With employee disengagement costing the global economy $7.8 trillion, it’s a problem that businesses can’t simply ignore. So, it’s no wonder that improving the employee experience is at the top of the agenda for many organizations.
What is Employee Experience (EX)?
Employee experience (EX) refers to how workers perceive their time at their workplace based on several touchpoints of their employment lifecycle. This starts from their very first interaction with the company through the job application and onboarding, all the way to their departure.
While this is generally associated with HR processes and practices, employee experience goes beyond that. It involves the interactions they have with people, policies, and processes in the workplace – down to the very small details of their day-to-day routine at work. Countless research has proven that getting EX right offers multiple benefits that can provide companies with a significant competitive advantage within their industry.
Why is Employee Experience Important?
The employee experience matters and the last few years have been a very strong reminder of that fact. As the driving force of an organization, ensuring they have a positive EX is paramount. With great EX, there’s only good news all around, causing a chain of positive changes within the company. Here are just a few of them.
1. Attracts and Retains Top Talent
If workers are happy with their current employer, not only are they more likely to stay but also can act as great advocates for your company when it comes time to recruit for open positions. They can help educate future employees on how amazing of an employer you are when attracting talent.
2. Encourages Collaboration
A healthy and happy work environment developed by good employee experience can bring people together and foster better collaboration between colleagues. People would be more likely to ask for help from others, communicate their needs, and brainstorm ideas together when they feel that their workplace is considerate of their experience.
3. Boosts Productivity
When people are happy at work, they feel more engaged and productive with their tasks. Removing frustrations felt in their employee experience means that they can focus better on executing their tasks efficiently, coming up with creative solutions to challenges, and exploring new ideas. These all lead to the growth and development of your organization.
4. Reduces Employee Turnover Rate
Losing great employees is expensive. Not only do you have the money and time spent on hiring the replacements but there are also the costs associated with the onboarding and training to get new staff up to speed. The cost of turnover can even reach 1-2 times the salary of the employee you’re replacing the more senior the role becomes. Eliminating the barriers to a good employee experience can contribute greatly to reducing the turnover rate and therefore, decrease these financial burdens.
5. Strengthens a Positive Workplace Culture
When employees feel supported, empowered, and acknowledged, you create a cycle of a positive workplace culture and a great employee experience. People will have a stronger sense of community and will feel more encouraged to share ideas and think creatively. Establishing a good employee experience helps staff develop this sense of belonging within the company.
6. Improved Customer Relations
When headaches of their day-to-day work are removed, workers have the headspace and motivation to focus on your company’s vision and customers. Emotions are infectious. If you have miserable employees, this energy can be felt by customers which affects how your organization is perceived. But if your employees are happy, engaged, and helpful, this will resonate well with customers leading to higher customer satisfaction and a better service experience.
What Makes a Good Employee Experience?
Multiple factors contribute to a good EX. By improving your approach in these high-impact areas, you can quickly elevate the employee experience and attain all the associated benefits.
1. Leadership
The quality of leadership has an impact on how your organization is perceived by employees. A big part of workplace culture is still influenced by the leadership team and if they’re not attuned to the needs of employees, it’ll be difficult for workers to connect with the company, its vision, and its mission.
2. Work Environment
What is your work environment like? How do you help employees achieve work-life balance? As the COVID-19 lockdowns have shown us, it’s in a business’s best interest to consider the complete experience of the employee – both inside and outside of work. When organizations recognize the busy daily lives people lead and find ways to accommodate them – whether that’s through flexible hours or remote working – you can create a more pleasant work environment that everyone would enjoy working in.
3. Interactions with Coworkers
Employees spend a big portion of their day at work, which means the people they’ll most interact with daily are their colleagues. Having good relations with colleagues, therefore, has a drastic impact on employees’ experience in the workplace. Unresponsive coworkers, too much office politics, or someone feeling isolated from their team, all create an unpleasant experience for the employees.
4. Communication
We all understand the importance of communication, and this applies as well to developing work relationships and improving the employee experience. It’s too easy for other tasks to get in the way and communication can get lost. But it’s paramount that important news is conveyed and shared across the organization to ensure transparency and that everyone has a clear understanding of what’s going on. Furthermore, employees should have a channel they can easily communicate through too. Having a go-to place for internal services, like an IT ticketing system, can ensure they can express their needs, such as, logging incidents or creating service requests.
5. Technology
Employees are using technology to accomplish their daily tasks, so it’s essential that they have the right tools. It’s no good if their laptops aren’t working properly, aren’t getting the right access permissions to the software they need, or experiencing service outages. Ensuring their tools are in top condition which enables your workforce to do what needs to get done can go a long way in having a more pleasant EX.
SOURCE: Craig Whytock, (November, 7, 2022). Why Employee Experience is Important. IFS Blog. https://blog.ifs.com/2022/12/why-employee-experience-is-important
