Are you having a Great Employee Experience?

The employee experience is the journey an employee takes with your organization.

It is the sum of all interactions an employee has with an employer, from pre-recruitment to post-exit. It includes everything from major milestones and personal relationships to technology use and the physical work environment. All of the individual moments of an employee’s experience play a role in how a worker feels about an employer’s purpose, brand, and culture.

The employee experience can also influence an employee’s decision to return to a former employer and their likelihood to recommend an organization to other high-talent individuals. As a result, optimizing the employee experience has become a strategic priority for companies.

Today’s employee is like a consumer of the workplace. Employees are no longer satisfied with clocking in and out and receiving a paycheck. They are looking for meaning in their work, a supportive, collaborative environment, and an employer that can match the lifestyle they want to enjoy.

It is not surprising, then, companies are beginning to think of employees more like customers. Many organizations are realizing that they must pay closer attention to the moments that matter most when employees decide to join or remain with an organization. The influence of social media also plays a role. Workplace moments can quickly go viral, they also can cause headaches when leaders must deal with incomplete perceptions about their workplace or with negative reviews.

No doubt the stakes for employers are higher than ever when it comes to reputation, culture, and talent. Companies are beginning to ask deeper, tougher questions about what makes a great employee experience.

The following are three key phases that every organization should consider when developing an employee experience strategy:

1. Align your employee experience to purpose, brand, and culture.
2. Focus on the seven essential stages of the employee life cycle.
3. Remember the core needs at the heart of every stage.

In our next edition of employee experience, we will explain in further detail each of the phases!

Employee experience is not a replacement for employee engagement. Well-designed employee engagement systems include critical and continual experiences that drive performance and improve culture by addressing role clarity, meaningful feedback, belonging, learning and progress.

Employee engagement involves the basic psychological needs that must be met for employees to perform their specific role well. An engaged employee “shows up,” physically, emotionally, and cognitively. They are enthusiastic about what they have to do, and they naturally find ways to improve and excel. In short, engaged employees generate most of the creativity, innovation, and excellence in your organization.

Unfortunately, far too many employees do not have these basic needs met; including the materials and equipment they need to do their work right or the opportunity to do what they do best every day.

To summarize, the Employee Experience is the journey an employee takes with your organization. It includes all the interactions an employee has with your organization before, during and after their tenure. The employee life cycle defines the critical stages that companies must get right: The components a company will have the most influence on during the employee experience. These interactions shape employees’ perceptions of your organization and directly affect employee performance and your brand as an employer. Employee engagement, performance and development are key themes throughout most of the employee life cycle. Getting them right is essential to getting employee experience right. Employees have become “consumers of the workplace.” A new generation of worker expectations, greater workplace transparency and a tightening labor market have increased interest in improving the employee experience. Purpose, brand, and culture are foundations that determine how you customize elements of the employee life cycle and employee experience to represent your organization’s unique identity.

How is Employee Experience in your company?

Are you and your coworkers engaged employees?

Is your organization taking the necessary actions to design a Great Employee Experience?

We are here to help!