Mastering employee experience management: A how-to guide

With the rise of new technology and digital transformation, many companies have focused on employee experience. Understanding why this is so important and how you can measure it is essential. We will walk through everything you need about employee experience management — from its definition and critical stages to measuring results. We'll cover what it entails for all aspects of your company: employees and customers alike. By the end of this article, you'll know how to get started with your employee experience management program!

What is employee experience?

Employee experience (EQ) is how employees feel about their work environment, from when they log on in the morning until they log off at night. It includes all aspects of their experience with their employer—how they feel about their job, co-workers, physical environment, and technology.

Technological environment

The technological environment is a crucial part of the employee experience. Employees should be able to easily and quickly access their work tools and information that is important to them. Technology should also be engaging, meaning it should engage employees emotionally regarding their work. An outdated system (or one that doesn't fit your needs) could negatively affect your organization's morale and productivity.

Physical environment

You spend most of your time in the physical environment, which can significantly impact your performance. The physical environment includes office space, furniture, and equipment like computers. If you're not productive at work, it's likely due to some aspect of your physical environment that needs attention.

It also includes the home office—as many people spend more time working from home than they do in the office these days—so if this applies to you (and it probably does), make sure to consider how you can improve productivity in this setting as well.

Culture

Culture is the way people do things, the way people behave and interact, and how people feel about your company. It's also what happens when you manage culture (culture management). Culture is influential because it impacts every aspect of your business, including:

• Employee engagement

• Customer experience

• Productivity

Workplace culture is how people are treated at work. Employees engaged in their jobs are more likely to become loyal customers and remain with your company longer than those who aren't involved. Customers who enjoy their interactions with your organization will be more likely to purchase from you and refer others!

What is employee experience management?

Employee experience management (EEM) ensures employees feel valued, happy, and fulfilled.

When you think about it, employees are at the heart of every organization. They're your frontline sales staff and customer service representatives who interact with customers daily. They're also the people who help build great products or services (even if they're not directly involved in product development, they're still contributing to that process). So it stands to reason that if you want your organization's products or services to be successful, you must do everything possible to support your employees to effectively perform their roles and deliver excellent customer service or product development results.

Naturally, this means keeping an eye on how well each employee is doing their job to avoid wasting time training someone who isn't performing. However, there's another side to this equation: Employee experience management also includes proactive efforts to improve the employee experience over time via HR initiatives such as performance reviews and career development opportunities. These initiatives help improve employee engagement while enabling companies' bottom lines by reducing turnover and absenteeism and increasing productivity.

Why is employee experience management critical?

Employee experience management (EEM) is an approach that helps you understand your employees' needs and deliver more value to them. It also allows you to identify your employees' experiences, creating better employee experiences.

The importance of EEM is evident: it's a key driver of all the things that matter most to businesses today, including employee engagement and retention, productivity, profitability, and the bottom line. In other words, if you don't have effective EEM in place at your organization, it will likely cost you money daily!

What are the critical stages of the employee experience?

Employee experience is a multifaceted concept that we can break down into five stages:

• Recruitment is how companies approach potential candidates, from posting openings to conducting interviews and making offers.

• Onboarding is when new employees are welcomed and introduced to their colleagues and other organizational members.

• Learning and development include opportunities for employees to learn from each other and the company (such as cross-departmental workshops or training courses).

• Retention initiatives, such as flexible schedules or offering a sense of purpose through community outreach efforts, keep employees engaged in their work.

• Exit management is the strategy for dealing with employee departures; for example, whether there should be an exit interview when someone leaves your organization.

How to get started improving the employee experience

The first step to improving the employee experience is to get your leadership on board. If you're not already doing so, start by educating them about employee experience management and why it matters to the business. Ensure that they understand the strategic importance of this work.

Next, ensure managers at all levels fully engage with your efforts to improve the employee experience. These efforts might include ensuring managers have access to adequate training on managing their teams —for example, through coaching or mentoring programs—or providing them opportunities for hands-on learning experiences such as shadowing senior leaders.

Measure results with employee experience management software

You can measure the results of your employee experience management efforts with software tools. These tools allow you to improve the employee experience at every stage, from recruiting to onboarding to day-to-day work.

• Employee Experience Management Software: 

• Many factors impact your employees' experience, including:

• company culture

• benefits and compensation

• training programs and professional development opportunities

• quality of leadership and management teams

Employees who feel valued are more likely to be motivated and engaged. Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) measures employees' satisfaction with their employers. 

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is another metric that measures customer satisfaction with specific aspects of an organization's services or products. When evaluating employee satisfaction, you can use survey data for internal purposes within an organization's HR department.

What are you doing to measure employee experience? 

We hope this article has given you a basic understanding of employee experience management. We've covered what it is, why it's essential, and the critical stages of managing an employee's journey. We also shared some tips on how to get started improving your company culture. Learn more about eNPS and how to implement it here. You will see positive results when implementing these ideas in your workplace!