Employee Experience- The Link between Culture, Employee Engagement, and Business Success

Businesses invest in employee engagement initiatives to improve their engagement levels and create a great place to work. Some of these initiatives result in a momentary spike in engagement levels, however, this isn’t sustained. Resulting in a cycle of engagement initiatives-surge in engagement levels-crashed or return to status quo engagement levels-engagement initiatives-…….. and the cycle continues over and over again.

What the business fails to realize is that a better way of improving engagement levels is by improving the employee's daily experience- by improving the organizational culture, which in practical terms is the practices and processes in the organization. ?

The little things count as much as the big things. A great organizational culture results in an organization where employees are excited to do their best work, contribute ideas, and innovate, driving business success. These professionals are also more loyal, helping your business to retain top performers.

There however seems to be a disconnect between what management views as a thriving organizational culture and the employee's opinion of a thriving workplace culture. A great way to address this is to leverage feedback for an improved workplace culture. To build an organization where employees thrive, are connected to the business's purpose, and are excited to grow their careers and the business.

Three ways to do this are- listening, acting, and rewarding.

1.??????Management needs to actively listen to the employees- to understand and not just to respond. To truly understand the other person’s point of view, you need to listen to understand, ask the right questions to gain more insight, and ensure there’s a continuous feedback loop across the organization. Open and objective feedback loop. Asking the right- open-ended questions can generate such profound insight into the needs of the employees. This goes a long way to provide a great employee experience that aids employee engagement.

2.??????Acting purposefully and co-creating is another way to improve the employee experience and improve engagement levels. No one wants to be in an organization where they have aired their views and suggestions, and nothing changes. When employees see their feedback reflected in business processes and practices, it sends a message to the employee that they are valued. This is a more powerful message than a weekly happy hour!

All feedback may not be actionable. They may need to be categorized into quick wins and long-term plans, however- management must communicate back to the employees on what is feasible and when. Even when a suggestion is totally not actionable, there needs to be communication on why that is and what can be done instead.

3.??????What you reward increases. When a business rewards employees for upholding their culture, it sends a powerful message to other employees. Reward and recognition need to be tied to actions that highlight the company culture and values. Openly celebrating employees reinforces company values, showcases achievements that might otherwise go unnoticed by coworkers, and signals to all employees that their efforts matter.

Every organization can customize its reward and recognition process accordingly. However, a suggestion is to also incorporate this in the promotion criteria. Given that promotion is also a form of reward and recognition. A pitfall to avoid is celebrating an employee for upholding the company culture and values in the monthly newsletter and promoting employees who have excelled functionally but have not upheld the company culture and values. It sends the wrong signal to the rest of the workforce. A healthy mix of functional and behavioral indices should be achieved to make for a healthy organizational culture.

In conclusion, the organizational culture has a greater role to play in achieving your engagement, retention, and productivity goals than the periodic engagement activities. Every organization which wants to build a great organizational culture needs to pay attention to its processes and practices at all levels, and the daily experience the employee has. For therein lies the key to an engaged productive workforce. ?

#employeeengagement #employeeexperience #organizationalculture #culture #businesssuccess #organisationaldevelopment #healthyworkplaceculture #peopleexperience #rewardandrecognition #promotiontips #communicationskills #corporatecommunication #businesscommunication #managementtips