Three Ways to Boost Employee Experience and Why Your Customers will Thank You

Think about your previous leaders. Potentially there were some that you respected and liked and others… not so much. Now think about the work environments that you have been a part of. Some may have been fun and cheerful and others… quite the opposite. Some jobs may have had you bounding in with a smile on your face whilst others left you wishing that you could work anywhere but there. What we are talking about is your experience as an employee.

Employee experience should be important to you as an individual. For most of us, our time at work takes up a significant chunk of our lives. We don’t know about you but this means we want to somewhat enjoy it. Life is not something to be wasted after all.

Should employee experience be important to the company that hosts the employees? Should they care? Well, if you knew the impact of employee experience on the success of the company, the answer to this question would be an obvious, yes! Employee experience has a strong link to customer experience. Put simply, if your employees are happy they are more likely to provide their customers with a better experience and if your customers have a better experience… well, you know the rest (success!).

Have you ever been greeted by an employee in a company who you could tell hated doing what they do? Maybe they were rude to you (not cool!), spoke like an automated robot with zero passion or excitement (yawn!) or despite their efforts to ‘act’ happy and interested, weren’t going to win a Logie award anytime soon (think Bold and the Beautiful). Were you motivated to invest in the company and potentially buy products from them? Probably not. It is also highly unlikely that you would recommend them to a friend.

On the other hand, an employee experiencing a great employee experience can act quite differently. I, Hannah, can vouch for this one. At Belvista Studios, I think my employee experience is great. My leader believes in me, invests in me, makes me feel important and enables me to learn and grow in a variety of ways. An outcome of this is that I always treat our customers with the highest form of respect, I am genuinely excited when I approach projects and I will go above and beyond to meet customer goals. If I was in a job where I didn’t feel happy or appreciated, I honestly don’t think my service would be at this level.

Have you ever felt obligated to do something for someone because they have done something for you? Perhaps they bought you lunch one day, so next time you have lunch with them, it’s your turn to pay. Or maybe they looked after your dog and then you return the favour? It’s psychology. If a company helps an employee, that employee will help that company (by providing a great service).

If you want your customers to have a good experience, start from the inside and work on your employees first.

Here are some practical ways that you can create a great employee experience for your company.

1. Ask

The answer for what makes a great employee experience, often lies with the employees themselves. 

• Encourage leaders to ask their team members what they think would make a great employee experience. This can be done in one-on-one catch-ups or as a group discussion in a team meeting. 
• Send a survey out to the whole organisation where staff are empowered to provide feedback and suggestions to improve their employee experience.
• Ask employees how they would like to contribute more. Sometimes they just need to be asked.

Perhaps they already do have a great employee experience or perhaps there are improvements that could be made. Once you know how the employees feel and how their experience could be improved, you can decide on actions that can make a difference.

2. Give recognition

According to a survey by Sage in 2017 (Sage, 2018), 66% of the workforce expressed that being appreciated and valued was the most important aspect of their day-to-day employment.

• Build a culture of recognition by encouraging leaders to thank their staff for a job well done. This can be achieved through casual day-to-day interactions, such as a “thank you!”, as well as personalised, written acknowledgments. 
• Give timely feedback to help team members understand what they did well and how they could improve. This demonstrates you value and are invested in them.

3. Consider the physical environment

You may have noticed that different stores give off different ‘vibes’. Think of Apple. How do you feel when you walk in? We would describe the area as modern, fresh and clean. We feel like we have a clear head when we enter and don’t feel overwhelmed by unnecessary stimuli. The Disney store has a fun and playful vibe and a surf store often has a laid back feel to it.

Now think about your work environment. What sort of vibe does it give off? If your office environment looks dull and staff are assigned to desk cubicles that require them to look over desk dividers to see each other, the experience could potentially be… well, dull and quiet.

The employee experience starts as soon as they walk through the door. If you want your employees to feel a certain way, you need to create an environment that enables this.

• Think about how you want your employees to feel (and in turn how they would interact with their customers). Once you can define this, think about how you can reflect this feeling through their workspace. Consider how the area looks, what it smells like, what’s on the walls as well as the layout (Roe, 2018) and make changes where you see fit. 

You would be surprised by how much the physical environment can increase employee experience and an employee’s happiness levels at work. I still remember a friend of mine coming home from a new job and excitedly telling me about their new workspace. They had an amazing cafe, a breakfast bar, big lolly jars and a long list of social events to sign up for. She was bouncing around like an excited puppy and it was clear that she felt proud to work for the company and in turn worked hard to give back.

Well, that’s it for this blog on ‘Three Ways to Boost Employee Experience and Why Your Customers will Thank You’. We hope that you gained insight into the importance of creating a great customer experience and why your customers will thank you for it. Boosting employee experience is a win-win, your employees will be happier, your customers will be happier and your company will thrive. So, what are you waiting for? If you are interested in this topic and would like to discuss it further, please don’t hesitate to contact our passionate founder Kim Tuohy via kim@belvistastudios.com or on LinkedIn. 

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                                                            References

Roe, D. (2018). What it Takes to Create Exceptional Employee Experiences. Retrieved from https://www.cmswire.com/digital-experience/what-it-takes-to-create-exceptional-employee-experiences/

Sage. (2018). Why your workforce isn’t working (p.2). Retrieved from https://www.sagepeople.com/know-your-people/experience/research/