Employee engagement is a major factor in the prosperity of your business. When your workforce feels some kind of empathy, productivity levels should increase. The reality according to a Gallup survey, revealed 70% of employees consider themselves totally disengaged with their workplace. The problem of how to encourage a more positive response from your employees can be a difficult one to solve. However, if you want your business to grow, you have to devote a portion of your time to improving the employee experience.
Before you can implement changes, you need to find out the current attitudes and productivity levels of your workers. It can appear an unwelcome distraction when you'd prefer concentrating your efforts on your customers, but in the long term, your business should benefit. Studies have indicated that employees with a positive work experience are increasingly motivated. As a result, your business profits are predicted to rise by approximately 21%. To evaluate employee experience, you'll first need to understand what the term means.
Explaining Employee Experience
Fundamentally, employee experience refers to the reactions an employee may feel as they progress through their working life. It could mean any situation within the workplace they regard as comfortable or unsettling. Interacting with other workers, managers or executives can also have an effect. A positive experience should promote enthusiasm and energy. Your employees' productivity levels should be enhanced and their attitude when providing services should be carried out with improved courtesy. Measuring employee experience usually follows two lines of interest; emotional response and practical activity.
1. Employee Surveys
Emotional employee experience can be measured through analyzing surveys. Ideally, you'd include a list of questions that ask them for their opinions on their workplace and how they feel about certain issues. These could include how an assignment completed in record time might be praised or how long they may have for a lunch break. What you're looking for are signs of resentment or an impression of their work being undervalued. Surveys should be issued fairly regularly or at certain points in an employee's career such as when they have recently joined your business or when they leave.
2. Employee Productivity
Employee experience has a direct influence on your business and profit. A highly engaged workforce is generally well-motivated, enthusiastic and eager to meet deadlines. It's relatively easy to evaluate how hard your employees work when there are orders and deadlines to meet. Do they finish on time or are there still outstanding tasks left at the end of the day? An engaged workforce should complete their work in the allotted time and even prepare ahead for the next day. By contrast, any worker who has a generally poor experience in your business will probably always be behind schedule.
Situations that Affect Employee Experience
The workplace experience of an employee begins when they attend an interview and receive a job within your business. They'll see and hear first-hand how their fellow workers approach their own work. If the atmosphere appears energized and optimistic, anyone who becomes part of your business will look forward to working there. Consequently, your business should improve, expand and gain a worthy reputation. What if the atmosphere in your business is consistently downbeat? It clearly indicates employee experience is poor. An influential factor could be having to use antiquated equipment or facilities.
Many employees feel disengaged through a lack of reward or prospects. Everyone wishes their salary could be worth more, but not having the opportunity to receive even a small bonus can encourage disengagement. Perhaps they completed a particularly difficult order ahead of schedule or gave up their own time to ensure a client was served well. Recent studies revealed that 10% of America's employees never even take their vacation entitlement. Ignoring their efforts can only create a negative atmosphere. Asking hypothetical questions about such incidents can give you an insight into why your own workforce is engaged or not.
Addressing the Shortage of Skills
Employee experience often relies on reactions to something more personal. It could be a lack of realistic prospects or a feeling of being treated disrespectfully by a manager. In fact, an unreasonable attitude from a boss prompts 88% of employees to seek their fortunes with another organization. A survey taken on departure could be particularly enlightening about how your workforce views your management and business. The current shortage of skills means many employees cannot be easily replaced. Consequently, any business can suffer a loss in productivity and profit when employees leave.
Closing Thoughts
A Harvard Business Review discovered that 58% of employees feel they cannot trust their bosses. A consistent complaint was a lack of recognition for working well. If employees feel their experience in a business is undervalued, with little hope of improvement, they won't be engaged or remain loyal. However, you can turn a negative employee experience into a positive one in a few, relatively easy steps. Trust is obviously a deciding factor. You can encourage greater engagement simply by consulting your employees over issues such as workplace amenities and flexible hours or vacations.
Measuring employee engagement doesn't necessarily mean realigning your entire business structure. Many workers feel their employee experience could be much improved simply through greater recognition and appreciation. Providing opportunities for your employees to gain additional qualifications or training in another department could invigorate their working day. Ultimately, a business relies on teamwork. Measuring employee experience should reveal how enthusiastic your team members are. Encourage a positive atmosphere, show your appreciation and your business could prosper.
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- How Businesses Can Measure and Improve Employee Experience - March 6, 2022
