How to measure Employee Experience?

The job market is changing rapidly. Millennials are gradually seeking leadership positions, and digitalization requires new skills and competencies from employees. It turns job profiles and makes many jobs redundant. Agile providers are crowding out legacy companies in the market. Anyone who wants to remain relevant in this dynamic environment is restructuring his organization.

A critical driver for a successful restructuring is the right talent. Given these challenges, companies need a digitally-driven competitive environment along with well trained, motivated, and committed employees to accelerate the company. Many organizations are aware of this, as a 2017 study conducted by Deloitte has shown. The four most weighted fields of action were the realignment of the company, career, and further development, the acquisition of new talents, and Employee Experience (EX), which aims to retain talent.

Quelle: 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report

Looking into the current development in the area of «Human Capital Trends», it can be found that a shift is taking place. Employee Experience becomes a human experience, an even more holistic view of the world of experience of employees who no longer want to find meaning and purpose in a job, but also want to understand their influence on society. In 2019, 84% of the business and HR leaders surveyed rated this development as essential, and 24% rated it as urgent.

The urgency for Employee Experience, or human experience, is due to increased expectations and changing needs of employees for the companies. Companies are forced to meet them. Otherwise, the talents will leave the company.

Why companies rely on Employee Experience

Today's talents come with a diverse set of needs and expectations.

They expect their employers to offer them great experiences as they are used as corporate consumers. They want to develop themselves in the company and contribute their opinions and views. Having meaningful work that influences social development has become more critical than ever. Employees want to know who is affected by their work. And they aim to combine work and leisure optimally.

The growing demand for talents creates a challenge for organizations to create the necessary conditions so that employees can gain positive experiences in the company, sdevelop themselves as best as possible, and work for the company. Companies that create mutual relationships, interactions, and workplace environments based on the needs of employees benefit from a positive effect on motivation, satisfaction, and employee engagement. A high level of employee engagement is particularly desirable. Engaged employees stay longer in the company and perform better. They say good things about the company and thus attract new talents.

Satisfied, engaged employees also have a positive impact on Customer Experience. This is because such employees are committed to the needs of customers and try their best to meet their expectations—the customer satisfaction increases.

These are some excellent reasons why a company must take a strategic approach to improve its Employee Experience. But what does that look like in practice? How can a company measure EX and optimize it strategically?

A holistic view of Employee Experience

To identify the areas that need development, you need to have a holistic view of the employees and the company. Every talent goes through different stages, from entering into a company to leaving the company. Several factors influence and shape the experience of a talent on his employee journey.

The factors

There are six factors, respectively, areas that provide Employee Insights to shape the Employee Experience.

1. Personal Requirements

What skills, personality, motivation, experience, etc. does a talent have? What expectations does it have of the future employer?

2. Organizational Framework

How challenging is the work, how good are the working conditions, what is the relationship between the supervisor and the employee, how good is the team work, etc.?

3. Employee-related Attitude

How committed is someone at work, how well can they identify with the company and its purpose?

4. Employee-related Behavior

How much effort does a talent put into his work, how much effort does someone put for his team and the company?

5. Employee-related Results

How satisfied is someone with his job, how good does he/she feel in the company? How well does someone feel being supported for his further development and career goals?

6. Business Results

What influence did the talent have on sales, improvements, innovations?

Measure Employee Experience with 5 KPIs out of 29 Questions

Precise questions are formulated for the areas presented. For example, the ECHONOVUM EMPLOYEE INSIGHTS Platform works with only 29 employee questions that focus on the experience in the various areas. The data collected from the 29 questions gets translated into 5 KPIs. They provide insights into the employee experience of the whole organization and organizational units.

Employee Engagement Score:

How engaged do employees behave in their jobs, towards the team and the organization?

Employee Well-Being Score:

How satisfied and balanced do employees feel?

Employee Retention Score:

How willing are your employees to recommend you and to stay with the organization?

Leadership & Culture Score:

How satisfied are your employees with their relationship with their supervisor, information, communication, and management?

Learning & Development Score:

How satisfied are your employees with the development opportunities within the organization (career development, continuing education)?

The lean, periodic employee surveys with only 7 or 9 questions feel the puls of the employees quickly. They also learn that their opinion is essential. A feedback culture is gradually being established. This results in strength and credibility when managers respond rapidly to trends.

The KPIs provide information about the most important aspects of the mutual relationship and identify areas with potential need for development.
They support the organization in improving its Employee Experience.

Download Factsheet 29/5 Principle

Key Takeaways

The periodically collected employee feedback provides a holistic view of the Employee Experience in the company. Each sub-area is taken into account. The KPIs serve as an early warning system: Trends can be recognized and potential areas can be addressed quickly.

A company benefits from:

• An increased employee engagement
• An increase in the performance of the employees and teams
• Recognizing trends in corporate and leadership culture
• Recognizing of dissatisfaction with regard to future perspectives
• Reduction of the employee fluctuation
• An increase of the talent recommendation rate and positive reviews