Engaging Employees in the Experience Lifecycle
Revisiting the Employee Experience Lifecycle
If you’re not familiar with the Employee Experience Lifecycle model yet, I recommend checking out our previous posts introducing the model (along with this video), as well as the blog and video on the first part of the Employee Experience Lifecycle—Attract. But if you’re short on time and just want a quick review, here you go!
At Bright Talent, we use the term “employee experience” to describe the journey of an employee from new hire to being engaged and retained. The employee experience is managed by a well-crafted ecosystem of processes and people that work synergistically to create opportunity for every employee. The Human Resources function typically develops and stewards these practices to support both employees and managers. It establishes your employment value proposition and culture. And all of this translates to your employment brand – how your company is viewed by candidates, employees, and former employees.
In short, this is the all-encompassing, soup-to-nuts process for every interaction with employees, from the initial job posting all the way through the exit interview. The goal is for employees to start – and end – with nothing but good feelings about you and your company. Why? Because in our current world of post-pandemic job opportunities and fast-moving conversations on social media, your employees can help or hurt the reputation of your company. So it’s advised to treat your employees well, or some other company will!!
In this blog post, we’ll talk through the second part (the second third) of the Employee Experience Lifecycle, focusing on onboarding new hires, setting clear expectations for them, and the importance of establishing development opportunities right out of the gate.
The importance of establishing connection with new employees
Per the first part of the Employee Experience Lifecycle, you plotted out your talent requirements, you recruited the best candidates, and you hired the right person for the position. So now what? Some managers might think their work is done and it’s up to the new employees to take it from here. But the truth is, the manager’s role in the employee experience, in collaboration with HR, extends well beyond recruiting and hiring. And rightfully so! HR teams, in collaboration with managers, bring a wealth of knowledge and resources to the table when it comes to onboarding and sustaining support for new hires. And integrating a new person into the company culture and their team, as well as planning for long-term growth, requires a thoughtful and meaningful approach.
Starting from day one, you want new hires to feel engaged with the mission and vision of your company and to feel a strong connection to their manager and teammates. No person is an island, and you definitely don’t want your employees to feel like they are going it alone. Instead, you want their experience to feel personal and designed around their background, skills and needs. The key here is to create an emotional bond between the new hire and your company, and to help them see how their role fits into the bigger picture.
The trick is to do this in a seamless, organized and efficient way – and one that can be replicated for future hires. So let’s talk about the three parts of the Employee Experience Lifecycle that will help define a framework for onboarding and growing new hires:
Onboarding and integration: Getting an employee integrated into the company and their team quickly and efficiently is critical. We want them to feel engaged in their new role as soon as possible, as this directly correlates to their ongoing productivity and retention.
Setting expectations: From the get-go, it’s imperative that employees understand both their responsibilities and what they are accountable for. Doing this reduces confusion and questions, and it empowers the new hire to feel confident in their role.
Development opportunities: Talking to new employees about growth and skills development early on shows them that you are invested in their personal and professional future. And creating short- and long-term goals for development allows them to feel like they are part of the larger growth of the company – therefore increasing their loyalty and commitment.
Establishing the right tone, timing and approach to these three modules will create that strong, emotional connection for new employees and allow your company culture to come alive.
Making a significant upfront investment in employee engagement is imperative
Investing the time and energy into the three modules above isn’t just good for morale and engagement. The long-term effects of doing these well will result in higher productivity for both the employee and your entire staff. This leads to a company that can consistently outperform the competition every time.
Now, above I mentioned that you want to create an engagement process for new folks that can be replicated for future hires. But this doesn’t mean a cookie-cutter approach. Far from it. Because while you can – and should – have a defined framework for onboarding, setting expectations and development, each employee will need the experience to be customized for their particular role and needs. As such, this part of the Employee Experience Lifecycle is a bit more complex than the first section when it comes to building high functioning programs.
But if you're serious about growth and profitability, you cannot skimp on this! Instead, you need to invest heavily in this part of the process to ensure you’re laying a strong foundation. And rest assured, this does not all rest on the shoulders of just the manager and the HR team! Getting this part of the Lifecycle right requires establishing a clear strategy and collaboration among several functions – including HR, training teams, executive leadership and hiring managers.
Getting down to the nuts and bolts
Alright, you’re probably thinking “I get it but how do I get started?” Let’s look at some examples for each module that show how this can work for you and your company.
Onboarding and integration: Number one rule: don’t bypass a formal orientation! Even in our current age of remote working, spending time orienting new hires to the company, the mission/values, the teams and your clients is key to hooking them into your culture. And remember: all work and no play has never really worked out for anyone. So consider assigning a new employee a “buddy” who will support them and invite them to participate in more socially oriented meetings with peers and business leaders. In addition, we strongly recommend developing a “100 day plan” for onboarding, which provides a clear roadmap for getting a new person up-to-speed and establishing a start/end date for the process.
Expectations and total rewards: Within the first week of hiring, make sure your new hire has meetings scheduled with their manager to review roles and responsibilities, as well as with your HR team (or compensation representative) to discuss the total rewards package. This includes salary, but also all of the employer-paid and voluntary benefits on offer.
Training and diversity: No one wants to jump into the deep end without feeling prepared. This is especially true for new employees! As such, you’ll want to build in time for your hire to hear from peers and the leadership team on the company’s vision, their team’s role in the growth of the business, and how each department works individually and collectively. Essentially you want the employee to be able to visualize how they fit into the bigger picture and are supporting the company’s growth. It’s also important to provide opportunities for new folks to connect with other staff members beyond their team who have similar interests or stages in life.
Please know these are just a few simple examples! As mentioned above, this part of the Employee Experience Lifecycle requires significant time and planning to execute it successfully, and you’ll want to personalize it for your company’s needs and culture, as well as for each new hire.
As I wrap up this post, I want to be very clear about one thing: if your company bypasses or skimps on the engagement process with new hires, you run the risk of shortcutting retention as well. Which only results in starting the Lifecycle all over again to replace the lost talent. Research shows that it can cost six-nine months of an employee’s salary to replace them. So essentially, by not investing in this part of the process, you are at risk of wasting a significant amount of time and money.
And really, in a market that favors the candidate over the employer, can any of us afford to be “penny wise and pound foolish?”
In the next and final blog on the Employee Experience Lifecycle, we’ll be exploring the importance and “how tos” of retaining valuable employees.
If you’d like to learn more about how we help HR leaders and their teams, please give us a call or shoot over an email. We can help you with the right expert to solve your current challenges on an interim, outsource, or project basis.
We look forward to hearing from you!
