In the wake of The Great Resignation, organizations everywhere are rethinking the way they build teams, treat employees, and communicate their employee value proposition (EVP). Smart, well-informed companies have a pulse on the employment market and scale up their employer branding efforts. To this end, they focus their energies and attention on the “employee experience.”
Employee experience or EX refers to an employee’s journey with the organization from hiring to exit. Companies that deliver bespoke, meaningful EX see a marked improvement in workers’ workplace engagement and motivation. They also see lower employee turnover, absenteeism, and other positive knock-on effects like higher customer retention and increased profitability.
So how can your organization benefit by making a concerted effort to deliver great EX? Answer: by optimizing the 8 “vitals” of EX. What are these vitals, and how can you optimize them? Join us on this two-part journey to discover these answers!
Hiring Practices
The experiences that people have during recruitment, interviews, and onboarding contribute to their overall EX with the company. And yet, only 12% of employees say that their organization does a great job of onboarding. The result: a sub-optimal EX right from the outset.
Start early with EX optimization by evaluating your hiring practices. Ask yourself if the hiring process is fair and if the exit program creates positive experiences that the leavers will cherish even after they have left. If there are gaps in either area, find ways to address them.
Make sure that new hires experience your culture during onboarding and feel that their values align with the firm’s values. Show them that the organization understands what they do best and has selected them because they are the perfect fit for a particular role. All these efforts will influence what new hires learn, see and feel about the company from the beginning of their employment journey. They will also feel very confident and valued, which will help set the stage for a positive EX throughout their employment with the firm.
Learning, Development, and Growth Opportunities
Did you know that the #1 reason people change jobs is “career growth opportunities”? Or that learning and development opportunities are the #2 reason younger workers stay on with their current employers?
Today’s employees want to know that they have a future with the company. They want flexible, personalized career paths that are aligned with their skills and interests. They also want mentorship from senior colleagues or leaders and want coaching that can support their career growth goals. All these aspects influence EX and their feelings about the company.
For all these reasons, it’s vital to invest in training programs and give employees opportunities for self-development. It’s also crucial to show them how they can build on their strengths and contribute to the company’s purpose through upskilling or reskilling. In this way, you will not only improve EX, but also garner bigger contributions from them that will ultimately benefit the company.
Performance Management
Only 2 out of 10 employees say that their performance is managed in a way that boosts their motivation and encourages them to give their best effort at work. In other words, companies don’t pay attention to performance management so employees don’t bother to do their best.
A robust, fair, and transparent performance management program enables employees to understand how they are doing at work and what they need to do to progress in the organization. When they can see solid evidence of their performance and get regular feedback, they understand where they are lacking. They can also set new goals for themselves and thus take ownership of their growth with the company. All of this plays a part in improving EX.
Without a performance management system, employees don’t know how they are doing and they struggle to understand what they should be doing. This influences their EX and workplace motivation. Unmotivated employees are unlikely to be enthusiastic about the company or to feel involved in their work.
Physical Workspace and Technology Environment
An appropriate external environment is both a practical and psychological necessity for people to work. It also influences EX. This environment should be safe and supportive so they can work confidently and freely. This doesn’t mean spending millions on on-site gyms, employee lounges, or gaming rooms. Many employees don’t care about these things. What they do care about is a clean and safe physical workspace that allows them to do their best work.
While it’s not possible for any company to cater to the needs of every employee, it is possible to make the workspace as welcoming and stress-free as possible. It’s also possible to design environments with good light, comfortable temperatures, and ergonomic seating, all of which can improve employee well-being and boost their at-work productivity. Eliminating noise and minimizing distractions can also improve EX, as can give them access to the tools and systems they need to do their jobs efficiently and make them feel more confident at work.
Conclusion
Your company’s success depends on its employees. These employees should be skilled and high-performing, as well as happy, motivated, and engaged. Employees who love coming to work and willingly contribute their skills and talents to the company can be a huge competitive differentiator and carry your firm to the next level of growth and success. To create such a workforce, you need to improve EX by optimizing its 8 key vitals. As the title suggests there are 8 key vitals for influencing employee experience, we have covered 4 in this blog. Stay tuned to understand what would be the other 4 key vitals that influences the employee experience in part 2.
Want to improve EX at your firm but don’t know where to start? Ergode can help. Contact us and we’ll help you identify the most effective strategies to not only improve EX, but also leverage your EX program to improve employee engagement, reduce turnover, and build a more profitable organization.
