Let the experience begin!

Employee experience has been the hot topic among a lot of HR groups and organizations - and rightly so. It is touted to be the 'secret sauce' that will help HR push the boundaries and establish themselves as a strategic partner to organizations. It is the need of the hour - the differentiator that will propel your value proposition ahead of your competition! But what's the secret to achieving it? How do we get it right at the start - In fact, where do we start? Here's what I think is the best way to approach & enable Employee experience.

1. Bias, much? - Give your employees the benefit of their position - They are your employees - not toddlers who need to be reprimanded time and again - but fully grown adults who know how the world works and what they want. There is no need to dumb down the basics of operation because not everyone requires that. How you view your employees intellectual capability becomes very visible in every aspect of your design. The technology you use, the language, the touch points and the experience - they all show your employees the intent behind your actions. Of course, it is equally important to not overwhelm your audience by raising the bar too high, but it's easy to underwhelm them without even realizing it. Your employee experience should treat your intended audience with respect - if that's what you want in return.
2. Thank you, Next - I have to be honest here - Everytime I talk to a stakeholder that is not the easiest of collaborator's my defense mode is up - Im looking for opportunities to let them know that mine is a valuable profession - I deserve to be a critical part of the workforce & I benefit the organization in many ways. I had my own 'light bulb' moment this week when I was listening to Leena Nair on David Green's podcast - Digital HR leaders - She said & I quote, that 'HR needs to have more swagger'. As HR professionals we need to stop living with so much doubt, stop believing that we have to fight for our relevance every step of the way. Only when we change the way we think about ourselves will it start reflecting in our actions - we will we be able to raise the bar on the quality of the service we provide to our customers a.k.a. our employees. It also helps to prove the point of HR being strategic partners - the only difference being we 'become' them, not just talk about being one.
3. Let's get started - A lot of the great ideas that we have never see the light of day - simply because we do not want to share it with anyone else unless it is perfect. We want to be the undisputed best of the best - we cannot bear to hear negative feedback about the initiative that we take. Oh, you may deny it now, but you know it's true - Just like parents plagued by the 'perfect child' syndrome (guilty as charged!) we cannot fathom that our thought could, maybe, have flaws. It builds a barrier in our mind and prevents us from taking any form of constructive feedback positively. What we, alas, forget is that in our effort to bring the best product to the market, we are not just depriving the end user of the experience altogether, we are also not leveraging our greatest strength - Our employees themselves! Involving employees in the growth process to provide the best experience possible adds that much needed human element. Let's start with something & build on it - together. You might realize, after involving your employees, that your research may be blindsided by some factor that you did not consider - or better yet, you might discover that the employees are more than happy to get involved & take equal accountability - Win win I say! The more open, honest and collaborative we are with our audience, the better the employee experience will be - It's a no brainer!

How have you embarked on the journey to greater employee experience? Share with us in the comments below - would love to know your thoughts, insights & arguments on this.