Why EX is key to your CX strategy
Have you heard about Spotify offering staff the option to take whichever global holidays most resonate with them, no matter where in the world they’re based? Or about Starbucks paying university tuition for staff? Or what about Hilton Hotels upgrading employee spaces, in order to extend their mission of being “the most hospitable company in the world” to employees?
If customer experience (CX) is the new brand, then employee experience (EX) is the underpinning strategy. After all, if you want to improve the customer experience, focusing your efforts on the employee experience should be your first step. Engaged employees are more committed to the business and will drive a superior customer experience.
Research by Forrester shows that, over a 5-year period, CX leaders achieved a 17% revenue growth compared to only 3% by CX laggards. Whilst it’s impossible to attribute these results purely to CX, we do know that happy employees create happy customer experiences. And happy customers are essential to business success.
According to PwC, one in three consumers (32%) say they will walk away from a brand they love after just one bad experience – and that’s a brand they love. A more recent global survey found that figure to be closer to three quarters (76%). With statistics like these, the impact of CX, and therefore employee experience, on a business’ long-term profitability is undeniable.
From HR to EX
The term ‘employee experience’ is certainly de rigueur, as companies look to move away from the more traditional and stuffier term, ‘human resource’. Even ‘employee engagement’ is in decline, in favour of the latest buzzword. But let’s not get carried away – employee engagement is still vitally important for business.
Put simply: if employee engagement is the outcome, EX is how we get there. No longer about perks, team building days and beers in the fridge on Friday’s, EX takes a much broader strategic approach that focuses on redesigning the systems, policies and behaviours of the entire organisation.
Driven in part by millennials and Gen Z, employees now want jobs that fit their lifestyle, match their values and create meaning and purpose at work. According to a PwC survey, 83% of employees identified “finding meaning in day-to-day work” as a top priority. With the top talent no longer being solely motivated by pay, the war on talent will be lost and won with EX.
Leadership, culture and inspiring others
So, if the goal is to have highly engaged employees, who are emotionally attached to your brand, products and services, how do we achieve this? At the recent Employee Experience Forum 2019, Dr Samuel Rindell, COO, Global Talent, Cigna, addressed this topic in his speech. According to Dr Rindell, the answer to driving EX is establishing a culture of growth and development within your organisation – and key to this is effective leadership. He advises every leader to engage and develop future talent and work on changing mindsets to drive results.
Citing Dr Carol Dweck and Dr David Rock’s work on developing a growth mindset, the advice given on the day focused on the importance of tackling EX from a much broader perspective. If organisations hope to enhance EX at a strategic, organisational level, and build purpose meaning and fulfilment into the working lives of employees, then surely a change of approach is needed? To evolve a corporate culture, we must first think differently.
Find out more at the CX EX Nordics Forum this November here
Find out at the CX EX Nordics Forum...
Join us at the CX & EX Transformation Nordics Forum this November, where we will be welcoming Mark Hayton, Org Development Analytics Global Lead, Nokia; Jonathan Taylor, Head of Strategy and Innovation, Twitter; and Patrik Etelävuori, Digital Transformation Lead, Finnair; to discuss how to give your back of house the attention it deserves, as part of your wider CX/EX strategy.