Meet the 4 key areas of the employee experience
There are four key areas that make up your organization’s employee experience:- Connection: The bonds between an employee and their manager, coworkers, and your organization’s mission and values.
- Alignment: The employee's clear understanding of what they must do to succeed at their job.
- Appreciation: An employee's confidence that their work has value and they'll be recognized and rewarded for their contributions.
- Growth: Learning opportunities, continuous feedback, and ongoing support for career development.
Connection
Connections drive a great employee experience and a sense of well-being. And by creating a company culture that fosters meaningful relationships, you will boost employees’ overall sense of happiness and desire to be productive. In fact, our Employee Experience Study found that if you have a friend that you see most days at work, it’s like earning $100,000 more each year. Here are some quick tips for strengthening connection in your organization:1. Communicate core values early and often — not just during onboarding
- Bulletin boards, TV screens, social media, performance reviews, and HR newsletters are easy opportunities
2. Create opportunities for coworkers to connect
- Think quarterly off-sites, team-building activities, group lunches, a shared break room in your office, etc
- Help new hires have great first impressions by pairing new employees with onboarding buddies
3. Encourage regular 1-on-1 Sync-Ups between employees and managers
- Strive to meet at least once a week
- Nervous about 1-on-1s? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Effective 1-on-1s for Managers.
4. Get feedback with engagement surveys, and take action on the results (it’s easy with our Surveys & Insights solution.)
Alignment
Alignment is the North Star of the job: The sense that one has a clear understanding of their work, what it means to be successful at it, and how to achieve that success. As a result, organizations that articulate clear parameters for success create a powerful workplace of motivated self-starters. Here are some quick tips for fostering clear standards of alignment in your organization:5. Clearly align company vision, mission, and values to individual contributions
- In performance conversations, tie organizational values to individual goals
- Publicly and privately recognize employees who reflect company values
6. Work with managers to establish regular performance Check-Ins and 1-on-1 Sync-Ups
- Train managers on how to have effective employee Check-In conversations to review performance and expectations
7. Help people see the impact of their work
- Encourage employees to recognize and give back to each other for their accomplishments. Having a Recognition & Rewards solution makes that simple.
- At all-hands meetings, share customer stories, case studies, and anecdotes
Manage your whole employee experience in one place. Learn:
What is an employee experience platform?
Appreciation
Here’s a simple fact: Your employees’ experience is greatly enhanced by the feeling that they’re recognized and appreciated. In fact, 81% of people say they’re motivated to work harder when their manager shows them appreciation. So think beyond perks. Instead, ask yourself: How do you use appreciation to create a positive experience? Here are some quick tips for building a culture of appreciation:8. Make recognition detailed and specific
- Go beyond a simple thank-you — if you were to reread your recognition one year from now, would you know what it meant?
9. Share appreciation in the moment
- End-of-year callouts for actions that happened months ago are far less impactful than in-the-moment praise
10. Make appreciation public
- This amplifies your intent and allows every success to be celebrated across the organization (at WorkTango, we use our public recognition feed)
- Recognition should come from more than just a manager — create a culture where peers recognize each other for victories big and small
Learn how a platform changes the game:
How an Employee Experience Platform Powers Your Company
Growth
When surveyed, 88% of people said learning and growing in their job mattered to their employee experience. In other words, employees need growth to stay engaged with their work long term. So by building growth opportunities into the employee journey, your organization will reap the rewards in employee satisfaction and personal development. Here are some quick tips for creating a sense of growth in your company:12. Look into unconventional opportunities
- Professional growth doesn’t have to be a tuition reimbursement plan, or a structured learning program
- Instead, try conventional opportunities including mentoring, lunch and learns, and meet-ups
13. Set goals on the employee, team, and company level
- Try using goal management solution (like our Goals & Feedback) to help employees track their progress and tie personal growth to business success
14. Raise awareness of learning and development opportunities
- Mention them in newsletters, intranets, or office signage, and offer Incentives for attending and participating
15. Create clear expectations around career advancement
- Communicate promotion cycles as well as what is required for employees to advance to the next level of their career