There are different ways for companies to gauge the level of motivation their employees receive—and for a long time, the predominant model has been employee engagement. Recently, though, there’s been a shift in focus, with the term employee experience steadily gaining steam.
What do these two concepts mean? How are they similar, and how are they different? And which one makes the most sense for your team? Let me address some of those questions here.
Comparing Employee Engagement with Employee Experience
There was a time when businesses saw employees mainly as resources—tools to produce more products and increase profits. A few decades ago, this view began to shift, with more leaders realizing that they should provide benefits and value to their employees instead of just taking value from them. This shift led to the idea of employee engagement; the belief is that by engaging employees, companies can achieve better performance from them. When approached correctly, focusing on employee engagement benefits everyone involved.
So why the focus on employee experience? The simple reason is this: Employee engagement, despite its benefits, often looks at the short-term. It’s about making small adjustments that can boost employee motivation right now. Employee experience takes a longer view and considers the bigger picture. It’s about fundamentally transforming how the workplace operates.
More About Employee Experience
Really, employee experience is just a way of considering what it’s actually like for someone to work at your company. Another way to think about it: Employee experience is the daily workplace reality for your employees.
The focus of employee experience should be creating a reality where your employees feel truly empowered—not micromanaged. Providing easy access to resources and tools, streamlining communication, offering flexibility for things like lunch and coffee breaks—all of this is encompassed by employee experience.
The bottom line is that all employees have an experience at work each day—whether you realize it or not. Smart companies will be proactive in ensuring that the experience is a good one—not just in the sense of being positive and pleasant, but in enabling employees to do their work in the best, most satisfying way possible.