10 Ways To Improve Your Employee Experience For Higher Engagement

The Employee Experience Survey sought to answer a simple question: can organizations make small adjustments to the employee experience to achieve higher engagement? The answer is yes.

Recognize that employee engagement starts before the first day

• 82% of employees visit a company website when job hunting.
• Only 21% find the information valuable.

Managers should plan to spend time with the new hires and help them to get started with their work.

Create accurate first impressions

• 89% say the interview process made them excited about working for their company.
• 23% felt misled by it – and those who did are more likely to be disengaged.

First impressions make a lasting impact on employee experience about the organization, so make it a memorable one.

Make the first day meaningful

• 92% feel welcomed, but 43% say their first day on the job as disorganized or confusing.
• Negative first-day experiences = lower engagement.

Besides a formal onboarding process, give a new employee some sort of meaningful task to complete, it will make give him a sense of efficacy and make him feel valuable for the organization.

Acclimate employees to the company AND the job

• 77% participate in new hire orientation programs, and those who do are more engaged.
• Only 29% learn about their specific job during orientation. Those who do rate it the most valuable aspect.

Managers or team leads should spend time with the new hires acclimate to their new work environment, as well as assist them in getting up-to-speed.

You might also be interested to read: 5 WAYS TO INITIATE MOBILE APP FOR EMPLOYEE WELLNESS

Invest in a structured onboarding process

• 44% report little or no structure during onboarding.
• Those with a structured onboarding say it was relevant to their job (94%) and helpful in learning how to find information (85%).

First impressions can have a huge impact on the way a new hire feels about your organization, so invest in a structured onboarding process.

When onboarding, recognize that one size doesn’t fit all.

• 47% prefer to get a big work assignment right away.
• 53% prefer to take the first three months to learn the ropes.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan for successful onboarding, so always keep a contingency plan prepared.

Communicate about your company’s mission and business strategy – and do it often

• 90% know their company’s stated mission and values.
• 95% say it’s important to know about the company’s business strategy, including corporate and financial issues.

Most employees want to do the right thing for the company, so keep them updated on the business mission, vision, and goals.

Connect the dots between your company strategy, mission and employees’ daily work

• 39% say managers have not connected their work to company strategy in the last 6 months.
• Clear communication about the link between company strategy and daily work = higher engagement.

Help your employees to connect the dots between their daily work and their impacts on the bottom line.

Keep talking to your employees, they’re listening

• Only 17% of communications from leadership are ignored.
• Most say leader communications are believable (87%), relevant (80%) and direct (65%).

Regular communication between employees and decision makers encourage them to speak up, which is an important process of improving employee experience.

Show employees a path to success from the beginning

• Most don’t learn about career paths during interviews (58%) and onboarding (66%), and 40% aren’t hearing about it during performance reviews.
• Seeing a clear career path and discussing it at key points during employment = higher engagement.

Align your company goals with their professional goals, they will find it more meaningful and futuristic.

More about the Employee Engagement Survey:

Brilliant Ink, an employee engagement consultancy conducted the Employee Engagement Survey in October 2012, in partnership with Versta Research. 300+ knowledge workers at Fortune 1,000 companies participated in the survey and shared their experience.