Constant digital transformations bring changes in every aspect of a business.  Organizations are aware that success of a business begins and ends with people. But what employers often forget is that without creating a productive, engaging, and enjoyable employee work experience, there will be no 100% satisfaction in customer service either. Therefore, it is important to understand what is happening with the people within an organization.

Organizations are aware that success of a business begins and ends with people. But what employers often forget is that without creating a productive, engaging, and enjoyable employee work experience, there will be no 100% satisfaction in customer service either. Therefore, it is important to understand what is happening with the people within an organization.

But what employers often forget is that without creating a productive, engaging, and enjoyable employee work experience, there will be no 100% satisfaction in customer service either. Therefore, it is important to understand what is happening with the people within an organization.

Therefore, it is important to understand what is happening with the people within an organization.

It is noteworthy that employee experience is a major trend of 2017 and organizational culture, engagement and employee brand proposition clearly remain among the top priorities.

According to a study by Deloitte, current situation is the following: nearly 80 percent of executives believe that employee experience is very important (42%) or important (38%) but surprisingly only 22% of companies claim they have excellent skills in building employee experience.

A productive, positive employee experience has emerged as the new contract between employer and employee

After all, in such digitally developed world where transparency and the demand for talented individuals with fast-changing skills only continue to increase, employee experience will become an extremely important factor for competing and engaging your workforce.

We could learn more from companies like Airbnb, Nike and IBM that have successfully managed to build their employee experience by incorporating design thinking and in general studying the workplace itself.

The problems of employee engagement and productivity continue to grow

While it is a positive tendency that companies understand the importance of an outstanding employee experience, challenges persist and continue to grow.

Employee engagement within thousands of companies has been unchangeably flat year over year and organizations are struggling to address the engagement and culture related issues (14% drop since last year) indicating the complexity of the work environment.

Many companies have not yet made employee experience a priority for HR leaders

Companies now begin to realize that simply focusing on employee engagement and culture does not bring the desired results; to gain competitive advantage companies must focus on whole employee experience. Through several feedback tools, wellness and fitness apps as well as integrated employee self-service tools, HR departments are able to dive deeper, understanding and improving this experience.

Through several feedback tools, wellness and fitness apps as well as integrated employee self-service tools, HR departments are able to dive deeper, understanding and improving this experience.

Yet observing the current situation and realizing that in several important areas there is little to no progress we cannot help but to think of the causes and possible solutions. Let’s look at where we stand in employee culture and engagement and seek ways for improvement.

Let’s look at where we stand in employee culture and engagement and seek ways for improvement.

The need for improvements in employee experience is driven by companies switching to a networked, team-based structure. Nevertheless, such transformations highlight both the importance and complexity of employee experience. Moreover, in such highly competitive global economy leaders are worried about their ability to attract and retain

Moreover, in such highly competitive global economy leaders are worried about their ability to attract and retain skilled workforce.

Only 14% of companies have well-established internal collaboration and decision making processes, whereas 77% believe email is an outdated tool that cannot lead to effective communication.

On our way to create a pleasant employee experience: Employee culture and engagement related issues and solutions

What are the factors that interfere with organizations’ ability to improve employee culture and engagement?

1. It is not a priority for many HR leaders

2. Design and delivery of the employee experience has not been assigned to a senior executive or team

3. HR departments struggle to obtain resources to address priorities

4. Tools need to be updated in order to constantly engage the employees

5. Focus on „point-in-time engagement” without including other disciplines

6. Focus on employee feedback is improving but not fast enough

What can be done?

1. New approach is required – holistic solution

The times when HR addressed each issue separately are over; programs have independent leaders, sets of tools, diagnostics and even solutions.

And on top of that employees are now demanding for a recruitment-to-retirement-experience.

Hires are analyzing their experience with the employer from the very start and leaders are pressured to rethink the way they are delivering employee experience in their organization.

Some of the factors to consider for a positive employee experience:

• meaningful work
• supportive management
• positive work environment
• opportunities for growth
• trust in leadership

2. Work on the design and delivery

Business and HR leaders will have to look for ways to develop an integrated employee experience taking into consideration simplification of work and design thinking.

Make it accessible and easy to use on mobile devices.

3. Focus on employee feedback

Continuous employee feedback is required in order to create a holistic approach to the employee experience. Yet that can only be done with better tools and programs.

HR software allows easy and convenient employee performance assessment.

Neglecting employee feedback is a major cause for many other challenges (for example, ability to ensure a healthy work-life balance) that companies must face.

Use pulse survey, management and open survey tools.

4. Use design thinking as a strategy for innovation

Care for your employees. Observe and learn from their daily activities. That will allow you to simplify work, improve productivity, performance and engagement.

Creating employee personas will help organizations with planning and decision making.

Develop employee personas and journey maps.

5. Use digital and mobile tools

Take advantage of the digital era because there are a lot of tools that can become handy when designing and delivering a great employee experience.

– Productivity and collaboration apps (Facebook’s Workplace, Slack, Microsoft Skype for Teams, Basecamp, Trello etc.)

– Engagement and feedback apps that replace  traditional annual engagement surveys

– Performance management apps ( see vendors – Reflektiv, BetterWorks, Zugata, Highground)

– Well-being apps (see vendors – Limeaid, VirginPulse)

– Employee service platforms (Emerline, Espresa)

However, keep in mind that although these tools are valuable you may have noticed that each of these markets is separate.

That shows how new is end-to-end employee experience. Yet with the help of these tools HR and tech managers can build an employee experience strategy and program.

6. Realize the importance of employee experience

Never underestimate an employee because at the end of the day employees are the ones that actually bring success to your company. Strive to create a strong employee experience.

Realize that integrated employee experience is just as valuable (if not more) as customer experience.

Doing so will increase the likelihood to attract and retain skilled employees as well as provide a great customer experience later on. Recognize the value and impact employee experience can have on your business.

Make sure your strategy coordinates all aspects of work and workplace when creating an enjoyable work experience.

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Employee engagement is used to refer to the emotional and intellectual involvement employees have with their organization.

It is no secret that the more engaged the employee is, the more he takes pride in being a part of the organization and its successes.

Furthermore, content employees will be willing to go an extra mile and strive for the best results to contribute to these organizational successes.

For that reason, leaders must monitor the well-being and productivity of their employees.

To gain extraordinary success your company will need a healthy culture and a team that is ready to give it all!

When an organization creates a culture with meaningful work, engaged employees and a strong leadership, it will most likely outperform peers and help attract top talents.

Therefore, leaders are studying their workplace and seeking for a more flexible, collaborative and humanistic environment.

Sintija.

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