The Challenge

A positive and engaging employee experience has emerged as a new factor towards optimised business performance, and HR is refocusing on the efforts to develop employee-focused programs, strategies and teams that work towards improving the employee experience continuously.

There are several reasons behind the growing challenge of an enhanced employee experience which include:

•   Employee experience is still not a priority for HR leaders, which they often try dealing with yearly surveys.
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• While several businesses might have created a C-suite profile for employee experience, they have not considered making a separate team to design and deliver the programs.
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• There is a pushing need to update the digital tools for employee engagement regularly to assist the HR teams and line managers in thoroughly understanding the expectations of the employed talent.
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• Most companies miss an integrated framework to remain focused on multiple disciplines of performance management, health and wellness, leadership and diversity.
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• Siloed HR departments face challenges in acquiring the appropriate resources to address a range of priorities, including management practices and the company work culture.
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In short, companies need a modernised approach built on the foundation of work culture and engagement and focuses on the employee experience comprehensively.

The Importance of a Holistic Solution

Primarily, HR has considered employee engagement, workplace culture, learning and development, as different programs in silos, with each one having a distinct leader, tools, and solutions to drive the program.

On the other hand, employees perceive everything differently as an integrated experience impacting their daily life- personal and professional, including their overall well-being. Based on how they interact with the employer during the hiring cycle, they start assessing the company and make quick judgments on their life upon joining the organisation. This integrated view leads to the need for a holistic solution, with end-to-end, from recruitment to retirement experience from the employer.

Developing an integrated employee experience requires a combined insight of the HR and business leaders. Interestingly, they might also leverage the expertise of marketing, product development, and sales teams who work along similar paths to design integrated customer experiences. Today, when everything is managed from a handful of smartphone applications, employees expect each element of their employee experience to be accessible and managed through their mobiles.

However, creating such a holistic solution demands sophisticated tools and programs to gather employee feedback consistently. As rightly said, “ you have to know what’s broken before you fix it”, it is essential to develop a process to collect honest feedback without fear of retribution. It is the best way to enhance employee engagement within the company.