Could This Be The Biggest Factor In Bringing The Voice Of Employees Into The Boardroom & Boosting Company Performance 6.5X

According to a recent report by Accenture, companies can outperform their industry 6.5X if they organise their whole business around the delivery of exceptional experiences.

The experience that any employee, customer, shareholder or stakeholder has with your company determines what they think about you. That perception guides their behaviour towards your company – including whether they choose to work for you, buy from you, recommend you or buy your shares.

Now, multiply that behaviour across every customer, employee, shareholder and stakeholder that comes into contact with your company, and it's not surprising that the impact on results is profound.

This is all easier said than done, however. Let’s take a look at a potential force multiplier that may be the key.

How Psychological Safety Helps to Improve Your Customer and Employee Experience

Would it surprise you if I said that great customer experience begins with creating psychological safety for your employees?

I’ve previously talked about this in relation to Adam Grant's book 'Think Again', in which he identified the behaviours and characteristics of people who feel psychologically safe.

One of the most vital things you can do during the process of defining your company purpose and strategy is carefully listening to those who work within your organisation.

It’s through feedback, insight and ideas from employees throughout your business that you’ll test your assumptions as an executive team, widen your scope of options and ultimately get focused on what matters most.

However, to generate this input doesn't just require creating the relevant channels, it’s critical that you also create the culture and environment in which people feel safe and compelled to contribute.

Your employees need to feel safe when giving honest feedback, highlighting areas of improvement or frustration. They need the environment to share ideas that might not be fully formed or seem a little far fetched, and the opportunity to talk about improvements that are likely different from "the way we've always done it around here".

Psychological Safety Characteristics

So, according to Adam Grant, what were the characteristics which create psychological safety? He identified that people who feel psychologically safe will act in the following ways:

• They will see mistakes as learning opportunities
• They are willing to take risks and fail
• They speak their mind in meetings
• They openly share their struggles
• They trust their teammates and leaders
• They ‘stick their neck out’

It should also be said that it often takes time to build this sort of culture and system. When you started generating employee input, it's important to incorporate it into every level of purpose and strategy decision making, before looping back and communicating what was incorporated, what wasn't, and why. Moreover, when the business is successful, connect that back to the input of employees, connecting their day to day actions to the bigger picture of company purpose and success. That is a recipe for generating further psychological safety while building high levels of meaning and motivation - a truly great employee experience.

How Does This Relate To An Improved Customer Experience?

Recognising experiences as eco-systems is key to achieving this success. More aligned, connected, and motivated employees are going to provide a far superior customer experience, either through direct contact, products and services created, behind-the-scenes support, or through their ideas and innovations. Connecting customer experience success to the everyday activities and ideas of employees across the business drives higher levels of motivation, meaningfulness, and engagement. And so on and so forth….a virtuous cycle.

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How many of the Psychological Safety signs do you notice in your company?

About the Author

I’m Ross Hastings, MD of Ne-Lo, a specialist Management Consultancy that brings the voice of your customer and employee into the boardroom to develop focused company purpose and strategy. Through our ideas, models and services, our goal is to support companies to be more aligned, informed, and focused on what matters so they can become the place people love to buy from and work for. Download the latest version of our Purpose Framework eBook.