‘The Future of Work’ is here…but what is it all about?
Millennials are disrupting the workforce….but what are you meant to do?
HR evolved into ‘People & Culture’ and now into ‘Employee Experience’ ….but how is it any different.
Well, let me tell you that if you don’t start leveraging technology in your Workforce Strategy, you are going to be left behind.
LETS START HERE
Employee Experience is tailoring your programs to the individuals in your business to meet their desires, needs and motivators.
The outcome is a highly motivated, engaged and PRODUCTIVE workforce. Financially you are going to achieve lower attrition rates (Saving you $$$$), higher outputs, higher customer sat scores, a productive, motivated, engaged work environment…….. It is the dream for any business owner.
But how do we get there?
It all starts in the MIND OF THE EMPLOYEE.
This is the first step – It is also the step most organisations DON’T DO.
You need to understand the mindset of the individuals within your organisation.
WARNING: This is not achieved through an engagement survey, performance review or pulse survey.
To do this properly and get true results, we need science & technology – behavioural profiling to be precise.
We need to tap into the mindset of those individuals and find out how they prefer to communicate, approach decisions, influence their stakeholders, connects with others, feels about rules, their pace of work and so much more.
This depth and accuracy of information will help us understand the person’s behaviours, motivators and needs will help us build deeper connections with them.
ANSWER: This is achieved through a tool called The Predictive Index.
The Predictive Index is a scientifically proven and validated behavioural assessment tool which takes 6 minutes to complete. (competitors take over 45 minutes). It’s been around for over 60 years and is the number two Human Analytics tool used globally.
Through these insights, we can assess how to best manage this person, how they like to be rewarded, their natural management style and even how best to train and onboard them.
We use these insights to accelerate all the programs we are about to discuss below.
This is the first and most important step.
SECRET: What to see your own Behavioural profile and find out how you like to work best?
Take the 6-minute Assessment here for FREE.
Next let us introduce to you the Connected Workplace Experience which we have created.
For an incredible Experience, you need to think of these 9 core elements.
Company Branding, Vision & Values
This is the first thing we see, even before we join.
We have a perception of the company already.
Do we know them, heard of them, like them?
If you are going to work for a business, you are going to do your research before you even accept an interview.
In the age of technology, social media and information, the brand you have out in the market is more important than ever.
People need to see and connect with your values.
They shouldn’t be just something up on a wall but something ingrained at every level of the business.
Your business vision should be clear and understood by all levels of the business.
With millennials focused more than any other generation on ‘purpose’ and ‘meaning’ in their work, you need to find ways to connect every individual with the work they do, and the outcome it provides your business to the greater good.
Work Environment
Inspiring creativity and productivity require perfect conditions.
You cannot expect software developers to code in an open plan (and noisy) office and expect focus and concentration.
So why is it that companies design work environments which don’t suit the needs of the people in those teams?
We recently did behavioural assessments for a whole Development team for a client. We found out that they all were all very introspective, reflective and required time, focus and quiet time to concentrate.
So what did we do?
We moved them to another floor, created quiet spaces for productivity time and implemented a rule. If someone was wearing headphones, it was their focus time so please send them a slack message and don’t interrupt them. They all thought this was FANTASTIC and totally changed their productivity and job satisfaction…..THEY LOVED IT.
Equality Diversity & Inclusion
No surprise this is a key fundamental in the new world of Employee Experience.
Employee Programs and all opportunities need to be made available to everyone. You cannot just promote someone into an open role without advertising it to the wider business.
There needs to be fair treatment of people and a transparent process along the way.
This also includes cultural and demographic equality. No racism, sexism, ageism, or any other form of bias or discrimination should be tolerated.
Technology & Software
In this fast pace technology society, we all now live in, technology and software are going to play a much bigger role in our work lives.
In our personal lives, we are hyper-connected. Internet 24/7 with access to information with tools like Google Home so we don’t even have to pick up our phones to connect with technology.
Our employees are going to expect that level of consumer-grade technology inside the organisation.
Technology is there is automate the simple, repetitive tasks. Therefore, people can focus on their interactions with our customers, clients and employees.
If your employees spent 10% more time with your clients and customer, what type of revenue shift would that make in your business?
Recruitment & Onboarding
Your talent acquisition process needs to be designed with both the organisation and candidate in mind.
How can you make the candidate feel throughout the processes so they are excited and motivated to join your organisation?
It is not enough to expect that everyone out there wants to work for you because of your brand, or even because, ‘hey, it’s a job, they should be grateful to work for us.’
Remember, they don’t know your organisation on the inside, or even what to expect.
Take a moment.
Imagine yourself in the job market, looking for a new job. You get an interview. Excited but nervous.
What would make that first interview a great experience for you?
…………what is your answer?
Find ways to design an experience which suits the role and team they will be working in.
Maybe your Sales interview process is different to a finance role. You might keep the same process – ie 3 interviews – but maybe the experiences they have such as meeting the team, a walkthrough of the office, receiving collateral about the company, completing a test or assessment are done at different stages of the process.
Find ways in your recruitment process to simplify and make sure they have an enjoyable experience.
Remember, 100% of candidates who don’t get the job, go back into the marketplace to talk about you – what experience did they have? What will they say about you?
Candidate Care trumps all.
Wellbeing & Health
Having an EAP isn’t enough anymore.
Do you have Flexible work hours?
Are people encourage to put family first?
What do you offer to motivate people to live a healthy life?
People bring their whole self to work – mind, body, spirit.
We have an obligation to care for that individual whilst they are in our organisation.
But think of it this way.
If you have a healthy employee who is looking after their diet, exercise regularly and focused on their mental health, how much more productive will they be? How much more energy and focus will they have to put in those extra hours in busy times? How many fewer sick days will they take in a year?
This focus on wellbeing – including mental health – is more important than ever. We are living in an era of rising mental health issues across the world, but yet organisation are putting their heads in the sand.
This is why we also collaborate with an incredible organisation who focuses 100% on workplace mental health – Grow Together Now.
Reward & Recognition
Word of Warning!!!
I have never, (nor should you), created a program on Reward & Recognition without employee input.
This is a program which should be 100% owned by the people. You need to ask them all (through a survey) what they think, feel and want in a benefits program.
You take that information and run a workshop with a smaller team of employees (not just your HR team).
You get them to design a program which meets the needs, wants and desires of the people.
With my client, I ran a Reward & Recognition survey to find out what recognition they liked (face to face, from peers, from their manager, in a team environment, on social media…) and then what type of rewards they would LOVE to receive (that list was very long).
We formed a workgroup and THEY created two programs.
ONE – A monthly manager allocated award. A $100 visa voucher, certificate and team stand up to announce.
TWO – A quarterly company-wide, peer to peer nomination program. The winner would be decided by the CEO. The winner receives a $500 visa voucher and a massive shout out in front of the whole company. The winner also received a Mexican wrestling mask and their photo up in the office. Again, this was designed with their company culture in mind.
This is your opportunity to shine and be creative. Work with your employees and create something you can be proud of.
Professional Growth & Development
People expect a lot when it comes to professional growth. Everyone wants to grow in skills, knowledge and experiences within your organisation.
But how do you do it?
There are several paths to take, however, sometimes the simplest approach is the best starting point.
We use the GROW model here at Red Wolf Group.
G – Goal – What do you want?
R – Reality – Where are you now?
O – Options – What could you do?
W – Will – What will you do? (checking to see how motivated they are)
This is a coaching model from Sir John Whitmore Coaching for Performance, however, we apply this model across almost every area of business – feedback, career development, alignment, coaching.
Get your managers to sit down and have this conversation, in depth, with every single member of their team AND review is regularly.
The onus shouldn’t be on the manager to make it happen. This is a three-way process – Employee, Manager, Organisation. But the employee needs to drive it.
Leadership
We believe leadership can be developed at all levels. Leadership is complex and everyone will have a slightly different definition. However, to put it simply.
Leadership is the art of inspiring others to act towards achieving a common vision.
How do you do it?
Behaviours.
Leadership behaviours.
You do not have to be a people manager to be a leader. You can be a marketing coordinator and still be a leader.
What is the difference between a good and great organisation to work for?
It is leaders.
The people in the business who have leadership capabilities.
Think back to a time when you had an amazing manager or worked with someone you considered to be an inspirational leader?
What did they do? How did they make you feel?
The impact great leaders have on your organisation is like a ripple effect. It impacts with wider business.
So why is it that organisation barely do leadership development with their senior executives, let alone their employees?
Leadership programs don’t need to be complicated or only for senior executives.
We developed the STRIVE Leadership Program for a client which all employees could opt-in to participate in.
We brought them together and they defined what Leadership meant for them in their business. They defined the behaviours, actions and feelings true leaders created. That became their Leadership Capabilities. We also tied their company values into those capabilities.
Red Wolf Group then developed short but intense workshops on each of those behaviours (Self Awareness, Trust, Respect, Inspire, Vision and Engage) so everyone could grow and improve their skills, knowledge and behaviours on those areas.
We have developed multiple activities for our clients to build and develop their own leadership capabilities from within. We focus on their desired culture and get their input on what leadership looks like for their business.
What are you doing to develop leaders in your business?
SO WHAT DO YOU DO NEXT?
If you wanted to do your own behavioural assessment and then get a personalised call from someone in our team, please feel free to Take the 6 minute Assessment here for FREE.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, if you’re a HR or EX leader looking to grow and deliver on your Employee Experience Strategy, here are some ways we can help…
- Check out our free 3-Part Video Series covering the ins and outs of Employee Experience and also The Future of Work using Human Analytics. In it, you will discover how to do Workforce Strategy in under 10 minutes, how to use science in recruitment and how to lift engagement without another engagement survey. You can access the Video Series here.
- If you already know about how Employee Experience works, and you’re a HR leader based in Australia, we’d love to chat with you. This is for Leaders who are prepared to take the right actions very quickly so they can start seeing results. If this is you, please visit this page and fill out a form so we can arrange a call with you.