Do you focus on employee engagement or employee experience? Employers are starting to shift their focus to employee experience instead of employee engagement. Continue reading to learn more.
The way businesses view their employees has changed. From mere workers and resources, employers started adopting the mindset that they should give their employees benefits and values, instead of just extracting value from them. The concept of employee engagement applies to this. A lot of studies and researches came out on how employee engagement helps increase employee performance and profitability. Recently though, a shift is happening, with the term “employee experience” gaining steam.
What is Employee Experience?
So, what exactly is employee experience or EX? According to this article, employee experience is “just a way of considering what it’s actually like for someone to work at your company”. It is a holistic model. It includes what the employee experiences in the workplace and within teams—bringing together all the workplace, HR, and management practices that impact people on the job.
Why the shift?
Employee engagement tends to focus on the short-term. For example, there’s an upcoming engagement activity. Once the activity is done, what happens? Most likely, the employee returns to their work, the event just a memory until the next one.
The change in workforce demography creates new demands. The millennial generation, which currently dominates the workforce, have different priorities than the previous generations. The Generation Z’s are now also entering the workforce with a new set of expectations.
Making little changes that impact employee morale and motivation is important. Employee experience is more long-term and big-picture focused. Its scope, from an employee’s point of view, can be end-to-end—from recruitment to retirement.
The challenge of EX is immense. Fortunately, technology is on your side. Various HR tools have been developed to help you get the data that you need, as well as make it easier for you to design the programs you want. Deloitte lists down what you could do right now:
- Elevate employee experience and make it a priority
- Designate a senior leader or team to own it
- Embrace design thinking
- Consider experiences for the entire workforce
- Look outside
- Enlist C-suite and team leader support
- Consider the impact of geography; and
- Measure it
The best way to conquer the challenge of EX is by starting now!
SOURCE: Cabrera, A. (23 January 2018) “Shifting from employee engagement to employee experience” (Web Blog Post). Retrieved from https://peopledynamics.co/shifting-employee-experience/