Why Employee Experience Is as Crucial as Any Other Element of Your Business

Traditionally, brand strategies are shaped by the customer experience of the company's products and services. However, truly successful brands always deliver the same positive experience – if not better – to their employees. Therefore, it is a mistake to focus only on your customer journeys. Your employees' experiences when working for you are just as meaningful.

Happy employees grow advocacy not only for your consumer brand but for your employer brand too. After all, a high-performing company is dependent on high-performing employees. In addition, you will only attract (and retain) quality talent if you are perceived positively in the talent market as an employer.  

A direct impact on your brand 

A great employer brand creates a competitive advantage. As a result, you recruit good candidates, which drives business results. Your employee experiences are key to achieving this.  

The people you onboard should identify with the brand, so their work aligns to create the brand experience. As such, you should be building a culture of identification and loyalty through shared values between employees and your company. Fulfilled and content employees will become natural advocates. As an employer of choice who draws similarly-minded talent to your business, eventually, everything becomes one: your employer brand and consumer brand align and the message filters through to your customers that their perception of your brand as a whole is authentic.

In addition, studies have repeatedly shown that engaged employees are far less likely to leave your business, which is good news for retention! 

Improving the employee experience at every stage

When your employees enjoy working for you, innovation and creativity thrive, and employee morale and motivation are high. To ensure a good employee experience at every stage:

• Listen to employees and demonstrate that their feedback is heard 
• Create a sense of belonging for everyone 
• Offer flexibility and show trust in them
• Ensure authentic recruitment and development processes that are based on the company’s values

You should also assess the employee lifecycle and prioritise fine-tuning and constantly improving at every stage:

• Onboarding: A great first impression is essential to set the tone for the rest of the employee's journey. Automate and streamline the process where possible. 
• Offboarding: It's important to remember the employee experience doesn't end when they leave the company. Make sure they have a positive experience when leaving, even if it's just through an exit interview.
• Employee advocacy: Empower employees with the tools and resources to be brand advocates.
• Employee engagement: Use technology to collect data and feedback from employees on a regular basis to identify issues early and prevent them from becoming bigger problems.

Like every other aspect of your business, Employee Experience should be a crucial element to success. A strong Employee Experience strategy will have your existing talent thanking you…and the best talent outside flocking to you.

At the end of the day, happy employees attract the quality talent that creates a successful brand.