Make experience design a part of your culture to build a strong core of committed employees and a successful work environment.
Satisfied employees are an essential part of any successful business. Ensuring that your staff is happy, fulfilled, motivated, and well taken care of, is not only important, in a post-pandemic world, it’s crucial.
Competing with corporations like Southwest Airlines and DocuSign — who are among the best-rated organizations to work for in terms of employee experience — means making a commitment to treat your employees like family. Because, in many ways, they are: We work together to achieve shared goals and, often, spend more waking hours with our coworkers than with our own partners, children and relatives.
By developing a great employee-organization relationship, you create an atmosphere that is symbiotic and mutually beneficial.
How Do You Make Employees Feel?
It’s important to consider the needs of your staff so, as your representatives, they intrinsically desire to support and promote your organization. They will want to be there and do a great job. As a matter of fact, engaging employees appropriately can increase productivity by 34%.
Any organization seeking long-term success should strive to motivate its employees and support each staff member in pursuing their personal goals. An employee who is personally fulfilled outside the workplace is more likely to facilitate and support the pursuit of success inside the workplace. That’s why a successful work environment based on a strong core of committed employees is a win-win.
Let’s look at five ways employee experience design can help create a better workplace and happier, more engaged employees:
1. Incorporate Excellent Technology
Great technology bolsters your employee experience in many ways. Choosing powerful, modern interfaces for your staff creates ease in the workflow, thus customers have a positive interaction working with your employees. Without smooth, integrated systems and platforms, your employees will be frustrated or confused, which will, in turn, affect customer experience. Improving technology for employees will directly benefit consumers. Innovation is a key to success in business and must be applied on all sides.
2. Physical Environment Improvements
Let’s face it, a dreary setting is not a motivating place to be, especially as employees return from the work from home lifestyle. It’s even less conducive to creativity, productivity or focus. An office should promote concentration and inspire employees. Try to rethink the physical office space and workplace design. Consider elements like lighting and color. Choose bright natural lighting elements to stimulate alertness and clarity. Decorate with neutral, pleasing colors while incorporating items that have a color-pop to stimulate spontaneous insight.
Remember the importance of space. Cluttered and cramped environments detract from our ability to think clearly or interact successfully with the environment. Try to leave lots of open spaces. Spacious surroundings equate to spacious thinking and promote the feeling that there is “room” to think and grow.
Some great techniques for spatial design in the workplace come from the ancient eastern philosophies of feng shui. This promotes open corridors, clear views to windows and natural lighting, and direct routes to doorways. All these space-creating approaches lead employees to operate from a comfortable work environment and thus support creativity and productivity.
3. Encourage Work-Life Balance
Balance is key to developing a reciprocal employee-organization relationship. Ensure your policies offer generous time off. While this is often accumulated over time, try to be flexible. Good employees stick around when they feel valued by their organization. This may look different for each employee and their unique needs. Whether an employee needs the flexibility to care for an elderly loved one or young child, or to remodel a new home or take a vacation, be open-minded. Try to offer programs like remote work opportunities, weekend or flex hours, and general kindness.
Employees who have a track record of getting their work done should be granted some flexibility. Loyal employees are an asset to any organization, so organizations should do what they can to ensure that these employees know they’re valued and to put their personal needs first.
4. Promote Company Culture
If you promote and support a diverse company culture, your employees will have a more well-rounded experience. This will trickle down to your customer base, making them feel welcome and valued. Similarly, company culture is about good moral values and ethics. We suggest doing the right thing by your employees, rather than making decisions solely based on how they will impact the business financials. Your employees will stick around longer and have better experiences with your organization.
5. Show Appreciation for Your Team
It’s important to reward your staff for good work and positive efforts, however big or small. Believe it or not, money is not the only incentive that works.
Try to show your appreciation to employees by offering time off and other rewards like staff luncheons or events. Another nice incentive can be gift items that benefit your staff while at work, like innovative tech items.
When you show appreciation to your team, they feel valued by the organization. They will want to be there and do their best work. Similarly, you can inspire your team and show them they are valued by providing health and wellness services, like massages or meal delivery services. This promotes well-being in many ways.
A healthy, happy, and engaged employee base will help build your business. Follow these five Employee Experience Design tips to promote long-term success for your organization and develop a strong core of committed employees.
The ExperienceBuilt Group can help uncover what motivates and frustrates your employees, from culture and appreciation to technology and environments. We’re here to address your employee experience design and your specific industry. Learn more here.