How to get the most out of your employees

Futurist Jacob Morgan points out in his book The Employee Experience Advantage that he looked at 252 firms around the world and only six per cent of them were doing an “amazing job of creating employee experiences”. But that six per cent had four times the profit and 40% lower turnover than the average.

This kind of thinking is at the heart of the report Making Every Moment Matter, authored for WorkForce Software by Marc Gingras, the company’s SVP of Employee Experience Strategy.

In the report, WorkForce illustrates seven actions employers should focus on:

1. Enabling two-way conversations with co-workers and managers

2. Providing a sense of purpose and more meaningful work

3. Ensuring their voices are heard and responding to feedback in a timely manner

4. Creating a better work/life balance and providing flexibility and control over work arrangements

5. Integrating modern, consumer-grade technology into workflows

6. Offering ongoing job training and career development

7. Prioritising the health, safety and well-being of employees

Those that consider these elements will thrive, says the report. Gingras flags Ladbrokes Coral, who experienced a 98% reduction in payroll enquiries by providing greater visibility into schedules. Meanwhile, Kurt Geiger boosted engagement with furloughed staff by sharing feel-good stories and staying connected over corporate communication platform without access to work-related content.

There is still so much to tackle. Fourteen billion pounds was lost to UK businesses in 2020 because of absenteeism. And it costs, on average, £11,000 when you turn over a member of staff. Elsewhere, a 2021 global survey by Pollfish found only 59% of employees describe having flexible work arrangements and 42% prefer task-based pay rates, but nearly a quarter aren’t receiving them.

Another survey by Tribe found that 85% of deskless workers don’t get enough direct comms from senior management.

So what can be done? WorkForce argues for giving employees a voice in their schedules, as well as using self-service technology for leave requests. By building on incremental changes like this, companies will enable better work/life balance with flexible schedules, streamlined time-off requests and make sure employees’ voices are heard.

They will help to set employees up for success with simplified communication, knowledge sharing and clear expectations before they show up for work each day. And by creating consistently meaningful moments at work by getting employee feedback, they will be ensuring workers have all the tools to do their jobs, at the same time recognising when they’re burnt out and need a break.

Read more:

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