Why is it more vital than ever before to focus on your employees?

We all realise that there are a lot of changes hitting us from many different directions at present. Getting people onboard and committing to change and a common goal can be tricky, despite growing knowledge of the latest leadership concepts.

Traditionally, employees have been seen as an overhead rather than appreciated as the most important source of revenue within a business. By now, most of us realise that employees are the ones with first-hand experience of your company’s structures, systems, products and services. Not only can they tell what works and what doesn’t, they also have the power to accelerate the changes by engaging themselves and others into the process.

In spite of all its technology, a business  is often only as good as its people.

Employee experience

All the observations and perceptions employees have during their time working for an organisation be described as the employee experience – i.e., the journey the employee takes with your organisation. The employee experience cycle includes all phases from attracting and hiring talent, onboarding and engaging new employees, steering performance and development, right through to offboarding when an employee leaves an organisation. Understanding and developing this experience as a whole should be at the top of every businesses HR list, as it can lead to tremendous benefits for both the employee and the organisation.

By promoting employee experience, HR can help increase employee well-being and ultimately reduce sick days and sick leaves. This knowledge will also increase employee retention, as employees don’t feel the need to switch to another employer. What’s more, keeping employees engaged creates a more dedicated workforce for powering sustainable growth. Finally, it can work magic over your employer brand, making it easier to find the best suited candidates and recruit new talent. 

Employee engagement

All of the phases within the employee experience journey are important when attracting people and having them commit to your company. When it comes to managing change, engaging your employees is especially important. If you can’t make your own employees believe in what your company is doing, how can you expect your employees to make your customers believe in it?

Employees need to feel and believe that their relationship with the company they work for is meaningful and purposeful. If people spend their working hours feeling dissatisfied, frustrated and stressed, they’re clearly not going to give their best to your business. Consequently, the ultimate goal is to foster employees who aren’t just committed to the company but are driven to help it meet its goals by building strengths and purpose.

To make sure the employees are engaged, they first need to know what the company’s goal is. Second, they need to believe they can fulfil it and be motivated to reach it. Finally, they must feel that they’re being listened to and have access to the right resources, such as training, development, databases, information and networks.

Next steps?

By being able to collect all the needed data in one place with reliable tools, you’re off to a good start. Thanks to sophisticated analytics, HR specialists can analyse an ever-greater amount of employee experience data gained from different channels, such as engagement surveys. By putting your data to good use, you can integrate a larger variety of behavioural, emotional, and attitudinal indicators when designing your processes. This will inevitably lead to a better insight of employee experience and engagement – and can give you the key to developing those areas within your organisation.

We are delighted to help and support your organisation with putting the right processes in place for your business and for your employees. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about how we can work with you to support.