The Great Resignation still hasn't abated, with record vacancies and over 40% of employees saying they're thinking of making a change. For employers, this means that it's more important than ever to get the employee experience right.
The employee experience is the summation of the events an employee experiences throughout his or her career lifecycle with an organization, from the first phone screen to the exit interviews and every interaction across departments. This is the employee's experience.
Why is the Employee Experience Important?
The competition for top talent is a battle every employer wants to win. Platforms like Glassdoor and LinkedIn give potential employees a glimpse into the work lives of current employees, providing employees a place to voice their feelings and rate their experience with the organization.
The image portrayed on these platforms is part of the company's employer brand and can convince or deter a potential employee. Additionally, if an employee has a great experience at your organization, they will likely tell their friends and serve as an excellent referral source for additional talent.
It doesn't stop there...
When employers are intentional about the employee journey and every interaction they have with the company is thought out, it is highly likely that same intention and care is felt by your clients.
Ultimately, your clients will receive better service and care, which oftentimes will lead to higher profits overall. As a leader of your organization, you have the keys to make the client and employee experience a win/win.
10 employee experience ideas to implement right now
1. Communicate with employees
Treat your employees as customers, give updates – good and bad, and ensure they are timely.
2. Evaluate your employer brand
Find out as much as you can about your employer brand, both from candidates' and current employees' perspectives. This will give you a good feel for how you are perceived and whether there are any issues that might drive your team away.
3. Cultivate a learning and development environment
Employees want to grow and learn. Make sure your LMS is up to date with many options, including work improvement and life balance tips. If you do not have an LMS, invest in one or create ways for your employees to take advantage of learning and training opportunities. The key is to find a way to incorporate learning during a typical workday without interruption.
4. Stay updated on talent needs
As the CEO or Senior Leader, you want to know your company's retention and employee engagement rate, what skills need developing, and your current talent requirements. Ensure that your HR leaders provide regular reports and flag urgent issues.
5. Keep salary and benefits current and competitive
A lot of compensation information is public these days, which means that employees can easily if they're paid fairly. Get ahead of this by benchmarking your total rewards offering against a reliable third-party salary survey.
6. Imagine the current journey of an employee
Look at each stage and find ways to improve upon what currently exists. As an example, make the onboarding process a little easier by digitizing any documents where possible. The idea is to create an environment where your employees can thrive.
7. Empathize with your employees
Ask them about their typical workday and the challenges they face. Finding ways to understand them will allows opportunities to engage with them. Pinpoints the moments that matter most and find solutions to those challenges.
8. Shift the way you think
Stop looking at everything as a process or procedure and realign your thinking to everything being an experience. This will change your perspective on how you engage with your team. What kind of experience would you like to create?
9. Ask your employees what they want
Your employees are the key to the future success of the company. Use Focus Group to connect with them and understand the highs and the lows or conduct employee surveys. Follow through with change and allow them to help co-design the journey they envision.
10. Set measurable goals
Employee experience is quickly being identified by other companies as the way to keep a competitive edge. Taking the time to improve and invest in this will benefit other aspects of the business as well.
There are so many ways for you to improve your employees' journey with your organization that will add value to their work life and improve your brand. Many organizations have adopted strategies to get onboard with this trend as it will only continue to become more prominent. Remember, your employees are an investment in the future of your organization. Making timely and well thought out investments will benefit everyone in the long run.
Need more employee experience ideas?
Creating a top-tier employee experience is an ongoing job, and one that requires a lot of HR experience.
Need some expert advice? Book a no-obligation call with a Helios HR consultant, and let's talk about how we can help you attract, engage and retain a winning team.
