Employee Experience – It Starts at the Top

This is a big shift. Employees are looking to their employers for information, guidance and support. That means employers have more responsibility than ever. Now, trust and transparency are key.  

Listen to your team

We’re noticing a trend – one of the biggest barriers to making a meaningful impact in employee experience comes from leadership. Recently, Zippia found that only 48% of employees believe their company’s leadership is of high quality, with 79% not feeling appreciated at work.

At the Future of Work conference, an employee working in the people and culture team of a growing SME described how growth stopped when their team satisfaction dropped too low. The company was too restrictive. Leaders were no longer trusted, employees didn’t feel psychologically safe, and the business couldn’t innovate at the same rate.

Employees are demanding greater flexibility and improved work-life balance. It’s not enough to feel like a cog in a machine – they want to be listened to and understood. If these needs aren’t met, a business can struggle to keep and attract talent and their business model will become unsustainable.

Employee experience matters

Employee experience impacts how engaged employees are and how likely they are to stay at their company. Research suggests individuals who have a positive employee experience are 16 times more engaged than people with negative experiences. These satisfied employees are also 8 times more likely to stay with a company.[1] So, improved employee experience isn’t just better for employees – it’s better for business.

At Six, we’re experts at creating a dedicated workforce. A client came to us with a challenge: their leadership lacked trust and transparency. Employees were afraid to make decisions and take risks. The business was becoming less productive, and they were struggling to keep staff.

We worked with the leadership team to create an internal culture program. This encouraged a more inclusive environment where being bold, taking risks and celebrating failures was the norm, turning a weakness into an opportunity. Check out our leadership toolkits for more on how we were successful.

Take a human-centred approach

Employees are the key to unlocking your business’s potential. It’s important to put them at the heart of everything you do. A feature in Engage Magazine, which was handed out at the event, gave a great example of this approach. It explained how Virgin Group is already trying out this shift, suggesting business leaders need to return to the basics and treat their employees more like people.

Nikki Humphrey, Chief People Officer at Virgin, pushed for a friendlier environment for employees. For Virgin, the approach meant a more flexible working policy and the removal of gendered uniforms, which saw a 100% increase in job applications. This all started with a change in mentality at the top. [2]

To succeed, leaders must think of their employees as a key audience. That means really listening to their needs to create a proper sense of belonging.

At Six, we have the experience to help you transform your employee experience.

Find out how.  

[1] “Employee Experience vs Engagement”, Engage Magazine, October 2023, p. 35

[2] Engage Magazine, October 2023, p. 9