By Andrea Williams
Companies that want a competitive edge must have solid employee experience strategies in place. Wait, what?! Isn’t customer experience all the rage? Yes, but engagement starts from the inside out. If your employees aren’t happy, they will not be equipped to deliver customer experience that sets you apart. So, if you want to be customer centric, it’s logical to first address the levels of engagement within your business.
Companies with engaged employees see 233% greater customer loyalty and enjoy a 26% greater annual increase in revenue. Loyalty pushes employees to become “evangelists”—they truly love and support the company they are working for, so they naturally promote, share stories, and inspire the customers they interact with.
What does “successful” engagement look like?
In simple terms, engagement equals an active and satisfied person. A desirable, engaged employee is likely to be:
- Active on social media and various online communities
- Sharing stories and experiences that enrich the company’s reputation
- Asking questions meant to improve and inform company processes
- Speaking positively about their work and experiences
- Encouraging other team members and customers
- Partaking in wins
To build a customer-focused team, you should make hiring decisions with these attributes in mind. After a new hire joins your team, it’s up to you to keep the momentum going by building engagement.
5 strategies for optimal engagement
Building engagement in your team is all about how you communicate. Don’t be daunted. We’ve compiled some tactics that will help:
1. Distribute stories up, down, and all around
There’s a reason why they’re called “success stories.” They do no good if the information is kept hidden. You must share meaningful experiences because they can have the biggest impact on morale.
It also helps you identify what areas of an employee or customer experience platform really shine. If you’re getting a lot of stories about a particular team member, for example, you know how valuable they are. Eighty percent of employees feel more engaged when their work is consistent with the core values and mission of an organization.
Distributing the right stories can help team members relate. Three out of every four employees want to stay up-to-date on their company’s current events. Regardless of whether you distribute information via email, company networks, or social media, it’s clearly something your company should be doing. Information can come in many forms, including news and product updates, insights from upper management, or even customer statistics. Just make sure you inform your team(s) about what’s happening with the business.
2. Don’t spam
We just advised sharing information with your team. Yet too much of a good thing is overwhelming.
Consider the average workday. You sit down and begin sorting through hundreds of emails. Most of the day is spent trying to find important communications. It’s a pain, right? Don’t inflict that on your employees. Establish a set of guidelines for what warrants sending an email. Cutting down on all that unnecessary “email work” saves time and money.
On the other hand, since you want to keep everyone in the loop, make the information accessible whenever your employees choose to opt-in. That could mean using social media, an intranet, a private digital community, or a mobile platform. Depending on how much you want to make use of the latest technology, you could even use real-time updates. Real-time updates keep everyone informed because they automatically deliver everything important. Employees can see crucial information at a glance and interact with it or dismiss it.