Creating a positive employee experience is one of the most important functions of HR specialists as it directly relates to the employee's life cycle, engagement, interest, and loyalty.
Experience comes from what an employee encounters in communication, solving work tasks, achieving goals, development, team activities, and so on. If healthy relationships are built between employees, between manager and employee, and between different departments and teams, the employee's experience will be enriched with positive situations that provide opportunities for learning and growth.
Conversely, if more negative situations occur during an employee's time at a company, their experience will be characterized by stress, communication obstacles, and misunderstandings. This, in turn, threatens not only the current development of the organization but also its reputation.
So how do we properly weigh the impact of employee experience? Why is it important for top management and HR specialists? Let's consider this in more detail.
Here are a few examples of how employee experience directly shapes working conditions:
Only 15% of employees are actively engaged in their teams, according to Gallup. Thus, up to 85% of the global workforce is either negatively or neutrally disposed towards their work.
A 2021 study by Joblist shows that up to 73% of employees are willing to leave their current positions for a better offer, even if they are not actively seeking other jobs.
According to Gallup's meta-analysis on employee engagement, companies with high levels of employee engagement generally have 21% higher profitability. Such companies also have 17% higher labor productivity.
Gallup's multi-year study showed that organizations with a strong corporate culture, an emphasis on leadership development, and high levels of gratitude and engagement from both customers and employees, increased their revenue by 682% over 11 years.
In a SHRM survey on rewards and recognition, 43% of respondents preferred private but mandatory praise from their supervisor. Also, 10% chose public recognition in the presence of other colleagues, and 9% preferred private written recognition.
So it’s clear that improving employee experience is extremely important for creating a positive working environment, one that leads to growth. That’s the what, let’s explore the how of improving employee experiences.
Start by defining your employee life cycle and its stages. The standard life cycle includes hiring, development, retention, and separation, but there are nuances:
You also need to determine the ideal touch points at each stage. For example, in the case of onboarding, touch points may include:
The employee life cycle stages are just the beginning of understanding the entire experience that impacts them. The next step is understanding the needs of your employees.