Employee experience: why it’s important to your employees and to your company

If you work in a corporate environment, you’ll know of the constant buzz around the importance of customer satisfaction and why it’s vital that you keep your clients happy. After all, the customer is always right, right?

Yes, but other things should also be considered when measuring success.

One of them is your employees’ experiences at your company. This may seem a bit obvious, but employee experience is actually one of the most actively evolving aspects of a business and really shouldn’t be ignored. So, what is employee experience, and what does it mean for your organization in 2022?

What is meant by employee experience?

Definition of employee experience: employee experience refers to how employees interpret the interactions that they have with their company over the course of their time at the organization.

What makes employee experience important?

It shows passion and motivation

A good employee experience comes from employees that feel engaged about their work and purpose at your organization. Engaged workers complete tasks with passion and feel a deep connection to your company. They also believe in your company goals and culture and are proud to be a part of your team.

It affects the work environment

But as with everything else in life – the positive must come with (at least a little bit of) the negative. As a result, organizations have engaged and disengaged employees. Disengaged employees who don’t feel motivated or passionate about their work can cause much more damage than just adding a dampening mood to the lunch table. They can lead other employees to feel awkward and tense and can even affect how others perceive your brand.

It could cause unforeseen costs

Glassdoor found that disengaged employees cost between $450 and $550 billion a year in the U.S. Let’s say that again, between $450 and $550 billion.

That whopping number means a lot for your company – every disengaged employee is not only creating friction and discomfort for other employees – they’re also costing your organization a lot of money. This is why putting your effort into turning employees into engaged workers is absolutely essential. There are a few ways to do this, which we will discuss in detail (don’t worry).

So, let’s jump right into it!

What is a good employee experience?

A good employee experience can vary from company to company – products change, people change, and the organization structures also vary. But the core message is the same – put 110% effort into making your people happy.

How, you ask?

Well, for starters – give them something more to be excited about. Yes, we all want to get to work at 9, do our tasks, leave at 5, and get paid for the job at the end of the month. But employees want more than that. Give them a little extra and they will not only see it as rewarding but also be more reluctant to hunt for another job.

Host social gatherings, set goals, or take employees out to a nice lunch (and we don’t mean a quick bite) once in a while.

The little things make a huge change to the EXI (Employee Experience Index), and it’s definitely where you should start.

A bottom-up structure is one you should look at implementing. Try to discover what makes an employee experience successful by asking your employees the very same question. You’ll be surprised at how valuable feedback can be for future business strategies.

What is the role of employee experience in the workplace?

The core of good employee experiences is that they can create very positive touch points between employees and your organization. It is part of employees building up an engaging and long-term relationship with your company, brand, and what you stand for.

This long-term agreement and understanding help your employees be happier, healthier, and be more driven. These behaviors lead to a higher performance level – leading to employee retention.

How will your company benefit from good employee experiences?

1. Reduces your turnover rates

High turnover rates are one of the most concerning issues companies have today. In fact, since the recent pandemic, turnover rates have been high, and they don’t seem to be lowering much. In the U.S., the average annual turnover rate is between 18% and 20%. Turnover costs you time in that you have to find a replacement, but it also lowers your current employees’ morale. This could have a negative impact on your team and customers’ experiences. Bottom line? You must attract and retain the best talent. This way, you can keep your best people who are engaged and willing to onboard new staff into a positive and well-managed work environment.

2. Attracts and retains top talent

When a candidate reviews a job position available at your organization, they’re more likely to have researched your company thoroughly. Some even reach out to your previous or current employees to better understand the culture and learn about your way of working. This may sound like it’s too much for a potential candidate to do, but people have become so enthralled with researching topics – that it’s almost part of daily life now. As they say, ‘Google it.’ So, having existing employees that have had a great onboarding experience and have been given the right career development and management tools is key to getting you there.

3. Improves team collaboration

A happy employee is a productive employee, but that employee also influences others around them. This is where the improvement of collaboration between co-workers comes in. Positive employees feel more motivated about work and tend to share their knowledge with others more eagerly. Unsurprisingly, people also feel more comfortable sharing their ideas with others in small and casual discussions. This shift from a mediocre attitude to such a positive one is vital to keeping the energy up among teams. Remember that informal knowledge sharing is a powerful tool – and when paired with the right technology, it can become your company’s most valuable asset.

4. Strengthens manager-employee relationships

A recent study by Gallup shows that managers account for 70% of the variance in how engaged employees are. Many managers have even shared that they feel the need to spend more time with their employees to ensure they stay content with their jobs. But at the same time, too many employees still feel that large organizations get bogged down with other tasks – and forget about their workers’ wants, needs, and feedback. How do you deal with it? Well, if you have engaged employees (which would be partially your doing), they’re more likely to want to have open conversations with you about what works, what isn’t working, and how to remove any pain points. Employee evaluations and experience surveys are key to strengthening these relationships and creating a dialogue.

5. Boosts customer satisfaction

Employees that are happy with their day-to-day jobs are more likely to have ‘happy thoughts’ about their work environment. This ‘positive vibe’ comes through when employees communicate with customers. For example, a customer may have an issue that needs to be solved over the phone. If your employee is engaged and happy to be in that chair, on the call, doing what they do – chances are that they are going to do their utmost to make sure the customer hangs up with a smile on their face. Positivity brings out creativity and enthusiasm in a worker – it’s what companies need.

How do you build employee experience?

Whether you already have an employee experience strategy in place or you’re starting from scratch, it’s important to follow a few fundamental steps to streamline your plan:

Use reliable technology

Trying to improve your employee experience index using traditional mediums like documentation, emails, or instant messaging can be challenging on their own. The first step would be to get an employee development platform, such as Juno Journey, that centralizes your company’s onboarding, enabling, developing, and retention. This type of tool will help you consolidate all your processes into one place so that you can ultimately increase your return on investment.

Start open communication channels

Once you have your software ready to go – it’s time to bring out the soft skills. Invite employees to use the platform and have honest and open conversations about your EX goals and how they will affect everyone in the organization. Don’t forget to jot down your notes from these discussions to use as a reference for later.

Make it exciting

Employees want to feel welcome and heard by their coworkers, especially their managers. They love to engage and want to feel excited to be a part of your team. You can do this by starting up some healthy competitions among peers or giving them a chance to learn socially from one another. This way, employees get to upskill, reskill, and teach while they grow within the company.

Make it simple for managers and employees

Use a collaborative tool that can be used by both managers and employees. This way, everyone has access to past discussions, current goals, and future plans. Say goodbye to digging around that inbox for notes from three months ago. Your managers and employees definitely don’t want that either. Having the right tools makes everyone feel more excited about work, and it also empowers them to get on with what they need to. That’s what a successful company is all about.

Employee experience – discover the power of your people

Honestly, employee experience and its importance in organizations today is something we should all be looking at with a fine-tooth comb. After all, it’s your people who make or break your company.

With a development platform like Juno Journey, employees and managers have a tool to learn.

and engage in their work in a way that enhances their experience. Sign up or book a demo today and see how you can prioritize your employees without making compromises.