Chris Britton
When we have asked HR leaders about what is getting in the way of future planning, two of the themes we hear are “not enough resources” and being in “firefighting mode” that prevents thoughtful planning. We also find that employees share the importance of being listened to. These two themes play into a best practice that many of our most successful clients employ – the Employee Experience Committee.
We cannot do people experience without our people. Our PX Communities allow us direct access to a group of passionate people who want to be involved in the shaping of our culture. They are a vital link between our RGERs and the people team and can offer quick and informed feedback on things we are working on and things they think we should be working on.
No more guessing – just ask
As HR and People teams strive to support the employee experience of the organisation, it is always important to remember that HR’s experience isn’t the same as others. As much as we might try to put ourselves in the shoes of the driver, or the lab tech, or the employee, we aren’t them. Employee personas are a great tool to consider the needs of employees, but the fastest most reliable way to get their feedback is still to ask.
Surveys can do a great job of helping us learn from a large sample, but there are only so many polls and surveys we can do in a year. Additionally, survey questions don’t include the context that a dialogue with employees can have.
Let’s say there is important training missing from your employee onboarding. If you ask for feedback on onboarding, it may be too soon for new employees to realise there is a problem.
Bringing employees together plugs you into the employee grapevine so you hear about the problem and can ask clarifying questions in the moment. “Does everyone need to do that training or just our sales team?” Now you are in the know and more prepared to take action.
Our PX Communities told us there was a gap in how we communicated various learning opportunities to our people. They said they were unaware of a lot of the initiatives we ran due to them not being easily accessible or difficult to find. Using this information, we were able to reshape our communication approach to the business on all things learning and did a deep dive pulse survey into how Learning & Development (L&D) was perceived.
Increased buy-in
As we work with clients to rollout thoughtful and comprehensive solutions, we know there is nothing worse than your people not making use of your hard-won tools.
Have a team of employees giving you input? They become an extension of your team.
Educated and prepared to talk up the decisions they were a part of making. Or ready to socialise a new benefit, drive up usage and give you fast, honest feedback on how its being perceived on the frontlines.
Do not underestimate the power of having the voice of your people in the work you are doing as HR professionals. This doesn’t need to be complicated – simply ask for volunteers and set a communication method – but the output is invaluable.
Check out our research into employee connection and belonging and the crucial role it plays in engagement, productivity and retention.
