What impact does a positive employee experience have on company development?
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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.
What are the stats on employee experience?
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.
Define the stages of your employee life cycle
Start by defining your employee life cycle and its stages. The standard life cycle includes hiring, development, retention, and separation, but there are nuances:
- Hiring: Provide adaptation, mentoring, and on-hands experience at the company to allow new employees to start working with alacrity. During the adaptation process employees should realize that they have made the right choice by joining your team.
- Development: Offer opportunities for mentoring, performance management, coaching, and professional growth. This includes promotions and salary increases associated with changes in job levels or roles. Positive experiences here can motivate increased productivity and inspire staff to achieve your company's strategic goals.
- Retention: Work on good relationships with your best talent and build trust. This is crucial for employees to gain experience that will encourage them to stay in your organization for as long as possible.
- Separation: Understand and evaluate the reasons why employees are leaving. During separation, delve into questions about their experience. What were the positives of their work, and what were the negatives?
You also need to determine the ideal touch points at each stage. For example, in the case of onboarding, touch points may include:
- A welcome letter or message from the organization
- A meeting or message from a manager before the first day of work
- Instructions on what the first day or week will entail
- First day experience (orientation, team introductions, equipment issuance)
- Expectations for the first 30, 60, and 90 days of work
- Sequential scheduling of 1-on-1 meetings with managers
- Scheduling meetings with key peers
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.