Companies spend a lot of time and money trying to improve their Customer Experience (CX). However, over the last few years we have learned a lot about wellness and the importance of employee health. Employees that feel looked after by their company are more likely to be loyal and productive. This makes the company produce a better customer experience. In fact, companies that spend money and effort on their Employee Experience (EX) find that it helps their growth.The math is simple, happy + loyal employees = happy and loyal customers.
Employee Experience is the new Customer Experience
Consumers nowadays want to feel that they are supporting good business practices – pro-employee policies will help your company image. So if you want to improve your CX, start with your EX. Sadly, many employees don’t feel invested in their job. To fix this, companies need to take action to improve working conditions and make everyone feel valued. On top of making work hours flexible and giving enough time off, you can also take steps to show employees that you are there to support their career. For example, sit down with each one and find out what it is that they are working towards in the workplace, and map out a trajectory that can help them get there.
When we start with the experience of our people – it creates an engaged workforce that drives the ROI of the company. This in turn links all the way back to the end customer of the company. When they, themselves engage with an employee who delivers a high level customer experience we can expect good reviews and word of mouth marketing. In a recent study across the US, companies that excel at customer experience have 1.5 times more engaged employees than companies with poor customer experience. When looking at a 12 month period they found those companies who offered positive employee experiences like: training and development, team building exercises, open communication channels and digital engagement tools, saw a 19.2% growth in operating income.
Lastly, 90% of companies expect to compete based on CX, it has been dubbed “the new marketing battlefront”. If this is the direction your company is heading, we suggest internally shifting the EX to improve the CX.
First step – Listen!
How do you look after your employees? Do you understand their needs and wants? Do you know where they want to go in their career path? Have you asked them how they feel about their role in the company? All of these questions need to be asked so that you can get to know the people that you work with. Understanding them as individuals will give you a better POV of what changes could be made to make them happier. This isn’t just a one time thing – you need to create safe channels (where they can also be anonymous) for employees to share their thoughts on the company.
One well known way to measure and listen to an employee is the Employee Net Promoter Score, which asks employees a series of questions about how they feel at work. With advancements in technology, affordable digital solutions are now available for all types of companies. They can now receive real-time analytics on their employees experiences with digital tools like ClarityWave. They are designed to enhance employee engagement with daily surveys focused on an employee’s three different relationships with work. Firstly, employee to employee relations. Secondly, employee to management relations, and lastly, employee to enterprise relations. The ClarityWave tool is a game changer from Humanity. It will help your company spot small problems before they grow and work with employees to solve issues as they rise.
Let your employees shine
Again, people want to feel heard and needed. One way to show your employees that they matter is to put them at the front of the company (instead of yourself). Use your Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms to share their stories. Better yet, ask them to share your brand’s stories, so that they decide how their stories are told. Feature their photos and bios on your website, and always give them credit where credit is due. Of course, some people may not want to be featured – respect their wishes if that is the case. For the rest, make it clear how proud you are of your own team. This will also show customers that they are dealing with real people rather than a faceless corporation.
Remember that your success depends upon the success of your team. As a Human Resources Leader, it is your job to encourage their success. There is no point in the boss calling the company a ‘family’ if most of your family members secretly want to leave home. Take the initiative to take care of your employees, and watch how they take care of the company.
