How to build an employee experience that improves retention
We’re not just talking about keeping the fruit bowl stocked and championing dress-down Friday, we’re talking about a 360 experience that keeps bums on seats and gets people delivering their very best.
But what is it built on? And how can you get a slice of the action?
What is employee experience?
Keeping it simple, employee experience can be defined by three core elements. That’s culture, technology and physical space. When you think of experience you should think of it as everything that the employee touches in their day-to-day and in their whole tenure.
Why is it so important?
Have you ever eaten at a really bad restaurant? We’re talking rude staff, cold food, no ambience. Did you then recommended it to all your friends and family, write a rave review and kept revisiting it? No, we didn’t think so.
While your salary banding and spiel on work-life balance and open management structure might get employees through the door and into roles, if your employee experience doesn’t measure up to what’s in the brochure, then it’s the cracks will soon start to show.
If you’re struggling with retaining talent this can be a tell-tell sign that your employee experience isn’t sitting right. A quick way to establish where your employee experience is right now is to survey your workforce. It helps to keep this anonymous, so your employees feel confident in being truthful. So, once you’ve got hold of this data, what next?
How to improve employee experience
Analyse data and action it
Review the data that comes through your employee survey. Are there patterns in this data? Are employees experiencing the same problems? If so, great, you have actionable issues and a way to prioritise these. Don’t forget to communicate your findings to your employees (if appropriate) and communicate your plans for improvement. It’s worth noting that this shouldn’t be a one-off tick off exercise you should be in constant communication with employees to ensure experience is only ever getting better.
Prioritise internal communication
Great internal communication creates a sense of community, a common goal and drives company culture. Particularly now remote working is on the rise, it’s really important to keep internal communication open so even remote employees are involved in company culture.
Invest in technology
Did you know 1 in 5 have quit their job over poor technology? Yep, technology has a huge impact on employees and their day-to-day life. Ask yourself, do my employees have exactly what they need to be their best and most productive? If you’re worried about forking out upfront for new technology it pays to run a quick ROI analysis.
Invest in employee benefits & wellness
Understand what’s important to your employees and then run employee benefits that support this. Employee benefits and discounts are a quick way to improve the ‘perks of the job’ – but it’s worth noting that in isolation, this won’t fix your problem.
Wellness and wellbeing should be at the top of the agenda for every business. A quick way to invest in wellbeing is to look into Employee Assurance Programmes, to better support the mental health of employees inside and outside of work.
Develop your employees
It’s no surprise that employees like the opportunity to develop within their roles. Defining development programmes for core roles and progression plans can aid that development. Online Learning Management Solutions can offer quick training programmes if you don’t have enough money to invest in an internal learning and development team.
The bottom line is there is no magic wand for fixing employee experience, and likewise there is no ‘perfect’ experience: there’s always room for improvement. But for those looking to make improvements to the experience they offer, it’s important to first look internally, speaking directly to employees about what experience they want and what they value most. Without a doubt this enable businesses to hold onto great talent for longer.
