Employer expectations have always been in a constant tug of war with the employee experience. In today’s corporate world, we know expectations are notch-high- be it of a recruiter, the working staff, or customer.
The paradox is that companies who lay greater emphasis on leveraging customer experience pay none to employees who are the real backbone of the business. This is odd since it’s the employees who make a business.
The good news is that in coming years, organizations will give sincere thought to what employees want as they are the people who get them what they desire. Employer-Employee: It’s a complete give and take relation.
2020 and more: Organizations have pulled up their socks to make significant investments in employee experience. The aim is to recruit and retain employees who are the best and deliver the best for the organization.
In today’s white-hot labour market- it is not enough to get the job done. It’s important to get the right people doing the right work. Companies are going to be choosier in who they hire and retain as everyone want to have the BEST for themselves.
When both employer and employees will strive for the best- none of them will suffer. There’ll be no company chasing after good employees because they will already have what they aspired.
To uncover what follows- let’s explore 3 employee trends that we believe will drive this refocused investment in employee experience.
#1 EMPLOYEES VALUE CLARITY
In 2020, companies will straight align what they truly believe in.
To be out and about, companies will both memorialize what they stand for from a values, purpose, and employee value proposition (EVP) point. This will help companies recruit and retain those employees who are the right match for the company.
Employees being given the centre of attention will no longer have to work for a company that doesn’t articulate what it stands for and/or align with their own beliefs. Also, employees no longer have to stay quiet about how they feel about their company.
#2 TRAIN TO RETAIN EMPLOYEES
In 2020, organizations will make significant investments to upgrade their employees. When you find the people you want, you want to keep them. This increasingly means helping them develop the skill set they need.
It’s hard enough to identify and recruit the kind of workers you need to match the business and career goals of both parties. The last thing you want to see is them walking away because there wasn’t enough scope for growth opportunities.
Creating a corporate culture enriched with skilled workers who align with the brand and see the value of working at the company will result in both higher retention and productivity.
#3 (EMPLOYEE) EXPERIENCE MATTERS
Taking employee experiences to the next level will be key.
Companies will work harder to align their employee experience with their customer experience.
For years, companies have focused on both their brand and customer experiences and all but ignored the experiences that their employees. This has resulted in many employees feeling their own companies are not committed to being as leading-edge as they say they are to their customers and many customers having a disjointed experience with the company.
Delivering experiences (especially from a technology and workplace design perspective) that support employees in the same way the companies do with consumers should be every company’s #1 priority. Companies need to remember their employees are consumers too. So, they are expecting to have some of the same experiences that they have as a consumer—especially if it helps them get their jobs done right.
The Employee Experience: What It Is and Why It is Important
Companies have come to realize that employee satisfaction and employee engagement aren’t enough. The time has come to lay the focus on the overall employee experience.
What Does Employee Want? Answering this question has become important than ever.
Without question, business leaders recognize the importance of the customer experience and how it impacts their business. But how many business leaders think about the value of the employee experience and how that affects their organization?
Back in the early 2000s, employers were mostly interested in “employee satisfaction.” Then around 2010, the focus shifted to “employee engagement.” But now, progressive employers are beginning to view satisfaction and engagement as smaller components of what their workforce cares about: the employee experience.
So what is the employee experience?
The employee experience is the total of all interactions an employee has with their employer. It is the structure and culture of the organization and how the employee perceives the company and the role they play in the company.
More specifically, the employee experience is influenced by the top 3 things:
- The physical environment in which an employee works
- The tools and technologies an employer provides
- How an employer showcases its commitment to the health and success of employees
Here’s what you can do to make your employees happier:
Improving the Employee Experience
Businesses invest hundreds of thousands of dollars and infinite hours on market research and customer satisfaction surveys to gain insight into what makes their clients return.
They want to develop a better understanding of their customer’s goals, challenges and needs because they know these factors impact how the customer perceives their interactions with the organization. A continued positive customer experience leads to long-term relationships.
What some organizations often forget is that their employees are their first and foremost customers. Therefore, focusing on the employee experience is far more important than evaluating the customer experience. The time, budget, and resources a company dedicates to raise the customer experience should never be more than what it invests in boost the employee experience.
The “employee” part of “employee experience” is vital. You need their input. You don’t make assumptions about what your customers want in your product or service? In the same manner, don’t make assumptions about what your workforce wants. Instead, ask them what types of resources, technologies, and spaces they believe are critical for success and then make sure they have them. No one knows how to better the employee experience than your employees themselves.
When you include employees in the decision-making, it helps create a sense of belongingness and binds loyalty to their business. Just as your customers want to be heard, your employees want the same freedom of expression.
The Role of Technology in the Employee Experience
The use of technology can be a powerful force for a positive employee experience. Powerful, user-friendly technology is an integral part of your employees’ work life.
Your employees use some sort of technology, as often as consumers. And consumer technology is empowering. It allows us to connect with people around the world and share information. It focuses on user-experience to make our lives easier. And just as consumer technology is customer-centric, the workplace technology your business adopts must be customized as completely employee-centric. It should solve the challenges faced by your workforce and be something your employees require.
With workplace technology focused on not just meeting but exceeding the needs of your workforce, your organization proves its dedication to making the lives of its employees merrier. And when you invest in your employees, they’ll invest in you in the best possible manner.
If you’re already making an effort to improve employee engagement and employee satisfaction improving the employee experience will be far more beneficial. All you have to do is be thoughtful, and, most importantly, listen.
How Employee Engagement Can Improve Customer Experience?
Growing businesses looking for ways to streamline success have to consider customer experience (CX) as a central goal to make it come real. Customers who associate positive experiences with business are more likely to return. In recent years, businesses have understood what an improved CX can do. That said, employee engagement is one of the most important aspects that drive customer experience.
Business leaders who want to achieve their organization’s mission agree that treating their employees well is a step toward a better CX. Engaged employees spread their enthusiasm to customers and are more dedicated to providing the best possible experience.
Just as how engaged employees make for happy customers, the reverse is true. Customers’ who are thoroughly satisfied, also encourage employee engagement. A positive CX reinforces how employees feel about the value and purpose of their work. In other words, a positive customer experience motivates employees to repeat their “good behaviour”.
If you are looking forward to beefing up your employee engagement strategies, this is the right time to make it happen. Following are some of the best employee engagement practices that can help create a better customer experience.
#1 Create a Collaborative, Communicative, and Engaging Culture
#2 Incorporate Employee Development Programs
#3 Give your Employees a Sense of Purpose
#4 Get the HR Team to Connect Employee Engagement to Customer Experience
#5 Identify the Core Competencies that Lead to Happy Customers
Employee engagement is an important part of a business. Customer experience is one such aspect that is the key ingredient for its success. It is pertinent for managers or employers to analyze their employee performance in lieu of CX. Thus businesses need to identify and reward the employees who have an impressive impact on customer experience and satisfaction to encourage it amongst their co-workers.
Also Read: How HR Tech Can Build a Better Customer cum Employee Experience
