Since e-commerce has spread and been the alternative to traditional purchasing in many sectors, the satisfaction of the final customer has been recognized as the key to the organizations’ success. An increasing attention towards customers does not correspond to an equally increasing attention towards employees, though. However, never as today, the internal and external dimension of organizations have been so connected to each other.
The most precious resource of an organization: the people who are part of it
The customer experience begins at the heart of the organization when employees interact with consumers or provide information and services. Organizations cannot satisfy their external interlocutors if they are not able to manage their most precious resource: the people who are part of it. The quality of the customer experience determines the positive or negative brand’s perception and the decision to continue buying or using its products. Similarly, an employee's experience that may or may not be happy, begins when he approaches the organization as a candidate and could lead to an early departure from the company. Employee experience therefore becomes essential for hiring talented people and not losing the brightest resources working inside the company.
Employee experience: involving employees in every moment of their journey
The overall purpose of adopting a correct Employee Journey is to bring benefits to the entire experience of employees throughout their career path. Each phase corresponds to specific objectives and must be declined on digital tools relevant for the requested actions. The first goal is to attract the best resources available. Employer Branding has exactly the intent of creating external value for the organization's image through social strategies, corporate website, applications and Employee Advocacy programs. In a second phase, candidates are directly involved in the company through gamification dynamics or specialized platforms that support the Recruiting phase. The third phase related to Onboarding, accompanies employees in the delicate process of insertion in the company: to discover a new environment and a new corporate culture. The direct involvement of the new employee can be done by dedicated mobile applications, spaces’ virtual tours, digital communities and personalized learning paths in quiz format. The long-term phase is the one that involves daily the employee in the activities, supporting collaboration and more effective management of information and processes. The opportunities for enhancing and motivating employees and spreading digital culture grow within organizations through company social networks and collaboration platforms, which can be accompanied by internal communication initiatives. The introduction of Digital Workplace solutions allows the integration of business and personal productivity tools, managed through increasingly automated and interactive methods. Empowerment corresponds to the fifth phase of the journey, with the aim of providing the tools to employees in order to increase their skills and be able to face new challenges. The tools can be multiple: differentiated multigenerational programs, digital mentorship and coaching initiatives, and new microlearning formats which transform traditional learning into a pleasant and modular activity based on personal needs. The Idea Management platforms, online brainstorming and new formats designed to train talents allow transmission of information and the knowledge sharing acquired within the company. Applying the principles of Customer Experience to improving the Employee Experience can lead to the creation of personalized and more relevant experiences capable of generating benefits that turn into a competitive lever for attracting and retaining talents and that are also reflected in the quality of the relationship with end customers.