Organisations that pay as much attention to Employee Experience as Customer Experience outshine their competitors in the war for talent
We can use similar to principles to those used in customer experience strategies to design a powerful employee experience. Like in customer experience, the key is to move beyond standard employee segments like job title, grade, department, business unit, or location. Effective segmentation requires a more human approach, understanding employees’ drivers and desires. Not all people want the same schedules, opportunities, and rewards. One size does not fit all when it comes to rewards, development and communication. We need to provide experiences designed to appeal to the different needs and wants within our teams.
The employee experience should be aligned with the organisational values as this improves the overall customer experience.
If caring is an organisational value then their experience should deliver on this value too. In this way employees personally experience the benefits of the brand and are better able to deliver these brand values with customers. This holistic approach also helps cultivate a congruent culture within the organisation, helping to attract and retain talented employees who fit with the culture, and that are more likely to thrive in it.
Keys to crafting a dynamic employee experience:
1. See through their eyes
Change your perspective from “what does the company need?” to “what do the people who make up the company need?” Look at the through the eyes of your employees, keep the conversation going, and be aware of their progress and contributions. Their experience is a result of the culture they experience, the technology that helps them work and communicate more effectively and their environment. Crafting a positive workplace experience allows organisations to embed their culture and values in the workplace, and use this to attract and retain crucial talent. Underlying the entire process is consistent communication and eliciting regular feedback to craft a dynamic Employee Experience.
2. Take an Agile approach
An agile approach is used to manage unpredictability and operate with speed (typically in software development). This approach can also be adapted to help recruit and retain talented employees, and aid in learning and development. A new type of L&D manager is emerging. They consider themselves intrapreneurs rather than pure subject matter experts. They utilise an agile approach to learning by making it easier for employees to find, tag, consume and rate learning. This on-demand experiential approach is more flexible and can be adapted quickly to learner requirements.
3. Create spaces that augment your culture
Open floor plans are not always the best for getting knowledge or creative work done. The modern employee experience designed workplace creates spaces where employees can go to do their best work, network and exchange ideas, reflect and recharge. In fact the research shows that workers who have more control over where and how they work are substantially more engaged at work. Being able to select a space that is more conducive to the type of work helps increase productivity. e.g. it can be hard to produce innovative results in the midst of a noisy open work space.
4. Seek real-time feedback
Feedback is required to manage and improve culture. Through the yelpification of the workplace employees can instantly rate their organisation, culture and management just as they rate a restaurant, hotel or movie. This instant feedback can help craft a compelling employee experience. Taking the organisation’s Social Pulse can help us answer question about our success at attracting, retaining and developing talent.
5. Plan for a blended workforce
The workforce of the future will not comprise exclusively of full time employees. It will more likely be composed of a blend of full time employees, consultants, freelancers, part time employees and other project specific specialists. This is known as the Gig Economy. It will enable multiple perspectives and contributions adding to the available skills pool, but will also bring its own unique challenges when it comes to culture and communication. HR leaders need to take action now and plan for this coming blended workforce. Specifically plans need to be made to manage, on-board and integrate these gig economy workers.
6. Create career mobility and team development
Career mobility programmes allow employees (particularly millennials) to test out new roles, and gain a broader range of skills. As the war for talent intensifies HR professionals are looking to career mobility solutions to increase engagement while reducing the need for job hopping to increase skills, and find a career fit. Traditionally the learning and development focus is on recruiting, developing and assessing the individual. A new trend is to develop team intelligence, focussed on understanding what makes great teams that can consistently deliver exceptional results.
7. Invest in Employee Wellness
Employee wellness programmes are employer-sponsored programmes designed to support positive behaviours that reduce health risks, enhance personal effectiveness, and improve quality of life for all employees.
Richard Riche
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