Delivering engagement through experiences: 6 ways HR and People teams can create moments that matter

‘What
really makes our workforce productive?’ It’s a question many HR and People
teams have been asking for a while now.

The answer, our research found, lies in workforce experiences. 92% of employees said this is important to them. That’s huge.

So how do you create experiences that really matter to your people? Let’s take a look…

Work
perks don’t equal experiences

Employee perks might be the first thing you think of when you hear workforce experiences – but perks alone aren’t a motivator. In fact, 53% say that gimmicks like ping pong tables are more of a distraction than a performance booster.

There’s
no single right answer to the question ‘what makes a great workforce
experience?’ as your employees will have differing views. However if you just guess,
you’ll likely end up scattering around quirky fringe benefits that cost your
organization money but don’t make a significant impact on your experiences as a
whole.

It’s
important to find the common ground and find out what your employees have in
common when it comes to what makes them productive. So while helpful,
accessible, user-friendly processes may not sound as exciting as dress-down
Fridays or free donuts, they’re far more likely to make a difference to your
workforce everyday.

The
good news is there are several areas HR and People teams can look at across the
employee journey to create those all-important moments that matter. From the
first interaction to the day they leave, workers are forming opinions, sharing
views and building their attitude and approach to their workplace and employer –
and these are invaluable to organizations.

Here’s six
proven examples to create excellent workforce experiences throughout the
employee lifecycle.

1. Make
onboarding memorable

They
say first impressions are everything. For new joiners, onboarding is the first
glimpse into how it feels to work for your organization, so the experience
needs to be a positive one.

In fact, the type of experiences you give to the candidates who are successful could mean the difference between your employees staying or going. 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding.

Keeping
in touch is vital. There’s often a gap of a month or more between accepting a
job and their start date so don’t forget them. It doesn’t have to be time
consuming, however.

A few personalized emails ahead of the start date is something to consider. You could even start sharing links to helpful resources so they can find out more before day one. Do you have an onboarding portal? If so, think about adding content onto there so it’s all in one place.

After
they’ve started, don’t forget to seek feedback so you can continually improve onboarding.
Find out what your people thought of their experience and act on it so you can
adapt and change ahead of future employees starting.

2. Connect
with tailored communications

Communicating
well to your people is an art, and organizations can easily send communications
that fall flat.

Maybe
you’re sending them at the wrong time, so an employee simply doesn’t see them. Or
perhaps they’re so busy that an email is never going to be read in detail. Organizations
need to think hard about how they communicate to their people so the message is
heard.

As with
any experience, it’s all about finding out what works for your people. Personalizing
emails and portal content means that relevant and well explained information
gets to the right people and no-one wastes time reading content that they don’t
need. Also, you could step away from the traditional email – try video messages
or interactive quizzes to make communication more engaging and accessible.

No
matter how you choose to communicate, it should always be two-way. Help your
employees to give feedback or voice any concerns they may have via an
appropriate channel.

3. Create
mobile and agile workstyles

Worryingly, less than 20% of employees say they work for an agile organization.

Agility
matters because flexible workstyles are so important to today’s employee
experience. With more remote and flexible workers than ever, it’s vital that
they have an equally effective experiences as someone who works in an office.

Think
about how your employees interact. Make it easy for people to identify, connect
and work with other colleagues across the business using smart technologies and
collaboration tools to get the job done in realtime, as well as to stop the
emails from piling up.

4. Develop
and nurture your people

Less than a third of employees strongly agree their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work.

It’s
time to move from outdated annual appraisals to modern, continuous performance
processes and conversations that reflect team and project-based roles.

Create
space and structure for regular and adhoc reviews, match individual goals to
wider company objectives, and track employee performance to link comprehensive
succession and reward planning.

Also,
help employees to recognize their peers for a good job done. Having a portal or
an online recognition board can be a good way to do this to make sure there’s
plenty of instant, visible, recognition amongst teams. It’s important to let
employees know they’re valued and are praised for the work they do as a result.

5. Listen,
understand and respond

Did you know, employees who feel their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work?

Forget
the annual engagement survey. Think about how your team can acquire more
personal, emotional and real-time feedback. Pulse surveys and continuous
conversations keep your understanding up-to-the-minute so you know what your
people think at that moment in time.

However,
asking for feedback and not addressing it can be more damaging than asking it all
together. Act on the feedback you receive and tell your people what you’ve done
to resolve it.

6. Use
People data to drive decisions

Do you
make your decisions based on gut feel rather than data? Don’t guess what your
employees think – find out.

Use
People data to analyze and track what you need and whether it’s working. By
crunching the numbers, you can understand what really makes your employees tick,
what gets them productive and what they need from you to be at their best.

Experiences
shape your employees

Experiences
aren’t fixed and forever. The best workforce experience initiatives are
created, evolved and re-designed based on feedback.

Companies
that do this set themselves up for success, not just in terms of happy and
enthusiastic employees but workforce experiences can also directly influence
productivity, engagement and customer experience.

How will you revolutionize your workforce experiences?

Are you ready to re-create your workforce experiences to drive productivity? Explore the eBook Six ways to create amazing workforce experiences today, to find out how you can create moments that matter for your people, throughout the employee journey.