The acceleration of digital transformation, continuing rollout of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), and eCommerce indicate that the future of work will bring more remote work. We are experiencing a significant workforce transition for millions, many of whom face a broadening skills gap and other challenges, and there is no sign that this trend will slow down. And since more roles are narrowing and fluid, work will gradually be defined based on skills.
At the same time, what organizations have experienced due to the pandemic has opened the door to a range of workplace changes that they would not have considered before. The workplace model now calls for increased flexibility and is more responsive, built on higher levels of connection than the traditional workplace hierarchy. In this approach, organizations and employees work together to create tailored, authentic, and inspiring experiences that increase individual, team, and company performance.
Employee experience considers what people value, personal circumstances, life stage, and personality types, making different propositions attractive to different people. (Figure 1) Surprisingly, more pay is not the most motivating. Instead, employees want to identify with the social setting and feel that what they do matters. They want to be able to influence outcomes that matter most, with a strong sense of belonging.
Research shows that experiences in the three core areas of social, work, and organization explain most distinctions in whether employees view their journey with the company as positive or negative. We had seen that most employees, particularly Millennials and Gen Z workers, had already disengaged from their jobs and emphasized workplace well-being before the pandemic started. The evidence shows that disengagement has now spread across the ages within the workforce.
Organizations that create an employee experience approach personalized and sustained by digital capabilities that amplify flexibility create a continuing opportunity to attract, inspire, and retain the best talent. In an environment where so many people are reassessing why and where they work, employee experience is at the heart of how organizations set themselves apart. Research shows that employees at companies focused on employee experience are more motivated to
exceed work expectations by having a 40 percent higher level of discretionary effort.
Case Study Organizations that create an employee experience approach personalized and sustained by digital capabilities that amplify flexibility create a continuing opportunity to attract, inspire, and retain the best talent. In an environment where so many people are reassessing why and where they work, employee experience is at the heart of how organizations set themselves apart. Research shows that employees at companies focused on employee experience are more motivated to exceed work expectations by having a 40 percent higher level of discretionary effort. In presenting our findings to Steve and the rest of the executive team, we highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organization and its workforce, especially the departments experiencing a more severe lack of engagement. However, to get to the specifics of the issues from the employee perspective, we needed to conduct an employee experience 360-degree survey and an engagement assessment to give us what the employees were looking for in their current work environment. Steve gave us the green light to move forward. The survey and assessment proved that 43% of the employees were disengaged, and of the three departments highlighted in our initial report, employees were 58% disengaged. Our data analytics report highlighted three main areas to focus on:
We assessed each department's ability to accommodate the first two items on the list. Involving the employees of the departments to ensure they are heard and are a part of the design. The pandemic has left the workforce anxious, and it is vital that they feel they are informed and that they can trust the information more than ever before. Hence, the third item required the review of the communication style from the CEO down to the managers and supervisors. Communication breaks down below the executive level to the managers and deteriorates even more as it makes its way to the managers, supervisors, and the rest of the employees. We were able to collaborate with the executive team and help them design a communication plan that would allow them to communicate with the entire organization regularly, quickly, and effectively without adding too much time to their schedules. The communication plan consisted of the following:
We administered the employee engagement survey six months later, and engagement had increased by 19% overall and by 29% in the highlighted departments. As a result of the improvement in engagement, efficiency had improved by 15%, and the organization increased revenue by 11%. |
If you want to shape the new possible to realize higher performance levels, let ThriveVance do the same for your organization!