What is employee experience? Four HR experts voice their opinions
In a HR executive survey employees who rate their experience with employees (EX) as good are an average of 28% more efficiency and 37 percentage lowerturnover than the average employee.
Furthermore, these top EX employees have an increase of 46% in their commitment to the organization, 59% higher levels of job satisfaction, and a whopping 142% higher average Net Promoter Score for their workplace.
What is employee experience?
Employee experience, commonly known as "EX," is the journey from hiring to off-boarding that a person takes within a given organisation. It is a new field that has just emerged, employee experience is a focus on the various interactions employees experience while working for a business - from their opinions regarding compensation, to their relationships to their manager.
Employee experience is crucial in the 21st century
Since 2004, interest in the concept of "employee experience" has steadily growing year on year, increasing in the middle of 2010 to the present day (as seen on this Google Trends screenshot depicting user interests in the search results below)
The experience of employees, however, is more than just the latest buzzword. It's the difference between keeping an employee on the long run and experiencing high turnover within the company.
In this piece, we'll explore the details and nuances of the field of "Experience Experimentation as well as learn from HR professionals with a variety of backgrounds on what exactly employee experience means to them.
A strong employee experience = an increased retention rate.
Experience for employees is enhanced when you combine career advancement opportunities, excellent compensation and benefits, and a company culture that is engaging and inclusive. Every aspect contributes to the general perception of the company that can make the difference in your employees' motivation to stay. An enjoyable experience for employees = an increased retention percentage.
-Carly Mulroy, Talent and People Lead, Scott Capital Group
Tips and tricks for improving EX in your workplace
HR specialists usually lead the charge in increasing employee satisfaction through leveraging research from industry as well as directly polling employees. In order to help facilitate the process We've put together a list of tried and tested ways to build a strong EX system at an organization.
1. Be committed to finding a balance between work and family.
Informing your employees that having fun outside of work is important to your company is a fantastic approach to get buy-in from all levels.
Flexible work hours and encouraging enforcement of "offline time" as well as generous time off policies are just a few options to show a commitment to work-life harmony.
2. Create a transparent and transparent communication
3. Establish clear professional development channels
4. Encourage feedback at all levels
360 reviews, the method which allows employees to receive feedback from various peers of different positions and titles, have become commonplace within many companies. This helps them comprehend how their actions will be seen by the rest of the organization, and can be incredibly helpful in enhancing one's capabilities.
5. Develop a successful onboarding (and off-boarding) program
Another crucial aspect of EX (but an aspect that's oft-forgotten) is the off-boarding procedure for employees in the event that they want to quit your organization. How you treat employees in their departure could be the difference between creating an ally to your company's image and leaving your former employees with a bitter smell in their mouth.
The employee experience is the way you feel when you get out of bed in the morning for your job.
My perception of employee satisfaction is the way you feel the moment you wake up each day to head to your job. Do you find yourself dreading the morning? Or are you excited to begin your day?
Many factors impact your work impression, from the extent to which you feel you can be the person you are at work to how much of an impact you believe your abilities can make on company. Personally, I've worked at HubSpot for the past eight years as the factors mentioned above aren't just an afterthought. It's a top priority since culture is an important factor.
This makes me want to get out of bed to begin my day. (And this is coming from someone who's not the type of person who wakes up in the morning! )
Hannah Fleishman, director of Employer Brand & Internal Comms at Hubspot
The various stages of experience for employees
The process of enhancing the employee experience begins before a prospective new employee even steps foot in the front door (or into their first interview via remote). When it comes to creating a top-quality culture as well as an extensive benefits plan an organization is setting the groundwork for attracting the best potential employees. Thus, "attracting and recruiting" is the very first step of the experience for employees.
The EX journey then continues into the onboarding process, interacting with and investing in new employees , and finally continuous 'follow up with checks-ins and surveys. Below, we've provided a helpful visual snapshot of the stages of employee experience in order to make it easier for you to understand the process
Experience of the digital employee: How to provide EX in the remote environment
It could be incredibly challenging to offer employees a comprehensive experience when operating remotely. But, with all the adjustments organizations have made in the past year and the improvements in employee satisfaction for remote and in-person workers is easier than ever.
From collaboration tools designed specifically for engaging and delighting distributed employees, to companies that specialize in creating teams that work remotely The options are wide enough that you can provide an effortless experience. Some of the most important elements to take into consideration when designing a digital employee experience are:
- Ensuring employees are comfortable within their work environment
It's become standard that employers provide their workers with a work from home (WFH) stipend to allow employees to create their own remote work space. From comfy chairs, to desktop setups, and even the perfect pair of headphones, those are the kinds of things which can make the difference in an employee's WFH experience.
- Establishing transparent and open relationships between employees and management
Undeniably that one of the most effective strategies to create a positive employee experience, regardless of where they are located, is to make sure that managers have open communication with their subordinates. Regular 1 on 1's and check ins, along using 360 reviews could be easy and effective methods to improve relationships between employees and managers.
- Conducting anonymous surveys that give feedback to the surveyors and allow for the necessary modifications
It will likely be tough to develop the perfect remote working culture right from the beginning. This shouldn't frustrate your efforts but, rather, motivate HR professionals and employee experience managers to tap into the workforce to hear directly what will improve their remote work.
In ensuring employees have the most choice and ensuring that they have a fair experience, we can improve the customer experience for everyone
At Coinbase We think of employee satisfaction as each encounter an employee has throughout their time with us, starting from the initial conversation with an employee recruiter, through their entire time with us to becoming the Coinbase alumni. Being we are a "Remote-First" company, our team focuses on the way these interactions are changing and provides the employees with what they need to be successful within the ever-changing working world.
Ultimately, we believe that we can maximize choice for employees and creating equitable experiences regardless of the location where employees reside and if they decide to visit an office and not will improve the employee experience for all and ultimately, be the best crypto firm to work for.
Dominique Baillet. Senior Director, Employee Experience and HR Enablement at Coinbase
Use video in order to improve remote EX
The onboarding process typically a new employee's first interaction with the company and is considered to be one of the essential elements of a complete customer experience for employees.
Incorporating a complete collection of training materials as well as HR material and expectations for roles is essential towards an effective onboarding process. As per research the use of videos is twelve times more likely to be watched than text is intended to read.
Another way to maintain a positive 'office' atmosphere at home is encouraging employees to make use of video to show appreciation for the efforts of an entire department or a single person. There's a fantastic "appreciation video" template to let you shout-out the company's heroes.
The employee journey is the equivalent of a marathon and not a sprint
What is the journey you would like an employee at your company to take from start until the end? The idea of thinking about the employee's journey as a holistic experience beginning with onboarding until off-boarding may help you envision your company's overall ethos.
Employers who invest in long-term growth of their staff show a willingness towards their employees' professional development as well as personal satisfaction with their jobs. That, in turn, is usually a sign of an increase in employee enthusiasm for the vision and mission of the business.
In an investigation 77% of the respondents said that "job-related education and training options influenced their decision-making to keep their jobs."
Employee experience challenges professionals to think creatively about the purpose of a workplace and work community.
Over my time at being in the field of employee experience I've learned that "going for work" is so much more than just opening up your computer and open Slack or emails. For me, when talking about employee experience it is essential to break open what you "think" it means to be an employee or employer. The employee experience requires professionals to think creatively regarding the meaning of their workplaces and the work community.
If you think about the employee experience there are some ideas that spring to thoughts.
- At a minimum, does an employee believe that they have the tools, capabilities and assistance they need to be able to perform their best?
- Does the employee feels valued and welcome to provide feedback and suggestions on how we can enhance?
- Do they have chances to network with other teammates in both their team?
- If they want to publish their cat pictures or travel stories, can they comfortably do it without fear of judgment?
- When they are sick or when a family crisis pops out, do they feel confident relying on the team members for help?
At least 8 hours every day, and five days a week at work. The employee experience is the feeling that throughout all those hours, and even beyond, you're contributing to the company, learning, growing, connecting with colleagues, and, hopefully having fun while doing it!
Jessie During the HR Project Manager for
Final thought
It is more common than ever for people to consider factors such as company advantages, culture, as well as working-life balance when choosing where to work. After all, Americans spend over 1,800 hours a year in work and it's crucial that we put that time into a workplace that is going to invest in our health and wellbeing.
As I previously mentioned, creating an onboarding and training course using videos is one of many ways to gain support from employees during the beginning of their career. makes this easy by providing a branded and cinematic video library.