In times of high turnover in the workforce and a shortage of skilled workers, it is becoming increasingly important to keep the right employees in the company. One concept for retaining employees is Employee Experience. This article explains what Employee Experience actually is and how you can improve it in your own company.
Definition of Employee Experience
Employee Experience (EX) refers to the totality of an employee’s experience during their time with a company. It includes the work environment (software and hardware) as well as interactions with colleagues and supervisors, and the way the company treats its employees. In particular, it is important to view the employee experience over the entire employee life cycle and not just to provide selective motivational injections.
A positive Employee Experience therefore has the following 3 main objectives:
- Creating positive working conditions
- Increase productivity
- Long-term employee loyalty to the company
Why is a positive employee experience important?
A positive employee experience helps keep employees motivated, engaged and productive. It also helps to increase employee retention, thus reducing employee turnover costs. On the other hand, a negative Employee Experience can lead to employees being dissatisfied, unproductive and demotivated, and leaving the company more quickly.
A study by the American Jacob Morgan came to the following conclusion:
“Companies that focus on Employee Experience achieve four times more profit than those companies in which Employee Experience is not addressed.”
Improving the Employee Experience in everyday life therefore not only leads to higher employee motivation, but can also be directly linked to profitability.
Life cycle of the employee
Since the Employee Experience takes a holistic view of an employee’s lifecycle, all stages of the employee cycle should be briefly considered. These include the following:
- Hiring
How did the initial contact with the employee occur?
What were the subsequent processes like in terms of harmonization and speed?
What was the communication like? - Onboarding
How was the employee introduced to new systems and tools?
How quickly has the employee been productive?
How quickly can the employee integrate into the team? - Development
How can I continue to train the employee?
What actions can I take to help the employee become more productive?
What wishes does the employee have?
What opportunities for advancement can I offer the employee? - Retention
How can I retain the employee in the long term?
What measures can be used to motivate my employees in the long term?
What is our vision as a company? How can employees identify with this?
How do I create a pleasant working environment?
What tech stack do my employees work on?
How can they access information within the company? - Departure
Why did an employee leave the company?
What can be learned from this as a company?
What is the process of leaving and how can it be improved to make the transition easier for both parties?
How can we prevent valuable employees from leaving?
Tips to improve the Employee Experience in everyday life:
Here are some tips to improve the Employee Experience in everyday business:
- enablement/technology.
An important component of the Employee Experience is providing the right tools and technology to support employees’ work. This includes both hardware, such as modern computers and mobile devices, and software, such as information management tools or collaboration tools. These technologies can help increase employee motivation by enabling them to do their jobs more efficiently and productively.
- culture
An important component of a good employee experience is the culture within the company. A positive work environment where employees feel comfortable is critical. Good interpersonal relationships and open communication are key factors in creating a positive work environment. A team that works well together and supports each other is important for employee motivation and satisfaction.
- working environment
Another important factor for a great Employee Experience is the work environment. This includes both the set-up of the workplace and the design of the office. A well-designed, ergonomic and functional workplace, helps employees feel comfortable and their work is made easier. The design of the office also plays a role, especially in terms of light, color and acoustics. An office that is well lit and well ventilated supports motivated employees.
How do you establish a successful employee experience in your company?
Setting an example through management employees
Employee Experience is a topic that needs to be exemplified by leadership. Since it is a holistic process and the responsibilities are distributed, the responsibility for designing this process must also be distributed among several responsible parties. However, the HR department is primarily responsible for designing the employee experience in the company.
Communication as a success factor
In order to improve the employee experience in the company, it is important that companies regularly obtain feedback from their employees and respond to it. Companies should strive to establish open and transparent communication, offer their employees flexible working hours and locations, let them participate in company decisions, and increase their training opportunities. In addition, companies should show their employees that they value their work and achievements.
Ultimately, it’s about companies recognizing their employees as the most important factor in their success and doing everything in their power to offer them a positive employee experience. After all, satisfied and motivated employees are the foundation of a successful company.
This article was first published on MoreThanDigital.Info and can be read here.