Even back in the deep freeze of the employee experience (EX) winter of 2023–24, we were recommending that it was precisely the time for companies to zig while others zagged — investing in employee experience to acquire, engage, and retain key talent. In interviews with a dozen organizations during that time period, we found EX leaders who were doing just that. Now that the EX winter is finally thawing, the lessons learned from these leaders can guide other organizations as everyone reheats their EX efforts going into 2025.