It’s difficult to image a more disruptive period, business-wise, than what we’ve experienced the last two years. Remember those pre-pandemic workplace models that you used before 2020? Those are largely obsolete. More people are working from home, for instance, marking a significant shift that has altered the employee experience, which is crucial to recruitment and retention, particularly in what is a very tight labor market. With that said, let’s take a closer look at how the pandemic has changed the employee experience.
The Issue
According to a recent Gallup poll about how the pandemic has affected U.S. work life, eight in 10 employees said they were performing their job differently, and more than one-third said disruption caused by COVID-19 has made their work more difficult to do. What’s more, as compared with the start of the pandemic, employees reported less-effective workplace communication.
What is Meant by Employee Experience?
In essence, the employee experience is a crystallization of everything an employee observes, encounters, and perceives during their tenure at an organization.
Why is the Employee Experience Important?
In the main, what employees experience goes to the heart of recruitment and retention, which have taken center stage in this super-tight labor market that the pandemic has wrought. Employees have more say in terms of how and where they want to work, so organizations must now go the extra mile to lure them in – and keep them.
Here are other reasons why the employee experience should be a top priority:
- It promotes camaraderie. Happy employees work better together as a team, which is what you want.
- It improves productivity. Employees who have an overall positive work life tend to give you their best,
- It fosters engagement. Happy employees feel more invested in their employer and are more excited about the work they do.
- It leads to more collaboration. Happy employees don’t mind working with others on projects, especially if they feel like they can ask for help or guidance and get necessary support.
- It breeds creativity. If employees’ minds are clouded with negative workplace experiences, more innovation can ensue. Such creativity can positively affect your bottom line.
- It helps your reputation. If you think that while off the clock, people don’t chat about their employer, think again. While positive chatter can be beneficial to your organization, the opposite is also true.
- It promotes employee growth. Happy employees grow professionally. They learn and do more, and don’t mind taking on new responsibilities.
Knowing Your People
You may have the best of intentions, but it’s not wise to try to create what you think is a positive employee experience – without hearing from your employees themselves.
One of the best ways to determine what employees want and need is through surveys. And we mean more than the requisite annual employee engagement survey – IF you even act on results. You need to “listen” to employees throughout their time at your organization. Doing so helps you to associate your employees’ experiences with organizational performance outcomes, then, where necessary, institute changes.
Truly improving the employee experience requires continuous “listening” through multiple surveys, including recurring pulses, online focus groups, and learning what your people value.
You’d be smart to get help with all this, so that you can focus on your core business.
In sum, the pandemic has indeed changed the employee experience in many ways. Particularly in this environment, in which recruitment and retention are vitally important, it’s crucial that you know your people. Listening to your employees is necessary if you wish to understand, gauge, and improve the employee experience. After all, garnering actional insights at just the right times can build a more formidable workforce.
