Employee satisfaction plays an increasing role in organizations. The labor market is tight and employees do not stay with the same employer for decades. Attracting new people is difficult, so retention is crucial. Make sure employees stay and are motivated. Shift from the satisfaction survey to Employee Experience.
An annual survey seems logical: you measure how satisfied employees are and analyze the results. But in practice, it is a static and outdated approach. It provides a snapshot, while job satisfaction and engagement are constantly changing.
Satisfaction is important, but not enough. What matters is the total experience of employees: how they perceive their work, team and organization. We call this Employee Experience.
The idea is not to have more conversations, but to have different conversations. In many organizations, the issues of the day and operational issues determine the agenda of bilateral meetings. As a result, topics such as development, motivation and job satisfaction remain underexposed.
By structurally organizing these discussions, you not only increase performance, but also involvement. HR plays a key role here: managers must be supported to have the right conversation.
Employee experience is the sum of all experiences an employee has with the organization. It involves three levels:
For each level, it is important that employees feel both engaged (involved) and enabled (able to live up to that engagement).
Engagement and enablement
A dangerous combination is high engagement and low enablement. Employees want to contribute but are not given the opportunity. That leads to frustration and departure.
How do you measure Employee experience? A good basis is the eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score). This provides insight into job happiness and loyalty. But measuring is not enough: it's about what you do with the results.
Before: a questionnaire once a year, extensive analysis, and top-down feedback.
Now: short, frequent pulse measurements that provide direct input for conversations between employee and manager. In this way, the surveys become not a mandatory formality, but a valuable tool.
HR must help managers move from data to dialogue. That means:
A strong Employee experience increases engagement, lowers turnover and increases performance. It makes your organization attractive to new talent and ensures that current employees stay. In a tight labor market, this is not a luxury, but a necessity.
What is the problem with the annual survey?
It gives a static snapshot and no longer matches the dynamics of work and employees.
What does Employee experience mean?
An employee's overall experience of the organization, the team and their own work.
What does Enablement mean?
The degree to which an employee is given the resources and space to turn their engagement into action.