Employee Experience Design in All Aspects

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE DESIGN IN ALL ASPECTS

Employee Experience Design, just like Design Thinking, is an approach that many organizations take to the agenda but find it difficult to make sense of. It is important to fully understand Employee Experience Design as it has become more important than ever with the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, we will discuss Employee Experience Design with all its aspects in order to eliminate this problem.

WHAT IS EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE DESIGN?

Employee Experience Design, also known as Employee Experience Design or simply EX Design, is an approach that uses the Design Thinking methodology. It ensures that the needs or problems of the employees are determined and that both effective and fast solutions are offered. It consists of techniques, methods and tools that can be applied to provide motivation and creativity, and is used not only by Human Resources (HR), but also by those in managerial positions and different units. Employee experience, as it is constantly changing, needs constant care and attention.

Employee experience; physical environment, tools and technology, culture and environment. Let's take it in order:

Physical Environment: It can be said that working people spend most of their lives at work. For this reason, it is important that employees feel comfortable in the physical environment in which they produce. The physical environment features should be considered in a wide range from the floor plan to the demographic characteristics of the people working together.

Technology: Tools and technology are the primary needs of workers to make productions. With the entry of the young generation into the business world, the demands have started to show a tendency to use advanced technology. Now, old technologies that stole time and hinder efficiency are left behind, making room for new technologies.

Workplace Culture: The way employees feel towards what is expected of them is workplace culture. Workplace culture, which is very important for employee experience, cannot be created only with high wages. Everything that shows the value given to the employees is important at this point.

HOW CAN I IMPROVE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE DESIGN?

Since Employee Experience Design is an approach that uses the Design Thinking methodology, it is necessary to learn this methodology first. Let's briefly touch on the stages of Design Thinking:

• Establishing Empathy: Empathy enables the problems and needs to be clearly identified, that is, the points that need to be focused on in improvement. The only mistake an organization can make here is to assume it “understands”. However, the real situation can be determined accurately only by empathizing.
• Identifying the Problem: Once you have an idea through empathy, it's time to define the problem. One should not be hasty in suggesting solutions, and this step should not be skipped.
• Generating Ideas: This is the stage where solutions to the identified problems are put forward. The entire team is involved in the idea generation phase. Sticky notes, whiteboards are often used to gather all these ideas together.
• Creating Prototypes: It is the step where one or more ideas selected from among the workable solution ideas are embodied.
• Testing: This is the stage where the prototyped idea is tested.
• Evaluate: This is the stage where the test results are evaluated by the team. Points missed during the preparation phase are determined at this stage, whether the solution works or not.

Empathy is the basis of Design Thinking. In addition, co-creation, learning by doing and holistic thinking are also very important. Co-thinking is the linking of different perspectives and disciplines. In this way, more than one solution proposal can be reached. Learning by doing is a feedback-driven approach and therefore relies on rapid construction and testing. Here, more time is devoted to action and learning than to planning. Holistic thinking, on the other hand, is the collective examination of the product, service, process, and collaboration. In this way, sustainable solutions can be revealed.

“THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE CAN BE IMPROVED IN 10 STEPS AFTER STARTING DESIGN-FOCUSED THINKING.”

1. The employee life cycle reveals the stages of the employee's relationship with the organization through the eyes of the employees. For this reason, the focus point should be defined by creating the employee life cycle.
2. Since it is not only HR's responsibility to create employee experience, other units should be involved as well. That is, cross-functional teams must be formed.
3. The employee journey should be mapped according to the focal point determined in the first step.
4. Imagine what the future employee experience looks like, creating the ideal situation.
5. The obstacles and difficulties that will be encountered during the journey should be defined.
6. Creative solutions should be sought to overcome the challenges identified in step 1. At this stage, the power of multiple participation should be harnessed.
7. Solutions should be prototyped and tested. The goal should be to arrive at the most workable solution.
8. After working prototypes, an implementation plan should be made. A clear plan and project team are needed at this stage.
9. Evaluation and feedback should learn what works and what doesn't. Resistance to change or successful stories should be addressed at this stage.
10. Since the goal is to improve the employee experience, solutions must be constantly improved.

EFFECT OF EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE ON COMPANY CULTURE

Today, the added value of an organization is measured not only by the profit and income, but also by the social value it creates for its employees, customers and the public. It's worth opening a parenthesis here: It could be argued that "smart" businesses are looking for ways to effectively handle the customer experience, while "smarter" businesses focus on the employee experience for maximum engagement. In other words, agile and innovative organizations aim to create a sense of belonging in their employees and care about their employees to feel that they contribute to this goal.

In Globalforce's study called Employee Experience, it has been revealed that employee experience is related to performance. To put it more clearly, the more an organization appreciates and pleases its employees, the more likely they are to perform better.

On the other hand, employee experience is required to earn Generations Y and Z. Retaining these generations means paving the way for the creation of a positive employer brand.

Resources,

https://staffbase.com/blog/the-anatomy-of-an-employee-experience-refining-todays-workplace/

https://www.playficient.com/employee-experience-design/

https://hrtrendinstitute.com/2018/09/03/design-thinking-employee-experience/