Employee experience strategy can align workforce collaboration and bring positive changes in the organizations to attract, connect, engage, and develop improved internal communication across the workplace.
The current onslaught and chaos post-pandemic have forced organizations to shift from the routine traditional work to a more flexible remote work mode. Now with progressing vaccination results, there is yet another major business transition to hybrid work as companies are gaining confidence to return to the office.
This concept channelizes by working occasionally working from home and other time in office depending on the employee-employer schedule, preferences and keeping all the safety precautions in line. With the idea of re-designing space, workplace environment to improve productivity, collaboration, and employee experience.
However, this shift from the dedicated workspace to a distributed workforce raises huge turmoil in managing hybrid workplace with few common reasons such as poor workplace communication, lowered motivation, and performance that leads to unhappy employee and ultimately impacts workplace experience and engagement
What is employee experience strategy?
Evaluating every stage of employee experience journey and identifying each touchpoint, interactions and moments of an employee that fits their needs, preferences, and motivations. However, for organizations to build a cohesive employee experience, it becomes essential to create a strategic approach towards designing a workplace culture and policy that will be appreciated by the employees.
According to a global study research by Garnter, in the year 2021, companies in U.S spent an average of $2,420 USD per person to implement and manage successful employee experience strategy.
Employee experience strategy that empowers the hybrid workplace
To understand the significance of employee experience strategy and its impact on how it can lead to a positive hybrid workplace environment. We have collated a well-designed roadmap that showcases 9 essential employee experience benefits and touchpoints that can achieve the ultimate hybrid goals.
Short Case Study: Great Place to Work – Certified company, conducted a study on Standard Chartered bank that listed out more than 53,000 employees were asked about their workplace preference or what type of work model (hybrid, flexible or remote) could lead to a better employee experience and engagement? It was revealed that about 70% of US employees preferred switching to a fully transitioned hybrid work model by end of 2022.
7 best employee experience strategies to implement a successful hybrid workplace
The hybrid workplace environment that many of us are currently in, is a tricky business for providing a top-notch employee experience strategy. In a broader sense, some members of the team might be working remotely while others with respect to the nature of work should go to the office.
To build and unleash digital intranet tools that support hybrid work, companies should transform and bring new perspectives in place that includes workforce collaboration, performance, connection, and personalization that simplify and increases employee productivity and engagement.
However, in such scenarios, maintaining consistency over digital intranet communications becomes a rocky road to drive. But, with the help of a successful employee experience strategy, we can find ways to fulfil the unique needs and preferences of employees. Therefore, integrating up-to-date collaborative and intranet tools, and onboarding workflow systems will help achieve a seamless digital employee experience.
Here are the top 7 strategies that prioritize employee experience in a hybrid work environment:
1. Respond to feedback and surveys:
Most organizations encounter challenges while designing and implementing employee experience strategy in a hybrid setup. The most common reason for such failures is due to lack of defined employee attributes, tackling outdated performance management processes, low digital employee experience across multiple channels and poorly designed workplace engagement strategy.
Did you know? – As per the recent data, 56% of employees reported that their company showed a lack of interest and persistence in understanding and fulfilling the needs of overall workforce expectations, while only 39% of the employees in the survey experienced full satisfaction at their workplace.
Therefore, generating awareness of the employees’ thoughts and preferences in form of feedback and surveys will help design an efficient Employee Experience (EX) strategy and boost achievable goals for the new era of hybrid work.
2. Focus on creating personalization:
Leveraging potential employee experience strategy becomes efficiently possible to create impeccable personalized experiences that promote workplace creativity and productivity. Besides clearly defining each employee persona or focusing on business development, entailing new thoughts of personalization by using the collaborative intranet platforms will dedicate more to a holistic hybrid workplace experience.
According to a Gallup survey, only 15% of companies invest in new digital communications technologies to elevate workforce productivity and engagement.
Advanced workplace collaboration tools, third-party apps like MS teams and other productivity platforms like Office 365 migrations suites can go a long way in creating a more dynamic employee experience. However, the latest results suggest that HR and onboarding platforms provide a poor user interface that potentially impacts due to lack of personalization leading to low user adoption. Therefore, creating opportunities for a unified hybrid work environment can help induce creative, innovative workplace solutions.
3. Repurpose Content Management Systems (CMS):
Cultivating an Employee-Centric content across the workplace enables widespread connection and builds interaction of meaningful employee experience and engagement. Providing real-time updates and posting localized industry related content, videos and images of the company will keep employees hooked and engaged.
Upgrading the content management system that supports multiple content development options within a single application keeps the hybrid capabilities in mind. With a hybrid CMS, companies can efficiently manage up-to-date content under the all-in-one digital intranet platform and deliver it to different communication channels. Therefore, this gives the users flexibility to read the delivered content or manage the content and monitor the engagement analytics all under one roof.
4. Revamp outdated HR workflow systems:
For a fact, world-class HR and onboarding processes deliver excellent collaboration and communication in providing meaningful workplace implementations and efficiently streamlined workflow processes that promote a positive employee experience. However, while re-designing the entire workforce to a hybrid model, setting a proper HR workflow or employee intranet platform becomes crucial to creating a successful employee experience strategy.
As per the recent data, 36% of the HR professionals experienced that outdated technology is limiting their ability to sustain effective employee onboarding programs that raise concerns to fulfill the overall employee experience
In such cases, organizations need to update their technology and revamp outdated content to connect, engage and encourage employees. Here are five signs a business knows it’s time to upgrade HR processes and tools:
- Lack of visibility and consistency
- Poor Social Intranet tools for employees
- High Employee or HR team turnover
- Poor employee onboarding and Offboarding process
- Lack of performance and content management
For Instance, take a quick look at the recent survey conducted by Accenture on the future of work that showcases how the workforce across the organization uses advanced technology to enhance better employee experience and engagement.
5. Enable mobile reach and remote access:
As digital transformation has opened the door for employees to get more easy and flexible access to intranet solutions from anywhere with the power of mobile outreach. These fully translated mobile capabilities are used in the workplace to drive employee adoption to navigate achievable hybrid goals.
Therefore, enabling unlimited access by launching a digital intranet app that provides up-to-date company information, and establish workplace productivity will turn out to be the best suitable solution for a holistic hybrid work environment.
6. Collaboration channels to improve hybrid productivity:
After dealing with constant pandemic-induced changes, many organizations and C-suite leaders are convinced with the hybrid workplace concept. This working model involves a set of employees working in the office setup and other employees working remotely according to employee thoughts and preferences.
As per latest reports announced by Microsoft reveals that over 56% employee want flexible hybrid work approach while 44% of employees prefer working from home with a suitable remote work environment.
In such a case, choosing the right technology becomes a key challenge to support a hybrid approach effectively and build a potential employee experience strategy across the workplace. However, using collaborative tools and platforms like Microsoft Teams simplifies every aspect of both remote and hybrid work experiences.
7. Measuring performance for workplace engagement:
Effective performance management has always been on a key radar for organizations to enhance their ROI, revenue, and employee retention. However, analyzing and monitoring workforce metrics like employee behavior indicators which involve participation, hybrid team collaboration, effectiveness, wellbeing, and development opportunities that will turn up to be a drastic shift in driving a satisfying employee experience.
Measuring digital intranet tools gives companies the idea to progress towards a better hybrid approach. Therefore, building an employee experience strategy evaluates every stage of the workforce journey and change the way organization connect, engage, and develop more across the workplace.
Take hybrid for a test drive
Post pandemic, many businesses have modified their workspaces according to the hybrid work model. At first, employees were skeptical to come out of the remote working zone and join the fully-function office setup.
However, as per the recent data, 75% of the U.S professionals prefer work-in-office and opt for a hybrid model of 3 days a week and the rest of the 2 days opting for a remote work model. Therefore, this brings out a better balance between work from home and work in the office leading to increased productivity, engaging employee experience and higher overall job satisfaction.
Final Thoughts:
To build a holistic digital employee experience where the hybrid workplace model grows and thrives, a well-defined strategy needs to be in place. An improved employee experience leads to a positive digital workplace. In such case, these strategies will drive efficient business objectives such as high-level workplace efficiency, collaboration and increase employee engagement.
Wondering how to create an engaging employee experience using a modern intranet? Then, head to our blog that will guide you through the Top 8 ways to redefine modern intranet to boost employee experience for 2022.
To learn more, keep following the Saketa Employee Engagement Platform that ensures internal communication, digital collaboration, enhanced productivity and leverage cohesive employee experience.
