11 ways to maximise your employee experience

Employee experience is becoming more and more important as skilled talent is tougher to come by, and candidates are seeking fulfilment in their roles.

This is why getting employee experience right is so crucial. The benefits speak for themself, as studies show happy employees are 13 per cent more productive.

Meanwhile, according to Hays, “a positive employee experience means that people are 60 per cent more likely to stay with your organisation, with 69 per cent more likely to be high performers and 52 per cent more likely to go ‘above and beyond’ in their daily efforts”.

With this in mind, crafting an effective employee experience policy is a no-brainer. However, this is easier said than done. Thankfully, Hays outlined 11 key considerations to make when building employee experience within an organisation:

1. Create a culture of recognition

A desire to be recognised for our hard work is in our nature. Companies that understand the potential of this are already one step ahead in ensuring employees stay fulfilled.

According to Great Place To Work, recognition boosts engagement, performance, and retention. To achieve this, companies should recognise employees for things like:

• Achievements.
• Exhibiting desired behaviours.
• Going above and beyond expectations.
• Milestones such as tenure.

2. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)

DEI has been discussed time and time again by HR Leader. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that employers who do not recognise this run the risk of alienating themselves from their workforce, hindering employee experience.

3. Employee autonomy

The importance of granting employees the autonomy to work independently was recently discussed by HR Leader.

Aaron McEwan, Gartner’s vice-president of research and advisory, put it well: “When employees are given autonomy over not just where they work, but when they work, how they work, who they work with, what they work on, that tends to drive high levels of productivity, high levels of retention of critical talent.”

4. Employee development

People want the opportunity to advance their careers. In fact, 59 per cent of Millennials (who make up the majority of the workforce) said they find development opportunities “extremely important” when deciding whether to apply for a position.

5. Wellbeing benefits

Workplace wellbeing is one of those business considerations that really has no downside. Everyone benefits, which is why there should really be no question as to why it’s so important.

6. Mission, vision, values and purpose

Having a sense of purpose in a role can make a big difference to things like motivation, happiness, and effectiveness.

As recently discussed by HR Leader, “having a sense of purpose can go a long way in ensuring happiness in the workplace and creating a positive flow-on effect when it comes to career longevity”.

7. Office space

Creating a space that is welcoming can assist in making employees feel the same. As Hays said, “a workspace that offers a delightful experience will mean that employees will want to be there more often.”

8. Organisational transparency

Transparency is a leadership trait that is seemingly underappreciated. However, it is a key behaviour of effective leaders.

“People engagement is often a reflection of how they feel about their managers or decisions made by the company, often stemming from a lack of transparency, which in the long run can have a negative impact on productivity. Addressing these issues readily is critical, and organisations can do so by investing in communication tools and training managers to connect more regularly and honestly with their people,” said Nirit Peled Muntz, chief people officer at HiBob.

9. Performance, growth and learning

“Learning and development should go beyond offering free online courses. Consider implementing learning into the flow of work, social learning programs, as well as performance goals that employees need to meet and the pathways they can take in order to grow within the company,” said Hays.

10. Workplace policies

Hays continued: “Encouraging employees to co-design workplace policies helps accountability and ensuring they are fit for purpose. It can also uncover any unintended consequences. For example, designing an email policy in consultation with employees across the business could alleviate blockers for parts of the business that need to use email in ways that others don’t.”

11. Alumni programs

These types of programs are an excellent way to build upon culture. ELMO Software outlined the benefits as: “Developing an alumni network is an effective way to keep employees feeling positive about their former employer. Alums can be many things: brand ambassadors, employee referrers, rehires, future business partners/clients, and buyers of products and services. Indeed, many organisations are finding many benefits to strengthening ties.”

ELMO Software listed the top three benefits as:

1. Brand advocacy
2. Business development
3. Talent acquisition