What is Your Employee Experience?

BY: DAVE NELSON



This statement is not only true for amusement parks, but also for ANY operation!

Most of us have used websites like Yelp or Tripadvisor to gather first-hand insight into particular stores, restaurants or locations – sometimes altering our plans as a result. Other websites like Indeed and Glassdoor are now enabling employees to review their workplaces in a similar way. Even more powerful, positive and negative experiences also spread through word of mouth among friends and acquaintances. Depending on the nature of their employee experience, these testimonies could either encourage potential applicants to further pursue your job openings, or scare them away from ever wanting to work for your company.

This begs the question, What is your employee experience? If you don’t have an answer to this, you need to read on!

The employee experience encompasses everything employees think, feel and see at work. This is a culmination of the perceptions gathered through an employee’s journey at your company, from hiring to separation or retirement.

Putting effort into evaluating your employee experience may sound trivial at first – after all, most business leaders have plenty of things to tackle on their To Do lists already. However, it is essential if leaders hope to foster employee engagement, growth and success within their organizations. The employee experience lays the foundation for building a strong company culture, which has a profound impact on an organization. A simple tweak to your employee experience can last a lifetime and save you a lot of future frustration and costs.

Identifying and improving your employee experience is more important now than ever before. Following the impact of the global pandemic, nearly all companies are experiencing budget cuts and a tightening of the belt. Typically, the first elements to be cut are the feel-good company events and complimentary swag for employees. Without those, leaders must focus on improving other aspects of the holistic employee experience that don’t cost money, such as establishing a mentoring program as part of onboarding, having more regular team check-ins or reviewing the tone of your email rejection letter.

A number of articles and books have been written on how to improve your employee experience. To provide hands-on, personalized guidance, The Center is launching a new two-day course called Building Your Employee Experience focused on helping manufacturers understand and improve their current employee experience. This course looks at all aspects of the employee experience, from recruitment and talent pipelines to personal and professional development. Participants leave with a fully-developed roadmap to improve their employee experience.

Learn more about this course at the-center.org and reserve your spot at the upcoming class starting February 11^th.


MEET OUR EXPERT

Dave Nelson, Senior Business Solutions Manager
Dave joined The Center in 2013 as a Senior Business Solutions Manager. Working directly with manufacturers in Wayne and Monroe counties, he enjoys helping small and medium-sized companies reach their full potential. Dave is a seasoned professional with expertise at identifying/opening new market opportunities and increasing market penetration in existing markets. He also has extensive experience in generating/growing new business and selling intangible services.
 

Since 1991, the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center has assisted Michigan’s small and medium-sized businesses to successfully compete and grow. Through personalized services designed to meet the needs of clients, we develop more effective business leaders, drive product and process innovation, promote company-wide operational excellence and foster creative strategies for business growth and greater profitability. Find us at www.the-center.org.