Learn how creating a positive employee experience can help increase engagement, retention, and productivity. In this guide, we’ll go over five areas to focus on in order to create a positive employee experience: employee engagement, learning and development, company culture, workplace environment, and tools and technology.

1. The Employee
Experience
Handbook

2. EMPLOYEE
EXPERIENCE DEFINED
The customer experience has been a priority for companies
for several years now, with whole departments dedicated
to ensuring that every interaction a consumer has with your
company is a positive one, from discovery and contact to
purchase to customer service and support.
Recently, as organizations have realized that creating a
positive customer experience starts with engaged employees,
a movement towards creating a great employee experience
has begun.
WHAT IS EMPLOYEE
EXPERIENCE?
The employee experience is the sum
of every aspect of the employee’s
interaction with your company, from the
application process to the exit interview.

3. BUILDING THE
EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
Every connection that an employee has with your organization is an opportunity to build trust, establish clear expectations, and
communicate honestly. Depending on the length of tenure, there are thousands of opportunities to impact an employee’s experience
with your organization, including some of these major points:
Making new hires feel
welcome on their first
day.
Prioritizing career
development and growth
Establishing clarity
about job functions
and how they impact
organizational results
Recognizing employees
for their contributions
and commitment
Communicating
about performance
expectations
Creating an organizational
culture that supports
your mission, values, and
vision
Offering professional
development
opportunities
Establishing trust through
meaningful relationships
with peers, managers,
and leaders

4. LEARNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
Day-to-day, the main objective of creating a positive employee experience is to ensure that your employees are happy, motivated, and
productive, which leads to better customer service and business performance.
To put employee experience at the heart of your strategy, you need to focus on everything that affects the work environment. This
includes intangible factors such as quality of management and a well-communicated organizational vision, along with tangible factors such
as workplace environment and technology tools.
In this guide, we’ll go over five main areas to focus on in order to create a positive employee experience.
COMPANY
CULTURE
WORKPLACE
ENVIRONMENT
TOOLS AND
TECHNOLOGY
ELEMENTS OF THE
EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT

5. EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT
Engaged employees have a positive relationship with their company, are committed to their job, and actively care about their company’s
success.
Engaged employees impact key performance outcomes on a large scale.
A recent Gallup meta-analysis revealed that organizations with high engagement saw 25% lower turnover. Additionally, a Gallup poll found
that engaged workers outperform their disengaged counterparts by 147 percent in earnings. It is estimated that disengaged employees
cost U.S. business upwards of $450 billion dollars each year.
LOWER TURNOVER RATES
Staying with your
organization longer
IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY
Contributing positively to your
organization’s culture
and environment
HIGHER PROFITABILITY
Producing better
quality work
BETTER CUSTOMER/
PATIENT METRICS
Engaging positively with customers

6. CLEAR ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY
Leadership needs to know where the company is going
and how employees can help it get there. The company
needs to have a mission and vision that employees can
rally around, as well as clear direction as to how the
employees contribute to getting it there. A set of core
company values is essential to guide the daily actions of
employees as they work toward common goals.
EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT
Sixty-nine percent of employees whose managers help
them set performance goals are more engaged. Managers
need to check in frequently with employees and create a
roadmap to align personal and company goals. Ensuring
that an employee’s job objectives line up with their own
career goals is a great way to increase engagement and
inspire better performance. Offer training opportunities
for those who wish to expand their skill sets in order to
advance.
EFFECTIVE LINE MANAGERS
Line managers play a crucial role in employee engagement
levels. Managers must give their employees clear goals,
offer frequent feedback, and be available for questions
and collaboration. Managers who focus on recognizing
employee strengths and successes while encouraging
open dialogue have happier, more engaged employees.
A Gallup survey found that 67 percent of employees who
agreed their managers focused on their strengths were
engaged; among those who disagreed, 71% were actively
disengaged.
While every individual is different in what motivates and inspires them at work, here are the main factors that contribute to high levels of
engagement.
67%of employees who have
managers that focus on their
strengths are engaged.

7. EMPLOYEE AUTONOMY
Everybody hates to be micromanaged. Make sure you are
hiring people you trust to do the job at hand, and allow
them to do it in the way they see fit. Managers should act
as coaches, giving direction and checking in on progress,
without making the employee feel that they are being
watched. Not only will employees feel more empowered,
but they will build the skills that make for better decision-
making and creativity.
TRANSPARENT TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION,
INCLUDING FREQUENT FEEDBACK
Regular and meaningful feedback is the basis of a healthy
manager-employee relationship and it is connected to
higher engagement levels. Managers who hold regular
meetings with their staff have employees who are 3 times
more engaged than those who don’t.
EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION
A 2012 Bersin market brief reported that in organizations
where recognition occurs, employee engagement,
productivity and customer service are about 14 percent
better than in those where recognition does not occur.
Employees should be recognized for great work on a
regular basis by both managers and peers. Not only
does it make people feel good, but it also highlights the
core values and results that your organization wants to
reinforce.
67% of employees who have managers that focus on their strengths are engaged.

8. An organization where
recognition occurs
performs 14% better than
those without.

9. Six factors ensure that your employees are engaged and driven.
EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT
Employees that meet with their managers regularly
are three times more engaged than those who
don’t.
TRANSPARENT
COMMUNICATION
EMPLOYEE
DEVELOPMENT
CLEAR ORGANIZATIONAL
STRATEGY
EMPLOYEE
AUTONOMY
EFFECTIVE LINE
MANAGERS
EMPLOYEE
RECOGNITION
69% of employees with performance goals set by
managers are engaged.
A mission and core values provide meaning and
guide the daily actions of employees.
Coaching without micromanaging will empower
employees to do their best work in the way they see
fit.
67% of employees who have managers that focus
on their strengths are engaged.
Organizations that recognize employee
accomplishments perform 14% better than those
who do not.

10. LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Organizations that invest in training and development
will have a more highly skilled workforce, more
engaged employees, and higher retention rates, as
employees will be able to see a future at the company
rather than moving on to further their careers.

11. Use these four compelling strategies to enrich the employee experience and retain talent.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
One report suggests that 63% of
millennials feel their leadership skills are
underutilized.
CREATE PERSONALIZED
CAREER PATHS
43% of employees are likely to quit their
jobs if a development opportunity arises
elsewhere.
SKILLS TRAINING
Identify skills gaps and use technology
such as on demand training to fill them.
TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
Only 3 percent of companies currently
offer this perk. Which makes it a
unique way to build a loyal and skilled
workforce.
LEARNING
AND DEVELOPMENT

12. 43%of employees are
likely to quit their
job if a development
opportunity arises.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Millennials now make up the majority of the workforce, and they are hungry for leadership
opportunities. In fact, Deloitte recently reported survey results showing that 63 percent of
millennials said their leadership skills aren’t being fully developed. Among those who said they are
likely to leave their jobs in the next two years, 71 percent cited lack of leadership development as
the reason. Even if your organization doesn’t have a formal leadership training program, you can
connect employees with mentors who have the skills and demonstrated experience in job functions
or roles that are of interest to them. Give employees who are seeking leadership opportunities
the assignment to lead a team for smaller projects and offer constructive feedback about their
leadership performance.
There are many ways that companies can provide their employees with more enriching
opportunities.
CREATE PERSONALIZED CAREER PATHS
Employees are looking for career development options, and they leave your company if the path
isn’t clear. In a 2015 survey conducted by Workplace Trends and Saba, 43 percent of respondents
said they would quit their job if an opportunity to advance their career and expand their professional
skills arose Twenty-eight percent said they’ve already quit a job, or several jobs, for this reason.
In addition, the LinkedIn 2016 Global Recruiting Trends report found that among 3,800 talent
acquisition professionals, only 12 percent said internal hiring was a priority of their recruiting
strategy. By failing to look at internal talent, many companies are ushering great employees out the
door, which increases costs associated with turnover. Don’t assume that a talented sales assistant
wants to move up and become an account executive—perhaps she used that position as a way in to
your company, but her true passion and interest is in the field of finance. It’s essential to talk to your
employees, learn more about their career goals, and help find an internal career development path
that works for them.

13. SKILLS TRAINING
Once you understand where your employees would like to take their careers, it’s easier to identify
skills gaps and offer training opportunities to close them. However, it’s no longer realistic to stick
employees in classrooms with a corporate trainer and a projector. Millennials, who have grown
up using technology to learn and communicate, expect to be able to access training opportunities
when, how, and where they want. Online training content providers, such as Coursera, Udemy,
and Udacity, allow employees to access lectures or on-demand courses that cover a wide range of
business skills. Employers may even offer incentives for taking these training courses, ranging from
badges to monetary rewards.
One report suggests that
63%of millennials feel their
leadership skills aren’t
being fully developed.
COLLEGE TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
College tuition reimbursement is a powerful way to encourage employees to further their own
education with advanced degrees. According to SHRM, only 3 percent of companies are currently
offering this perk, which makes it a surefire way to improve the employee experience and set your
organization apart. It’s also a great retention tool, as employees will not only stay for the perk, but
will appreciate their company’s investment in their development. Loyal employees with enhanced
knowledge and skills are worth the investment.

14. Company culture is a crucial part of the employee experience. It encompasses the norms (both formal and informal) that make
up the way work gets done in your organization and how people interact. Yes, culture includes parties, games, and your free bagel
breakfasts on Fridays, but it also informs deeper business practices such as the way management addresses mistakes or how
employees treat unhappy customers.
To ensure that your company has a positive culture, you must actively build and nurture it. You will have a company culture whether
you try or not, but in order to build an atmosphere in which both your employees and your business thrive, you must work at it.
COMPANY
CULTURE

15. It’s a good idea to have a yearly cultural audit in which you take the following steps:
Ask employees to define your current company culture
In order to figure out where you should go, you have to know where you are. Sometimes it’s
better to bring in a third party to facilitate this exercise so employees can feel comfortable being
honest. You can also send out an anonymous survey if your company is too large to do in-person
meetings that include the entire employee population.
Identify what’s working, and what’s not working
Most companies are going to have a mix of positives and negatives within their culture. Perhaps
your company puts a great emphasis on customer service as a core value, but doesn’t put
enough focus on internal communication among employees. Celebrate what’s working, and use
what’s not working as your roadmap to improvement.
List what you currently do to nurture the positive things about your culture
When you identify the positives in your culture, make sure those benefits don’t go away. If
you have a great work-life balance going because all of your current managers are provide
employees with flexibility, make it a part of your company policy. Your current management
team will likely change over time and you’ll want to ensure that you don’t lose what makes your
organization stand out as a great place to work.
Audit your
company
culture on a
regular basis.
Be thorough
in analyzing
what’s working
and what isn’t.
STEP
No 1
STEP
No 2
STEP
No 3

16. Brainstorm additional ways you can build the culture you want
The success of organizations depends on a group of people working to accomplish the company goals. A community environment
fosters better working relationships, boosts morale, and increases output quality.
Record the results and act on them
Whether you went through this culture audit via online survey or in-person focus groups, be sure to track the results. Make it a
priority to go through the suggestions and implement those that make sense. One of the best ways to support employee engagement
is to show that you take feedback seriously.
Create a culture guidebook
High-profile companies such as Netflix, Zappos, and Hubspot have put out their culture decks publicly to promote what their
companies value and to show prospective employees what it’s like to work there. After going through your culture-building process
it’s a good idea to put together a similar document that comes from the decisions you have made as an organization. It will be
something all employees can get behind, because they helped to build it.
Repeat this process, at least annually
Employees leave; new employees join the organization; and the business environment changes. As a result, your culture will adapt
and evolve over time. Make sure that you keep up with annual culture audits to ensure that your company culture contributes
positively to the employee experience.
STEP
No 4
STEP
No 5
STEP
No 6
STEP
No 7

17. Employees spend a majority of their week at work. That’s why
creating an inviting, comfortable, and adaptable workplace
environment is such a critical part of the employee experience.
Not only should the environment be inviting, it also needs to be
conducive to the type of work your employees perform each day.
Some employees thrive in creative circles where they can bounce
ideas off co-workers. Others need peace and quiet to analyze
data or draft documents. All workers, especially those who
perform manual labor, should have safe, ergonomically-correct
workstations.
While Google popularized the open office, which maximizes space
by removing walls and cubicles, there has been a lot of backlash
against this trend. A 2013 study found that many employees in
open offices are frustrated by distractions that negatively affect
their work performance. Nearly half of those surveyed said the
lack of sound privacy was a significant problem, and more than 30
percent complained about the lack of visual privacy.
WORKPLACE
ENVIRONMENT

18. To solve the issues caused by the open office, some companies are moving to the hybrid office concept, which combines traditional and
modern offices spaces.
The key to these work environment set-ups is flexibility. Employees can conduct a conference call in a private office to avoid disturbing
those around them. Managers might hold a quick team meeting in an open area to avoid the formality and logistical challenges of
reserving a conference room. And individuals have the option to find an open workstation if they need to read and respond to emails
between meetings. The hybrid office approach allows employees to create the work environment experience they need to be most
effective.
Whether it’s caring for aging parents, raising children, or volunteering in the community, today’s workers require a workplace that
allows them to achieve better work-life balance. Another popular alternative to the traditional 9-to-5 work environment is the option for
employees to work remotely as needed. Often when companies allow employees to work remotely on occasion, they are more satisfied
and productive. Today, a pleasant work environment is a critical component of the employee experience that enables you to retain top
talent who are able to generate revenue and results.
OPEN
LAYOUT
PRIVATE
OFFICES
MOVEABLE
WORKSTATIONS
SOUNDPROOF
ROOMS
CUBICLES COMMUNAL
AREAS

19. PROVIDE OPTIONS
Combine open areas with more private ones to
match the work types of employees.
MAKE THE SPACE INVITING
Employees spend the majority of their time at
work- make it a place they enjoy being.
FACILITATE FLEXIBILITY
Allowing employees to work remotely when
necessary can boost productivity, reduce costs,
and promote work-life balance.
WORKPLACE
ENVIRONMENT ATTRIBUTES
Workplace layouts and designs continue to evolve along with the way employees accomplish their work. Make it a priority to create a work
environment that helps rather than hinders productivity.

20. As the workforce becomes more globalized,
we rely more and more on technology
platforms to streamline processes and
improve communication. There are countless
tools that help with everything from project
management to collaboration to employee
recognition. The hard part is figuring out
which ones achieve the best balance
between budget and functionality.
TOOLS
AND TECHNOLOGY

21. LEARNING MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS
Employees today are seeking
ways to develop their skills
and their careers on their own
time. These centralized learning
systems enable organizations
to provide coaching, training,
and development to enhance
employees’ knowledge and skills
without the confinement of a
classroom. And for those required
courses that might not be as
desirable, you can always integrate
incentive programs or gamification
to encourage higher participation
rates.
PULSE SURVEYS
As more companies are realizing
that an annual employee
engagement survey is not a great
way to effect changes in the
day-to-day employee experience,
gathering and acting on employee
feedback more frequently has
become a focus. Online pulse
surveys administered weekly
can be a good way to gauge
your employees’ attitudes in a
more real-time fashion. You can
customize the questions to line
up with events that are currently
going on in your company such as
mergers or big product launches
to see how they are affecting your
workforce.
COLLABORATION SOFTWARE
These tools help your employees
work smarter, harder and faster
through real-time communication
and collaboration. For teams or
individuals that work remotely,
collaboration software fosters
a sense of community and
connection that was previously
achieved only by sitting in the
same workspace.
GAMIFICATION PLATFORMS
Who said work has to be boring?
Gamification is an innovative
way to motivate, challenge,
and engage employees through
friendly competition and
incentives and game techniques.
You can integrate these apps with
different types of software to
encourage certain actions, such as
filling out profiles completely or
for sharing your company’s posts
on social media.
RECOGNITION SOFTWARE
A website or app that allows for
peer and manager recognition
puts the ability to recognize and
reward employees for outstanding
efforts at everyone’s fingertips.
Recognition awards should
be aligned with the types of
behaviors you want to see from
all employees, such as putting the
customer first, great teamwork,
or creative problem solving. If you
incorporate social elements into
the program, other employees
can comment on and “like” the
accomplishments of their remote
co-workers, turning a one-to-
one communication into a wider
message that can echo for days
and act as an example for others.
Below are just a few examples of tools that can help your employees and managers to be more productive and engaged.

22. WorkStride helps companies recognize, motivate, and develop their talent through
configurable software, modern rewards experiences, and strategic program design.
For a quick capabilities review, please email us at sales@workstride.com
or visit www.workstride.com and request a demo.