Intelligent CXO Issue 13 | Page 21

EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

SIMON DALY , EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE STRATEGIST AT QUALTRICS

Again , there is a clear call to action for employers here – engage your employees and you can better understand what they want from you to feel valued .

The stakes have never been higher for companies to deliver positive employee experiences against the backdrop of The Great Resignation . The pandemic – and the pivot to remote and hybrid work – has had a huge impact on employee well-being , loyalty and retention .

Companies who are serious about the well-being of their people have an active role to play in engaging their employees – but to achieve this , leaders need to make sure they have the correct tools and processes in place to support with gathering employee sentiment .
Encouraging employees to share their thoughts allows leaders to replicate what is working and address any challenges . Qualtrics recently conducted research into how people feel about taking holiday – worryingly , 60 % of respondents say they are expected to reply to emails or answer phone calls while on holiday and 62 % say they had unused holidays left at the end of 2021 .
By using sentiment tools to listen into how employees are feeling about issues , such as holiday , business leaders can paint a clearer picture of what their people want and need from them . With this picture , they can put measures in place to better support their people and retain talent .
Qualtrics also found that 70 % of people come back to work feeling rejuvenated after taking time off . Yet , when it comes to taking holiday , employees still feel an added pressure to continue working in fear of letting their team down or falling behind on tasks , negatively impacting their employee experience .
A workplace culture that doesn ’ t support or sustain employee well-being will ultimately lead to burn-out and low engagement , which will have an adverse effect on productivity and retention .
The experiences companies deliver to their employees today are vital to their ability to win and retain talent and to differentiate themselves as an employer of choice .
The most successful companies will realise that focusing on employee engagement and improving their experience will have a knock-on effect on turnover and absentee rates , as well as customer experience and overall profitability .
The next era of business success starts with employee experience . Businesses need to identify what employees want and need through analysing real-time experience data and gathering continuous feedback at key touchpoints that occur across every employee ’ s journey .
These are the moments that matter to people at work and the moments that should be measured to improve the overall employee experience .
Using this data , companies can create and sustain a culture of well-being ; encouraging people to take holiday at the times they need it most , reducing burnout and limiting the effects of The Great Resignation will drive employee engagement and business growth .
ENGAGE YOUR EMPLOYEES AND YOU CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WANT FROM YOU TO FEEL VALUED .
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