How to Craft an Ideal Employee Experience Strategy — 6 Easy Steps

Families are feeling more connected after the challenging times they’ve experienced over the past three years. In addition to enjoying more time together, they’ve saved money and found convenience from new workplace policies toward flexibility, choice, and remote or hybrid work — three factors that contribute to a successful employee experience strategy in 2023.

People are committed to finding a better work-life balance that supports both their personal life and professional growth along with competitive salaries. They expect support from their employers in achieving this goal. And employers are failing them in a big way. As a consequence, they risk failing themselves.

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TalenTrust’s nationwide research of more than 2,500 leaders over the past three years finds that close to half of those employers are failing to effectively address and monitor their employee experience (EX). EX, the soul of every workplace community, has a direct impact on the ability to recruit and retain talent — realistically, the only competitive edge a company has. 

Much of the problem is related to outdated thinking on the part of leaders and a refusal to discard the hierarchical, inflexible practices of the past, like mandating unnecessary “returns to work.” If you’re not offering remote or hybrid work options, haven’t developed a clear vision or purpose don’t see your people holistically with a healthy blend of home and work lives or have not empowered your employees to make decisions, you need to rethink your employee experience strategy and the costs of failure.

Crafting the ideal employee experience strategy is an ongoing process that includes embracing positive change and creating a community of dignity and mutual respect. It’s entirely possible to be empathic and kind while holding people accountable to each other and to your mission and goals. Following are six critical steps to guide you in crafting your ideal employee experieince strategy:

Step 1: Hire the right people at every level.

Develop a recruiting process built on a sales model with a pipeline of diverse and widely sourced candidates.

Step 2: Put People in the Right Roles.

Just as important as having the right people on board is making sure they are in the right roles to be challenged and fulfilled.

Step 3: Don’t try for perfection.

Aspire to create a community that’s irresistible, enabling you to attract and retain the top talent with the skills and culture alignment you need to succeed. 

READ — Why Being a Perfectionist May Actually Hurt Your Career in the Long Run

Step 4: Put your people first, above everything else.

Think of employees as your internal customers and treat both with the same care and interest. 

Step 5: Listen first. Then Act.

As a baseline, ask current employees how they feel working in your company and what would make it even better for them. 

Step 6: Think coach, not boss.

From CEO to supervisor, develop leaders who connect deeply with their people to build trusting relationships and healthy environments. 

Any organization can craft a uniquely irresistible employee experience strategy that meets today’s expectations and their business objectives. Clinging to past practices and policies is not the easy way out; it’s a path to failure. Don’t take it.

Kathleen Quinn Votaw is Founder/CEO and Speaker/Author of TalenTrust and KQV Speaks. Her first book, Solve the People Puzzle: How High-Growth Companies Attract and Retain Top Talent, debuted in February 2016; with the second book, Dare to Care in the Workplace: A Guide to the New Way We Work and related Podcast launched between 2021-2022.

Kathleen and her firm have achieved many recognitions from many well-known organizations, including ColoradoBiz Magazine, Vistage Worldwide, and the coveted Inc. 5000 for two consecutive years. Kathleen is a regularly published columnist and popular speaker on topics related to HR strategies and workplace culture. Reach Kathleen at [email protected] or (303) 838-3334.