THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

From the moment a candidate sees an opening advertised within your company to the moment they leave the role, everything they encounter contributes toward their Employee Experience. All companies will be invested in ensuring a good customer experience, but it is vital to recognise that your staff are your biggest asset, and ensuring they have a positive experience within their role will greatly impact the work they produce, their level of investment and overall, the success of the company.   

Curating a positive experience for those within your company is not solely the responsibility of your HR department but requires the input of all people managers. It is fundamental to business performance, and you must make sure you are listening to your people at every stage within the employment lifecycle to know what matters to them and to make their experience personal and positive.  

Stages of Employee Experience

Everything a worker learns, does, feels and sees in each stage of their employment lifecycle makes up their employee experience. Break down each stage of their employment and ensure staff are happy throughout to ensure an overall positive experience. 

Recruitment – What was the interview and hire experience like for each candidate? How well received were the advertisements for the role? With our help, we hope that this stage of the employment experience will always be a positive one! We will work alongside your in-house recruitment team to curate this stage and ensure the first impressions candidates gain of the company will feed into an overall positive employee experience. 

New Hire - Most new hires will take some time to get up to speed with the runnings of the company. They are meeting new people, leaning their way around, and possibly learning new systems and software. By making this initial phase of their life within the business a smooth and happy one, you will help the candidate feel at home within their new role   

Development - This is an ongoing stage of the employee journey, and different people will develop their skills at different rates. You will need to ensure that you are offering your staff the opportunity to expand their skill set and move forward in their career.  

Retention – At this stage, an employee is now fully settled and integral to the company. A strong people retention strategy will enable you to keep them performing, developing and contributing to the company’s success. By keeping hold of existing employees, you save yourself the hassle of retraining a replacement; it can also cost 50-60% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them, so retention is key.  

Exit – When the time does come for an employee to move on from the company, this could be for a number of reasons, retirement, career change, moving to another business or another life change. Knowing why someone is leaving the business will help you improve the employee experience for others. A leaver is more likely to be honest in an exit interview, as their time with the company is already done, so they’ve nothing to lose.     

Improving Employee Experience

Here are the three areas we have identified that you may consider focusing on in order to ensure that the experience you are giving your staff is a positive and happy one.  

• Culture. This comes down to a mixture of leadership style and organisational structure. The mix of personalities you have on the team will contribute to the culture of the workplace, and the vibe people will pick up on when they come to join the team.  
• Technology. By investing in the technologies you offer your employees, you will enable them to work and achieve with efficiency. Forward-thinking organisations will be sure to keep up to date with technologies, and having the most suitable systems and software available will help your employees feel confident in their work.  
• Physical Workspace. Create a workspace that ensures staff feel comfortable and happy. No one wants to work in an overheated, windowless office space. By providing an environment where staff are happy and comfortable, you will help them concentrate better and create a sense of well-being and positivity, which will translate to productivity.    

A strong employee experience is one of the most vital investments a company can make. A well-curated employee experience will ensure that your employees – who are the biggest asset a company has – are set up for success. 

Contact us if we can help you with your employee experience.