In today's war for talent, the employee experience (EX) needs to be a key performance driver at every organisation. And with both employee and employer increasingly asking 'What's in it for me?', it's becoming clear that employment is no longer 'just' a financial contract between two parties.
When both sides work together to determine the answer to that question, everyone benefits. But what's the 'secret sauce' when it comes to building a truly meaningful employee experience? What role does internal communication play in ensuring that people feel genuinely rewarded and valued for their contributions? And what are the most progressive organisations on the planet doing to attract and retain the talent that gives them that vital edge over the competition?
Three industry experts who are leading the EX revolution shared their key takeaways at the recent Gallagher IBIS Academy session, STOP Talking About Employee Communications; START Talking About Creating a Global Employee Experience.
Start by listening…
'What is so important when designing the right experience, is listening to your employees — that's two-way conversations, that's surveys, that's focus groups… it's all the different channels we can use,' says Claire Jasper, Head of Internal Communications at Quilter, a UK-based wealth management company. 'We start by listening, and then we seek to understand.
'It's great doing culture surveys, but it's what you do to turn the insights you gather into action that's important. We've learned, through testing and trials, that actually giving back ownership and control to our employees really enhances their employee experience.
'So if we know we want to change something or act on some feedback at Quilter, we actually do it very collaboratively. We work with the teams and the individuals involved, and we almost co-create the desired experience. We build it together so our employees feel like they've not only have been listened to, but they're getting the experience that's right for them.'
Speak the language of love
'At a fundamental level, humans have a need to be recognised, appreciated and praised for their contributions — and we all need that in different ways,' adds Ashira Gobrin, Chief People Officer at Canadian financial tech firm Wave HQ. 'When I think about employee experience and how that maps to recognition, I don't think of that as just one way that you can recognise an employee — everybody's got their own love language.
'For a certain employee that might be giving them a promotion; for another, it might be paying them more. Sometimes it's about recognition amongst peers — a shoutout at a town hall, or little surprise gift in the mail; sometimes it comes from a manager, specifically looking someone in the eye and saying: “Wow, you exceeded my expectations, you did something better than I thought you would."
'Whatever the approach, it has to be different. It has to be personal. It has to be connected to what's meaningful for the employee and equal to the investment they've made so they feel truly recognised as an individual.'
