It’s time we seriously talk about employee experience

There’s been a lot of focus over the past few years on the user experience (UX) and customer experience (CX), for good reasons.

According a recent North Highland whitepaper, a Gartner research shows that in 2016, , nine out of 10 companies planned to compete primarily on the basis of customer experience. Nothing— not price, not product—is more important than the experience you provide. Organizations that deliver compelling customer experiences have a competitive edge.

However, in doing so, many organizations have failed to focus on the experiences of their most important competitive advantage: employees. It’s now time to talk about the employee experience (EX).

“Your employees are your company’s real competitive advantage. They’re the ones making the magic happen— so long as their needs are being met.”

- RICHARD BRANSON

Companies focus on reaching out to their customers wherever they are across multiple channels, but yet fail to reach out to their employees/talents wherever they are.

Companies focus on their customer journey, drawing roadmaps to better identify how their customers interact with their brands (touch points), but yet fail to understand their employee journey.

Companies design spaces to deliver unparalleled brand experiences to their customers, but yet fail to design spaces to deliver positive employee experiences.

Companies focus on customer retention but yet fail to focus on employee retention.

Companies invest time and resources in customer research/segmentation but yet fail to spend time on employee research/segmentation.

Companies offer different services/products to address the needs of different market segments, but yet fail to address the diversity of their employee groups/segments.

Companies have tools to track, monitor and analyze customer behaviors, satisfaction and engagement, but yet fail to adopt tools to measure employee behaviors, satisfaction and engagement.

 In 2015, only 21 percent of employees globally were highly engaged. In the U.S., the majority of employees—51 percent—were not engaged. And perhaps most critically, another 17 percent were actively disengaged. (Gartner)

North Highland notices that the opportunity is there. Your organization is already offering some sort of an EX, and every employee is already experiencing your brand, but how good it that experience?

That’s why I’ve founded eX Summit, a space to debate the importance and impact of the employee experience. Our first event eX Indy will take place on September 22. Many of the above topics will be discussed. Check out our event page to see which topics our thought leaders will speak about. We hope to see you there and let’s start a true discussion on EX!