How to Improve the Employee Experience:
8 Strategies That Work
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
While it may seem like the latest HR buzzword, employee experience goes beyond the latest business trends. As we continue to study what drives organizational success, it's clear that creating a positive employee experience is fundamental.
“Employee experience has become a critical element of the work experience as employees believe (find meaning), become (learn and grow), and belong (connect with others). Employee experience is a lead indicator of customer experience and investor confidence.” – Dave Ulrich
What is meant by employee experience?
Every interaction with coworkers and management; the relationships employees build; office and workspaces; the chair the employee uses; lighting, temperature, and ventilation; technology and resources; availability of information about the organization from before an employee is hired; and even the commute to work are all part of the employee experience.
How do the people who work at your company experience your company? This is where employees discover their worth and value, and this determines whether they will be engaged or not.
And, as we know, employee engagement leads to improved performance and business outcomes.
What is the difference between the employee experience and employee engagement?
Employee experience encompasses the overall journey an employee has with a company, including the work environment, technology, and culture. It is the sum of all interactions and experiences employees encounter throughout their tenure. Employee engagement, on the other hand, refers to the emotional commitment and enthusiasm employees have toward their work and the organization. While engagement is a measure of how invested employees feel, experience focuses on shaping the factors that influence that investment.In short, employee experience is about the environment and interactions, while employee engagement is about the emotional connection and commitment.
8 Strategies and Actions to Improve the Employee Experience at Work:
Improve Onboarding:
A robust onboarding process sets the stage for employee success. That window of adjustment has shrunk from a month to days. Thorough onboarding—focused on learning and relationship building—helps employees feel connected and productive from the start.
Listen to your Employees:
If you can choose to do just one thing, listen to your employees. Train managers and leaders in active listening. Set aside office hours to meet with employees face-to-face. PUT DOWN YOUR CELL PHONE. Prioritize meaningful interactions and communication.
Conduct an Engagement Survey
:Communicate the plans, goals, and intentions of the survey to senior leaders, managers, and staff. Build trust by acting on survey results. Follow up to get feedback on actions. This builds C-suite accountability, in which company leaders are committed to the customer and its workers.
Julie Bevacqua writes, "In order to build a rewarding employee experience, you need to understand what matters most to your people."
Be mindful of the employee lifecycle
Experiences differ for employees during each stage of their lifecycle, and it's fundamental to know where your staff is and meet them there with meaningful strategies and actions to keep them engaged.
Have a Strategic Employee Wellness Program:
Mental, physical, and
- Implement flexible work schedules.
- Provide employees with meaningful medical benefits, including women’s reproductive healthcare, mental health, and more.
- Bring in financial advisors to discuss retirement, education savings (for your staff’s children), and home-buying opportunities.
- Celebrate health with programs that can improve your staff’s wellbeing, like corporate nutrition and mental health programs.
- Partner with local gyms, indoor swimming pools, and sports shops to provide employees’ with opportunities to stay healthy physically.
Provide employees with opportunities to grow and succeed.
Offer clear career advancement paths. Provide employees mentorship programs. Implement returnship programs for women who have been out of the workforce to care for children or other family members, and get rid of the gap-year bias. Offer employees on-the-job training with stretch tasks and cross-department collaboration opportunities that align with their personal and professional goals. Workshops, continued education, lunchtime MOOCs, and conferences are all ways your employees can continue to learn and grow.
Improve Your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Programs:
Conduct a DEI Survey . DEI fosters a sense of belonging, increasing engagement, and improving innovation. A diverse workforce promotes varied perspectives, leading to better problem-solving. Inclusive environments make employees feel valued and respected, which boosts morale and reduces turnover. Equity ensures fair treatment, providing all employees equal growth opportunities, and contributing to higher job satisfaction and retention. DEI efforts also strengthen company culture, making it more adaptive to individual needs.
Hire and Develop Great Leaders:
Managers, immediate supervisors, and organization leaders are the single biggest variable when it comes to setting the tone for the employee experience. Great leaders create a culture of trust and transparency. They create environments where employees feel valued and heard. They are competent and skilled. Great leadership is your golden ticket to setting the stage for success. Hire well. Train well. And never underestimate the power of great leaders.
Consider this: The average person will spend approximately 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. Imagine building a corporate culture that values the human experience and what that will do to not only attract top talent but retain your best people. Employees are the pillars of every organization, and that's where the real power lies.
We want to end with Simon Sinek's words. Corporate culture matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything for better or for worse."
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