Leaders have a significant impact on just about every aspect of an organisation, including everything from culture and core values to engagement and retention.
One of the main ways leaders impact engagement and retention is through the employee experience. They are the biggest impact on what it feels like day to day to work in an organisation.
💡 As many as 57% of employees quit because of their boss.
What is Employee Experience?
The employee experience is the interactions an employee has with people, systems, policies and the physical & virtual workspace. Both the small details of day-to-day work and the periodic events and transitions matter.
From the moment someone looks at your job opening, to the moment they leave your company, everything that your employee learns, does, sees and feels contributes to their employee experience.
Ultimately, it’s their experiences – positive and negative – that will impact how hard they work, how much they collaborate or whether they are invested in improving operational performance.
How Leaders Shape Employee Experience
A leader plays a crucial role in shaping and enhancing the employee experience within an organisation.
💡 74% of employees believe leadership is the biggest influence on engagement. They are also the key to scaling a great culture, through their teams.
Setting the Tone
Leaders set the tone for the workplace culture. They establish the values, expectations, and behaviours that guide employees. A leader who promotes a positive and inclusive culture can contribute to a better employee experience.
The opposite is also true, we can see in our engagement surveys where a leader isn’t engaging their team and the impact that has on all members of the team.
Communication
Effective leaders communicate clearly, transparently, and frequently with their team members. Open and honest communication helps build trust and fosters a sense of belonging among employees, which can enhance their experience.
Support & Development
Leaders who provide opportunities for employee growth and development, as well as offer support and guidance, can contribute to a more satisfying employee experience. This includes mentoring, coaching and providing resources for skill-building.
One of the most common gaps we see in engagement and fulfilment of employees, is lack of clarity on employee career development. They often look to leaders to help them develop and build their careers and can become frustrated if they don’t receive the guidance they are looking for.
Recognition & Feedback
Leaders who recognize and appreciate their employees' efforts and provide constructive feedback create a more positive work environment. Acknowledging and rewarding achievements can boost morale and motivation.
It can be as small as a heartfelt “thank you” or having influence of remuneration and pay. The key to scaling a culture of recognition often lies with people leaders.
Team Building
Building a cohesive and collaborative team is a significant part of the leader's role. Leaders who foster a sense of community and belonging among their team members contribute to a positive employee experience.
What HR can do to Support their Leaders
Human Resources plays a critical role in supporting leaders to create a better employee experience for their teams.
Additionally, leaders and HR tend to have overlapping goals such as performance, retention or wellbeing. Meeting those joint goals benefits HR, the leaders and the company.
Training Opportunities
HR can design and implement leadership development programs that provide training and resources to help leaders enhance their leadership skills. These programs can cover topics such as managing careers, communication, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution and team building.
Coaching & Mentoring
HR can provide one-on-one coaching or mentoring for leaders who may need additional support in their roles. This personalised guidance can help leaders identify their strengths and areas for improvement.
Regular Check-Ins
HR can schedule regular check-ins with leaders to discuss their challenges, successes, and areas where they may need support. These meetings can help HR identify and address leadership issues proactively.
Employee Feedback
HR can gather feedback from employees through surveys, focus groups, and other feedback mechanisms. This information can help identify areas where leaders can improve and where the employee experience can be enhanced.
Having clear, regular and relevant data in this area can be a powerful way to drive a culture and engagement strategy and shape employee experience.
Leadership & Employee Surveys
Employee surveys provide valuable feedback from the people who work directly with leaders. This feedback can offer insights into the leadership strengths and areas for improvement that leaders themselves may not be aware of.
Employee surveys can measure the impact of leadership on various aspects of the employee experience, such as job satisfaction, engagement, and overall morale. This data can help leaders understand their influence on the workforce.
Surveys offer a structured and often anonymous way for employees to express their opinions. This anonymity can encourage honesty, as employees may be more willing to share their thoughts without fear of reprisal.
The Ten Space Survey Platform helps leaders understand what is driving, or holding back engagement in their teams. We do this through frequent, bespoke engagement surveys, designed to get to the heart of culture and engagement.
Our employee feedback surveys allow teams to be grouped, so you can see what is working for each team and where you might need to take a new approach to ensure you’re getting the maximum engagement and performance boost for your efforts.
This gives leaders the chance to listen to their team, understand the problems in the organisation and work on changing things for the better.
Our dashboard gives you instant insights. We provide tools and support to help you with reporting. These enable you to take the feedback to your leaders quickly and effectively.
Start your journey to high engagement with us by getting in touch. Or check out how we’ve helped others create incredible workplaces in our case studies.
