As we wrapped up 2022, we ended the year with some simple advice: If you take care of your people, they will take care of your business.

There are endless articles, whitepapers, and books that are encouraging organizations and their leadership teams to revisit the employee experience as the Great Resignation and many other factors ushered in a wave of change that has pushed this topic to the forefront.

Having a sense of purpose and feeling valued in the workplace are the top two needs that organizations must address. As a leader, you may have already been grappling with this change, but the trend is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

‍Empowering the Employee Experience

‍‍The employee experience extends way beyond the way in which people are working – onsite, remote or hybrid and is shifting more towards creating an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that effectively communicates what an organization will offer its employees as it relates to their overall experience.

According to McLean & Company, organizations that are high performing at designing the employee experience are much more likely to report they are high performing across multiple measures such as:

• DEI performance
• Ability to change
• Innovation
• Workforce productivity
• Overall organizational performance

According to their latest HR Trends Report 2023, organizations that are high performing at designing the employee experience also report lower levels of stress and burnout. There is no surprise that defining an EVP has benefits, but the ability to deliver against the committed employee experience is key.  

You can come up with the best slogan and pitch to present to your people, but if you can't deliver on what you say, your efforts will be fruitless. The most successful organizations have woven the employee experience into everything they do, from recruiting and onboarding to how the everyday work experience plays out.

‍Leading the Employee Experience

You might think fostering a valuable and sustainable employee experience is the responsibility of your human resources team. While the HR team plays a very pivotal role in bringing this to life, it is the responsibility of all leaders at every level within the organization to consistently ensure they deliver on the commitment.

Every interaction matters, and it starts with you as a leader. According to Gallup, 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager. In other words, employee experience is the key driver to being successful not only as a team, but as an organization. 

‍Leaders as Coaches Can Make the Difference to Employee Experience

According to research from Harvard Business Review, the single-most important competency that separates highly effective leaders from average ones is coaching.  

Organizations that prepare their leaders to exhibit coaching behaviors are 130% more likely to realize stronger business results and 39% stronger employee engagement results, according to research from The Ken Blanchard Companies.

In our next blog, we will be diving deeper into the leader’s role as it relates to creating an amazing employee experience and the simple tips and approaches that you can take in your day-to-day interactions to help bolster engagement and performance.

‍Do You Have a Plan To Boost Your Employee Experience Strategy?

‍‍What are your thoughts on employee experience and EVP? Is there anything missing or that you would like to build on? How are you feeling, as a leader, about your role as it relates to this important topic?

We want to hear your feedback and insights, so please reach out.

You can reach me at joanne.trotta@leadersedgeinc.ca or 1.855.871.3374.

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