The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the fact that technology, fortunately, enables workers to change their environments while businesses maintain or even improve their productivity.
At the same time, it’s not free of downsides. The newly formed digital work environments have taken a toll on employees’ mental health and motivation and shaken up the work dynamic as we know it.
In the remote work era, lavish office spaces and company happy hours are not sufficient to make a lasting influence on how employees experience their work. In their efforts to redefine the way they approach the digital workspace, companies need to focus on forming new employee engagement strategies and day-to-day processes that will improve the quality of the overall employee experience.
For those reasons, navigating the complexity of the digital world requires more than having a few tools in place. Instead, companies should focus on a long-term, strategic view of the digital touchpoints that affect workers just as much as their customers.
Personalize the Experience
In times of significant changes, managers and leaders should ensure they take the time to work with individual employees on finding the right solutions for their challenges. These may involve online training, professional development opportunities, childcare options, flexible hours.
One of the distinct challenges of digital working is designing solutions that meet everyone’s needs. Of course, this is not always possible, but allowing flexibility for tailored experiences certainly helps.
One way you can personalize the experience is by engaging your employees more directly and in smaller groups. Fun activities like having the occasional virtual lunch and learn program, for example, can help you invest in professional development sessions while engaging both your employees and your clients in sessions personalized for their unique learning styles.
Gather Feedback
The best way to figure out how to improve the employee experience is by including your employees in the process. Whether it’s through chats, surveys, workshops, or polls, considering the wide series of factors that might play a role in the employee experience can help businesses create a strategy and address the points that are most important for their employees.
It’s best, however, to implement a structure that will include the following activities:
- Creating feedback channels for ongoing input;
- Having dedicated employee groups for gathering and providing feedback to HR;
- Incorporating the feedback in projects and management processes;
- Committing to iterative processes for the digital workspace.
Information and insight from your employees will help you align your digital workspace strategies to real-world experiences, and make your employees feel more engaged.
Offer More Support
You cannot improve the employee experience without a thorough understanding of your employees – and this includes their challenges outside of work tasks. When asking for input and feedback, you should understand the kind of support your employees need and find the most suitable ways to fulfill this exchange.
Investing in employees’ well-being is crucial for employee experience and company success, including physical and mental wellness. Offering wellness programs, account stipends like yoga classes and the ability to improve home offices are some of the ways companies can support their employees. These decisions should, however, always be informed by active and honest input.
Focus on the Important Touchpoints
When focusing on the digital employee experience, you need to consider all touchpoints across the employee journey – from the hire to their last day of work. Throughout this life cycle, there are certain key moments that make a difference to employees and that you should focus on as your processes become digital.
The training and employee onboarding experience, development opportunities, internal career movements, and support through important life changes are all examples of touchpoints that are important to your employees. As the digital world changes the way businesses conduct most of these activities, you should ensure it’s a smooth transition to creating a valuable experience in the presence of these digital tools.
Cultivate a Shared Sense of Purpose
Workers often place a high value on a company’s purpose and ability to make a lasting impact. To inspire your employees and improve the experience they have with your company, you should make sure everyone feels connected to the overall mission. In this way, following your wider strategic view will help you define the employee experience strategy.
Particularly as the workforce disperses, employees may feel like they are performing their tasks in a vacuum. To prevent a feeling of disconnect from spreading throughout your company, you should focus on communicating your mission and communicating in general to have conversations about where your company stands and how everyone can continue to serve this purpose together.
Final Words
Understanding the employee experience is essentially about learning what works and doesn’t work for your employees. As a result, improving it requires active involvement in the digital transformation and the solutions that help you guide them through it.
To improve the employee experience in the digital age, you should personalize the experience, gather feedback, offer more support, focus on important touchpoints, and cultivate a shared sense of purpose.
No two organizations are the same, so there is no magic formula for creating the ideal experience. However, these practices will help you understand your people better and build the proper foundation for adapting to the challenges of the digital age.
