Summary:
The importance of measuring your employee experience
Boost your employee experience with Sodexo Engage
B2B INSIGHTS: THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE SERIES: HOW TO MEASURE THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
Welcome to the third blog in our Employee Experience series. We’ve already discussed the employee experience lifecycle and how to use recognition to create the best experience. Here, we’re focusing on how to measure your employee experience so you can identify your strengths and potential weaknesses.
It’s no secret that an engaged and energised workforce can translate into better productivity, increased retention rates and higher levels of customer satisfaction.
HR professionals deal with a range of KPIs, and when it comes to a happy, productive workforce, employee experience is the most important of all. This often underutilised metric can tell you many things about your people.
The Importance of Measuring Your Employee Experience
While the term ‘employee experience’ has been talked about for some time, this KPI has become a hot topic recently. Now it’s deemed one of the most important metrics by organisations across the globe, with a Forbes article stating that employee experience is ‘make or break in 2022 and beyond.’
What is employee experience, and what can you learn from it?
By measuring the employee experience, you can understand how your workforce feels about their role, work environment and lifespan within your organisation. Your business will have a clear overview of the entire employee lifecycle, allowing you to identify areas needing improvement.
With only 36% of employees feeling engaged in the workplace and 1 in 4 employed people searching for a new position, understanding your people has never been more vital.
Data-Driven Decisions
It’s safe to say that the world of work has changed dramatically in recent years thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Great Resignation, and now the cost-of-living crisis.
The workplace landscape is changing, and by understanding your workforce, you can evolve and take steps to support employee wellbeing and boost the employee experience - enhancing your organisation's performance.
Research has revealed precisely how employee experience can impact a business.
A poll conducted by Interact/Harris found that 91% of employees think their bosses lack communication skills, while Edelman states that 1 in 3 employees don’t trust their employers. All of this compounds, with Hays showing that 47% of job seekers leave their current position due to company culture.
A disengaged and unhappy workforce can lead to high turnover, but making the right changes can lead to significant improvements.
So, how do you measure the employee experience and use the data to transform your organisation?
Here are a few examples:
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Use surveys to gain employee feedback and make changes that your employees want —82% of employees state that increased flexibility would increase their loyalty
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Provide your workforce with the right tools —70% of millennials would quit a job if the company didn’t have high-performing tech
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Understand why your employees quit — only12% of employees quit to increase their salary
Getting Started
Every organisation is different, so it makes sense that every business leader measures employee experience differently. Still, the employee experience can generally be broken down into three key areas: culture, physical space, and technology.
Culture
By measuring culture, you can assess employees' feelings about their position and the organisation.
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Do your employees feel they receive adequate support and training?
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Are they happy with their salary, rewards and benefits?
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Are there opportunities for growth and progression?
Physical Space
The physical space focuses on the workplace environment, whether office-based, remote, or hybrid.
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Is their workspace practical and functional?
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Do employees feel safe?
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Does the space boost productivity and encourage collaboration?
Technology
These metrics assess how employees feel about workplace tech.
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Are employees provided with the latest technology?
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Do the available tools help staff with their day-to-day tasks?
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What are the company policies about updating and replacing tech?
Measuring employee experience
Ready to get started? Here’s how to measure the employee experience.
1. Create & Distribute Employee Surveys
The best way to learn about employee experience is to listen to your workforce, which is where surveys can help. By asking the right questions, you can determine how your employees feel about everything from pay and benefits to progression, engagement, and management styles.
Anonymising surveys is an excellent way to increase employee participation and encourage honest responses.
2. Focus on Workspace Data
Do you know how your workspace supports the employee experience? From the location of your offices to the décor, layout and equipment, physical spaces can impact how employees experience their places of work.
To understand this, gather data about how your people interact with their environment.
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How often do employees use the break room?
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Do meeting room layouts encourage communication?
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Does the design meet the demands of hybrid/flexible working?
3. Analyse Employee Review Websites & Investigate Other Businesses
Outside sources can provide a wealth of knowledge, so take the time to assess what other businesses are doing. Use sites like Glassdoor or look at your competitors and analyse what kind of employee experience they’re offering.
It’s a truth generally acknowledged that top-performing companies look after their people.
Investigate what market leaders are doing and use this knowledge to improve your employee experience.
4. Conduct Exit Interviews
All too often, exit interviews can be hurried, but when done well, they can provide HR professionals with crucial information. Employers can learn more about company culture by speaking to exiting employees about their experience and making changes that boost retention rates.
Remember, your past employees are often your most valuable — and honest — source of feedback.
Boost Your Employee Experience with Sodexo Engage
At Sodexo Engage, we’re dedicated to helping employers create employee retaining experiences through mental, physical and financial employee benefits.
Our award-winning employee benefits platform can help you to attract top talent, boost retention rates and create long-lasting connections between employers and employees. These benefits are integral to a good employee experience, and we’ll support and guide you every step of the way.
Contact our team today to empower your workforce and your business.