Maintaining your workforce is not easy. You have to ensure employee satisfaction, high levels of active engagement across the board, and the well-being of the organization.
This is where the growing concept of Employee Experience Platforms, or EXPs, comes in. Our goal is to empower business leaders and human resources to keep their workforce in top shape.
What Is an Employee Experience Platform?
Many people often use employee experience and employee engagement interchangeably. While they are related concepts, there’s a fine line between their meaning and purpose.
Employee experience refers to the entire journey employees have within your organization. It starts with their first contact through a job opening or ad and ends when they separate from your business.
On the other hand, employee engagement focuses on the emotional and mental impact on employees. It’s how they feel about their work, how the company treats them, and how they see themselves growing within the company and their entire purpose.
An employee experience platform is a software that ties the employee experience together, while boosting employee engagement.
Read more: Why You Should Focus on Candidate Experience
The Purpose of Employee Experience Platforms
EXPs focus on these two crucial elements: engagement and experience. It creates a one-stop shop for employees, making their overall experience within your company worthwhile and convenient.
An employee experience software should:
- Create clear and open communications
- Create constructive feedback mechanisms
- Offer growth opportunities
- Engage in wellness initiatives
- Boost productivity and efficiency
Why Do Companies Need an Employee Experience Platform?
Companies need to prioritize employee engagement, as it is a vital component of the employee journey. However, statistics show that the opposite is happening. According to Gallup, only 23% of employees and 30% of managers are engaged worldwide.¹ On the contrary, organizations that apply best practices can achieve a whopping 70% engagement from their employees.
EXPs are still in their early stages. However, if managers, business leaders, and HR teams want to improve employee retention rates, they must find innovative ways to provide solutions for a good employee experience.
Read more: Unlock a Loyal Workforce: The Impact of Job Security on Engagement and Retention
10 Benefits of an Employee Experience Platform
A good employee experience is rooted in a positive workplace, and the platform you use is a huge part of that. Here are the 10 benefits of employee experience software programs:
1. Enhanced Employee Engagement
Employee experience platforms boost interaction between employees. The ease of communication helps everyone collaborate effectively across different teams and departments.
2. Clear Diversity and Inclusivity
Employee engagement platforms reduce organizational hierarchy. Instead, they highlight communication, understanding, and sharing of ideas. This fosters a company culture centered on fairness and inclusion.
Read more: 3 Things Inclusive Hiring Says About an Employer
3. Improved Productivity
Instead of switching between multiple communication and management software platforms, your employees can access all the tools they need in one place, which can significantly increase employee productivity.
4. Reduced Attrition Rates
If you’re providing an improved employee experience, fewer people will likely leave your organization. Finding new employees can be costly and time-consuming. It’s best to find and nurture employees who will stay longer.
5. Enhanced Employee Well-Being
Many employee experience platforms include health and wellness in their apps. This helps employees manage stress, maintain a balanced life, and gain access to the support they need.
Read more: Addressing Employee Burnout: Strategies for Workforce Management
6. Streamlined Onboarding
An employee experience platform enables new hires to access training materials, company policies, and other important information during onboarding. This allows faster processes and seamless integration of new employees.
7. Consistently Connected Employees
Whether you have employees in California, Florida, or Washington, an employee experience platform will help them stay connected.
8. Shared Cross-Department Knowledge
Each department has its own achievements and challenges. An employee experience platform facilitates sharing knowledge across the organization, allowing everyone to gain valuable insights, improve internal communications, and reduce departmental silos.
9. Support for Learning and Development
You can provide training programs to provide long-term development opportunities and support their career growth.
10. Employee Recognition
You can use an employee experience platform to virtually tap your members on their backs to show appreciation for their efforts.
Unique Key Features of an Employee Experience Platform
This HR tech can improve employee engagement using its unique features. Here are nine key features:
1. Create a Personalized Employee Experience
Much like social media, EXPs tailor content based on users’ preferences. Users can share and interact with one another’s posts, such as articles, news, blogs, newsletters, images, and videos.
This enhanced employee engagement can improve employee sentiment regarding the company and employer brand. Ultimately, it allows employees to be more aligned with the entire organization while showcasing how unique they are.
2. Foster Better Relationships Among Coworkers
One of the most essential roles of employee experience platforms is improving workplace collaboration and communication. By engaging in similar interests and social updates with other members online, your employees will be encouraged to interact with one another. There are several means users can do this:
- Slack
- Online employee directory
- Company-wide notifications
- Relevant communities
3. Interact through a Digital Dashboard
Employees have varying and growing responsibilities. As the state of work continues to evolve, new possibilities, such as global workforces and remote opportunities, are opened. Many roles continue to transform and gradually adapt to innovations, modern tech, and varying responsibilities. An employee engagement software allows modern workforces to adapt to this changing environment.
4. Access the Application 24/7
Offices close, but online and digital platforms remain online indefinitely. With mobile accessibility, connecting with peers becomes easy. Whether your employees need to finish a task, collaborate on a project, or inquire regarding business processes, EXPs can provide uninterrupted connection for its users.
5. Allows Business Integration
Employee experience platforms usually allow cross-functional integration with business applications. This is vital if you already have workspaces in the office, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Make sure to look for the right tool that allows integration with the applications you’re already using.
6. Create an Efficient HR Portal
Let’s face it, some employees simply don’t read their emails. To make sure your employees receive the necessary information they need, you can use your employee experience platform as an HR portal. You can post:
- PTO updates
- FAQs
- Internal job postings
- List of HR contacts
- HR news and company changes
- Employee surveys
7. Elevate the Onboarding Process
Onboarding can be very isolating. Instead of going through multiple write-ups, history booklets, and recorded presentations, why not make the onboarding more engaging?
EXPs take onboarding to the next level by ensuring they have everything they need. Not only can you compile all digital materials in one place, but you’re also allowing new hires to immerse themselves in the new environment. They can read various employee feedback and performance management reports, and learn about the company culture, all in one place.
Read more: How to Successfully Onboard Temporary Employees?
8. Offers a Complete Employee Directory
Some new employees find it intimidating to ask a co-worker questions. Much more so if they have to ask multiple key people before reaching the one they are looking for. EXPs remove all the hassle by giving you access to relevant employee information such as:
- Name
- Job title
- Experience
- Expertise
This allows users to contact the right person quickly. Some EXPs showcase hobbies and personal preferences as well. This can be a bridge for some to connect personally based on their shared interests.
9. Allows Access to IT Personnel
This allows users to access the IT portal and solve their issues effectively. Aside from FAQs and troubleshooting steps, IT portals can also give direct access to key IT department persons where employees can request assistance.
The IT department can also post announcements and share relevant internal technological updates with the entire organization.
ELEVATE YOUR HR PROCESSES WITH ACS PROFESSIONAL STAFFING
Employee experience platforms are great additions to your employee management. With the right staffing partner, you’ll ensure success across the entire organization.
ACS Professional Staffing specializes in placing exceptional individuals across different areas of expertise. Learn more about our services and be a leading company today!
References
- Gallup, Inc. “State of the Global Workplace Report – Gallup.” Gallup.com, 9 Sept. 2024, www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx.
