Apple has long been recognized as a leader in creating innovative customer experiences, which is one of the reasons the company has developed what some consider a cult-like following. What would happen if HR could create a similar experience for their employees?
The Harvard Business Review (HBR) suggests that the concept of employee engagement is waning and that the true organizational leaders of tomorrow will concentrate on the “Employee Experience.” It is the employee experience that will shape employee engagement.
Research indicates that companies should care deeply about employee engagement. Gallup has found that, “companies with highly engaged workforces outperform their peers by 147% in earnings per share.”
What CEO would not want to see a 147% increase in share price?
Expanding on this research, HR needs to start treating employees like customers. This is not a particularly new idea. HR has attempted to treat its employees more like customers for years. However, it is now time to continue that trend, and to succeed in creating more positive employee experiences.
There are two fundamental concepts in developing a customer experience strategy for employees; the concept of segmentation and the customer journey. The following HBR article summarizes these two concepts.
Click here to read the article.
If organizations what to improve their corporate results, perhaps they should think about changing their employment engagement philosophy to one that truly focuses on the employee experience, which will in turn improve employee performance.
Discussion Questions:
- After reading the HBR article, create a journey map to improve the employee experience. Choose an organization that you are familiar with, or somewhere you have worked in the past.
- Think about a job you have had in the past. How would your relationship with that company have been different if they had treated you like a customer?