Humanity As A Key Driver Of The Employee Experience And Organizational Success
Do business benefit when they focus on creating positive employee experiences?
Posted on 08-09-2018, Read Time: Min
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A growing body of research on the employee experience points to the impact it has on individual employee performance and organizational success. Given the advantages, the question for HR and business leaders is how best to create these positive experiences. The answer, based on global data, is through a human culture and workplace practices. Leadership teams play a crucial role in setting the stage for a human workplace, but all employees play a role in bringing more humanity to work.
What is the Employee Experience?
The topic of employee experience has become increasingly popular in recent years, as a broader and more holistic alternative to employee engagement.
Despite the surge in interest, until recently, leaders lacked a reliable and valid measure to gauge how well their companies were doing. A joint global study by Globoforce’s WorkHuman Analytics and Research Institute and IBM’s Smarter Workforce Institute resolved this gap, developing the Employee Experience Index with a sample of approximately 23,000 employees across 45 countries and territories.
The employee experience is defined as the full set of perceptions that employees have about their experiences and interactions at work. Specifically, it includes perceptions of belonging, purpose, achievement, happiness and vigor. More detail on those dimensions and how they differ around the globe are available in this report.
Despite the surge in interest, until recently, leaders lacked a reliable and valid measure to gauge how well their companies were doing. A joint global study by Globoforce’s WorkHuman Analytics and Research Institute and IBM’s Smarter Workforce Institute resolved this gap, developing the Employee Experience Index with a sample of approximately 23,000 employees across 45 countries and territories.
The employee experience is defined as the full set of perceptions that employees have about their experiences and interactions at work. Specifically, it includes perceptions of belonging, purpose, achievement, happiness and vigor. More detail on those dimensions and how they differ around the globe are available in this report.
Linking Employee Experience and Business Success
Among the outcomes included in the validation study, when employees have a positive employee experience, they are significantly more likely to perform at a higher level, less likely to leave the organization, and more likely to devote discretionary effort to their work.
A follow-up study sought to determine whether these positive outcomes at the employee level also transferred to the organizational level – do business benefit when they focus on creating positive employee experiences?
A recent linkage analysis involving the collection of objective financial data revealed that a positive employee experience was indeed correlated with positive improvements in returns on assets (ROA) and return on sales (ROS).
A follow-up study sought to determine whether these positive outcomes at the employee level also transferred to the organizational level – do business benefit when they focus on creating positive employee experiences?
A recent linkage analysis involving the collection of objective financial data revealed that a positive employee experience was indeed correlated with positive improvements in returns on assets (ROA) and return on sales (ROS).
Driving a Positive Experience Through a Human Workplace
Leadership teams play a significant role in fostering a culture and human workplace that leads to positive employee experiences and to the benefits described above. For both senior leaders and for managers, it requires a fluency across traditional leadership competencies as well those that promote employees’ humanity.
- At the strategic level, senior leaders need to communicate an inspiring vision of where the organization is headed, but also be clear about the role and impact that employees have in achieving that vision successfully.
- At the tactical level, managers need to ensure that employees have the basic tools and resources to complete their roles effectively, but they also need to create a culture in which employees are treated with respect and dignity.
These management practices blend the business culture with the people culture, setting the foundation for a more human workplace. Following this foundation is a core set of workplace practices. Research has identified that these six human workplace drivers influence a positive employee experience:
- Meaningful work occurs when connections between one’s role and the organizations core values are clear, and when that role makes good use of one’s skills and abilities.
- Empowerment occurs when employees can exercise human agency, providing input and voice to decisions that impact them, and speaking up when helpful.
- Performance development – through feedback, recognition, and growth – occurs when a base of positivity supports a culture of ongoing feedback and advice.
- Coworker support occurs when there is a climate of inclusion, and employees feel that their colleagues are there for them when needed.
- Organizational trust occurs when employees trust the integrity and responsibility of the organization as an entity.
- Finally, work life balance occurs when employees have the opportunity to foster connections outside of the organization, to recharge and disconnect.
Together, these practices allow for the expression of greater humanity at all levels of the organization, leading to a positive experience, and on to better outcomes for employee and company alike.
Author Bio
| Greg Stevens is an Analytics Manager at Globoforce. Visit www.globoforce.com Connect Greg Stevens Follow @Globoforce |
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