There is a shift happening in workplace culture. Technology, expectations on recognition, engagement and leadership styles are shaping today’s workforce. Companies that are keeping up with the changing focus are attracting and keeping top talent, through a great employee experience.
A good employee experience creates a connection. It provides clarity and a rewarding journey that impacts employee engagement and wellness.
In this article, we’ll be exploring how having a great employee experience can affect employee engagement. We’ll look at the importance of creating such an experience, the differences between employee experience and engagement, and how mapping the employee journey helps to promote higher levels of engagement.
Employee experience vs. engagement: What’s the difference?
There is a big difference between employee experience and engagement. Employee experience is all about how employees feel about their job, the company they work for, and their co-workers. It encompasses everything from the onboarding process to the day-to-day work environment and the way that employees are treated.
Engagement, on the other hand, is all about how employees feel about their work and their company. It’s about whether they are motivated to do their best work and whether they feel like they are a part of something bigger.
Businesses that get the employee experience right, producing higher employee engagement are like to benefit with
- 21% greater profitability
- Up to an 81% drop in absenteeism
- A decreased employee churn rate
It’s important to create a positive employee experience because it can have a direct impact on employee engagement. When employees feel good about their job and their company, they are more likely to be engaged in their work. Creating a positive employee experience is essential to promoting employee engagement.
There are five factors that make a great employee experience. They are
- Meaningful work: Autonomy, select to fit, small empowered teams and time for catching up
- Supportive management: Clear and transparent goals, coaching, investment in the development of managers and agile performance management
- Positive work environment: Flexible, humanistic, recognition-based, fair, inclusive and diverse work environment
- Growth opportunity: Training and support for job functions, talent mobility, self-directed learning and high-impact learning culture
- Trust in leadership: Mission and purpose, continuous investment in people, transparency, honesty and inspiration
How to enhance employee experience at work
A great employee experience is one of the most important factors in employee engagement. By creating a positive work environment and providing employees with the resources they need to succeed, you can encourage employees to be more engaged in their work and more committed to your company.
Here’s how to enhance the employee experience:
- Nurture relationships – Build relationships with your employees. Develop trust-based communication through transparency. This will make them feel empowered and more passionate about their work, and they will be more likely to show up because they want to, not just because they have to.
- Praise a job well done – Disengagement at work can be caused by many factors, but one of them can be a lack of recognition or praise for a job well done. Have a practice of saying “thank you” more often to increase engagement.
- Provide opportunities for autonomy – If you trust your team’s instincts and passions, it can go a long way in encouraging them to care about their work. Nurturing leadership and giving employees opportunities are critical in creating engagement.
- Provide a wellness programme for increased mental and physical health – Kind Mind is a digital wellness solution that sees a future where wellness culture is the default, not the exception. Our clients see many benefits from introducing wellness measures into the employee journey. We’ve got a few ideas to help you enhance the employee experience through better approaches to wellness in our free guide.
Better understand each step of the employee experience with an employee journey map.
The importance of mapping the employee journey
There are many reasons why companies are focusing more on the experience of their employees at work. For example, companies need to combat the talent shortage. They want to encourage people to stay with the company.
Another important factor to consider is social media’s role in recruitment and retention. How employees experience your company is likely to be shared online, which can either be a good or bad thing for the company.
Poorly reviewed employers on sites like Glassdoor can turn away prospective employees. Glowing recommendations can attract top performers. Companies should not underestimate the damage of publicised poor employee experiences.
Planning the employee journey supports a positive employee experience. Engaged employees lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. It’s good for the bottom line.
Consider the stages of the employment experience when mapping the employee journey. Some of the stages may be:
- Recruitment – The potential employee discovers the brand, learns about the company and job, and they explore their opportunity
- Onboarding – The employee is welcomed into the company
- Connection to culture – The employee experience within the company culture and engagement with social activities
- Feedback and recognition – They receive feedback and coaching, being praised and rewarded for good work
- Growth and development – The individual learns and grows with new opportunities, opening themselves to changes in roles and responsibilities
- Considering new opportunities – They plan the next steps beyond a company
- Offboarding – The employee retires or leaves the company
What an employee journey map looks like
An employee journey map is a tool that helps visualise the employee experience from start to finish. It includes all of the touchpoints an employee has with your organisation, from the first time they hear about your company to their final days on the job.
There are many different ways to create an employee journey map. However, all journey maps should include the following elements
- Touchpoints – All of the interactions an employee has with your organisation, from awareness to exit.
- Emotions – How an employee feels at each stage of their journey.
- Actions – What an employee does at each stage of their journey.
- Drivers – The factors that influence an employee’s experience and engagement.
- Outcomes – The results of the employee experience, both for the individual and the organisation.
Creating an employee journey map is just the first step in improving the employee experience. Once you have a clear understanding of the journey, you can begin to identify opportunities for improvement and make changes that will have a positive impact on employee engagement.
How better employee engagement leads to better business
Good employee engagement contributes to the success of a business. The vast majority of employees believe that a strong company culture is vital to business success. Positive work culture has been shown to boost employee engagement levels, which in turn leads to increased communication, productivity and profitability. Deloitte research indicates that 83% of executives rank having engaged and motivated employees as the top contributing factor to a company’s success. 84% of employees agree.
Try Kind Mind with your employees and see their engagement at work skyrocket
Are you exploring how to improve your employee engagement? Employee wellness technology like Kind Mind helps you create an engaging and supportive employee experience that leads to improved employee wellness and on-job engagement.
Our data-driven app will provide you with all the information you need to better understand what drives your employees’ health & happiness… including the things they are less likely to vocalise. This means you’ll be able to proactively drive change and build the company culture you need to succeed.
Want to learn more about how we work in tandem with your HR process? Contact us today!
