Would you work at your company?
Why employee experience matters.
The days that employees earned golden watches for a life-time of ‘serving’ are over. In the last few years there has been a rapid change in how people approach work, what is important to them in their work life and how they view loyalty towards the organisation they work for. Currently the average amount of years that employees stay with one employer is 4.6 years (labour and statistics, 2016), for millennials, (born between 1983 and 2000) this is even lower at 3 years. As a result, employee retention and recruitment have become primary goals for organisations across the board. Especially, when it comes to young (high) potentials in the technology fields.
When companies start to explore their options in this area, they often try to imitate companies that seem to be able to attract talent from across the world; tech giants such as Airbnb, Google or Facebook. In the media landscape their approach to capturing talent is widely recognised. One of the key factors that seems to feature heavily are the unique and attractive physical workspaces these companies have built. From the light open spaces, temperature controlled toilets, climbing walls, to the slides employees can use to bypass the stairs. At these companies, the physical workplace is no longer an ordinary office environment but an ‘employee experience center’. Employee experience is the sum of all the different elements at work, from company culture and structure to the physical environment and the technology that is used. These companies have designed and built work places that make employees feel inspired, proud and productive.
Organisations trying to follow in the footsteps of these tech giants, soon find out that building these experience centres is not a simple copy paste process. The challenge is to find the right fit for your employees. Because not every employee likes to have slides or a salad bar, and there are often limitations due to existing infrastructure, funds and/or resistance to changing work behaviour. The ‘ideal office’ is highly contextual and differs per industry. For example, there is a big difference between an ideal office space as part of a electric power car company, and an office space for a strategy consultancy. But what do optimal work spaces have in common? Regardless of the company and the sector, is that the optimal work environment is supportive to the work that employees need to do. When an environment makes the work that employees do easier, faster, more efficient or more fun, it will not only increase work satisfaction but also engagement. For this to happen it is crucial to understand your employees and the work that they do. However, this is not a quick fix nor a one time trick. It is an investment that your entire company has to make for in the long run that will provide everlasting benefits. That is why I dedicated this last year on thoroughly researching this topic and actively visiting companies that are either struggling or striving in this domain. In the following months I will write about a wide range of topics all aiming to help companies to improve their employee experience.
A big part of our life we spent working I believe that it should in general be a happy time as well. That is why I write blogs about the optimal employee work experience. If you’re interested you can follow me on Medium, LinkedIn or the HealthyWorker Blog
References
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Morgan, J. (2017). The Employee Experience Advantage: How to Win the War for Talent by Giving Employees the Workspaces They Want, the Tools They Need, and a Culture They Can Celebrate. John Wiley & Sons.
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