Investments in people initiatives can often be viewed as fluffy, or nice-to-haves. Yet, studies have consistently shown that a positive employee experience (EX) translates into improved customer experience (CX), an enhanced brand and stronger profitability, yet most organisations are still missing out on the CX dividend.
Simply put, investing in improving your employee experience will positively impact your bottom line.
The 2019 Randstad Employer Brand Research, which surveyed almost 4,000 New Zealanders, found that the top three values Kiwis wanted from their employers were salary and benefits (54 per cent), work-life balance (53 per cent) and job security (43 per cent).
Giving what your employees and candidates want can have powerful results.
Our research shows that 37 per cent of Kiwis strongly agree that their hiring experience with a company will influence decisions to purchase a product or service from them in the future.
the power of EX.
EX refers to what is experienced by employees versus what is promised by their employers. When potential candidates apply for a role, they are often sold the dream, interviewed in a lavish room, maybe even be wined and dined in a fancy restaurant or offered ridiculous incentives.
Once a new employee signs on the dotted line, they’ll expect the same standard shown to them. If that standard is met or surpassed, then great, but trouble arises when it is not, usually leading to disappointment and very often resentment.
When employers get this right, expect greater engagement, lower turnover and higher business results. It’s very possible to create a tidal wave of good or bad perceptions of a company by starting at its root - the candidate.
Importantly, the impact of EX is not experienced individually but rather by teams, departments and companies.
When holistically addressing organisations and teams, the challenge is recognising that each employee has different needs but still aiming to reach a reasonable level of personalisation for workers.
bridging the CX and EX gap.
Clients don’t come first, employees come first. If you take care of your employees they will take care of your clients.
He had a point - employees may choose to stick around in poor working environments out of necessity or lack of options, but their dissatisfaction with their company will still be expressed at family gatherings, in the rugby club or during school pick-ups, as well as in their work performance.
In New Zealand, almost half of the disheartened employees will tell their friends and family about their experience when applying to a new company (45 per cent). The accumulation of negative interactions with a brand will hurt sales and destroy brand affinity and often a company’s ability to attract future talent. It’ll also create a window of opportunity for competitors to attract the best performers away by targeting their ideal employment situations.
For employers, the challenge is figuring out what employees are looking for and actively working with them to address their gap in meaningful engagement processes.
Start by seeking opportunities to talk with your people and then strive to be at the pulse of their needs and to eventually breathe life back into a company’s story and open the door to the best talent.
the next step.
Whilst it’s difficult to attribute a clear ROI to EX, studies show that poor EX impacts engagement and customer perceptions, then loss of sales, turnover and poor business continuity. The seemingly separate case of losing an employee could also mean losing customers within 2 degrees of separation from them, which is pretty much everyone in NZ!
Kiwis trust each others’ perspectives, so when someone says “I wouldn’t buy from such and such company” or “I wouldn’t work with X”, people will remember.
We use the latest REBR as a starting point for a discussion. It forms the basis of discovering what conversations are happening around you when you are not in the room as the employer. Using a tried and tested roadmap that has milestones and actions for our clients, we are able to ensure they have a complete handle on how to frame their EVP and thus attract and retain great talent.
We also provide automation and HR Tech in the recruitment process.
Our services which better the experience for applicants and current and exiting employees, plus access to our global best practices, means our clients stay ahead of the curve.
