Applying CX to Teams
Crafting an experience for happy workplaces!
Customer Experience is almost always thought about in a business setting. Like growing a business, improving customer satisfaction, building a customer-centric brand, etc. But here’s what I think about CX:
Customer Experience is an ideology.
It can be applied to numerous other areas. It’s like Design. One can “design” their meals based on nutrition, “design” an army’s training, “design” a building, product, etc.
Likewise, CX can be used in relationships, in human resources, at weddings, in a conference, etc.
For example, one can craft out a phenomenal wedding experience for their guests. Like making a day all about pumping up the adrenaline by organizing adventure games & sports — all day long, go-karts? swimming race? Or a day all about exotic food from different countries.
You can plan out any type of experience that’ll make everyone remember it forever. That’s what CX is all about.
To put it simply, CX is about thoughtfully crafting out an experience strategy for people. An experience that makes their day, an experience that they cherish. An experience that they’d long to have again!
Here’s how CX can be used at workplaces — which contributes towards building a dream team!
A team:
- Which’s efficient
- Damn loyal
- Who sticks out for you
- Which has an insignificant churn rate
- Who will make you and your product/business a success!
It starts from the start, with crafting out a hiring strategy. Before we look under the hood, here’s what we need to achieve to build the dream team:
Every member on the team needs to “feel” that their company is their second home. It’s not just a job, but a place that gives them a chance to live a fulfilling life.
And to achieve this here are the principles of experience design:
We need to make every member of the team feel cared for. That you stand to grow them in their career. That you’re enabling them to enjoy their life. And cumulatively they’re having an experience which they’ll cherish forever.
Here’s the arsenal of what we need to craft out:
- Crafting a Hiring strategy
- Crafting the Onboarding strategy
- Crafting the Freedom strategy
- Crafting the Day 30th strategy
- Crafting the Surprise + Care strategy
- Crafting the Success & Failure strategy
- Crafting the Reinforcement
Now that we’ve laid out the map, let’s navigate it. Shall we?
Crafting a Hiring strategy
Communication is the key here. To the path of perception to reach the goal of “OMG! I have butterflies in my stomach”!
Here’s what I mean: Everyone who applies to be a part of the team needs to perceive that this is their dream place to work at. You need to have humble communication throughout the process. If the candidate is a win, let them know how excited you’re to have them join you.
Pro Tip: Send a tangible welcome gift, even before they join.
Crafting the Onboarding strategy
Make them feel welcome to a 5-star hotel.
- The obvious: office tour and meeting other people on the team.
- Spend the day learning about their interests, hobbies, desires, and the kind of things they like. Do not assign their workstation yet. And leave them early.
- Spend the day configuring their workstation based on their personality & interests. Likes Sci-Fi? Put up a droid on their table.
Pro tip: Send a car to pick them on their first day. Offer them water and chocolate on the way.
Crafting the Freedom strategy
It’s an alternative to the perks & benefits. I believe in “personalization”, and it is always welcomed! If it were up to me, I’d just let each member decide for themselves what they want. If you’d not want to keep it open-ended, here are some ideas:
- 24 paid holidays a year OR 18 holidays + 6 days fully paid family vacation?
- Free subscription to a print magazine of your interest OR a few books of your choice?
- Fitness membership OR a paid week off for a yoga retreat?
- Additional gadget of your choice — headphones? mouse? smartwatch?
- Choose from a drink to be served on your table every morning — Coffee? Juice? Soda? Peppermint tea?
- Commute — fully paid relocation near to office? Free pass for the fastest public transport? Financial assistance for a personal vehicle?
- Additional off on b’day OR a surprise gift?
Crafting the Day 30th strategy
By this time, the member is settled in and the Butterflies have flown away. Now’s the time to show some unexpected care.
After a month of joining, you’d have learned more about their personality. Based on that offer a personalized experience. Here’s what’s on my mind:
- Likes fashion? Offer a free fashion consultant to redo their wardrobe.
- Likes travel? Offer a Friday off and a round-trip flight to a nearby destination.
- Has a partner? Free dinner for the couple at a fancy restaurant.
- Has a child? Gift a voucher to a kid’s store.
Crafting the Surprise + Care strategy
This is about doing the unexpected to make things better for your team. Like:
- When a member looks stressed — offer them a free massage at their home/spa.
- When they’ve been feeling sick repeatedly — offer them a free full body checkup.
- When they seem to be missing their parents — call their parents and book a round trip flight for them.
- When they seem to be having troubles in their personal life — offer free therapy sessions.
Crafting the Success & Failure strategy
Success needs celebration & Failure needs confrontation.
- Every success, big or small — gives you a free pass to lift the spirit up.
- Acknowledge the team involved in the success and reward them individually for their work.
- And always celebrate as a team — after a major release/launch/new client acquisition, etc.
- When things don’t go as expected, be honest with your team. Let them know what went wrong? Why did it happen? How you plan to fix it or not allow it to happen again? And create a culture for the team to share their ideas and feelings openly about such events.
Crafting the Reinforcement
When in need, do the needful.
- Give the members the extra time and support when they need it. On occasions like Getting married? Family member passed away? Loved one met with an accident? Having a baby? etc.
- A member or their dependent went through major surgery — help them with financial assistance. (if not covered by insurance)
- A member got sick? Resting at home? Send them healthy meals? Flowers? Netflix subscription?
How does all of this helps?
- Coming back to our CX derivates, where a great customer experience leads to memorable and desirable experiences, which in turn leads to returning customers. Likewise, a well-crafted experience for your team members makes your workplace a desirable one.
- Reciprocity. It’s human nature to give back if someone has done something nice for them. Therefore this induces self-motivation to push themselves to perform better work.
- And as already been proved by many studies, when a team is happy and healthy, they’d perform better.
This article is an idealistic figment of my imagination. I’ve not been in a position to implement the same, yet. Feel free to share any ideas about building a dream team that has worked well in your experience.
If you’d like to read more about Growing a Business by employing Customer Experience strategy, here’s your 5 min read.
