Employee Experience: Life phase-related Personnel Management as the Basis of „Journeys” through the Work Reality of Employees

The way to better customer service and higher profits is through employees. Successful companies have realized that their employees are the real stars and, that only by focusing on them, a company can achieve its objectives. However, table football, fruit baskets and lounge corners are not a panacea, especially not in times of home office and remote work. One approach to successfully recruit and retain employees is Employee Experience.

 

Working life as an inspiring and productive journey

Employee Experience represents a change of perspective to Employer Branding. In the Employee Experience, it is not the employer's view that is decisive, but the wishes and motives of its employees. If one imagines working life as a journey (Employee Journey) from application to leaving, Employee Experience encompasses all the experiences an employee has gained in connection with a certain company, or the sum of all the Touchpoints an employee has with their employer. Career paths, project tasks and the company's potential strategic challenges become "tickets" for its employees.

 

Moments that Matter

The basic assumption of Employee Experience is that every memorable moment (Moments that Matter) and every Touchpoint during the Employee Journey decides the quality of the relationship an employee builds with their company. So it's up to companies to create important experiences, moments and Touchpoints. Moments that Matter are related to better, easier and more effective working and focus on human interaction and emotional well-being. Often, Moments that Matter are simple, inexpensive, and quick to implement things, for example job interview, calling in sick, joining a new team, celebrating a special event or getting feedback from your boss.

 

Touchpoints: culture, tools and physical environment

According to Jacob Morgan, Employee Experience is based on three keystones, each of which represents a Touchpoint and influences employee satisfaction.

• Cultural environment: Among other things, corporate structure, hierarchy and management style shape the cultural environment, give employees meaning and purpose, and create an emotional connection to the workplace. This is where the brand essence of the company is decisive.

• Technological environment: All the tools employees need to do their jobs properly. This does not automatically mean the latest tools, but the best and most suitable ones for the company.

• Physical environment: Office chair, staff restaurant, lighting, noise level and hygiene are all part of the physical environment and affect the performance, ability to concentrate and well-being of the employees.

 

Simply Irresistible Organization model

The corporate culture is of particular interest and can be shaped. Many factors from the area of "cultural environment" can contribute to a positive Employee Experience, for e.g. management style, employee benefit schemes, further training, career opportunities, recognition and development, working methods and other advantages.

For this purpose, the American consultancy firm Deloitte has developed the Simply Irresistible OrganizationTM model based on five principles:

• Meaningful work

Autonomy / Small teams

• Supportive management

Clear goals / Investment in development of managers / Coaching / Agile performance management

• Positive work environment

Flexible work environment / Culture of recognition / Fair, inclusive and diverse work environment

• Growth opportunity

Training & support on the job / Self-directed, dynamic learning / High-impact learning culture

• Trust in management

Mission & purpose / Transparency & honesty / Inspiration

 

Strategy development in 8 steps

Although meanwhile many managers recognize the importance of Employee Experience, only a small percentage of them believe that Employee Experience is seriously implemented in their organization with a sound plan. In order to build a differentiated Employee Experience in your company, programmes and responsible persons must be properly targeted. Deloitte has developed an eight-step strategy for the effective implementation of Employee Experience, which we can validate on the basis of our practical experience and successful client projects:

• Define priorities: Employee Experience gets top priority and is established as a fixed parameter when creating working life.

• Define responsibilities: Appoint a manager for Employee Experience and have a team responsible for and manage all measures.

• Create Employee Personas und Employee Journey Maps: Get to know your employees' daily work routines and put yourself in their shoes. Examine where workflows can be facilitated and where is potential to increase productivity, performance and engagement.

• Involve the entire workforce: No one is left out. When planning the Employee Experience, all employees are involved: from mini-jobbers through part-time employees, freelancers and team leaders to managers.

• Look around and learn from others: Take a look at and analyse the experiences and results of others. Where can you find best practice examples or completely new ideas, what data is already available about important moments in the Employee Journey?

• Involve top hierarchical level: Your management team sets goals, rewards and other measures to drive performance. It has a major influence on your employees’ experiences and consequently must be closely integrated in your Employee Experience strategy.

• Understand cultural differences: Employee Experience is a global trend, yet local and cultural differences must be taken into account. Companies operating internationally need to understand and consider cultural differences and what they mean for the working lives of employees in different locations.

• Measure and evaluate: In order to understand what employees experience during their daily routine and what moves them, experiences must become measurable. For this purpose, suitable methods should be used on a regular basis, for e. g. pulse surveys, feedback systems, and interviews.

We work on a project basis and start a cooperation with you to implement this strategy into corporate or administrative practice, because demography management requires smart answers. Employee Experience provides employers with an effective tool to increase their attractiveness. They become more visible, more tangible and can show their strengths.

 

"Take care of your employees, and they’ll take care of your customers." (J. W. Marriott)

To provide a good Employee Experience, companies need to create certain framework conditions, change their views and set different priorities. They need management personnel who are open to an employee-oriented culture and willing to modify existing structures. Ultimately, empathy is the door to Employee Experience. After all, it's attention and kindness as well as personal relationships and meaningful tasks that become milestones in and memories of the Employee Journey and give companies a competitive edge.

The systemic side effect comes all by itself: Your management personnel see processes, tasks and their management responsibility with a new awareness and through a different lens.

We identify your key and lever processes for the Employee Experience development stages "empathize - define problems - develop ideas - design prototypes – test."

Begin your next stage of development with us, and GET STARTED with an IMPULSE PRE-WORKSHOP (0.5 day).