Employee Engagement Vs Employee Experience
In the past few years, businesses have been focusing on keeping their employees happy and making sure they stick around (especially with the job market being so competitive!). You have probably heard terms such as "employee experience" and "employee engagement" thrown around a lot, almost like they mean the same thing.
But here's the deal: these terms have different meanings, and it's important to know the difference if you want to create a better work environment for your team.
What is employee experience?
Employee experience is the complete journey that an employee takes with your company, starting from the initial awareness of an open position, progressing through the hiring and onboarding phases, and extending throughout their entire career with your company.
Employee experience is about feeling cared for and valued, and there are so many ways to improve it:
Creating a culture of respect
Effectively onboarding new employees
Holding regular team-building exercises
Generally improving your company culture so your workplace is a more positive place to be.
What is employee engagement?
This is how employees connect with the work they do, the purpose of your company, and the people around them. Simply upgrading your office or organising a one-time team-building event won't necessarily boost engagement—real engagement comes from finding meaning and value in the work you do.
Employee engagement is about feeling recognised, connected, and positively challenged to grow, and there are also so many ways to improve it that also boost your employee experience:
Building a culture of recognition
Increasing transparency in your company
Creating stronger connections between employees
How employee experience and engagement connect
Poor employee experience makes fostering engagement challenging.
A good employee experience is fundamental for engagement.
Comfortable workplaces and necessary resources enhance engagement.
Outstanding benefits don't guarantee engagement; factors like workload, autonomy, and career prospects play important roles.
How to measure employee experience and engagement
Regular Check-Ins: Make it a habit to check how engaged and satisfied your team is because you can't make things better if you don't know where you stand! The easiest way to do this is by having a chat with your teams, and using employee surveys is a great way to get their input.
P&C Roadmaps and Strategies: By incorporating metrics that are directly tied to your organisation's overarching goals and values, you can better understand how employee sentiment aligns with broader initiatives. This alignment facilitates the identification of areas for improvement and the implementation of targeted interventions that resonate with employees, driving meaningful change and fostering a more engaged and satisfied workforce.
Bottom-line
Employee experience and employee engagement are two different, but deeply entwined, components of any successful workplace. Understanding their differences gives you a greater sense of how they work together to create a company where employees love to spend time, do their best work, and stay to build their careers.