Retail 

Organizations that create an employee experience approach personalized and sustained by digital capabilities that amplify flexibility create a continuing opportunity to attract, inspire, and retain the best talent. In an environment where so many people are reassessing why and where they work, employee experience is at the heart of how organizations set themselves apart. Research shows that employees at companies focused on employee experience are more motivated to exceed work expectations by having a 40 percent higher level of discretionary effort.

In presenting our findings to Steve, the CEO of a national Retail chain, and the rest of the executive team, we highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organization and its workforce, especially the departments experiencing a more severe lack of engagement. However, to get to the specifics of the issues from the employee perspective, we needed to conduct a 360-degree employee experience survey and an engagement assessment to determine what the employees were looking for in their current work environment. Steve gave us the green light to move forward.

The survey and assessment proved that 43% of the employees were disengaged, and of the three departments highlighted in our initial report, employees were 58% disengaged. Our data analytics report highlighted three main areas to focus on:

1. More flexibility (offer Remote or hybrid work)

2. 4-day work week

3. Better communication

We assessed each department's ability to accommodate the first two items on the list. Involving the employees of the departments to ensure they are heard and are a part of the design.

The pandemic has left the workforce anxious, and it is vital that they feel they are informed and that they can trust the information more than ever before. Hence, the third item required the review of the communication style from the CEO down to the managers and supervisors. Communication breaks down below the executive level to the managers and deteriorates even more as it goes to the managers, supervisors, and the rest of the employees. We were able to collaborate with the executive team and help them design a communication plan that would allow them to communicate with the entire organization regularly, quickly, and effectively without adding too much time to their schedules.

The communication plan consisted of the following:

1. Reshaping their weekly meetings

2. Official meeting notes

3. Weekly 1-hour townhall meetings with all employees to enhance the executive presence

4. Drafting a communication plan for upcoming changes that are well thought-out and

   delivered via email to all employees

Six months later, we administered the employee engagement survey, and engagement had increased by 19% overall and by 29% in the highlighted departments. As a result of the improvement in engagement, efficiency had improved by 15%, and the organization increased revenue by 11%.