Employee Experience Must Mirror the Customer Experience
I can’t remember what event I was at, but I remember the comment, “Employees aren’t the same as customers.” It’s true, they aren’t the same. But today’s Time Well Spent from our friends at Kronos reminds us that, on some level, they do expect the same experiences.
Technology is doing some wonderful things for the customer experience. I can make doctor appointments and see my lab results using an app. If my flight is delayed and I miss my connection, the Delta Airlines app will automatically rebook me on the next flight. It’s those little things that make life easier. And if individuals can get that experience in their personal lives, it could drive the employee experience and they will expect it in their work lives.
Use technology strategically. There are times when “going old school” is fun. But there are moments when it demonstrates otherwise. Organizations do not want to appear to be “behind the times”. The goal of technology is to free us up from the mundane so we can focus on things that technology can’t do – like having team conversations or making business decisions.
Technology is definitely a part of the employee experience. Organizations use technology to run their operation. They use technology to source and hire the best talent. Employees expect technology to help them do their jobs. This includes everything from email to artificial intelligence and employee self-service. Employees can see how technology is helping them manage their personal lives and they want to know their employer is going to do the same.
Organizations don’t have to be early adopters for everything. Let me balance the push for organizations to adopt technology with a caveat. Companies do not have to adopt every single new piece of technology that comes to market. It’s perfectly okay to wait a while, see what others are saying, and test drive it before buying. The challenge comes when organizations take years to do that.
While employees and customers are different, they are both essential to our business. And they expect a good employee experience with the company – both in terms of their face-to-face and technological interactions.
16