1. Happy employees are more productive and innovative.
Understanding employees’ needs to provide them with tools, environment, and culture that match their working style, will make them proactive and feel at their best.
2. The better the Employee Experience, the better talent you attract and keep.
With all that has been happening globally, people are more demanding with their employers (how they fit with the organisation’s values, for example).
Competition is fierce. And after you invest your resources in recruiting, onboarding and training, the last thing you want is not acting according to the EX expectations and losing talent. Not only is this costly, but it is also damaging to your culture and team’s energy.
3. Better EX equals better CX.
Happier, more productive, and more innovative employees will create better products and services. Likely, they will bring their pride to work and be more willing to go the extra mile for your customers.
Customers do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the customers.
In the past, we have seen organizations focusing on the ideal customer experience, without contributing with the right tools, environment, and trust to their employees to provide such experience. This is a dangerous red flag!
Enthusiastically, we are witnessing more organisations realise this: ensuring their employees are happy in the workplace is crucial to a thriving business. If the goal is to have satisfied, loyal customers, companies must take their employees’ care seriously and as a priority. This way, we make sure they are motivated, fulfilling their tasks with the right energy, and providing a great experience to the final customer.
If you are curious about actual learnings from real employee experience projects, we encourage you to keep reading!
At Koos Service Design, we work with different organisations, from the Netherlands, Portugal to the rest of the World, in their quest to become more human-centered. And, therefore, many different approaches and levels of Service Design maturity.
To our surprise, noted organisations in Portugal are taking this matter seriously. They prioritise Employee Experience with a Service Design approach, truly investing time and resources into understanding their employees, setting an example for many corporations.
Read further about one of the multiple Employee Experience projects Koos has developed with Sonae group.
Koos encourages you to take a step back and understand if you are neglecting your employee’s experience by focusing only on your customer and making that change!
Although the Service Design maturity is, in many cases, lower in Portugal – in a stage where it is still crucial to proving its worth – the aimed attention in Employee Experience is high! Get inspired by some of the learnings and trend-according initiatives that we have identified during our projects:
1. Taking the time to truly listen and put in the effort to act.
You might assume that employees won’t be 100% open and honest, given each context. You might be surprised! The attitude of investing in a conversation with them makes them feel recognised and willing to share deep and powerful insights and motivations. Make sure you act on this feedback. Otherwise, it might backfire. Assure you use the information you have been privileged to receive to improve their work and life experiences.
2. Don’t assume that your employees want and need the same things.
We have seen this plenty of times. Even within the same organisation, you might have different contexts. These contexts will mean different needs, values, and motivations from your employees. Listen wisely. Genuinely understand the reality of where these employees are working before making any mistakes.
3. Don’t disregard minor detail changes.
Sometimes it is more attractive to develop significant complex initiatives that you believe will impact employees’ experience and be recognised within the organisation. However, if you take the time to understand how things happen in practice, you might identify small changes and quick fixes that make a world of difference. Don’t obsess over complex concepts and services when more minor adjustments can be just as impactful.
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