COVID-19 has raised many concerns about our workplaces, from safety to technology to whether or not a business continuity plan was in place. It’s caused every department to rethink what they do, how they do it, and whether or not they can adapt to an increasingly precarious world.
As an internal communications professional, you know that it’s not all about logistics and revenues. One area that’s received a lot of attention is the employee experience.
What does this experience look like amidst a health crisis that has left many team members working remote and cut off from colleagues? Even for deskless workers who were already accustomed to remote roles, these times bring up new challenges with respect to how they are experiencing work.
It could be argued that how an employee experiences their workplace is all the more important when that employee is a frontline worker or performs their job remotely. And in your role, you have a unique perspective and opportunity from which to elevate that experience and make the entire organisation stronger.
Internal communications teams around the world hustled to rise to the task of keeping workers informed and engaged, with great results. Despite this time of ongoing uncertainty and flux, 78% of workers believe their organisation has responded appropriately, and 77% feel they have received the necessary information to plan and adjust.
Continuing to deliver, while ensuring that employee experience is paramount, is critical to a go-forward IC strategy.
Gallup defines employee experience this way: “...the journey an employee takes with your organisation. It includes all the interactions an employee has with your organization before, during and after their tenure.”
Why does employee experience matter so much? Try these stats on for size. Employees who reported a high quality experience have:
While many internal and external factors combine to produce the whole of an employee’s experience, clearly, internal comms have a key responsibility in this journey. And as a primary purveyor of experience, IC has a lot of clout in an organisation. Showing you have a direct effect on employee experience, which in turn influences productivity in a positive direction, demonstrates the value of your communications role.
As we enter a post-pandemic period (yet another chapter of change), here are a few actionable things every IC team should consider implementing along the employee lifecycle that will elevate the employee experience. Some of these phases overlap, but it can still be a useful way to think about your communications in terms of how your employees experience them.
What’s happening at this phase: Employees are going through a lot of “firsts” as they get oriented to a new organisation. Whether it’s a lack of access to equipment or passwords, or just feeling out of their element, many employees struggle in their first days and weeks. Plus, only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organisation does a good job with onboarding.
The goal: Get the employee experience right at the beginning of employment through the appropriate amount of and easy access to communication and information.
How to do it:
What’s happening at this phase: Employees are carving out their place, professionally and socially. They’re making work friends, figuring out how they fit into a team and what they are responsible for, learning procedures and protocols, and so on.
The goal: Connect employees to the organisation and to each other and promote feelings of belonging.
How to do it:
What’s happening at this phase: Employees have been in their roles for a while and have their routine down, but are still progressing in skills and company knowledge. Consider this: after just six months on the job, employee enthusiasm diminishes by about 22%. Some tenured employees are thriving and potentially looking to move up.
The goal: Take proactive steps to combat waning enthusiasm. Help them feel a greater sense of purpose and optimistic about the future by offering opportunities for recognition, performance improvement and growth.
How to do it:
An employee communications app from Thrive.app can help you elevate the employee experience at every single step in the employee lifecycle.
Find out how simple it is to get started and how quickly you can get a powerful communications tool in the hands of your employees. Let’s have a conversation today.