The number of dissatisfied employees could jump next year, creating an employee experience (EX) downturn. This prediction follows recent Forrester research showing significant drops in employee engagement and culture energy between 2022 and 2023.
These declines come just as employers were beginning to close the door on tradition and hierarchy and stick their toes into the warm waters of flexibility and well-being. The progress toward giving employees the work experience they want and deserve may come to a screeching halt in 2024. Employers who put their people first and prioritize employee experience will have little trouble finding and keeping top talent. Those that reduce the quality of their EX risk losing their most valuable asset.
Employees have fought hard to convince employers that they want much more than a paycheck and a few perks. They want a strong sense of well-being. Just as important as compensation are purpose, work/life balance, safety and wellness, and challenge and opportunity. They will work where they find the right kind of workplace culture. If that means quitting, they’ll do it.
The Search for Well-Being
Deloitte’s second, recently released, Well-being at Work survey found that employees at all levels struggle to find well-being, and that the struggle somewhat worsened over the past year. The data show that at this moment, 60% of employees, 64% of managers, and 75% of the C-suite are seriously considering quitting their current employer for a job with a company that would better support their well-being.
These are some of the things people at all levels said they are feeling: exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed, irritable, lonely, depressed, and angry. Work continues to be a significant obstacle to achieving a sense of well-being. However, employees are not giving up. Eighty-four percent of those surveyed say that a top priority in the coming year is to improve their overall well-being, with 74% of them stating that well-being is more important to them than advancing their career.
This leaves employers no choice. If you are not putting your people and employee experience above all else, you must change.
3 Steps to a Great EX
Listen first. Then act. To raise your employee experience to the level that attracts and retains top talent, first ask your current employees a range of relevant questions about their experience working with you, such as: whether or not they look forward to coming to work every day; if they would recommend your company to family members or friends as a good place to work; if they believe their manager cares about their well-being; and what obstacles they face in meeting their goals.
Because leaders are as likely to see work as an obstacle to their personal well-being as the people who work for them, include everyone at every level in your survey and assessment. Based on the feedback, design and implement comprehensive wellness programs that prioritize the well-being of all your people. The following three steps form
the essential foundation for raising your EX to the level of great:
1. View your people holistically. Understand that people have lives outside work. We’re all human, which means well-being at home and at work is interrelated and inseparable. Although you cannot control what happens in the personal lives of employees, as their employer you can make it easier to manage their lives holistically by increasing flexibility and choice. Take care that your workplace culture doesn’t become an obstacle to the overall well-being of your people.
Don’t mandate that everyone works full-time on-site. Unless it’s detrimental to your business, let people choose to work from home or in a hybrid arrangement. Develop policies that allow for: caretaking responsibilities for children and others; avoiding long daily commutes; attending school or other important family events; or simply taking a walk on the beach.
Eighty-five percent of employees say that working remotely at least some of the time would help them balance work and life better, while 30% of employers don’t allow remote work of any kind. Allowing employees to work from anywhere (WFA) gives you a significant competitive advantage in recruitment and retention.
2. Empower managers to foster well-being. Company policies, heavy workloads, scheduling requirements, burnout, lack of training, and other obstacles can make managers and supervisors feel powerless to nurture their people or meet even their basic needs. Give them appropriate tools and support.
Teach them how to coach their people rather than be “the boss.” Give them decision-making power and a budget to carry out their decisions. Allow them time to focus on the well-being of their people, and themselves. Encourage them to model the behaviors they’d like to see, including taking personal and vacation time and finding ways to minimize stress to help enhance well-being.
3. Hold leadership accountable. Vision must come from the top and the commitment for achieving it felt throughout the organization. Leaders should be held accountable for the health and well-being of their people by tying bonuses to the well-being metrics of your workplace culture.
Ensure transparency by requiring that metrics be shared with employees as well as with the public. Positive metrics are a factor in recruitment and help build trust between leaders and employees. When leaders share information about their personal well-being, it enhances trust even further.
It’s foolish to think that people grow on trees, like apples or oranges. Each talented person you find, train, and nourish makes a unique contribution to your team and business success. Every precious individual changes your organization ever so slightly and inches it forward. Not a single person can be replaced easily. The health of your organization is tied directly to the well-being of your people. The catch is that if your people are unhappy, they can seek more fertile ground.
Kathleen Quinn Votaw (www.talentrust.com), is the CEO of TalenTrust, a strategic recruiting and human capital consulting firm. Quinn Votaw (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleenquinnvotaw) is the author of two books, DARE to CARE IN THE WORKPLACE: A Guide to the New Way We Work, and “Solve The People Puzzle: How High-Growth Companies Attract & Retain Top Talent.” Regarded as a key disruptor in her industry, she has helped thousands of companies across multiple industries develop purpose-based, inclusive communities that inspire employees to come to work. Her company has been recognized in the Inc. 5000. Quinn Votaw also speaks nationally on recruitment, culture and leading with empathy in the workplace.