Top tips to improve employee experience in uncertain times

Involve employees in big changes

Companies spend and invest a lot in digital transformation, but too often overlook the most important factor in implementing new technology and ways of doing things: workers. Yasmine Alani, head of creative learning, DEI and culture at Media Zoo focused on a human-oriented approach for companies looking to innovate and why it's a clutch for success. "People, on the whole, generally don't like change," she warned. "Change is complex and emotional. Your company change will not succeed without your people on board. It's a win-win situation to put humans first as it reduces resistance and leads to higher morale."

Alani pointed to Kodak as an example of a digital transformation gone wrong when employees are not involved in the process. Failing to adapt to new technology in the early 2000s, Kodak suffered significant financial losses and market share, ultimately filing for Chapter 12 bankruptcy.

Had Kodak engaged the workers during this tumultuous time to help facilitate a move toward digital, perhaps they would have experienced a different outcome. Employees might have also sounded the alarm that the company was not adapting fast enough -- something old-school, out-of-touch executives might not have realized.

Alani addressed the tangible ways leaders can engage employees during times of change with the acronym ADKAR:
1. Awareness of the need for change.
2. Desire to participate and support the change.
3. Knowledge of how to change.
4. Ability to implement desired skills and behaviors.
5. Reinforcement to sustain the change.

Tools like KPIs, employee satisfaction surveys, productivity metrics, customer feedback, and culture assessments can help leaders keep tabs on where their worker's heads are.

Alani closed her talk by emphasizing the importance of putting workers at the center of change. "Ask yourself if you've really put your people front and center or have you just focused on the technology you're trying to adapt or the processes you're trying to follow."

Use research findings to improve employee experience

Beth Schultz, vice president of research and principal analyst from Metrigy, shared an in-depth study produced by her company to help viewers understand the components of a successful employee experience strategy.

"Human beings are sometimes illogical, sometimes fallible and don't always work the way we're supposed to," Schultz explains. Metrigy's study of 111 "successful" companies found that a variety of roles were involved in bolstering employee experience beyond just HR such as IT, C-suite, internal communications and operations. An employee experience (EX) platform proved the most successful in upping engagement rates compared to intranet and voice-of-the-employee platform

Schultz identified four characteristics of a mature strategy:

1. Leadership for guiding and innovating.
2. Technology to support and manage employee experience.
3. Ability to understand employee activity and behavior via data collected.
4. Process and structure in play for continuous analysis and improvement.

Even AI is making inroads into employee experience with 18% of companies using it for this exact purpose. Still, many companies continue to hold onto legacy technologies like intranet. Why? Old technologies die hard, and the intranet helps to communicate corporate news and engage employees with relevant information. The study found 28% use enterprise social software and 50% use an employee communications app.

Schultz pointed to the study's findings to encourage companies to take a prolonged approach rather than attempt a quick fix. A few examples are to create an executive-level role devoted to monitoring employee experience as well as to identifying KPIs and instilling processes to continually improve it.

Tackle common workplace demons

Consultant and recruiting business owner Ivy Blossom led viewers in a fun, fantasy-themed presentation to identify common morale killers encountered by workers and how companies can snuff them out.

Blossom pointed out the three "monsters" common in companies today: dissatisfaction, turnover and disengagement. All three can wreak devastating havoc on companies. Disengagement results in $550 billion annually lost productivity according to Gallup. Turnovers lead to drained resources, weakened morale and knowledge loss. Dissatisfied employees can become hostile with one another and increasingly absent, hampering productivity.

The good news is that companies have a lot of strategy options to combat these demoralizing forces. Like many transformations, improving the workplace begins at the top with its leadership. Management must create a culture of empathetic leaders and do so by example by creating a culture of trust and transparency. Leadership must also recognize workers are more than just units of production and acknowledge their contributions and facilitate professional development through training resources and mentoring programs. Blossom encourages leaders to take a closer account of their workers by fostering a culture of belonging, celebrating diversity and keeping tabs on morale and needs through focus groups and surveys.

Blossom referenced companies known for their people-oriented work culture like Google who allow workers flexible work arrangements; Salesforce who invests in employee resource groups and volunteer programs to strengthen worker morale and unity; and Hilton who form initiatives for workers to formally recognize each other's contribution.

A happy workforce is a difficult goal to achieve in today's turbulent times. However, with these expert insights, companies can make their organizations a place that attracts top talent to enthusiastically channel their skills into company success, not merely to just obtain a paycheck.

Alicia Landsberg is a senior managing editor on the BrightTALK summits team. She previously worked on TechTarget's networking and security group and served as senior editor for product buyer's guides.