In recent years, employee engagement, or “the level of an employee’s commitment and connection to an organization,” has been the pinnacle of a successful business strategy. This workplace attribute has set organizations apart from their competitors and maintained their productivity long after.
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But this does not mean HR managers should only count on employee engagement to refine efficiency, productivity, and overall workplace success. Although employee engagement remains crucial, it belongs to a more holistic business strategy. This is where additional aspects of a strong business, such as workforce experience, come into play.
Workforce experience is similar to employee engagement in that it focuses on overall employee involvement, but workforce experience takes it one step further. A recent study reveals that 53% of U.S. workers consider themselves “not engaged” in their current position.
Although this percentage sounds alarming, it has gotten better in recent years because of improvements such as an increase in workplace benefits and vacation days and higher pay. These perks help the issue momentarily but won’t maintain productivity over time.
Easy fixes such as increasing compensation may work for employee engagement, but workforce experience requires a complete plan of action in order to be successful. In this article, we will dive into the importance of workforce experience and how organizations can execute this tactic in their 2020 business strategy.
Supply Your Workers with the Collaboration Tools They Need
An increase in employee collaboration tools has recently made an impact in workplaces across the country. A survey conducted by Harvard Business Review states that 81% of all participants noted that internal and external collaboration were crucial to their organization’s current success.
These communication tools, like Slack, have helped organizations improve their collaboration skills by incorporating instant replies from team members and an archive of information for employees to search through if needed.
As workplace technology continues to increase in popularity, expectations are beginning to change. These changes impact HR managers as technology affects the employee experience. Today, newer generations are consuming the workforce, and organizations are adjusting to their needs. These adjustments include newer technologies, such as onboarding apps, that help eliminate hours of paperwork. Organizations can use these onboarding apps to upskill their new hires more efficiently and effectively.
Gain Support from C-Suite Executives
Many professionals can argue that company culture starts at the top—if an organization wants to influence real change, HR managers need to have buy-in from their executive team. Although HR’s main priority is to implement and maintain workplace policies, the workforce experience shouldn’t rely only on them.
This being said, C-level executives and stakeholders should be actively included to ensure their employees have a favorable work experience. If higher-level employees are involved in this process, it proves that the organization is taking serious measures to keep talent and create a productive company culture, which, in turn, increases employee loyalty.
When looking ahead to the new year, workforce experience will set an organization apart from its competitors. New technologies continue to enter the market and will change how employees interact internally. These tools and others will enhance the employee experience, and providing these communication channels will show leadership’s dedication, thus improving productivity and loyalty.
| Brian Anders serves as Director of Human Resources at WorkSmart Systems. His extensive experience in HR services ranges from employee relations and organizational training and development to project and talent management, team business, payroll, and recruitment. Anders is a graduate of Indiana University and is SHRM-CP Certified and he is a member of the Indiana State SHRM Chapter. |