Today's subject matter expert
Just like how we wear multiple hats in our everyday lives, employees do not come through the doors daily to solely perform their assigned tasks. They are consumers; they consume the total employee experience companies provide – good or bad.
While HR professionals understand the importance of creating a positive employee experience, what many may not grasp is how the pandemic has altered employee expectations. Today, it has become the top priority for leaders across industry sectors and geographies, including Asia.
The notion of employee experience is generally thought of as the intersection of an employee’s expectations, the work environment, and the events that shape one’s journey within an organization. It runs through an employee’s lifecycle, from recruitment and on-boarding, to performance management and rewards, to career development and progression, and finally termination and off-boarding. The previous years of lockdown and remote work have seen a major shift in employees’ concerns, moving away from job stability and people manager woes to a focus on physical health, mental well-being and work flexibility. They are now prioritizing healthy experiences, and this requires companies to invest in technology as well as engage more with employees to better understand and respond to their unmet needs.
A one-size-fits-all solution would fall short of addressing the core needs of an organization’s diverse workforce. Instead, a segmented and personalized approach based on established personas and demographics could help generate insights to specific and unique preferences. The data could then be used by HR leaders to develop a holistic plan that caters to different employees’ life and career stages.
Amidst the tight labor market now, enhancing and promoting an empathetic, enriching, embracing yet efficient employee experience is a critical people strategy. It adds to the employee value proposition and helps mitigate talent attraction and retention issues. By creating a strong and positive employee experience, organizations will likely benefit from having a more productive and engaged workforce that produces better work and business outcomes.
Africa