Employee experience encapsulates every moment, from the time a new employee take their first steps into the organization, the aurora in the air they smell, the behavior of other co-workers, the openness or toughness of the manager, until the day they pack up their stuff, willingly or unwillingly marching out of the doors they once opened up. Over the course of an employee’s career in an organization, whatever an employee feels, does, hears, or has an interaction with leads to forming up their experiences and reviewing of the company. So, how can we enhance employee experience?
In our time, unprecedented movements and culture-defining milestones have remarkably changed the face of how we do stuff. Not long ago, in the archaic ages called “modern times,” when Charlie Chaplin’s cruel yet on-spot depiction of poor working conditions raised serious questions about the subject at hand. However, after a few ups and downs, slowly but surely, things started to pick, and social cry outs shifted the working conditions into a more tolerable stance. For the next 60 years, business owners were forced to make more human accommodations to their work model as an effort to enhance employee experience.
Since internet invention in 1960 and, afterward, the widespread across the globe in the late ’90s, the impacts on employee conditions have been enormous. The most changes rushed the scene in the last 10 to 20 years, when massive alternations rocked out societies, businesses, and economies, shaping a new face for employee experience.
This new wave has so immensely swooped over the business sector that today, we’re witnessing organizations assigning new departments and experts to the matter, working tirelessly on how to enhance employee experience, because everybody knows that the more lively and encouraging the employee experience gets, the more likely their customers would feel satisfied and happy. So, there’s no way to ignore the prevalence of these new changes anymore.
Why is enhancing employee experience important?
Customer satisfaction is only one of the many wonderful results as we move seriously to enhance employee experience, and we have just barely scratched the surface.
So, without any further ado, here’s a broader take on what happens when you enhance employee experience:
1. Seamless Application Process
The adventure begins before it actually begins. You have to take note that employees are exposed to whatever that’s happening in your organization way before they get onboard. First impressions dig deep into an applicant’s mind from the first time they step foot into the building and set down for their very own first back-and-forth interview.
First, to carve a positive indestructible image in their thoughts aimed at easing up on the complexity of the application form. To enhance employee experience even further, make any kind of application form available to them in the smoothest format possible; whether it’s mobile-friendly forms they need to fill in or how you send it to them, always go with the most straightforward option.
Doing so emits a clear and robust brand image to anybody wishing to join your teams. Applicants already joggle through thousands of company websites and application forms before they reach you. Such tiny and easy-to-grasp adjustments make small yet infinite impacts on them, buying you some favor when the time comes for them to cast their final vote.
2. Utilize The Latest Technologies
In modern offices, the tides are shifting. Traditional ways of doing stuff are becoming obsolete, and machine-learning tools are taking over by “automating recruitment procedures.”
One of the best places to leverage the power of automation is recruiting. A quick yet effective leap into implantation of highly-automated recruitment technology, like QPage, can go high and above in employee experiences and attracting new-bloods.
Applicants take notice of the changes you make to your system. A whole new, automated, and empowering technology is a great way to get their attention and boost brand image.
Also, as we dash through the new social media age, more Gen Z and Millennials will fill out the organization’s seats. To enhance employee experience in these circumstances, each organization should be equipped with the latest technologies to keep up with the fast-paced, evolutionary nature of today’s societies, if it has any desire not to forfeit the race.
3. Utilizing Potent Employee Training Program
As we all are aware, a poor and weak employee program can come back and cause a wild storm of trouble for the organization. Not only can it be the reason for employees leaving or distrusting the organization, but it also puts out a shaky and unreliable company brand.
To offset a weak training program’s fallouts, you need to scheme and put into work an engaging and well-thought training program (also known as onboarding program) to familiarize employees with your brand. An official onboarding program is the first nudge towards organizational culture, values, and getting the employees to truly feel the goals you have set for the future.
4. A Transparent Employee Journey Map
Ok, so far, you’ve established a clear road in front of your staff to enhance employee experience. Now, the time has come to pinpoint what they should be undertaking critical tasks at vital moments in their journey with the organization. As mentioned in qualtrics.com: “The best employee journey maps start with clearly defined outcomes, utilize X and O-data, and involve key groups within the organization. The employee lifecycle is critical because even if you do yearly employee engagement surveys, each employee is at a different stage in the employee journey. It’s difficult to understand how personal experiences shape the key outcomes of employee experience like engagement, motivation, or productivity.”
5. Physical Environment
It’s believed that the physical working environment’s quality entitles up to 30% of staff’s intake of the job, and to enhance employee experience, the physical environment should be moved to the top of the priorities list.
With so much at risk, no wonder organizations shift their attention to the setting of the office! Employees usually spend roughly ten hours a day at the office (more or less today due to the pandemic), so it makes sense to provide them with a healthy and clean environment to effectively complete their daily tasks.
Now, we’re not only talking about a well-lit, ordinarily-cleaned, and properly-maintained workstations; there are given and should be a usual preparation. What we truly have in mind is new and creative programs to boost employee morale and to make them excited and thrilled to show up for work. Special days like “take your dog to work day” or other fun events can really shake things up for the staff and discard everyday work’s triteness.
6. Improve Communications
Communications include more than just talking to one another; it represents a key factor in an organization’s success and enhances employee experience; the sense of belonging to a community.
With direct and functional communication lines come employee encouragement, organizational culture rising, and the opportunity to build an influential community where everybody realizes their purpose and fosters a sense of belonging. Also, by increasing the statuses mentioned above, employees will become more productive and consider themselves smaller yet vital parts of a more giant wheel; they slowly become company advocates who place the organizational values on the same line as their own values.
7. Constant Stay Interviews
The run-of-the-mill exit interviews have been around for the most extended time and have proven to be almost entirely incompetent when trying to make an employee stay. To enhance employee experience, the company and HR teams should invest their time and energy in conducting stay interviews before an employee decides to leave the organization.
There should always be an open dialogue between the staff and the management. You, as part of the management team, should take advantage of the communication channels to grasp employees’ perspectives and their experiences. By acknowledging the needs and pros and cons of current conditions, you can pinpoint employees’ motivations and keep track of their activities and interactions with their surroundings.
Furthermore, by continually running stay interviews, you will be gifted an internal talent pipeline and be given a broader spectrum of your organization’s global situation.
8. Take Employee Wellness Seriously
Moving afar from global events in an organization, it’s time to stress “Employee Wellness” and employees’ individualistic affairs. You should implement relevant employee wellness programs to enhance employee experience and show them you actually care about them. We are talking about spiritual wellness alongside physical healthcare programs that employees can really lean on and be happy about. Companies should look to implement health and fitness programs, sick time, paid vacation, paid parental leave, on-site gyms and health clinics, and provide healthy snacks, just to name a few ideas.
9. Assign Mentors
This item can be mixed with number 8, but its importance compiled us to separate it. At each stage of an employee’s journey in an organization, they might feel lost or unappreciated. If not addressed correctly, this confusion can lead to total disconnection from the organization and a disgruntled member who doesn’t want to work anymore.
By assigning mentors, you can get rid of the problem and remedy the uneasiness and hardships that already troubled employees are going through. This not only helps you to enhance employee experience but also shows a positive image of you and your organization brand. Additionally, it gives you a wider perspective of any potential mental illnesses that can disrupt life.
