The employee experience

There is no separating the employee and customer experiences. The two are inextricably tied, with companies that can deliver greater employee experiences more likely to generate better customer experiences in the long term.

The need for the human touch

Even in an era of mass automation, at some point in every business a customer will need to speak to a human. If that person is not engaged, this will influence the experience the customer receives. While in that instance they may still buy, the chance of them becoming a repeat customer, or maintaining any loyalty to the company, diminishes.

Businesses need to engage their employees and drive a standout working experience. This was needed before the pandemic: in the face of mass resignations and the greatest shift in working practices in decades, it is now critical.

Reducing churn, onboarding rapidly and empowering workers

First, employers need to be clear on what they are actually offering their staff. The contact center environment has historically been a place of high churn, where seniority determines the level of service a customer receives. In a world where flexible working has moved from occasional perk to expected right, having an attractive working environment is the least many will now expect.

“Organizations that offer employees flexibility over when, where and how much they work, see 55% of their work force as high performers”

Source: Gartner

Beyond that, opportunities to develop and progress continue to play an important role in attracting and retaining talent.

Second, there is always churn, and part of the solution needs to recognize that. Therefore, the employee experience needs to extend to being able to rapidly onboard staff and, more importantly, getting them productive.

Third, whether established employees or new starters, workers want to be empowered. This means having the ability to make their own decisions, but it also covers having the tools, applications and indeed training to act accordingly.

Providing the right tools for the job

We are at a point where having the right personal technology is becoming a differentiator - one study found that nearly a third of workers (32%) have left an employer whose tech was a barrier to their ability to do good work. What's more candidates were now more likely to apply for a job because they heard a company's employees use great technology and turn down a job because the tech was either out of date or hard to use.

Anything that involves employees requires the input of human resources. It's a process that we have been going through at Orange, using our knowledge of customer experience to overhaul that of our employees, and in turn feeding that back into the service our customers receive. It is an iterative, ongoing process, and one that informs the service and consultation we provide to customers. Our HR Labs team works with our specialist consultants to help companies define what their employee experience should look like, an area Olivier Vicaire explores in more detail in this blog.

Alternatively, if you would like to know more, take a look at our brochure, or get in touch to arrange a workshop with our consultancy team today.