Strong Employee Experience: 7 Experts Share Their Techniques

People don’t quit bad jobs; they leave bad managers, right?

Not exactly.

Times have changed, and employees leave because of a poor experience they have at the company. The study says that overall employee experience (EX) is critical in attracting, retaining, and engaging your workforce.

That may be why employers and HRs want to find an ideal input a company should make to get better at achieving positive employee experiences. Today, EX is an imperative necessity for 92% of HR leaders. Compared to 2017, only 80% of executives rated it as essential for their organizations.

Although employee experience is evolving and improving with time and technologies, 74% of companies don’t have a clear EX strategy.

If you also struggle to develop one and pick the best methods and tools for improving employee experience at your company, this article is your guideline.

7 Expert Tips on How to Strengthen Employee Experience

Follow these recommendations from business founders and leaders to create the best employee experience at your workplace.

• Onboard with a warm welcome

A well-organized onboarding process can improve new hire experience and retention. In fact, 69% of newly employed would stick with a company for three years if they had a superb experience during onboarding.

Onboarding may be worrisome for your new employees. Creating a friendly and welcoming atmosphere would be a wise solution to make it smoother for them. “You don’t have to wait for the first working day, getting ready for a new worker’s arrival,” says Jack Underwood, CEO & Co-Founder at Circuit.

“You should think proactively and begin communicating with your new hires beforehand, warmly welcoming them to the team. For a start, prepare a good welcome package. You may personalize it as well,” he notes.

Jack Underwood recommends the following items for a new hire welcome kit:

• CEO welcome letter

• Employee handbook

• Corporate merch (branded bag, T-shirt, hoodie, etc.)

• Coffee or tea mug

• Backpack

• Headphones or earphones

Apple often tops the list of the most excellent employee onboarding examples. One of the software engineering interns at the company shared Apple’s welcome package: a Macbook Pro, several gift cards, and a “Class of” T-shirt, among other things.

Source

Verisys, for example, welcomes every new remote worker with a package delivered to the doorstep with balloons and branded office essentials.

Besides, you can always turn to employee onboarding software to bring your new hires on board smoothly and create an exceptional EX for them.

• Create a feedback loop

How do you know what your workers think about you as an employer or how they feel on their average workday?

By creating an employee feedback loop, of course.

It’s one of the employee experience tips shared by Volodymyr Shchegel, VP of Engineering at Clario. He says, “An effective feedback loop comprises four steps:  gather information (ask for feedback), analyze (go through the collected data), act (make improvements), and notify (share updates). Implementing feedback loops regularly, you should also review and refine them whenever needed.”

Some proven ways of collecting employee feedback are as follows:

• Onboarding survey

• Employee suggestion box

• Pulse survey

• Company review site

• Employee experience survey

• Employee engagement survey

Source

Consider some other employee feedback tools. They can help you put the whole process on autopilot with real-time analytics and visibility so that you can see a complete picture of EX in your company.

• Recognize achievements and personalize rewards

Do employees actually need recognition and reward that much?

If this question still crosses your mind, consider this. In WorkHuman’s survey on workplace recognition, 70% of employees say it drives their happiness; 78% feel like their voices matter to managers; and 91% are spurred to work even harder. There are tons of other reasons to recognize and reward your workers appropriately.

However, you must have come here for the how-tos. Take those from Jerry Han, CMO at PrizeRebel:

“Recognition and perks should go hand in hand: first recognize – then reward. More importantly, personalization is a big deal for delivering a better employee experience with rewards. As an employer, you can design a custom reward system based on your employees’ preferences, likes/dislikes, motivations, values, etc. It would be best if you used a combination of monetary and non-monetary rewards. Even a personalized thank-you note can go a long way.”

Need an example?

Here’s one. E.On, for instance, increased staff engagement and motivation scores by 8% solely with personalized thank-you cards.

Why not go even further than that?

You can use an employee recognition tool that will help you streamline the process throughout employees’ journeys. Workmates by HR Cloud, for example, allows you to “wow” your staff with unique gift cards, customizable badges, and personalized messages. With Workmates, you have unlimited power to customize your rewards catalog and ensure no achievement goes unrecognized.

• Build a substantial diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy

While the benefits of implementing a DEI strategy are undeniable, employers aren’t doing enough in this direction to enhance employee experience.

Only 33% of Gen Zers and 28% of Millennials are satisfied with their employer’s DEI efforts. Not to mention that there’s still discrimination in recruitment. Researchers prove African American applicants are 10% less likely to be invited to the interview than White applicants. And those named Jamal or Lakisha are less likely to get hired than Greg or Emily.

When was the last time you revisited DEI in your company?

“Starting from the hiring process, you should power your EX strategy with diversity, equity, and inclusion,” recommends Linda Shaffer, Chief People Operations Officer at Checkr.

“Doing background checks, for example, you can find and support diverse talents with different educational or criminal backgrounds. It’s also vital to accept the full range of human differences in the workforce: male and female, various racial groups, ethnic or sexual minorities, etc.,” she mentions.

Linda Shaffer shares some useful tips on how to lay the foundation for a strong DEI strategy and celebrate diversity in the workplace:

• Launch a DEI awareness training

• Make the move to pay transparency

• Ruin stereotypes and biases

• Appreciate diversity during holidays

• Encourage affinity groups (employees linked by a common interest, ideology, problem, etc.)

Amazon, for example, has as many as 13 affinity groups, with the Black Employee Network, Amazon People with Disabilities, and Body Positive Peers among them.

Consider adding DEI to the list of your organizational values. Take a glimpse of Checkr’s Careers page.

Source

• Take a holistic approach to employee well-being

Let’s look at some stats.

Genuine employee well-being or wellness can lead to an 85% increase in work happiness and a 28% reduction in sick leave, boosting productivity and improving employee experiences.

To achieve it, however, you should raise five pillars supporting employee wellness:

• Physical + emotional health

• Satisfaction of social needs

• Financial stability

• Work-life balance

• Professional development

Alex Milligan, Co-founder & CMO of NuggMD, emphasizes its significance for the healthcare industry in particular:

“Studies suggest that healthcare professionals experience burnout significantly more often than the general population. That is why employers from the healthcare sector might need to reconsider their wellness programs and prioritize their employees’ mental and physical well-being.”

If you are an HR or employer from other industries like technology or manufacturing, you should also address the wellness of your workers in the first place.

For example, the employee wellness plan at Green Plains, an agri-tech company, includes:

• Regular health surveys

• Annual biometric health screenings

• Access to an on-site wellness facility

• Free fitness classes weekly

Another example is Evolugen. This renewable energy company fosters a strong safety culture among its employees and contractors with a dedicated Health & Safety Program.

Source

If you manage a work-from-home team, you may need to enforce wellness initiatives for remote employees.

• Gamify your team-buildings

One of the best ways to boost employee experience is surely team-building. However, sometimes team-building takes the ugly shape of boring meetings. At this rate, gamifying your team-building is vital for an outstanding employee experience.

Why?

Because people love games! Actually, adults spend more time playing games than kids. And that’s when gamification can become your best friend. It refers to applying game principles to a non-game context.

Jesse Hanson, Content Manager at Online Solitaire & World of Card Games, gives examples of using it for teams:

“Organizing team-buildings, you can bring some elements of play, fun, and competition. These can be X-second challenges, escape rooms, quizzes, role-playing games, virtual sports, etc.”

Source

You can also opt for interactive web games like Skribbl, Codenames, Among Us, or Sudoku for virtual team-building when managing remote teams.

• Offer legal assistance as a voluntary benefit

Rather a strange choice for an employee benefits package, you might think.

True, it often belongs to the non-traditional benefits that retain workers. At the same time, it’s one of the best tips for building a strong employee experience.

And your employees will thank you for it.

Here’s why.

“When companies set up an employee benefits program, they often forget about the importance of legal services as an optional employee benefit,” remarks Mark Pierce, CEO of Cloud Peak Law Group. “First of all, legal benefits are cost-effective. Second, they are time-saving. Third, they provide peace of mind to employees regarding laws and legal regulations,” he explains.

According to Mark Pierce, a voluntary legal assistance plan for employees may cover the following topics:

• Debts

• Wills

• Traffic tickets

• Family law cases (spousal support, adoption, divorce)

• Real estate issues, etc.

In fact, 75% of Fortune 100 companies provide legal assistance plans to their workforce.

What about your company?

Key Takeaways for Delivering a Great Employee Experience

Creating a positive employee experience is not a one-time shot. It’s an ongoing journey that demands dedication and continuous effort.

It requires using some effective techniques proven by time and practice:

1. “Welcome” onboarding campaign

2. Employee feedback loops

3. Recognition and rewards (personalized!)

4. DEI system

5. Total well-being plan

6. Team-building gamification

7. Legal assistance benefits

With this guide in your hands, you can now undertake strategic initiatives and create win-win scenarios for your employees and your company.

Learn how Workmates by HR Cloud can help you level up your employee experience. 

Let your employees thrive and enjoy their jobs to the fullest with Workmates.

Try Workmates Interactive Demo

Click trough it yourself with
interactive demo.

Try It Now

Author Bio:

This article is written by a marketing team member at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications & engagement, and rewards & recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.