Building a Great Employee Experience

This week Maryanne is a guest lecturer for an MBA class that’s focused on people management issues.

I had just finished explaining that once you’ve done your absolute best to attract and hire a fantastic group of new employees and provided a great experience in the hiring process, you work has just begun.

“Your next job is to create the best possible experience for them in their new role. Their time with your organization is like a journey with lots of moving parts. What makes a positive employee experience is a strong culture, one where leaders live your organization’s values and listen to the needs of their people.”

I could see Kyle Greene, my employee relations manager who was in the class, holding back a smile when someone said, “But isn’t that HR’s job?”

“Not exactly,” I said. “HR certainly plays a role, but they work hand in hand with managers and the leadership.”

Kyle chimed in. “Maryanne has always told us and the leadership team that the three most important things employers can do to ensure a positive employee experience is to be mindful of employee engagement, listen, and provide career growth opportunities.”

“That’s correct, Kyle. Employee engagement keeps employees motivated to contribute. Engaged employees know they can speak up and offer ideas. Engaged employees produce results. Employees who are disengaged cost the US economy hundreds of billions of dollars in lost productivity annually.”

“And a good people manager listens when employees offer creative ideas,” Kyle added.

“Exactly, I said. “When you listen to your employees, you discover those “top-of-mind” issues—issues that can change over time.

“So where does HR come in?” someone asked. “You said they do have a role to play.”

“Listening is certainly more than having individual conversations or group discussions in staff meetings. At Kings, HR designs and periodically administers engagement surveys. We also conduct stay interviews so we can learn why our employees like working for us and reinforce the positive aspects of our culture.”

Another student offered ideas based on the information that her company gathers in stay interviews: what people find satisfying, what they would change, and what they think the company can improve.

“We do analysis on the data, and it helps us see what we’re doing right and can do more of, and what we should consider changing.”

“The final thing Kyle mentioned is providing growth and development opportunities,” I said. “I know it’s obvious to all of you in the class that these opportunities are important, and your employers likely support you.

 At the same time employers are identifying new skills needed in a changing workplace. Rather than hiring new talent to fill gaps, they are upskilling or reskilling current staff, giving people the opportunity to do something different for the organization. This certainly decreases turnover costs.”

Maura, who spoke earlier about her company’s stay interviews added that they ask employees if they are receiving sufficient training and support and whether they receive adequate feedback. “We want to make sure the company is helping them to fulfill their career goals so they stick around.”

“That is so wise,” I said. “Employee engagement is the best retention tool that employers have. We see so many shifts and trends in the labor market, shortages and saturations.  Remember the Great Resignation after the pandemic? No matter what market conditions are, employers always have a golden opportunity to create the great retention in their workplaces. But you’ve got to listen to your employees, get them involved and create a positive employee experience to do so.

And invest in your employees. One of the scariest things an employer wants to see is large-scale disengagement because people and people initiatives aren’t being invested in. If you’re not going to invest in people, how will you create healthy experiences for your clients and customers?”

“Maryanne,” said Kyle. “What is it that your author friends say about employee engagement and DEI?”

“Employee engagement is the inclusion in DEI. How they explain it is that inclusion isn’t a program. It’s how people are heard, supported, and empowered every day.”