[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/04\/13\/improve-employee-experience\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/04\/13\/improve-employee-experience\/","headline":"The best CX starts with making life better for employees","name":"The best CX starts with making life better for employees","description":"The connection between the employee experience and customer experience is undeniable. Engaged, motivated employees provide superior CX.","datePublished":"2021-04-13","dateModified":"2023-04-05","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/laurie-ruettimann\/#Person","name":"Laurie Ruettimann","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/laurie-ruettimann\/","identifier":460,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/29057434eb12993625044c37714336f1f5e443ad81a89fa02d764ed13ec90c14?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/29057434eb12993625044c37714336f1f5e443ad81a89fa02d764ed13ec90c14?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/BetterforEmployees_1200x375.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/BetterforEmployees_1200x375.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/04\/13\/improve-employee-experience\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/customer-experience-general\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/sap-sapphire-general\/customer-experience-sapphire\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/employee-engagement\/","name":"Employee Engagement","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Employee_engagement","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q14937678"]},"Employee Experience & Engagement","HXM: Human Experience Management"],"wordCount":1106,"keywords":["Customer Experience | CX","Employee Experience","HXM"],"articleBody":"The need to build a better corporate culture is something HR leaders have discussed since I first began my HR career. And many companies have taken baby steps to prioritize the needs of their workers and improve employee experience.Unfortunately, not every initiative did much to improve the employee experience (EX). I\u2019m looking at you, ping pong tables, casual-dress Fridays, and break room cashew dispensers.Maybe things are beginning to change. Pushed by the disruption caused by COVID-19 and backed by some solid data, HR finally has a quantifiable reason to create a better environment for workers: companies that create a great EX tend to also deliver a superior customer experience (CX).Improve employee experience: The CX connectionThis link between the employee experience and CX really shouldn\u2019t be surprising.\u201cTo be able to give that ultimate world-class experience to your customers, you need to build it inside your organization,\u201d says Enrique Rubio, founder and CEO of Hacking HR, a global learning community of HR leaders and practitioners. \u201cWe can\u2019t give what we don\u2019t have, right? But data shows that when your employees are engaged, treated with dignity and respect, valued, and offered opportunities for growth within your organization, they embody those values and pass them onto your customers.\u201d      HXM and HR metrics: Measuring motivation and its power to improve business                HR metrics and HXM solutions help measure how motivated employees are, and estimate the business impact of a motivated workforce.      The opposite is also true. Workers who feel unappreciated, mistreated, or ignored convey their dissatisfaction to customers. And unhappy employees who don\u2019t put your customers first won\u2019t help your company meet its goals or drive desired business outcomes.\u201cWe often do things in HR because it\u2019s the way we\u2019ve always done it, not necessarily because it\u2019s the right way to do things now,\u201d says Lars Schmidt, founder and principal of Amplify. \u201cIt\u2019s time for HR professionals to understand the priorities of their organization and design a people strategy that aligns with them.\u201dThese were just a few of the fascinating topics recently discussed as part of our LinkedIn Live series, The Rise of HXM. On the season finale of our series, I was thrilled to explore the connection between EX and CX with my cohost Lars Schmidt and our special guest Enrique Rubio. (You can watch this week\u2019s replay here.)Bringing EX and CX together But how can we connect the dots between doing the right thing for employees and delivering a positive return on investment for the business? Rubio listed three key steps:Understand the metrics of success of your organizationThink about the processes intended to improve employee experienceIdentify the connection between those processes and your business goalsThis exercise can be enlightening. \u201cYou may find that some processes aren\u2019t really contributing to the organization\u2019s success,\u201d he continues. \u201cOr you may discover that there are a few improvements that wouldn\u2019t cost much to implement but would have an outsized contribution to achieving your goals.\u201dHR can bring the acumen to merge these elements. \u201cBeing able to understand the business priorities of the organization, designing a people strategy that aligns to that, connecting it to the data, and developing those layers of insight and understanding, that\u2019s the magic,\u201d says Schmidt. \u201cThat\u2019s how HR can actually drive influence.\u201dCaring for the whole employee is the first stepHuman experience management (HXM) technologies can help HR teams better understand employees holistically and deliver an improved EX. \u201cThe next frontier for HR professionals is to think of employees in their entirety, in their own humanity,\u201d says Rubio. \u201cWe need to provide growth and learning opportunities but at the same time be flexible because of what they\u2019re going through outside of work. That creates interesting opportunities and challenges.\u201dIn past generations, employees were expected to leave their personal lives at the door of the workplace. But the pandemic threw a spotlight on a host of personal issues employees face every day \u2013 from family care pressures and homeschooling children to mental health. We can\u2019t ignore that anymore.      Workplace trends: People first, inclusive culture, modern HR                Workplace trends driving HR include a focus on the employee experience, humanizing the workplace, and investing in HR.      Not all companies have risen to the challenge yet. \u201cA friend who works for a big company told me he\u2019s had to report to the office every day since the pandemic began,\u201d Rubio recalls. \u201cSo stressful. And in one year, no one from HR ever reached out to this employee to ask how he was handling this.\u201dThe mental health of our people must be a priority to HR. \u201cAnd it doesn\u2019t have to be complicated,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt can start with something as simple as asking people what they\u2019re going through, how they\u2019re feeling, and what they need.\u201dThis is where technology can play a role, too. Powerful employee-listening tools make it simple for organizations to perform routine pulse checks to understand how employees are doing. These tools can also provide front-line managers and HR leaders with actionable insights they can use to make improvements and close experience gaps.No. 1 HR priority: Improve employee experience\u00a0And that\u2019s what today\u2019s workers expect from employers \u2013 the recognition that they are people with real needs and requirements. HR\u2019s role is to find ways to meet those needs, so employees can do their best for the business every day.\u201cIf you treat your people with dignity and respect and if you value them and provide growth opportunities, they will reflect that back in the way they treat your customers,\u201d Rubio says. \u201cBut the flip side is also true. If you\u2019re not providing any of these values, everyone else will feel it, too.\u201dAlthough the relationship between EX and CX is clear, corporate culture won\u2019t change overnight. But HR leaders who shift from focusing primarily on processes to truly understanding what their people need can begin architecting the changes that not only increase employee engagement but also drive amazing business results.Embracing HXM can help your business create the best possible experience \u2013 no matter where you sit in the organization \u2013 so your people can be productive, and your business can be profitable. You\u2019ll get the tools to sustain your momentum and stay on track. And you\u2019ll have what you need on your intelligent enterprise journey, so you can build an agile organization where everyone wins.  HR, better.Employees, happier.Businesses, healthier.It’s time to modernize the employee experience. "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"04","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/04\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"13","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/04\/\/13\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The best CX starts with making life better for employees","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/04\/13\/improve-employee-experience\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]