What is employee experience?
Pre-pandemic, companies were challenged to design an engaging employee experience that incorporated collaboration and accessibility, amidst other factors into an open workplace setting. Nap pods, game rooms, and bring your dog to work day once dominated the conversation of employee experience. Today, Covid-19 has significantly uprooted those plans and have shifted the focus of employee experience (EX) to technology and connectivity.
The spectrum of what EX entails is vast. It is the sum of all experiences with an employer, starting from the interview process and continuing onwards. According to research done by McKinsey, there are 3 primary spheres that make up employee experience, which then overlap to form 6 facets of the system. These are the social sphere (community), the work sphere (activities), and the physical sphere (environment). These then build onto the outer components: tools, social platforms, and physical workplaces. These concepts should be understood as their own unique principles and taken into account separately when designing the employee experience. In turn, this can help match individual needs and meet organizational goals.
Make Experience a Priority
EX can influence employee productivity and engagement exponentially. A strong EX can help attract and retain the best talent while maximizing employee potential at an organizational level. Despite this, 1 in 4 companies do not have a strategy for workplace experience. For those who haven’t redefined EX strategies since the pandemic, you might want to do so.
Here's How to Start
Take all perspectives into account
Crafting an employee experience can’t be done alone – and who would know what they need best, besides employees themselves? Creating the experience as a team is essential, and doing so while considering a diverse range of knowledge can make employee’s experience more personalized and meaningful. Start by gathering feedback; make use of employee surveys to determine what they value and what their expectations are from their workplace.
Use a design approach
Applying design principles into the process of revamping your EX will help you shift from building programs to building experiences. In a nutshell, design thinking encourages continuous improvement within a cycle of empathy, from testing to implementation. Don’t be afraid to continuously revise your employee experience prototypes, it will help bring you one step closer to success. Using a design approach will also allow you to develop a wider and more empathetic understanding of an employee’s journey through their perspective.
Align with organizational goals
A strong collective purpose is the driving force for employee satisfaction, and revisiting your organization’s core purpose can go a long way for EX. Defining your company identity and aligning it with your employee experience will create alignment between the two and result in higher engagement. People want to feel like they are working towards something larger than themselves, so be sure to have a clear direction of your organization’s purpose.
Employee experience is more than just the physical office space, and the major components of what makes a great EX have changed. It’s time to think and continuously rethink your employee experience in light of the new world we live in.
