The experience gap begins on day one
Scott Gilbey
I take a handyman approach to the field of experience, bridging the gap between strategic objectives and frontline realities. Experience improves. So does your P&L.
Observation Number SEVEN
If you want to increase employee engagement and decrease attrition, start at the beginning. Look hard at your onboarding.
During my recent frontline work, I have been onboarded three times by three great companies – å®¶å¾—å® , Delta Air Lines , and Sunshine Ace Hardware . Each company has a strong brand, fantastic people, superb products, excellent service, and financial results.?I love ‘am all.
Following are my general observations of my onboarding with each brand:
Home Depot is good at processing lots of new hires. With 500,000 employees, and with some stores having double-digit turnover, there is a steady stream of new employees. Home Depot is a master of volume. While some days I felt more like a SKU number than a person, I became proud of my orange apron, and I am still a fanatic customer.
Delta Air Lines instills an attitude of safety and customer-centricity. Delta is the best at connecting the brand promise with frontline behaviors. “Bad†airline examples that go viral are few and far between. The vast majority of customers are happy, and the vast majority of employees are smoothly onboarded.
Sunshine Ace Hardware is in a different category altogether. Ace is huge. Sunshine is small. The combination is the best of both worlds. There is corporate big-brand onboarding, and there is the local hardware store “learn as you go†approach. Onboarding is a tad sloppy, but from day one, employees are expected to be helpful, to customers and to each other.
In each case, my onboarding has been good, but not great. Across the board, onboarding is big on marketing and socialization. Each brand instills pride in the new employee. I meet nice people. I hear stories. It feels good. On the other hand, the structural onboarding in terms of learning the job I am required to perform leaves a ton of room for improvement.
Following are my frontline task-related observations about onboarding:
Frontline peers: Surprisingly, it has been my hourly on-the-clock peers from whom I’ve learned the day-to-day details of my job, the keystrokes, how to avoid trouble, and how to be successful. When in need, eight times out of ten I ask a peer before a supervisor because, on average, my peer group is more helpful and more empathetic than a typical supervisor.
Supervisor skills: Most supervisors are good people. However, being a good person does not make a good supervisor. The personal behavior of a supervisor reflects the company brand and can support or degrade onboarding. Their actions, words, availability, empathy, and job knowledge deeply impact my attitude and effectiveness as a new employee. I will have an upcoming observation focused on this topic.
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LMS video training: I log tens of hours of online training and hundreds of video snippets. Production quality is high. Brand message is strong. Learning is low because I don’t yet understand the context and basic vocabulary. “Just do itâ€, said one supervisor. LMS videos are efficient for sharing mass information after I am onboarded. Until I get repetitive task practice, video learning is low and fades quickly.
Onboarding checklists: Every company has checklists. They are essential. But I have not seen them used as designed or intended. I asked one supervisor to review my checklist and the response was essentially, "don’t waste my time". At another, I attempted to book a 90-day review with a manager but could not because the activity had already (unbeknownst to me) been marked as completed.
The honeymoon period: During my first 10+/- days, I am considered fragile and new. Next is a period of 30 to 90 days when I am simply new. One day I am suddenly expected to know and do everything, whether my capability has been validated or not. As a mature person I can handle the honeymoon. Unfortunately, I have seen others, both young and experienced, struggle and talk of quitting even while their onboarding is underway.
CONCLUSION: Many companies (not just these three) will say their onboarding is strategic and well thought out. Please think again! Most companies are rightly concerned about CX and EX. At the same time, widely published data show an alarming trend of low employee engagement and an increasing experience gap between boardroom strategy and frontline reality. The gap begins on day one with onboarding. I’m here and I see it.
I'd be happy to chat privately in greater detail. My contact information is in my profile.
I unf*ck sh!tty experiences. | Author, Unf*cking Your CX Newsletter | SaaS Executive, Practitioner, Enabler | 7x Sales Velocity in less than 10-months (2x)
2 å¹´I would agree the employee experience gap starts on day 1 and the importance of the onboarding experience. I would also challenge the gap begins in the interviewing process. What expectations are communicated? How are they communicated? An employee can show up to day 1 with a false set of expectations from the recruiting team versus the direct manager.
Growth Strategist
2 å¹´As someone who spent almost three decades working with the front line, I know how accurate this is. Companies tend to be either customer centric, thus employee centric or process heavy. It is easy to see in your article who is who.
Do unhappy customers damage your business performance? Business leaders, CX practitioners and founders build skills and deliver bottom-line results. Mentoring, CX Projects and assessment => measurable success.
2 å¹´Fantastic observations Scott Gilbey. I'll bet you have great plans for improvement too.
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
2 年Scott - thanks for sharing… good insights that challenge managers, employers, and new employees.