Insights From Our Editors

What Kind of Employee Experience Are You Providing?

By Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD,
and Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD

Jan. 23, 2019

Companies are recognizing the importance of providing not just a well thought-out customer experience, but a strategic, thoughtful employee experience. Here are steps you can take to assess your employee experience and do even better.

Denise Lee Yohn, a contributor to Forbes, called 2018 “The Year of Employee Experience,” which she short-hands as “EX.” Yohn thinks that 2019 will go even further in emphasizing EX.

EX is everything an employee experiences in a connection to the company (or in our case, the practice) from hiring to when the employee ends employment. Here are two companies that got EX right and two that did not.

Two Companies That Got EX Right
IBM
IBM is an example of a company that seems to get it right. IBM started by co-designing an EX that includes making sure new employees have the tools necessary for proper on-boarding. They not only created a digital training and development program, but more importantly, a crowd-sourced performance review process.

Review your on-boarding process to make sure it gives your staff all the tools necessary for proper training. Do what IBM did and ask your staff using an engaging social media platform.

Hilton Hotels
Hilton got it right by upgrading its employee spaces. Hilton realized that it cannot achieve its mission of being the “most hospitable company in the world” if it is not hospitable to its employees.

What do your employee spaces look like? Most of the time, these are the last places in the office that receive attention. Show your employees you care by upgrading your employee spaces.

Two Companies That Did Not Get EX Right
United Airlines
United discontinued quarterly bonuses and replaced them with a lottery-based system. The employees were not consulted before making the decision. United’s leaders felt they knew what was best. Was it any surprise that the employees “responded to the announcement in an uproar?”

Make sure you get your employees input before making a major decision.

McDonald’s
McDonald’s has been implementing new technology, a new delivery service, a revamped menu and curbside pickup. The intent is to improve the customer experience, but an unintended consequence is that the changes wrecked havoc on EX. Employees were overwhelmed by both the quantity and the complexity of the tasks they were asked to perform.

This is a common issue in eyecare practices. Staff are often overwhelmed by both the quantity and the complexity of the tasks we ask them to perform. Make sure you have systems to improve your office processes.

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