3 Things In the Way of a Great Employee Experience. How Does Your Organization Stack Up?
What’s the difference between an exceptional employee experience, and one that’s just acceptable? It's all about a more human-centric approach. This means looking at the employee experience holistically, and treating staff as unique individuals, not simply workers.
For your team members who rely on technology to get work done, connect, and communicate, you must have quality tools that meet their needs. The other part of the equation involves adapting organizational processes across teams and departments to build on the enhanced features and possibilities of that modern technology.
Research by Gartner highlights why having an emotional connection to the organization and the job 'enables employees to feel more understood, autonomous, invested, cared for and valued.' Those feelings are significant because they help generate meaningful connections that keep staff committed to the company and their work.
We know that employees who have a positive experience and attitude at work are more likely to stay with the company and perform at their best. They are also more likely to make the extra effort that delivers a positive interaction with customers, as well as speak highly of their employer and recommend the company to friends.
Close to 40% of white-collar workers now spend all or part of the work week away from the office. In this new work context, it should come as no surprise, then, that employee experience and technology are so intricately linked. That's why when technology negatively impacts the employee experience, it can have a significant domino effect – on the quality of work, employee retention, performance, and ultimately business outcomes.
What’s getting in the way of the employee experience?
Employee experience encompasses every interaction an individual has with a company during their tenure. It begins when a candidate submits their job application, continues through the interview process with the hiring manager, and includes the onboarding journey and initial work days. It also spans the entire duration of employment, right up to the moment of departure.
So, what are the key issues getting in the way of the employee experience?
1 - Outdated Digital Infrastructure
Old legacy systems don't meet the specific needs of a hybrid digital workforce. These outdated technologies are not built to support seamless communication across different channels or devices.
Modern tech stacks need to be able to support easy communication and collaboration for team members working across the office, home, or on the road. They also need to provide workers with easy and secure access to the resources and tools they need to do their jobs.
Technology should also deliver critical data and resources on the employee's device of choice. By making the path through the digital world as smooth as possible, the right technology solutions can improve employee productivity and limit wasted time and frustration.
But it's important to remember that simply throwing technology at a problem won’t necessarily fix it. A great way to deal with many of these issues is to create an up-to-date internal communication plan. It is an important part of maximizing the effectiveness of any new communication tools or technologies.
2 - Inconsistent Ways of Working
We know that 85% of hybrid employees are more likely to stay with a company when they feel supported by available technology systems. But leadership must be cautious. Too much technology leads to application sprawl, and that can create even more confusion.
Many employees - especially when they first start a job - have questions like these: “Should I message this person in Slack or Google Chat? Does this team check emails or Slack? Is the Trello board the best way to ask for help or should I message the person privately first?”
An organized Way of Working (WoW) can become an important part of an internal communications strategy. It's a blueprint that outlines how individuals, teams, and departments collaborate. It not only defines how employees should work and interact, but it also includes which tools to use for specific tasks, how to use them, and when.
Why else might you need a WoW? A WoW helps to standardize processes, reduce ambiguity, and create a consistent experience for all employees. Putting one in place is a great way to bring together internal comms, IT, and HR departments. It also helps focus attention company-wide on creating and implementing policies and strategies that will support the well-being and productivity of all employees.
Once you have determined your WoW, you can align the team to this new plan by sending out announcements via the intranet. With a LumApps intranet there are a few things you can do … First post a new article on the intranet so all team members know the planned WoW. Next, create an employee email journey to introduce new team members to this WoW during onboarding.
3 - Unclear Organizational Goals
Striking the right balance between company goals and worker expectations can be a challenge. Studies show that 35% of employees identify a lack of resources as the typical obstacle with remote-hybrid work, and 32% mention feeling less connected to organizational culture.
These issues are significant. They contribute to hampered productivity and increasing levels of worker disengagement. At the end of the day, employee retention is often an important indicator of broader problems involving organization alignment across the enterprise.
With a dispersed digital workforce, improving alignment and generating positive bottom-line results is inextricably linked to the employee experience. One option for enterprises to consider is creating a digital experience (DEX) leader role.
A recent study suggests that DEX leaders can play an important and active role to ensure emerging technologies address employee needs and deliver real business results. DEX leaders can actively monitor that technology solutions deliver on employee engagement and productivity goals, and that the team maximizes the capabilities of digital technology solutions.
Enabling enterprises with a range of features that include personalized employee journeys, AI-assisted tools, and powerful micro- and nano-learning capabilities, LumApps Intranet lets teams work smarter while improving the employee experience. A best-in-class employee experience platform, LumApps makes it easy for teams to deliver the right tools and resources to individual employees based on their specific profile and context. It also seamlessly integrates onboarding, training, and reskilling functionality on its versatile and powerful platform.
LumApps is the modern intranet solution, recognized as a leader by both Forrester and Gartner, that centralizes and powers communication for all employees. It creates a human-centric space that lets HR, comms, and IT teams deliver powerful and meaningful tools and resources so that a distributed workforce can learn and grow. It helps enterprises generate positive business outcomes while fostering rich connections between employees, leadership, and clients.
For more information about how our powerful technology solutions can help with your employee experience, book a meeting today.
