Canadian HR Reporter

November 2021 CAN

Canadian HR Reporter is the national journal of human resource management. It features the latest workplace news, HR best practices, employment law commentary and tools and tips for employers to get the most out of their workforce.

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N E W S 10 www.hrreporter.com Employee experience vital post-COVID: Experts Engagement and rewards are often seen as key to retention and attraction, but a new surveys shows that many organizations are paying attention to how each worker feels about the day- to-day culture, finds John Dujay attachment to the organization and its purpose, if you feel that you can grow in your organization — if all those things happen, then the outcome is the employee experience." And while "rewards are important, you need to be careful because it's not only cash compensation — which is one important element — it's also about 'How do I grow and develop?' and 'Am I able to fulfill my full potential in this organization?'" that makes the experi- ence that much more vital, she says. Retention considerations All of these aspects must be continually managed by HR departments, says Chaaya, in the ongoing quest to provide the best moments at the workplace. "It's constantly evolving and so we are constantly trying to figure out "A new set of expectations has emerged on the employee's part and it could be, for example, the flexibility of work; it could be the experience they lived virtu- ally or not with their colleagues; it could be whether they considered staying with the organization; it could be the fact that they are very marketable given the disparity of very good talent and that they suddenly have options." The survey heard from 1,550 employers representing 9.45 million employees around the globe between March 29 and April 23. The essence of experience But what exactly is employee experience? "Employee experience is the emotional connection of employees to the culture of the company. People will often remember how they felt about a certain thing and so when you when you ask people, 'Why have you stuck around Zurich for X amount of years?' — people always talk about the connections. They never say, 'Oh, it was that system I used that really blew my mind,'" says Ray Chaaya, associate vice president of employee experience and culture at Zurich Canada in Toronto. "It's mostly the connections that people have built between colleagues, with their managers, with their mentors — that is really what employee experience is." HR professionals have talked about the importance of engagement and total rewards as being critical in that reten- tion plan, but employee experience is an outcome that stems from those efforts, says Dufresne. "If you are engaged, if you feel well-remunerated, if you feel the what employee experience is. Similar to the uncertainty of what the future of work really looks like for employers in the post-COVID world, the same questions and uncertainty are applied to the employee experience — but there have been some very important lessons learned, especially during the pandemic, that employers should take careful note of and not lose sight of as we move towards the employee experi- ence post-COVID." While plenty of attention has been paid to the concept, a paltry amount of organizations have actually put strong effort into boosting employee experi- ence, found the WTW survey. A mere nine per cent reported that they have a "transformative" employee experience strategy that is aligned with the business and involves using technology to make those changes. This approach is key as all the data points to the fact that employees in North America are making changes, says Jennifer Elia, vice president of the future of work at Excellence Canada in Toronto. "They're evaluating what's important to them and how work fits in their lives and they're seeing opportunities to pursue maybe different paths," she says. "[It's about] making sure that there's a good EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE AT TRANSFORMATIVE ORGANIZATIONS 40% Percentage of workers with positive experience 7% Percentage of growth in gross profit margin 35% Percentage of positive engagement 28% Percentage of better employee wellbeing companies emerge from the pandemic, there are a number of areas that could help them burnish their image and not only attract new talent but retain those important workers already in-house. However, nothing seems more valu- able today for HR departments to focus on than providing workers with a great employee experience. An overwhelming 92 per cent of respondents to a survey done by Willis Towers Watson (WTW) plan to prioritize improvements in their employee experi- ence offerings during the next three years — nearly double that found before coro- navirus, at 52 per cent. These numbers proved to be a real eye opener for France Dufresne, Canadian leader of talent rewards at WTW in Montreal. "It's no longer just about money or cool perks; it's about values, culture and the way the employee feels when they come to work." Melanie Scheepers, Geotab Source: Willis Towers Watson AS

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