When you motivate top performers, it lifts the entire organization
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As an executive or manager, you might think of your role as generating revenue and developing business for your company. But what happens once the deal is signed? Without a team of skilled employees who deliver a quality product and customer service every time, your business development efforts will eventually fall flat. When you motivate top performers and create a positive employee experience, your entire organization will run more smoothly.
Why Employee Experience Matters
It should go without saying that happy, empowered people produce better results. Employees who have access to the right resources and who feel supported in their work become more engaged, motivated, productive and creative.
Research from MIT shows how powerful it can be to engage employees well:
“...companies that are considered top performers when it comes to the employee experience are twice as innovative as those defined as bottom performers. These top-performing companies are paving the way for employees to work together effectively and engage with customers in new ways to enhance revenue streams. As a result, they experience higher customer satisfaction and advocacy and a 26% increase in profitability.”
PwC expands on these findings and reports that employees who have a positive experience at work are more “...motivated and productive, energized to learn new skills, and eager to deliver a positive customer experience, while unhappy employees can become resentful and disengage from work, which can affect business performance.”
How to Improve Employee Experience
While innovative office amenities like game rooms and on-site chefs make headlines, creating an effective employee experience goes beyond niceties and lifestyle conveniences. Before introducing creative amenities that reflect your organization’s unique culture, first focus on some fundamentals that promote a positive experience for staff:
Work spaces. Whether you provide private offices, cubicles or an open work plan, you need to consider how your space contributes to, or detracts from, productivity. Your people need ergonomic desks, a space that flows well, meeting spaces and options for places to focus quietly. And it is great to ask your team for feedback on what is working and what is not in their work space.
Equipment. In addition, updated equipment, software and tools will contribute to an employee’s ability to work efficiently and without frustration.
Processes. Ask your staff for feedback on which processes work and which ones don’t. As a leader, you might not see the small quirks in your systems that lead to aggravation for your employees. For example, do you need to reconsider how customer service calls are routed, or does your document approval cycle add unnecessary time and busywork to your team’s schedule?
Training. From new-hire onboarding to developing essential skills in new managers, a strong training program helps give your people the information and skills they need to achieve success within your organization.
Coaching. Strong business relationships help individuals engage more effectively at work, and managers have the ability to create a team culture that celebrates each individual’s strengths and career goals. A strong coaching program goes well beyond the annual review and shows employees where they fit in the big picture and how they can contribute.
Future planning. A clear career track can help alleviate frustration for many employees, and managers should help their people create a vision for their future in the organization. You want to keep your best people and giving them a place to grow will boost retention. In addition, a succession plan will help ease the employee experience during executive turnovers.
Work and Life. While true work-life balance might be an unattainable myth, leaders must recognize the human side of human capital. That means allowing for PTO, vacations, flexible schedules, telecommuting options and programs that foster both physical and mental health in employees. If people don’t have their basic needs met in life, they can’t perform well on the job. Employers can play a role in supporting those basic needs by creating a culture that allows employees to be human.
If your employee experience leaves something to be desired, contact me to schedule a free consultation. I have worked with global multinational companies to small start-ups in developing effective and powerful HR strategies that increase profit and impact.