Employee engagement levels within an organisation is quickly becoming on top of leaders’ priority list today. The overall employee experience – from how they feel within their job role to the workplace environment – plays a key role in their productivity levels within the organisation.
As defined by global consulting firm, McKinsey, employee experience is defined as “companies and their people working together to create personalized, authentic experiences that ignite passion and tap into purpose to strengthen individual, team and company performance.” In short, it is about building a strong and trusting relationship between organisations and their employees.
More often than not, organisations tend to think that the employee experience begins when a new candidate walks through the office doors until the day that they leave the organisation. However, the employee experience goes beyond the employees’ tenure within the organisation. Instead, it begins as early as during the application process and continuing even after the employee has left the organisation.
Increasingly, organisations are realising the importance of delivering a robust employee experience and the success of developing a well-rounded employee depends heavily on improving the wider employee experience. Here are four key aspects in which organisations should focus on in developing the wider employee experience.
Candidate experience
The candidate experience is often overlooked by organisations in the entire employees experience. Most of the time, organisations tend to regard it as a separate component and spend minimal effort during this initial stage of recruitment. In fact, as part of the entire recruitment and onboarding process, creating a good impression on candidates at the initial application stage is equally as important as the onboarding stage. In the wider employee experience, a potential candidate plays a key role in the overall satisfaction and positive feedback about the organisation – regardless of whether the job applicant actually gets the job or not – goes a long way in employer branding.
Employee lifecycle
During an employee’s tenure with the organisation, they go through several stages – also known as the employee lifecycle. Essentially, it comprises of hiring and onboarding, learning and development, performance and rewards, leadership and career development, flexibility and wellness, team building and growth as well as off-boarding. It is imperative for organisations to focus on each stage of the employee lifecycle and constantly measure employee’s engagement levels as they transcend through each of these stages during their lifecycle with the organisation.
Alumni experience
Employees are unlikely to stay in an organisation forever. This also means that employees today can also end up being clients or competitors the next day. Amongst organisations, there is a common misconception that these ex-employees no longer have any influence on the organisation. In fact, these ex-employees can prove to be an effective external brand communicator for the organisation. When these employees leave, they bring about their experiences working in the organisation to others. By ensuring that employees leave the organisation on a good note, this helps to build long-term relationships and a strong and wide network for the organisation in the long run.
Organisational experience
Finally, the last key area of the wider employee experience in which organisations and leaders should focus on would be the organisational experience. This would focus on the experiences that employees gain during their interactions with co-workers, managers as well as the overall workplace environment and culture. Given that employees may have different feelings towards their work and the culture, it is crucial for leaders and HR to build a holistic and open workplace environment whereby employees are able to thrive and perform their best.
In the long run, creating a wholesome employee experience can lead boost employee’s morale and lead to increased productivity in the long run. Given that employees are a key asset to the organisation, it is imperative to motivate and engage employees to constantly perform their best in their work. Concurrently, providing them the necessary growth opportunities and leadership will inspire them to work efficiently and happily.
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