Over the past decade, the focus has been all about digital experiences. With the advent of mobile phones and technology into daily lives, companies have shifted their focus from being product-oriented to experience-oriented.
Better employee experience is the key to enhanced customer experience. Leading companies are already recognizing the competitive advantage of EX.
EX is built upon three pillars:
1. Purpose – why an organization does what it does
2. Culture – how the ‘why’ is constructed and driven
3. Enablement – what tools, platforms, and systems will be needed to support purpose and culture
A Gallup study found that 87% of workers worldwide are either not engaged or actively disengaged. That means only 13% of the remaining population are driving the economy of the world. It also says disengaged employees cost US companies between $450 billion to $550 billion a year.
Don’t you think it’s high time companies begin to make the employee experience a priority?
Employee experience is the core of engagement. If you’re not taking into consideration how internal communication impacts employee experience at your organization, you’ve already made your first mistake, or your employee goals are not aligned with your organizational goals.
Let us understand how to improve employee experience in your organization effectively, these are equally important irrespective of the size of the organization.
The first step is to understand where most employee problems lie and to reassure employees that the organization is actively listening to their teams. Creating the space for your employees to give feedback will invite more transparency and better insight into the roadblocks your people face daily.
- Improve Internal Communication
When employees communicate internally, it is not for the sole purpose of disseminating company information. It also helps build a sense of purpose among the employees. Employees with clear purpose automatically become brand promoters for your company. Creating a cohesive company culture is a must for the smooth functioning of all the teams in your organization. This helps foster a sense of community and encourages employees to work together for a common goal. Softwares like Slack and Zoom have bridged the gap in communication between employees irrespective of their location of operation. The more processes are streamlined, the more efficiency and engagement can be expected.
- Onboarding Experience
The employee experience begins in the interview process. Start capturing valuable opinions, observations, and feedback from day one. According to the Harvard Business Review, 33 percent of new hires look for a new job within their first six months on the job, and this could be highly influenced by negative onboarding experiences. Creating an employee orientation program for new hires helps the employee connect with organizational vision and culture.
- Invest in employee wellness
Wellness programs help foster happy, healthy and engaged employees, which in turn makes them more likely to stay with your organization and continue to perform work on behalf of the company. Some of these are simple, such as providing healthy snacks, whereas others, like paid maternity and paternity care, come at greater cost to the business. Employee wellness programs have evolved from cookie-cutter corporate fitness and smoking cessation programs to diverse, engaging, and ROI-focused initiatives that have a major impact on employee health and well being.
- Survey for employee feedback and benefits
A culture of open and honest communication is the only way of receiving candid responses from your employees. Through employee surveys, companies can obtain crucial information that can help in improving the working environment, employees and bottom line. Surveys can only be beneficial when the companies can resonate with employee perceptions and opinions, which can then be addressed by management for planning purposes.
- Career Development Programs
Employees are career conscious and they’ll stick to an organization where they feel that they have an opportunity to showcase their talent, grow to the maximum possible level and achieve their objectives. Some may look for better compensation, some may want to climb up the ladder in the hierarchy and reach the topmost position, while some want to acquire higher skills and competencies.
The most empowering condition of all is when the entire organization is aligned with its mission, and people’s passions and purpose are in sync with each other.
-Bill George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School; Former CEO, Medtronic.
These were some of the ideas to improve employee experience throughout the organization.
Just like customer experience, employee experience is not just about how is it like to work in the company. It is all about the experience, about how the employee feels while working.
Create an experience that includes constant communication, learning, opportunities for growth, celebrations of work-related and non-work-related successes, reduced barriers, and a diverse, inclusive workplace, and you will have created a great employee experience.
There are multiple employee experience tools available in the market. These tools help accurately identify the strengths and weaknesses that drive employee engagement in your organization.
Stated below are the top tools recommended by multiple review sites:
- Oracle Talent Management is a holistic performance management tool that helps to empower your workforce.
- SoGoSurvey EX platform helps in the seamless automation of data for detailed analysis.SoGoSurvey sets itself apart from competitors through its consistently high user ratings, second-to-none reporting engine, industry-leading data security, and best-in-class, 24/7 customer support.
- Qualtrics Employee Experience (EX) helps manage the entire employee lifecycle. With tailored engagement programs gain flexibility, irrespective of whether it is a weekly pulse or an annual engagement survey.
Are you still favorable to gut-driven decisions? Get the right software to grow, support, and retain the perfect team.