Today's organizations spend a lot of time, and invest a lot of resources, into understanding the average customer. That is commendable, and it makes sense from a top-down perspective, but it also bypasses one very important aspect or component of every company.
The employees.
Just like today's customers, the modern workforce has evolved considerably and now has a much greater awareness of the world and the market around them. They know what opportunities are available, including those outside of their normal sphere of influence. It's a worker's world if you will, and the remote requirements of the pandemic made that even more of a reality. The workplace ecosystem has changed irrevocably, and both future offices and workplace technology of the future are going to look and act remarkably differently.
Organizations are now forced to think about how they're providing for, and treating their workforce, in comparison to the rest of the market, including competitors. The employee is now - a customer.
Customer Experience Tenets & Employee Experience
The typical customer experience tenets are as follows:
- Communication
- Technology
- Attention
- Thoughtfulness
- Relationship Building
Another pillar of CX involves a concentrated focus on "winning" customers over, not just with messaging and branding initiatives but by building an industry-leading workplace experience platform. But everyone knows that.
A more radical idea is that all of these principles should be applied to the employee experience as well. After all, you're trying to win over your personnel too, right?
If you're not already, then you really really should be. Employee experience correlates directly with the customer experience. If your people aren't happy, something is inherently wrong, and that will trickle down to the customers.
In a Forbes Insights survey, 70% of executives, including both EX and CX leaders, agree that an improved employee experience leads to improved customer experience, which in turn leads to rapid revenue growth.
Guiding Workplace Principles For Modern Businesses
Tomorrow is going to be completely different than today. It's an idiom we all live by, but what's funny about it is that, at any given time, we don't know what tomorrow is going to look like. Will there be flying cars? Will androids and robots be walking the streets?
There are some radical ideas proposed there, but the same applies to the workforce and the workplace ecosystem of tomorrow. It's always evolving, always changing, but what is it actually leading to?
Employees are wondering the same thing.
If you manage a campus or venue, you're probably focusing on onsite engagement, which means increasing staff efficiencies, optimizing venue operations, and striving for memorable customer or visitor experiences. To do this, you need to be able to provide contextual experiences that are both effortless and informative for your employees, teams, departments, and so on. And in a busy venue, every interaction counts.
The biggest trend in the future of work is employee empowerment. Your people, your employees, want to know more. By giving them that, and ensuring they're not just in the loop, but have the opportunity to make more informed decisions — and have more informed interactions — they can facilitate the kinds of experiences that your customers demand.
Only 40% of the workforce reports that they know their company's goals, strategies, and tactics.
It's all about providing solid experiences. They can occur at any touchpoint or milestone in the employee journey, and they're happening both on-site and off. What makes things much more complex, however, is that experiences now have a digital layer to them.
Creating An Digital Experiential Layer for Employees
Everything is digital in the modern world and everyone is interacting with digital components, including customers, communication channels, competitors, employees, and more. You can vastly improve experiences by personalizing and contextualizing interactions for the user. That requires focusing on things like where you are, what you need, what you like, and even sometimes what you need but don't necessarily know about.
There is absolutely no way to deliver those kinds of experiences, and personalize interactions, without the right digital and data solutions. That is precisely where technologies like employee experience platforms come into play.
Smart office integrations give leading companies a competitive advantage in a variety of ways. They help companies secure and retain top talent. They help translate digitization strategies into business opportunities. They also provide workplace automation solutions to streamline the way employees engage with tools, processes, and technology.
Employees As Customers: Value Proposition
Treating employees with respect and empowering them helps them feel valued, heard, and gives them a sense of ownership in the organization. The company culture significantly improves as a result.
Other benefits include:
- Employee retention goes up
- Worker satisfaction improves
- Operational efficiencies are streamlined
- Productivity goes through the roof
Finally, it all impacts the bottom line and leads to better revenue and sales.
Your workers are the key...
The key to unlocking your organization's full potential. The digital transformation inside an organization will give managers and operators a better understanding of how technology impacts complex relationships. That includes relationships between employees and the company, employees and customers, and even interactions with partners or vendors.
