The Experience Economy: Achieving the Next Level of Employee Engagement

The Experience Economy has many connotations and, in the world of HR systems and services, multiple suppliers across IT and Service industries are announcing new capabilities, new philosophies and new approaches as they re-brand from Human Capital management to Human Experience management (HXM or EX).  At one extreme, we have the ‘design thinkers’ who look to deconstruct the current ways of working and reimagine new ways for employees to interact with their organisations. For others, it’s about adding new capabilities to existing technologies making it easier for employees to connect and work with their companies. What is encouraging to see, especially as an organisation that has been working in the HR service industry for over 21 years, is that our industry is continuing to drive innovative thinking to that age old challenge; how do I attract , engage and retain the best people? 

At its core, the experience economy is about taking employee engagement to the next level through some form of Digital Transformation. In today’s ‘War for Talent’, the fight that companies have to attract, engage and retain their top talent, so as to maintain competitive advantage, has become even more heated post the Covid pandemic.  Without a clear employee engagement strategy, people within organisations become disengaged and disheartened, and with today’s top talent being able to name their price and motivational incentives, they will lose interest and look elsewhere……and there are plenty of organisations willing to take them on.

Importantly, it has been proven that employee engagement links directly to company performance and productivity. According to Gallup, those companies with highly engaged employees experience a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% increase in productivity. Compounded by the fact that UK job vacancies reached an all-time high of 1.21 million at the end of November 2021 many companies are experiencing a knock-on effect where they are losing talent rapidly to those companies that truly value their people. Commonly known as ‘The Great Resignation’ this means that employee engagement is even more important today than ever before. 

What does this mean and what can I do ? 

The good news is that there are actions you can take now to ensure you are ready to embrace the Experience economy and provide an environment where your employees are fully engaged within your organisation and with your customers . It’s time to dust-down your current, or start  from new,  your Employee Engagement Strategy. And this is where we can help. Having a strategic employee engagement strategy will enable you to: 

Attract – To attract top talent, your organisation must empower people to be able to advance their career. It needs to be a place where people are given opportunities to learn new skills and take on new challenges. Being able to lure the most passive of prospective employees is key to securing the best.  

Engage – Engaged employees care about their work and about the performance of the company and feel that their efforts make a difference. There are many ways to engage your people: provide them with the tools for success; allow them to grow; support them and give them authority; recognise their work; promote teamwork; offer flexible/hybrid working; to name a few. 

Retain – Every company needs to retain their talent, regardless of size, turnover or sector. Taking steps to prevent high employee turnover has a direct impact on business performance. High retention has a direct correlation with employee engagement and productivity.