THE YEAR OF THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
If 2016 was the year that brought new technological tools to Human Resources, 2017 was the year that the Employee Experience theme was brought to life.
WHAT IS THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE?
The Employee Experience involves all aspects of interaction between the working ecosystem and the employee, having an influence on processes, tools and company organisation. They’re elements that need to be rethought from an "employee-centric" point of view with the aim of improving the overall experience.
We’re living in a historic period where ways of interacting, in our personal sphere, driven by technology and digitalisation, are forever changing more quickly. Similarly, digital employee expectations and work experience become, for companies, the main lever of external competitiveness and employee retention.
FROM INVOLVEMENT TO EXPERIENCE
There was a time that employee engagement, an essential part of the organisational strategy, aimed to involve employees on an emotional level in achieving objectives in the workplace making them feel part of an inclusive structure. Today, however, it has become a necessity, not only to attract but also to maintain the workforce, and to take care of the work experience as a whole. The main elements that affect one’s perception lie in the following:Achieving a balance between the working and personal sphere.
Each of these aspects contribute to enhancing people and relationships in everyday work, determining their gratification.
Creating positive and stimulating experiences during an employee’s time within the company starts at the recruitment stage and continues throughout their course: from onboarding, project and group work assignments, remuneration and, of course, closure of the relationship.
THE KEY IS WORK-LIFE BALANCE
A fundamental role in the creation of a new corporate culture is the achievement of a balance between one’s work and private life, and being able to manage space and time that are now, in both spheres, becoming tighter than ever before. In this context, companies are committed to understanding the personal needs of their employees and their impact on working methods, introducing not only flexible time management but also enabling support tools to encourage while not sacrificing productivity. Applications and programmes dedicated to the employee’s wellbeing, sharing services that facilitate daily performance, even extra-working practices and other self-service technologies help to create a significant improvement in the overall experience.
DIVERSE STRATEGIES IN TOMORROW’S COMPANIES
The evolution of the latest company organisations and employees’ new necessities correspond to the ability to align internal strategies with targets belonging to different personal data bands. On the one hand, there’s the presence of Millennials and new generations entering the working world, and on the other, a rise in the working age that as a result have generated the coexistence of very different groups of workers, both in terms of needs and skills.
These factors lead companies to move towards a more dynamic career concept that provides continuous training and enrichment opportunities and internal mobility programmes. Workplaces will be based on multi-functional experiences, personalised learning methods and will be developed on new technological assets. Flexible teams, the fluidity of roles and knowledge sharing, are just some of the strategic actions that will guide organisations in the near future.
HEADING TOWARDS NEW WORK SPACES
The nature of work changes and involves space reorganisation. The environment of a modern company must provide areas designed to meet complex requirements within the same working day. These include tasks that require concentration and silence, tasks involving external inspiration, meetings, workshops and group brainstorming. All these require very different environments. Each of these activities needs an appropriate space, one that is connected most importantly, equipped with digital, flexible and collaborative technology in order to be carried out in the most productive way.
BEYOND THE CLIENT
While companies have always acknowledged the role that the customer takes on in business objectives by adopting a customer-centric approach, it’s only until recently that attention has been paid to employees who, by taking merit and enjoying some company attention that they can be turned into advocates, contribute to the organisation’s promotion and brand. Companies that extend the care given to the customer even within their own internal structure, with attention to the effects generated by the Employee Experience, are able to attract and retain qualified workers in a sustainable and lasting way.