What is Employee Experience (Ex)
And is the Employee lifecycle dead?
‘Employee Experience’ is the buzz-phrase that’s been growing in popularity. Interestingly enough, it first started to appear before the pandemic, and has only increased in popularity since then.
But what is the Employee Experience, and has it killed off our infamous Employee Lifecycle?
Employee Experience (Ex) is an indicator of the quality of your employee lifecycle.
To put it simply, the Ex is the sum total of how the Employee Lifecycle operates within your organisation. Gartner defines the employee experience as:
“the way in which employees internalise and interpret the interactions they have with their organisation, as well as the context that underlies those interactions.”
-Gartner
Pretty broad huh? From the moment your employee presses ‘apply’ to your job advertisement, to the moment they leave (and everything they learn, achieve, and feel within your organisation) all contributes to the individual employee experience.
This cultural shift towards towards a broadening of the view of ‘what makes your team happy’ has been driven by generational demands for two-way communication, change heavy workplace environments that require resilience and speed, and increased brand exposure to name a few.
Interactions of Employee Experience in the Employee Lifecycle
Interactions of Employee Experience along the Employee Lifecycle - SHIFT HR
The digram above shows just some of the many instances where your employee lifecycle has impact on the overall Employee Experience (EX). There is a lot of room to make incredible impact to your team and the journey they have within your business.
The other glaringly obvious callout, is there is a lot of areas where businesses on the whole fall short. Maybe there are one or two efforts in each, but it only takes a few gaps in each step of the experience to create an overall negative one.
“In a world where money is no longer the primary motivating factor for employees, focussing on the employee expereince is the most promising competitive advantage that organisations can create”
- Jacob Morgan
The stock standard annual remuneration review, annual performance process, and annual engagement survey are no longer enough to create a great experience and retain your best talent. The current talent climate demands more agility and response.
Listening & Assessing
Understanding how your EX is a tricky challenge, but the hint is in the title - listening. You may be surprised to learn that not many organisations are as good at this as they think!
There are opportunities throughout the employee journey to ask, and gather insights from your team on how their experience is, and it’s broader than just your stock standard engagement survey each year.
Employee Experience Indicators in the Employee Lifecycle - SHIFT HR
Impact of a poor employee Experience (Ex)
Employee Experience is no doubt the main driver of engagement results, and studies show us that engaged employees create a more profitable business overall. Here are some key stats on the impact of employee experience for your business:
Your people strategy and it’s success has real impacts on the commercial realities and goals of your business.
If you’d like to discuss the Employee Experience at your business, we’d love to chat. Complete the form below and we’ll be in touch.
About Nick Gearen
Casual and approachable, Nick is your go-to for all things HR with a twist of personality. He’s all about making work a little more enjoyable while driving results.
Nick’s HR journey has been quite the ride, even landing him the HRD rising stars award in 2022 for his innovative HR strategies
MBA Qualified, he’s all about empowering individuals and teams to excel.
Nick understands that HR can be a bit of a whirlwind, so he’s here to create an environment where everyone thrives. Through strategic moves, a culture of ongoing learning, and optimising HR processes he helps businesses adapt, grow and reach their goals.
