Redesigning employee experience for the new way of work

Jacob Morgan, author of The Employee Experience Advantage said, “Money is no longer the primary motivating factor for employees” and although money can drive people to work, a good employee experience can be the best leverage an organization can create.  

Employee experience encompasses all the moments and touchpoints someone has with your organization. From the moment someone looks at your job board, until the moment they leave your organization. Everything an employee does, sees, feels, and uses contributes to shaping their experience.   

We can all agree that HR was working hard on designing and implementing the best possible employee experience, but 2020 hit with a global pandemic that is forcing everyone to rethink this experience. With most of the workforce working remotely, the need to provide more tailored, digital and on-demand employee experience has been accelerated.   

New generations want more opportunities to speak their minds. Digitization and new skills are on extremely high demand, and the war for talent is fiercer than ever before. And as if it wasn't enough, the world is changing faster. Innovation, disruption and other economic forces are causing organizations to work more agile. So, can you design an exceptional employee experience for the new way of work?   

The short answer is: Yes, but it is essential to understand that HR needs a more holistic approach to employee experience to deal with the rapid changing landscape. 

The hire to retire journey  

As said before, employee experience is everything an employee learns, does, sees and feels at each stage of the employee lifecycle. That cycle consists of six stages:  

1. Recruitment: The process starts with a job ad or board. Consider all the stages of the recruitment process, time, responses, interviews and even negotiation of perks.   
2. Onboarding: Putting employees up to speed with all the processes, tools and systems that will lead them to perform. In this stage, time and relationships are key to building a long-term connection with employees. We have created a step-by-step guide on how to effectively onboard employees.  
3. Management and development: This is an ongoing stage in an employee’s journey. Here, the experience is all about performance, learning, skills and aspirations. This process cannot be mainstream, and managers play a big role in driving great employee experience.  
4. Retention: Once employees are well established, the challenge is to keep them engaged, performing and contributing to the organization’s success. Culture plays an important role in this stage.  
5. Exit: This covers all kinds of exit reason such as retirement, change of jobs, even change of lifestyle. Many employees will leave your organizations, but there are two things you need to be ready for: finding out why they decide to leave and turn them into brand ambassadors.  
6. Ambassadorship: Word of mouth is still the most effective marketing tactic. When employees leave your organization, they will or will not become immediate brand ambassadors as they have the power to recommend the company.  

All these stages are experienced in multiple scenarios, from physical workspaces to digital environments. Some employees will go back to physical locations, while others will continue to work remotely. Both scenarios represent different needs, preferences and expectations, new and different challenges for HR.