuous improvement.
Level 5
Strategic
Outcomes tied to business value with full organizational alignment.
Common terms
Speak the same language
The vocabulary that runs through the DEX-COS standard, in plain terms.
- DEX
- Digital Employee Experience — the quality of an employee’s day-to-day interaction with the digital tools and services they use to get work done.
- DEX-COS
- DEX Common Operating System — the vendor-neutral operating standard for running a DEX program: three layers, two overlays, and five maturity levels.
- Layer
- One of the three structural pillars of the standard — People, Process, and Technology.
- Overlay
- A capability that spans all three layers: the Communications overlay and the Value overlay.
- Maturity level
- Where a program sits on the five-stage ladder: Reactive, Responsive, Proactive, Preventative, Strategic.
- RACI
- Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed — the model DEX-COS uses to assign clear ownership across a program.
- Friction
- Any point where the digital experience slows an employee down — what the program surfaces, prioritizes, and removes.
- Signal
- The telemetry and feedback that reveal DEX health and drive what the program works on next.
Go deeper
View the standard
The full DEX-COS standard and its supporting documents. Download any of them below — we just ask for a name and email so we know who is putting the framework to work.
The DEX-COS Standard (V1.0 Practitioner Preview)
The complete DEX Common Operating System: three layers, two overlays, and five maturity levels. V1.0 Practitioner Preview.
Vendor-neutral by design
We don't sell the tools. We help you operationalize your discipline for maximum business value.
See where your
program stands.
A DEX-COS readiness assessment maps your current state against all three layers and scores your maturity.
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