Management Topics Creating an Awesome Employee Experience
by Josef Martens, PhD, CSP W
e are currently operating on what is essentially a Zero Percent Unemployment
economy. For Tech and STEM organizations, this is even more noticeable: the scarcity of critical talent is at an all-time high. This means, chances are that it’s difficult for you to get top talent and your competitors are trying to poach your best employees. What do you do about it?
Throwing money at the problem
is a short-term solution, but it won’t last. There are many big companies at the moment, that seem desirable for a searching employee and they have excellent compensation packages. Alas, very often, many employees discover that this is not what they were really looking for most, and they leave again.
The better solution is to offer
the employees something they want at a deeper level: a great employee experience.
This is not primarily about putting
ping pong tables in the corridors, giving everyone 10% creative time or doing anything gimmicky. Yes, all of this is nice, but it’s superficial. First you need to get the fundamentals right.
I’ve been to organizations where
posters were on the wall with slogans like “People are our greatest asset” and leaders yelled at their staff. When these companies talk about employee experience, everyone rolls their eyes. Setting up a free fruit smoothie bar won’t change this.
Creating a great employee
experience is about meeting your employee’s needs on a fundamental level. This means, leaders need to know what these needs are. Do you know
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Find out as much as you can and tailor the experience to their needs.
It’s also worth knowing that there are I’ve had the privilege to work for
one organization that found simple and powerful ways to find this out. They asked their employees for some of their preferences. To give you an example, they asked everyone for their preferred way to be recognized for small achievements. Employees could select from options such as gift cards, public recognition in front of the team, quiet recognition by senior leader, lunch with a senior leader, donation to a charity etc.
Other areas where you can find out
about your team is how they’d like to receive feedback (email, verbal, all in one, gradually, etc.), how they’d like the team to connect, what they like about their work (or don’t like) or what else is important to them.
your employees well enough to know what their individual needs are?
generational differences in the needs. While not everyone falls into these generational patterns, it’s still worth knowing them. Let’s take a look at the rules - and be aware that each person may be an exception.
Most of the workforce is made up
of four generations: Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Gen X (1965-1980), Gen Y or Millennials (1981-2000) and Gen Z (from 2001).
Much has been written about the
generational difference, and I’ll only provide the ultra-short Cliffs-Notes- version of their needs. Boomers are looking for rewards and status, Gen X for independence and growth, Gen Y for recognition and collaboration, and Gen Z for belonging and connection.
Remember what I said about
exceptions! Nonetheless, this is a good starting point. As you discover more and more about your staff, you’ll soon discover that each one of them doesn’t fit squarely into the generational stereotypes.
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