
Introduction
The concept of employee experience is getting a lot of focus right now.
The great resignation, the current phenomena sweeping across corporate America, means that employee expectations are peaking.
Employees are demanding greater flexibility, greater work-life balance, and more positive, progressive cultures and employment policies. Aligning your work with a sense of purpose and looking to feel included, once considered 'nice-to-have' are becoming 'must-haves'.
While employees are being highly selective about the companies they want to work for, it is the employers who are best able to keep up with these expectations that will win the competition for the best talent. This is why many experts have re-named the great resignation, the great opportunity.
Companies need managers and leaders who are able to deliver superior business performance AND who lead in such a way that they retain talent. And as the demand for workplaces to be more 'human' continues to rise, it is heart-centered leaders who will be needed, and who will be called upon to help companies change where they need to.
Will you choose to be the kind of manager who steps up to this challenge, and supports the changing landscape of expectations, winning the talent retention game? Subsequently positioning yourself to advance your own leadership impact and career?
A Leader and an Employee
As a manager you are both a leader and an employee - how are you feeling about the employee experience in your company right now?
As an employee are you experiencing a good level of work satisfaction, or is it a great level of satisfaction? Perhaps, very little satisfaction?
Are you finding your workplace provides you with a positive culture, a sense of belonging, and the ability to bring your whole self and your best self to your work?
As a manager/leader, do you have the freedom from your superiors to provide the tools, culture, and environment for your team members to experience a great level of work satisfaction, a positive culture, a sense of belonging, and the ability to bring their whole selves and their best self to their work?
And as a manager/leader, are you equipped with the right skills, knowledge, and mindset to create an environment where your team members will have an optimal employee experience?
Are you able to strategically and successfully influence upwards in your organization to transform your company and workplace to be ready for prioritizing an optimal employee experience?
I know that the answers to all of these questions are nuanced and intertwined. Certainly, they are not straightforward.
Employers are currently experiencing a marketplace that provides employees with greater choice, and it is critically important for you and your organization to start to think through these issues carefully so that you can be positioned to retain your talent, and perhaps take advantage of the opportunities available.
As well as for you to position yourself as a leader who knows how to do this!
Actions All Managers Can Take Now
Jacob Morgan, the author of Future Leader, shares 3 key facets for organizations to consider when thinking about employee experience. They are; Culture, Technology, and Space.
These are critically important and depend on enterprise-wide alignment and consistent action.
For the mid-level Manager looking to optimize their own leadership impact and team experience within a broader eco-system of an organization, here are 5 actions that you can implement as a leader for your own team right now.
- 1Put yourself in your employee's shoes
- 2Be curious
- 3Figure out your hybrid working options
- 4Triage your broken processes and tools
- 5Consider the Platinum Rule (rather than the Golden Rule)
I encourage you to consider these carefully in the context of your own team, as well as to spend some time influencing up to help shape your whole organization's approach to fostering and delivering an optimal employee experience.
Let's look at each of the 5 in more detail.
1. Put yourself in your employee's shoes

2. Be curious

3. Figure out your hybrid working options

4. Triage your broken processes and tools

5. Consider the Platinum Rule (rather than the Golden Rule)

Last Thoughts
As a mid-level manager, you may not be able to change everything.
Don't be discouraged by this.
And don't let it stop you from exercising all of the authority you do have to make things better for yourself and your team where you can.
You will find that your team will not only respect you for taking action but will also show you a level of discretionary effort in response to feeling cared for, that will pay dividends to your business bottom line and to team morale.
You very well may find yourself in a position where you are being sought out by your superiors to help the broader organization move forward in the arena of employee experience.
If you are looking for more information on employee experience then you might be interested in this article from McKinsey that describes the concept further.