These days, interior office design plays a critical role in the success of a business. Especially with the advent of many technological advancements and modern workplace trends, office spaces have been noticeably evolving. These result in fresh innovations that can enhance the productivity and satisfaction of employees, giving rise to a buzzword circling the organizational field: employee experience.
Employee Satisfaction Through Experience-driven Workplaces
Putting a premium on employee satisfaction is not a new trend in organizational theories. Numerous studies have proven that more satisfied employees equal to better-performing workers. One of the ways to keep your employees happier is to improve their overall experience in the workplace.
Because employee experience is an overarching concept, there is no precise definition for it. It’s an accumulation of different aspects of an employee’s moments, emotions, and interactions in the workplace, from the way they interact with their environment to how they communicate with their colleagues.
Perception of Work Environment
Employee experience relies heavily on their perception of their work. This includes the traffic situation on their commute to the office, how the manager evaluates their performance and outputs, and the level of comfort their cubicle offers, among others.
A successful employee experience design leads to a more engaged and empowered workforce. This includes strengthening the employees’ emotional bond to their work and everything that concerns it. An experience-driven workplace is also multi-faceted, which means it impacts the various aspects of an employee’s life.
To have an experience-driven workplace, you can provide various features in your office, such as gyms and yoga studios, massage and meditation areas, healthcare and medical offerings, and game rooms and other recreational spaces. Physical office details, like air-conditioning, sufficient lighting, and comfortable office furniture, are important as well.
Organizational culture also comes into play when considering the employee experience. Factors like relationships between coworkers, hierarchy, and the general level of formality in the workplace can affect how an employee feels about his or her work.
Great Employee Experience, Great Customer Experience
Enhancing the employee experience also affects the customer experience and can generate a higher ROI for the company. When workers are better engaged, they are more capable of serving and attending to customers better. Companies that focus on developing customer-driven workplaces have 1.5x more engaged employees and outperform their competitors by 147 percent.
One company that invests in employee experience is Starbucks. This household name is consistently at the top of “best customer experience” lists, and this is because Starbucks knows how to take care of its employees. Starbucks provides competitive wages and benefits to their workers, as well as sufficient training on how to properly interact with customers. The company makes sure that its employees feel valued and this resonates in the welcoming atmosphere of every Starbucks branch.
Plenty of studies point to the benefits of an experience-driven workplace. Because of this, HR departments across industries are doubling their efforts to make their employees feel valued at work. It’s the responsibility of companies to keep up with trends and stay competitive in the market while taking care of their workers.
