Employee Experience: A Rising Trend in Human Resources

What is the employee experience? 

The key to understanding the employee experience is that it consists of all the elements or factors that directly impact an employee's day-to-day in an organization. The components of the employee experience range from how their coworkers or bosses treat them, the office environment, the facilities, and more. 

Those of us that are part of WAM's Talent team like to say that's also all the little details that make people feel like they're in a pleasant environment where they can get their work done when they have all their basic needs met (paycheck, position, functions, etc.). 

This experience starts from the moment someone first receives a call to come in for an interview and lasts during the entire time that person has a link to the firm. It goes through the whole employee lifecycle, which will undoubtedly include positive feels. However, we need to understand that we need to work on the employee experience daily, although it can vary over time. 

The trend rises with the emergence of the Millennial generation in the workforce. Previous generations sought stable positions with good salaries, but things have changed in today's world. People under 35 also value other components like flexible schedules, going to the office by bike, finding an office environment where they develop relationships with their coworkers, having access to training programs to promote their soft skills, etc. This combination of intangible aspects leads the balance to go one way or the other when deciding to accept a job offer. 

The benefits of enhancing the employee experience

Those organizations that take care of their employee experience see crucial changes and see a boost in their representation. A study from Jacob Morgan, the author of The Employee Experience Advantage found that: 

• Those firms that take care of their employee experience are 11.5 times as often on Glassdoor's Best Places to Work. 
• Are 4.4 times more often on LinkedIn's list of North America's Most Solicited Employers.
• Are 2.1 times more often on the Forbes most innovative companies list. 

How to Improve the Employee Experience in your Organization

There are many aspects to take into account when considering the influence of the employee experience within an organization. That’s why we at WAM place great emphasis on getting to know our employees and ensuring we meet all their needs. Our project teams focus on their clients’ targets when developing 360° marketing strategies while ensuring constant client satisfaction. In turn, our Human Resources team does exactly that with our human capital. We see the WAM team as our “client,” and maintaining a strong commitment to them will ensure that our client becomes the best ambassador out there. This initiative is at the core of employee experience management.

How do we get to know every individual that forms part of our organization? The answer is simple: by listening to them. Every so often, we organize small workshops so that everyone can share their ideas, concerns, and ambitions. By providing this opportunity for individuals to communicate directly with us, this is an excellent way of ensuring that everyone’s voices are heard. Additionally, we work hand in hand with all of the managers so that they can promote direct communications within their teams and come to us with any needs that may arise.

Actions you can take to improve the employee experience

At WAM, we try to cover all the bases to meet everyone's individual needs. That's why we've gradually implemented different actions to achieve various objectives. These are some of them:

• An Employee of the Month / Employee of the Year 
• Internal bimonthly WE ARE magazine to communicate corporate news 
• Onboarding and offboarding processes, including an exit interview to obtain employee feedback. 
• Opportunities to work remotely 
• Modern offices with break areas 
• Internal messenger platform
• Monthly after-work get-together
• Birthday shoutouts
• Talks with Talent (TWT)
• Feedback meetings with the Talent team (after three first three months, six months, and the first year) 

Our ultimate goal is that, through these actions and many more, our employees see WAM as more than just a "workplace." Instead, we want to create an open, friendly, and enjoyable environment where individuals feel encouraged to build personal relationships and feel valuable. This factor is crucial for our corporate culture, and that's why we shall ensure that the WAM employee experience continues to be a core value that will keep on innovating with the times.