Finding, hiring, and training new employees is a difficult and expensive process. The most important thing you can do to retain top talent is to provide an excellent employee experience that includes good pay, strong communication, opportunities for improvement, and a healthy work-life balance.
Employee experience encompasses everything that happens to an employee during their employment and how they feel about it. It stretches from the first impression during recruiting to post-exit communications. Naturally, the most important times for excellent employee experience are during active employment.
Below we cover how to improve employee experience with 16 suggestions.
Key Takeaways
- Improving employee experience results in greater retention and productivity.
- Providing competitive wages is the first, best way to improve employee experience.
- Work/life balance is the most important employee wellness issue after finances.
- Promoting diversity and free sharing of ideas improves the morale of all your workers.
- Toxic employees or managers can wreck all your good work; you have to handle them.
1. Make Onboarding About More Than Paperwork
Onboarding is where your employee learns how organized your company is and how much they care about employees. According to Zippia, 17% of employees leave their new job in the first three months—many of which could have been prevented had the company provided a good onboarding process. In fact, the study notes that a well-structured orientation increases retention by 69%.
Onboarding should be more than getting paperwork done and touring the office. It should include basic training, meeting with managers and a get-to-know-you with teammates, and a discussion on expectations and goals for the first month, six months, and year. The best include scheduled feedback with supervisors to make sure the employee is fitting in and isn’t having problems with the work.
Learn more about creating a great onboarding program. Check out our articles:
- New Employee Onboarding Best Practices: Steps & Checklist
- How to Conduct New Employee Orientation
- Onboarding Documents 2024: What’s Required, Recommended & Optional
- New Employee Welcome Emails
2. Pay Appropriately
Low wages is the No. 1 stressor of employees at work—and small wonder, when inflation in 2022 was 8%. It went down to a more normal 3.4% in 2023, but most employees are still catching up.
If you’re underpaying employees, now is the time to look at making up for that, as 35% of businesses are upping their compensation to attract new employees, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. A good way to start is by doing a market survey of wages in your local area to see how you stack up against the competition.
Can’t afford to increase pay? While it’s vital that employees have a fair wage, if you can’t afford raises, then you can double down on employee experience best practices in other areas. This can drastically help with their overall employee experience, however, ultimately, even the best employee experience won’t be able to outweigh their compensation if they aren’t able to pay their bills with their current earnings.
3. Improve Work/Life Balance
After low wages, bad work/life balance was the next most common reason for employees quitting. Excessive work expectations for the hours provided, understaffed shifts, and managers that did not respect an employee’s time off hurt an employee’s well-being. Nearly 74% of US workers have suffered from burnout. Here are some ways to help prevent burnout:
- Provide flexible hours: Unless an employee must be at the workplace over certain hours, allow them to set their schedule as long as work is done. You can stipulate some time in office during regular work hours for accessibility. Learn more about implementing a flexible work policy in our guide.
- Allow remote work: Like flexible hours, this gives the employee more freedom to manage work and home, but still comes with the stipulation of getting work done on time and to spec.
- Allow more PTO: Many companies are moving to unlimited PTO for salaried employees with an honor system and stipulations. A 2022 survey from Namely found that employees on unlimited PTO only took about a day more of leave than those with limited plans. Nonetheless, the option of unlimited PTO and the trust it implies makes it one of the most sought-after benefits for workers today. Find out how to create an unlimited PTO policy.
- Make off-time mean off-time: A Headspace survey found 42% of employees said their managers did not respect working hour boundaries. Managers need to be reminded that, barring actual emergencies, employees should not be bothered outside of work.
4. Provide Incentives
Incentives are tangible ways to reward employees for doing excellent work. These are commonly in the form of cash—but can also be stock options, gift cards, time off, lunch with the CEO, a prime parking place. The only limit is your imagination.
You can make incentives competition-based or goal-based. The point of incentives is that they give employees something to work toward, so they should have clearly defined objectives and rewards. This differs from random rewards for a job well done.
Find out about the different employee incentive programs you could implement in our in-depth guide—we even provide instructions on how to create one that’s unique to your company.
5. Give Regular Feedback
Regular feedback is a vital part of employee management. New employees should have frequent feedback in their first six months; after which, you can move to a six-month or annual review. There are great programs for helping you schedule and conduct employee feedback, and you may have them in your HR software as well—check our roundup of the best performance management systems for some options. Of course, your managers should also provide feedback anytime needed.
Feedback should concentrate on both strengths and weaknesses and include goals. Further, when an employee is having a problem, the best feedback does not just point this out but offers tools for improvement whether training, mentoring, or other assistance.
Learn more about creating effective employee performance feedback:
- How to Do a Performance Review
- A Complete Guide to 360 Feedback
- Employee Evaluation Forms: Templates & What to Include
6. Recognize an Employee’s Contributions
A few kind words can do so much. 26% of employees surveyed by Beekeeper said that lack of recognition discourages them enough to negatively impact their work. While employee recognition can take the form of bonuses or official recognition, even a verbal kudo means a lot.
Managers should be trained and reminded to touch base with their people outside of feedback time to let them know when and what they are doing well. And, don’t forget to recognize your managers’ efforts, too!
Pass on Customer Compliments: Even more than manager compliments, customer approval was the best motivator for front-line employees, with 43% saying it was their top reason for getting the job done. Surveys at the bottom of receipts, customer feedback cards, and simply asking are great ways to generate this feedback, and when you can identify the employee, be sure to pass it on.
7. Get Rid of Toxic Employees
You’ll have a hard time improving employee experience if one of your own people is tearing it down. 40% of front-line workers left because of a toxic workplace caused by a manager or employee. Toxic employees may be cruel or discriminatory, or they may simply be lazy, leaving others to work harder to take up the slack.
Whatever the reason, there are many ways to get rid of a toxic employee. The most obvious is firing them. However, if you think the person can be redeemed, then corrective action like training, increased guidance, or a Performance Improvement Plan may alleviate the problem—and, it could reassure employees that you care about working with them.
8. Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
No one should feel ostracized at work for their race, religion, or gender, but DEI goes beyond that. It strives to encourage the creativity and innovation that comes when people feel free to share input that comes from their personal backgrounds.
DEI programs are a vital part of a good employee experience strategy. They help all workers, even those not in marginalized or minority races. Ways to improve DEI in the workforce are to include its principles in all aspects of an employee’s work life, from hiring and training to performance management and out-processing. Tracking DEI progress in your HR metrics helps you see how you’re doing. Also include DEI questions in feedback surveys.
A diverse workforce makes your company stronger and improves employee experience. (Source: Pixabay)
9. Give Employees Challenging, Meaningful Work
Employees want work that is worth their skills and efforts. Challenging assignments (as long as they have the tools and time to accomplish them) provide a sense of satisfaction and motivate employees. Studies show that motivated employees work better, are more likely to stay with their employer, and are less likely to take time off work.
Here are some ideas to try:
- Ensure they understand how their job fits in the grand scheme: No employee should feel like their work does not make a difference, so let them know. You might provide an overview during orientation that shows how their job affects others or the final product.
- Give feedback: When someone’s work has a definite positive effect, tell them. By the same token, explain during feedback sessions how poor performance is negatively affecting outcomes elsewhere.
- Provide public recognition: From a formal award to a public kudo on the company chat, public recognition not only makes the employee feel good but gives others insight into how their work contributes to the whole team.
- Automate the grunt work: The growth of AI has led to software that can take over a lot of repetitive, nit-noid tasks that take time but not brainpower. Investing in software to handle these can free up employee time for more challenging projects to move your company forward.
- Allow time for innovation or side projects: Google, for example, allows and even encourages employees to spend up to 20% of their workweek on a project of their choice. This keeps employees interested and engaged and has led to some of their most successful projects, including Gmail and Google Maps.
10. Provide Ways to Grow
Employees want to move their careers forward; the more you support that, the better your employee will feel about working for you. In addition to performance feedback aimed at furthering their skills, it’s important to provide other growth opportunities. Here are some ideas:
- Extra training: Webinars, courses, training programs, or tuition assistance.
- Mentoring: Allowing them to shadow someone in upper management, mentoring lunches, or feedback sessions geared toward growing their career rather than the job at hand.
- Promotion opportunities: Be sure to include clear requirements for these, and hire in-house when possible.
Learn more about professional development, as well as its importance and benefits, in our in-depth guide.
11. Empower Your Staff to Set Goals
When employees feel like part of the team rather than a cog in the wheel, they are more likely to engage in their own work as well as in building the company. When possible, let teams set their timelines and goals. Give them freedom to innovate and make changes. And, if they balk at a task, take time to listen to their reasoning.
Naturally, autonomy can only work when there’s respect for the overall objectives, so it’s OK to give limits to a team’s freedom: an overarching deadline for a project and limits on changes that they can make. Clear communication is key—but we cover that later.
Need help crafting goals with your team? Look into using the SMART goal methodology. It’s a framework that helps you create specific goals that are achievable to maximum effectivity. Check out our guide to setting SMART goals—we even provide a template to help you draft it out as detailed as possible.
12. Ask For—and Act On—Employee Feedback
Surveys don’t have to be just for engagement. If there’s an issue or big decision coming up, soliciting employee feedback not only helps them feel part of the process but may generate solutions you hadn’t thought of.
Allowing employee feedback during performance reviews, not just on their own performance, but on the company in general or problems in particular, can help expose issues you can handle before they get overwhelming.
Regardless of the feedback or method, it does no good if you don’t act upon it. At the very least acknowledge the input. If accepted, announce it with kudos to those who suggested it. If rejected, try to give some reasoning. In this way, employees feel heard.
13. Enhance Company Communications
Communication is a top people management skill because it affects everything, including employee engagement. Communication is vital for employees to feel safe in the workplace, to accomplish their jobs, and to develop relationships that make the workplace somewhere they enjoy going to. It’s especially important for remote workers, who don’t see people casually throughout the day.
At a minimum, employees should have easy access to company information and announcements, feedback from management, and the ability to reach out to people with whom they work, including the supply guy in the other building. At its best, though, company communications provide avenues for socializing as well as working through problems with co-workers in a non-threatening environment.
Software like Slack and Teams are great for communication, and many HRIS programs have internal communications tools. However, don’t forget the personal touch: town halls, get-togethers, cross-department meet-ups, and even spaces where employees can meet to blow off steam.
14. Don’t Forget Remote Employees
Remote employees are a growing part of the workforce. In fact, USA Today said 22% of Americans will be working remotely by 2025. COVID-19, remote communications tools like Zoom and the ease of internet access make this a viable alternative for many and help with work/life balance.
Remote workers have their own challenges, however—they may have more distractions. They don’t have the option of knocking on a manager’s door with a question, and their work hours may differ from their in-office co-workers, especially if they are in a different time zone.
It’s important to enhance employee experience that you be sensitive to their needs. That starts with making sure they have the tools they need, clear guidelines, and the ability to reach out to someone with questions. You can take it further by arranging for them to communicate regularly with co-workers and management, such as broadcasting town halls, including them in invitations to company events (if they are in the area), and providing online chances to talk to co-workers casually as well as for business.
15. Create Routine but Add Surprises
Routines provide stability that many people find comforting. This can include set procedures, regular schedules for meetings or goals—but also more fun things, like a monthly cake to celebrate birthdays. However, the occasional (good!) surprise can improve the employee experience. Examples include a surprise afternoon off, free bagels “just because,” or an unexpected bonus if the company does well.
Surprise bagels can make anyone’s day. (Source: Pixabay)
16. Conduct Engagement Surveys
Unsure where to start? Conduct an employee engagement survey. This is a simple questionnaire filled out (with the option of anonymity) to let you know the strengths and weaknesses in the workplace. Use it to get the pulse of your employee happiness, uncover problem areas, or generate ideas for improvement.
These surveys can and should be conducted regularly, and especially after big events, like an influx or reduction of employees or changes in the company’s mission or organization.
Employee surveys don’t have to be hard. Many HRIS software include the option for conducting these. Or download our employee survey templates and engagement survey template free.
Why Is it Important to Improve Your Employees’ Experience?
When you improve employee experience, it impacts your company across the board. Studies have shown that a better employee experience means greater productivity, higher employee retention, and even lower absenteeism.
- Keep your employees: A Beekeeper study showed only 24% of front-line employees changed jobs because of better offers. The rest were because they needed better pay, the work/life balance was wrong, or to escape a toxic workplace.
- Improve productivity: The same Beekeeper study found that 44% of productivity issues were directly related to employee experience issues. Another 36% was due to understaffed shifts.
- Lower absenteeism: 68% of respondents in a ResumeLab survey said they’ve taken a day off for mental health reasons. Improving employee experience in the workplace can cut their need to take a day away.
- Greater engagement: Happy employees tend to align better with your company goals and values and help improve the workplace for everyone.
- Improved brand reputation: Happy employees are more likely to recommend your company to others—in particular to friends and relatives—as a great place to work. This can also help you when recruiting more employees.
Read our article on employee engagement and why it’s important for more information.
Improving Employee Experience Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The 16 ideas we presented are just some of the employee experience best practices. If you want a better employee experience in your workplace, start with those, but always keep your eye out for areas of discontent and improvement. Regular employee surveys, keeping up with inflation and market wage values, and tackling problems as they show up will keep employees happy and engaged.
Enhancing employee experience means getting rid of the blocks to employee happiness, like poor work/life balance, and making already good aspects of work even better, such as expanding your kudos and rewards program. What it means for your business is improved employee retention and greater productivity.
A great employee experience is when your employees are well paid, do work they care about and that benefits others, and have good relationships with their coworkers and management.
This depends greatly on your business. For some, increased pay would make the biggest impact; for others, removing a toxic manager. Your best bet is to conduct an engagement survey to find your employees’ pain points.
Bottom Line
A happy employee is an engaged employee. Employee happiness depends heavily on how they experience work—the satisfaction they get from the job, the compensation that lets them enjoy life outside work, and the relationships with the people they work with. By making the 16 ideas above part of your employee experience strategy, you’ll start seeing more participation, greater productivity, and lower employee churn.
