This article is part of our annual Cosmic Conference series and this year our focus is (re)Designing the Employee Experience. From Sept. 28th - Oct. 21st, 2022 we are exploring all things EX. Learn more and register to attend here.
Successful organizations focus on their employee experience (EX) as much as they focus on their customer experience (CX). But how do we begin to (re)design a meaningful employee experience that drives organizational performance? We believe it’s about creating an Omnichannel Organization™️ and in this article, we’ll share what that means and how you can begin to (re)design an impactful, holistic EX.
What is the Employee Experience?
The employee experience (EX) is defined as an employee’s perceptions about their journey through every touchpoint they have with a company, starting with job candidacy through to the exit from the company.
Why does EX matter?
EX has a significant impact on business. After all, it is this experience through which employees create value for the company. Without a holistic, integrated EX, employees will be disengaged, which can be very costly. For example, at the organizational level, disengaged employees incur a 60% increase in errors and defects in work performance. At the global level, the yearly cost of employee disengagement to the Global economy is $7.8 Tn. That’s 11% of Global GDP.
Conversely, a well-designed EX can positively impact the levels of employee engagement, which in turn drives business success. At the individual level, engaged employees produce ~1.5x as much as ‘satisfied’ employees. However, when this scales to engaging teams, they deliver 21% greater profitability compared to teams that are not engaged.
The data is clear; EX can impact the top and bottom line of an organization. That is why we believe managing the Employee Experience is part of managing the performance of an organization.
So how can leaders ensure their EX is designed to drive organizational performance? That is where the Omnichannel Organization™️ comes in.
What is the Omnichannel Organization™️?
Omnichannel is a term derived from customer experience and retail strategy. By managing the touch points through which a customer engages with a company, the omnichannel approach is a mutually beneficial system whereby the customer experience is enhanced, and companies increase the likelihood of conversion.
We believe that just as companies create omnichannel experiences for their customers, they should do the same for employees. Cosmic Centaurs designed an approach, called The Omnichannel Organization™️ to help leaders engage and connect with employees across all touchpoints, both physical and virtual. This enables them to seamlessly align with the organization’s goals while adding meaningful value, wherever they are.
What are the EX touchpoints needed to create an Omnichannel Organization™️?
To create an omnichannel experience, leaders must integrate the channels or, EX touchpoints an employee engages with throughout their journey with a company. These touchpoints exist in 3 spheres; virtual, physical, and social (see Fig. 1).
Within each of these spheres, there are touchpoints (channels) that can be designed to deliver on a company’s purpose and strategy and shape its culture. Some channels overlap across spheres, others live distinctly within a specific sphere
To download a full list of the touchpoints within each sphere, click below:
Where can I begin?
At Cosmic Centaurs, we believe all aspects of organizational strategy are interconnected. Like nodes within a network, you cannot upgrade one channel without upgrading the other. Our recommendation is to begin with the channels that have the most impact on the employee experience and how employees deliver on the goals to create value for an organization.