Running a successful company is no easy feat and most business owners would agree with that. But what separates successful companies from those who did not make it? There are plenty of factors that could derail the fortunes of a company and one of them is a disoriented and unmotivated workforce. 

The business landscape has evolved over the past couple of decades. With it, the modern workplace has also undergone notable changes. With the pandemic, we now have a whole new generation of hybrid workers worldwide. Therefore, companies need to focus on their employees more than ever before. 

Have you heard the phrase one bad fish spoils the whole pond? Similarly, a single unsatisfied or unmotivated employee can harm your business in over one way you can imagine. Therefore, more and more companies are prioritizing the need to provide a seamless employee experience, and for good reasons. A motivated workforce has the best interest of the company and would work with more dedication, leading to better productivity and efficiency. 

Did you know that enhancing employee experience has helped companies generate 25% more profits? [1] The formula is simple; the greater the employee experience, the better the performance. 

What can companies do to provide a better employee experience? One way to do it is by using technology to improve the employee experience. In this article, we will examine how companies can integrate human resources technology (HR tech) to improve the employee experience. 

Without further delay, let’s dive straight in. 

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What exactly is employee experience?

Employee experience is the overall journey of an employee across different phases after joining a certain company. Right from the hiring process to the time they depart from the organization and everything between is known as employee experience. 

Before companies create a strategy to improve employee experience, it is important to understand the different touchpoints in the employee lifecycle. 

Employee experience can impact the following business areas. 

  • Employee engagement

team meeting

What is employee engagement? Employee engagement is the degree of involvement shown by employees while working in a company. According to Gallup, engaged employees generated 17% more productivity in comparison with disengaged employees [2]. 

On most occasions, a good employee experience leads to higher employee engagement. 

  •  Retention

Employees are more likely to quit in the first few months after they were hired. McKinsey has revealed that around 40% of employees are likely to resign within the first six months of starting the job [3]. 

  • Recruitment

Glassdoor says that a staggering 86% of job seekers and employees turn to online company reviews to decide where they want to work. HR technology tools like Glassdoor offer detailed insights into a company’s compensation packages for different roles, employee experience, and total experience. 

Why do employees use HR tech platforms such as Glassdoor? The main reason is that employees, wish to understand the experience they can expect at a specific company.

Companies that cannot provide a good employee experience are likely to get more negative reviews online. 

  • Revenue

Revenue management

A positive employee experience can have a positive impact on a company’s revenue. As per research, businesses with positive employee experience scores had 40% lower turnover, four-fold growth in average profits, and average sales that were twice as high [4]. 

Can HR tech improve employee experience?

HR technology plays a significant role in the daily experiences of employees. How does technology improve the employee experience?

  • Employees can interact with the human resources department without difficulties with HR tech platforms.
  • Departmental managers, HR managers, and other stakeholders can use tech applications to implement an employee experience strategy. 
  • Many employees use different IT tools to perform tasks. 

Tech applications for better employee experience

Many tech applications aid in improving the overall employee experience. 

Human resource management systems (HRMS)

HRMS are HR tech applications that help companies streamline and manage different HR functions. These include recruitment, employee data management, payroll, attendance, talent management, and employee engagement. 

HRMS tools provide employees transparency and a certain degree of control over their information. Today, HRMS tools have evolved to include different features such as social collaboration tools, employee profiles, directories, and contingent worker information. This trend shows the increased need to use a unified system with better usability for employees and HR teams. 

Service management tools

HR departments may manage work requests and enhance service delivery with the aid of HR help desks. Tools for HR service management enhance communications with employees and save precious time by automating manual, time-consuming activities. Through their dashboards, employees may see the job requests that were submitted.

Applications for service delivery are created to fulfill different requirements including promoting employee engagement and their usage of workplace technology, as well as optimizing HR processes and user experience.

Digital adoption platforms 

Digital adoption platforms (DAPs) are instructional systems that simplify onboarding employees, streamline user interactions, and secure tool proficiency in the workplace.

DAPs were developed to aid with productive digital transitions and boost the return on investment for workplace technology.

Employees often experience dissatisfaction, burnout, and disengagement when they are forced to use unfamiliar technologies and platforms regularly. Both productivity and the quality of the output are harmed.

This is how digital adoption platforms work:

  • These platforms offer in-app tutorials and guidance
  • Automation of different aspects of employee onboarding
  • Capturing and evaluation of employee data
  • Proactive help to address challenges faced by employees

Health and wellness applications

Employers may use health apps to stay on top of the physical and emotional wellness of their staff members.

With such initiatives, employees feel valued and cared for, which improves the overall employee experience.

HR technology tips to enhance employee experience

Here are a few ways in which we can leverage HR tech to improve the employee experience. 

1. Better and improved self-services

Employee self-service applications play a key role in saving precious time by facilitating streamlined workflows. That being said, self-service applications should be easy to understand and intuitive. If the platform is poorly designed and packed with unrequired features, employees are likely to lose interest, leading to lower adoption of these tools. 

In addition, platforms ridden with UI flaws open the floodgates for data integrity issues. HR teams are compelled to perform tasks manually. These are the few reasons companies steer away from using self-service applications. 

A well-designed self-service platform eliminates inefficiencies in workflows including:

  • Inconsistent reporting
  • Compliance errors
  • Limited reporting capability
  • Errors in payroll

2. A modern twist to recruitment

Companies can modernize their recruitment process by using HR tech applications. These solutions help HR teams across different stages of recruitment; from rolling out an offer to onboarding. 

HR technology applications automate many activities including background checks for candidates, screening job applications, organizing job postings, and more. Trends suggest employees are more inclined toward working with companies that use the latest applications and are updated with the latest practices. 

3. Better task management

Task management

HR procedures must be efficient and organized for the employee experience strategy to be successful. It’s critical to can execute activities promptly and properly at both the organizational and employee levels.

4. Nurture a learning environment

Offering professional development opportunities is a smart method to empower staff and develop the organization’s talent pool. Most businesses stop at onboarding training. However, allowing workers to keep improving their skills improves their experience at the workplace.

Employees may learn while working with digital technologies such as webinars and learning management systems (LMS).

As mobile learning systems allow employees to learn new skills and nurture them on the move, these tools are increasingly being used by employees. 

5. Better employee engagement

As mentioned earlier, employees who enjoy showing up to work are more productive than disgruntled workers. A good and positive employee experience plays a key role in improving employee engagement.

Companies should use HR tech solutions to offer employees the opportunity to communicate with peers. Besides, this becomes even more important as the remote working trend has caught on due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When employees can share their milestones, and appreciate and motivate each other, they feel more connected with their colleagues and the organization. 

6. Streamlined collaboration and communication

Better team collaboration is important to ensure employees do not spend time clearing out discrepancies. Straightforward team collaboration has a host of benefits including trust building, creating a sense of community, better engagement, and more. 

Bottom line: why HR tech is important

We have broadly explored the importance of HR tech in the modern workplace. As per LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends 2022 Report, employee experience is one of the four workplace trends that is gradually transforming how companies recruit and retain employees. 

As HR departments across the world become more aware of this, we are likely to see higher adoption of HR technology in the future. Besides, as HR tech applications play a key role in improving employee experience, there is no reason to believe that companies won’t invest in them. 

How has HR tech helped your company? Do you think providing a seamless employee experience is important? Share your thoughts by dropping a comment below. 

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Feature Image Source: Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Image 1 Source: Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Image 2 Source: Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Image 3 Source: TASK MANAGEMENT: Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Sources:

[1] (2021) “Building business value with employee experience” Avanade [online] Available from: https://www.avanade.com/en-us/thinking/workplace-experience/mit-cisr-research [accessed August 2022]

[2] Harter. J (2018) “Employee Engagement on the Rise in the U.S.” Gallup [online] Available from: https://news.gallup.com/poll/241649/employee-engagement-rise.aspx [accessed August 2022]

[3] (2021) “‘Great Attrition’ or ‘Great Attraction’? The choice is yours” McKinsey&Company [online] Available from: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/great-attrition-or-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours [accessed August 2022]

[4] Morgan. J (2018) “3 Things to Know About Employee Experience” SHRM [online] Available from: https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0317/pages/3-things-to-know-about-employee-experience-.aspx [accessed August 2022]