Elevating employee experience

As competition for the best and brightest minds intensifies across the globe, employee experience is no longer a luxury – it’s essential. Engaged and satisfied employees are vital for a thriving company and aligning its brand with employee experience is crucial. Recent findings emphasise the importance and extensive benefits of this alignment, with direct effects on company perception and success.

The critical role of employee engagement

Gallup reports that a staggering 65% of the global workforce feels disengaged. Meanwhile, employees who are highly engaged are 14% more productive and absent from work 81% less. Companies with engaged employees see financial benefits of providing a positive experience, with a 23% increase in profitability.

Attracting new talent

A positive employee experience is a deciding factor for 77% of job seekers, underscoring the importance of company culture and the overall work environment in attracting talent. This is particularly relevant now that remote work and digital interaction dominate, making the sense of belonging and connectedness even more crucial for employee retention and satisfaction.

Keeping the talent you have

The benefits of a focused employee experience strategy aren’t limited to attracting talent. Positive results extend to retaining talent, with engaged organisations seeing 59% less employee turnover. Engaged employees are more likely to recommend their organisation as a great place to work, making the employer's brand even more attractive and catching the attention of like-minded talent.

A call to action for employers

The current landscape requires employers to rethink their approach to employee experience, moving away from fragmented efforts towards a unified strategy encompassing all aspects of an employee's journey. The intersection of employee experience and employer brand is more critical here. Companies must prioritise an engaging, fulfilling work environment that brings their employer brand to life while also ensuring an experience that resonates with employees' values and aspirations. In most cases, this requires a broad-based overhaul of everything from onboarding processes to career development opportunities to work-life balance initiatives. By making the effort, businesses not only enhance their attractiveness as employers but also lay the foundation for a resilient, innovative and successful brand.

Overall, it’s about value for all

A great employee experience boosts engagement and brings real benefits to companies. Engaged employees are more productive, show up to work more often, and help make the company more profitable. By actively and intentionally crafting a positive employee experience, one that is based around listening to and resolving the key needs of employees, companies can create an engaging work environment that not only attracts talented people, but also keeps them around longer. To make sure they’re always improving, employers should prioritise understanding employees’ needs, integrating company values, empowering leaders, and keeping communication open.

A step-by-step guide to building an effective employee brand experience

• Step 1: Listen to employees
  ‘The daily grind’, ‘another cog in the machine’, ‘desk monkey’: familiar workplace terms that point to employees feeling undervalued and as they’re treated like mere parts of a system rather than individuals. Given that only 22% of companies make efforts to listen to their employees' needs through surveys, this perception isn’t shocking. Taking the time and investing the resources to understand employees is the necessary first step towards building a compelling experience for them in the workplace.
  
• Step 2: Understand their needs
  A Gartner study surveyed 5,000 workers and identified important aspects of how employees gain value from their work, collectively termed the 'Human Deal'. The ‘Deal’ includes deeper connections, radical flexibility, personal growth, holistic well-being, and a shared purpose. These aspects are pivotal for nurturing a workplace where employees feel valued, understood, and connected with the company's broader societal and cultural goals.
  
  By evaluating how well they meet employees' needs across areas of the ‘Human Deal’, companies can tailor the employee life cycle—from recruitment to alumni status—and enrich the experience. This approach not only brings the employer brand to life but also bridges engagement gaps by integrating Employee Value Proposition (EVP), Cultural Identity Development, and internal systems and activations.
  
  Successful engagement strategies involve all levels of the organisation, highlighting the importance of training leaders, managers and HR in the concept of employee experience.
  
• Step 3: Stay on the path
  Creating an engaged workforce is a dynamic process that hinges on a deep understanding of employee needs and a commitment to addressing them through an enriching employee experience. This requires continuous listening, via engagement surveys and open dialogues, along with the agility to adapt the employee experience in line with evolving needs. A truly engaged workforce is not the result of a one-off initiative but a sustained effort to align the company's actions with its employees' aspirations.

Checklist for developing an employee experience

✅ Listen and understand. Connect with employees to grasp their needs and identify areas of disengagement.
✅ Integrate and align. Ensure the employee experience reflects the company's employer brand, creating a seamless alignment.
✅ Train and empower. Educate and empower leaders and managers to foster a consistent and positive experience across all levels.
✅ Evaluate and adjust. Regularly assess the impact of engagement strategies and be prepared to make necessary adjustments based on feedback.