What is employee experience: the essential guide for 2024

Employees are the lifeblood of every business. They make sure the wheels keep turning and the sales keep coming. But to perform at their best, they need to feel appreciated, understood, and supported. That’s where the employee experience comes in.

The Zendesk EX Trends Report 2024 revealed that 84% of businesses see the employee experience as a competitive differentiator—and for good reason. A top-notch employee experience helps you both attract and retain top talent to make sure you stay ahead of your competitors.

More in this guide:

• What is employee experience (EX)?
• Why is employee experience important?
• Employee experience challenges in 2024
• How to design an EX strategy around employee experience journey stages
• Essential technologies to deliver a comprehensive employee experience
• How to improve employee experience?
• How to measure employee experience?
• Frequently asked questions
• Improve your employee experience with Zendesk

What is the employee experience (EX)?

The employee experience (EX) can be a little tricky to pin down. But in simple terms, it’s how employees feel about their job, workplace, and employer. From the first time someone glances at a job opening to the moment they decide to move on, every interaction they have with your company shapes their employee experience.

EX is affected by things like workplace culture, technology, leave policies, opportunities, and more. Even more importantly though, it has a huge influence on employee satisfaction and turnover. Here’s Bob to explain more.

What are the three pillars of employee experience?

As already highlighted, employee experience is affected by several factors, but three stand head and shoulders above the rest. Get these right and you’re well on your way to creating a thriving workplace, so without further ado, here are the three pillars of the employee experience:

1. Integrating cutting-edge technology
Using the latest technology ensures employees have the tools they need to produce their best work. It also makes their lives easier and their jobs more enjoyable—great news for both job satisfaction and productivity.

2. Delivering a convenient, personalised employee service
Having a dedicated service to handle internal questions and queries helps keep your back office running smoothly. With an organised and centralised system, employees no longer have to waste time looking for answers.

3. Keeping employee data secure
Making sure your employees’ details are safe and sound should go without saying. Not only does it protect their privacy but it also helps build trust. Plus, keeping sensitive data under lock and key ensures compliance.

Why is employee experience important?

Employees are your greatest asset. They do the work, design new products and services, and look after your customers—but they can only do all of these things if they feel happy, supported, and motivated.

When your employees are happy, it shows in their work. Satisfied employees typically work and produce more—at higher quality. Output, collaboration, and commitment all depend on getting the employee experience right.

It’s no surprise EX Trends found that:

• 83% agree EX is a top priority

• 90% believe it’s key to retaining top talent

• 87% believe it impacts the customer experience

In short, EX is all about looking after your employees so they can look after your business. As Richard Branson said: “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they’ll take care of the clients.”

Benefits of a good employee experience

Happy employees bring a whole host of benefits to every business out there. Let’s go over six of the best:

• Improved employee engagement: When employees feel connected to your company, they’re more motivated and productive. In short, engaged employees are committed employees and they’ll put in more to help you go further.
• Reduced employee turnover: If your EX is good, employees will be more satisfied and less likely to leave. And fewer people heading for the exit ultimately saves you money on hiring and training new staff.
• Positive workplace culture: Nobody wants to work somewhere where they don’t feel valued or appreciated, which is why getting your culture right helps you retain and attract top talent. Make sure you’re promoting collaboration and recognition, while also ensuring everyone feels supported.
• Better customer experience: Happy employees create happy customers. When your employees are enjoying their job, they’re much more likely to provide a great service to your customers. This has a knock-on effect on customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately sales.
• Enhanced brand advocacy: Employees are your first and most credible brand ambassadors. They’re likely to know your company inside and out, and if they feel good about it, they’re likely to tell others. This is one of the best ways to strengthen your brand and get the word out.
• Higher employee satisfaction: Regular feedback—whether it’s one-to-one meetings or quick surveys—can provide juicy insights into what your employees are really thinking and what they really need. Acting on this can not only help keep your employees happy but also take your internal customer service to the next level.

Employee experience challenges in 2024

From ensuring employee well-being to personalising the employee experience, there’s no shortage of challenges when it comes to employee experience management. Here are three of the biggest:

Lack of investment
Despite some companies now recognising the importance of EX with new roles like Chief Employee Experience Officer (CEEO), many are putting it on the back burner. For example, EX Trends revealed that more than half of EX decision-makers think their company isn’t investing enough in the employee experience.

Remote work
Another big challenge is the rise of remote and hybrid work. EX Trends found 60 percent of leaders believe remote work has made it difficult to maintain the same level of productivity while 66 percent are finding it difficult to monitor and evaluate employee performance.

Rise of AI
Perhaps the biggest EX challenge in 2024 though is how best to harness the potential of artificial intelligence (AI). Companies are looking at ways to implement AI without employees feeling overwhelmed or disconnected. And while there’s definitely still work to be done, the trend is clear—AI is good news for EX, as revealed by EX Trends:

• 81% agree that AI enables employees to handle complex tasks more effectively

• 79% agree that AI enhances the quality of work performed by employees

• 76% agree that AI allows employees to take on new responsibilities

How to design an EX strategy around employee experience journey stages

Although designing an EX strategy might sound a little excessive at first, it’s more than worth the time and effort. Because getting your employee experience right from start to finish brings benefits across your business. And it all starts with employee experience journey mapping.

Mapping out each phase of the employee lifecycle not only helps you better understand what your employees go through, but it can also help you identify where staff members feel engaged and disengaged from their work. Let’s break it down into six key phases.

1. Recruitment

At this stage, your focus should be on attracting the best people by showcasing everything you have to offer. Try to answer the following questions: why would somebody want to work for your business? What do you offer that sets you apart?

The recruitment stage is also about setting expectations. Naturally, you should look for candidates that align with your company’s values and culture, but you can also use advanced listening tools to gather insights from social media sentiment and feedback on company review sites. This can help you better understand what potential employees are looking for and value most.

2. Onboarding

This is an important step in the EX journey because it sets the tone for everything to come. Good questions to ask yourself at this point include: do our new employees have everything they need to get up to speed quickly? Is there anything more we can do to help?

Employee onboarding is ultimately about providing new employees with all the tools, information, and support they need to succeed in their new roles. Transitions can be tricky so try sending out regular surveys to help you gather feedback and adapt your onboarding as you go.

3. Development

If you’re not developing, you’re falling behind—and the same is true for your employees. We all need to face new challenges and handle new responsibilities to grow and improve. Ask yourself: what opportunities do employees have to develop new skills? How do we support their continuous professional development (CPD)?

Employee development is about investing in your employees’ potential and aligning their goals with your company’s objectives. Holding regular CPD meetings can help keep employees on track with their goals and progression—not to mention helping build new skills and expertise within your company.

4. Promotion

Nearly all employees will have aspirations to move up the career ladder, and promotions are your ace in the pack when it comes to retaining top talent. Good questions to ask yourself include: is there a clear path for career progression in our company? Are employees aware of promotion opportunities?

When it comes to promotions, transparency is key. Special surveys and meetings can help you understand your employees’ aspirations and expectations. You can then work together to create a realistic and clear path to promotion. Try to be as open as possible, so employees know where they’re at.

5. Retention

Great, your employees are onboard. Now it’s time to think about how you’re going to keep them there. You need to keep working to make sure your employees are happy and engaged. Ask yourself: what can we do to improve the working environment? Are we properly addressing employee concerns?

The retention phrase is all about listening and taking action. Try to see if there are any patterns in feedback and exit interviews, as this will help you identify any areas you need to improve. Analysing data like employee engagement scores can also help you spot issues before they snowball into bigger problems in employee turnover.

6. Exit

So long, farewell. Departures are difficult but they’re also your opportunity to gain honest feedback. Although it’s tempting to move on to thinking about recruitment immediately, it’s a good idea to ask a few questions: what made you decide to leave the company? Is there anything we could have done to make you stay?

Proper offboarding ensures a smooth transition for remaining employees and limits your risks. Don’t forget to conduct exit interviews to understand why each employee is leaving—and possibly what you did wrong. This will highlight exactly what you need to do to improve your EX and reduce turnover.

Essential technologies to deliver a comprehensive employee experience

Now that you know how to design your EX strategy, you need the right tools and technologies to bring it to life. From collaboration tools and onboarding systems to learning and performance management systems, there are lots of solutions that can help improve your employee experience. Start by focusing on three main goals:

Automate, automate, automate
With the right tools, you can make it easy for your teams to get the help they need. Whether that’s a hub where employees can request equipment without needing to talk to an agent or a self-service portal where they can find answers themselves, automation can help keep everything running smoothly. You can even use AI to route requests, write help centre content, and provide 24/7 support.

Create a feedback system
Feedback is vital for both employees and employers, but traditional feedback processes can often be boring and vague. Luckily, new technologies make it easy to not only gather info (e.g. via a chatbot) but also provide personalised, accurate feedback. Plus, they’re great at identifying trends in employee performance.

Offer learning opportunities
It’s safe to say that investing in your employees’ development can do wonders for your EX. Research from LinkedIn Learning found that businesses with a strong learning culture had 57% higher retention. The latest learning and development platforms can even identify strengths and weaknesses and create tailored programmes.

Zendesk for EX is our AI-powered employee service solution that reduces
repetitive tasks for HR and IT. It’s scalable, doesn’t require any coding, and integrates perfectly with any tools you’re already using. Even better, you can use it across any department. It makes self-service easy with knowledge bases and bots for Slack and Microsoft Teams. Save time, simplify support, and supercharge your internal teams.

How to improve employee experience

Zendesk EX Trends 2024 revealed that a staggering 80% of leaders agree their company could improve its employee experience. With that in mind, let’s look at some specific actions you can take to improve your employee experience.

Remember: rather than treating employees like just another cog in the business machine, good EX means listening to their needs. Here’s how to create an end-to-end employee experience that not only meets but exceeds employee expectations.

1. Improve service efficiency with AI

Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) can help take a lot of the pressure off your teams. AI can automate all kinds of simple—and even some complex—tasks, allowing your employees to focus on more demanding and rewarding activities, which not only improves efficiency but also job satisfaction.

2. Deploy AI agents and chatbots

Nobody likes to be kept waiting and it’s the same for your employees. Implementing AI agents and chatbots can provide immediate answers to any questions your employees might have. This not only resolves problems faster but also ensures that employees feel heard and supported around the clock.

3. Keep employee data secure

According to the UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024, a staggering 50% of UK businesses have been victim to some form of cybercrime in the past year. That frightening stat alone should be enough for every business to sit up and take data security seriously.

When it comes to employee data, use advanced cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive information. This will build trust with employees and ensure they feel safe sharing personal information.

4. Support employees over communication channels they use the most

Just like it’s a good idea to meet your customers where they are, it’s key to the employee experience to use the communication channels your employees prefer—whether it’s email, instant messaging, or social media. This avoids frustration and missed messages and keeps everyone on the same page.

5. Empower employees to self-serve

Creating an easily searchable help centre allows employees to access the information and resources they’re after—whenever and wherever they need them. This not only allows them to find the answers they need quickly but also adds a level of freedom and independence. It’s all about helping employees help themselves.

6. Personalise employee service

Personalisation goes a long way with employees—just as it does with your customers. Using data analytics can help you understand individual preferences and needs. Plus, personalised experiences almost always improve employee satisfaction and loyalty.

7. Streamline employee onboarding and offboarding

Getting new employees up to speed as quickly as possible is important for any business. And you can only do that with clear onboarding processes. Make sure you’re providing information in a structured and logical order. On the flip side, don’t forget about exit interviews. Your teams should conduct them and record any insights in the same methodical way.

8. Standardise management of leave and life events

Work isn’t everything and we all need time off. Show your employees that you value their wellbeing and a healthy work-life balance by implementing clear employee leave policies for holidays and other important life events. Make sure everything is accessible from a central platform for complete transparency.

How to measure employee experience?

Measuring employee experience helps you understand exactly where you stand and what you need to improve, but it can be a daunting task. Without the right tools, measuring employee experience is a bit like searching in the dark. You might stumble into some useful insights but really you should go for a more targeted approach. Here are six of the best tools to shed some light on the process.

Employee engagement surveys

These surveys aim to understand how committed employees are to your company and its goals. Conducting them regularly can help you gauge the level of enthusiasm and dedication among your employees, which is a direct indicator of their overall experience.

Possible employee engagement survey questions include:

• How motivated do you feel to do your best work every day?

• Do you feel valued and recognised for your contributions?

• How likely are you to recommend our company as a great place to work?

Support satisfaction surveys

Support satisfaction surveys can help you evaluate how happy your employees are with the support systems and resources available to them. This includes support from IT, HR, and managers. High levels of satisfaction in these areas point towards a positive employee experience.

Possible support satisfaction survey questions include:

• How satisfied are you with the support you receive from your manager?

• Are you happy with the resources and tools provided to do your job?

• How quickly are your issues and concerns addressed by the support team?

Temperature checks

Short, frequent surveys known as temperature checks can help you keep tabs on employee sentiment in real time. So if something starts to go wrong, you’ll know about it in no time. They can cover a range of topics—from workplace comfort to daily challenges—and provide ongoing insight into employee well-being.

Possible temperature check survey questions include:

• How are you feeling about your workload this week?

• Do you feel stressed or overwhelmed at work lately?

• How satisfied are you with your current work-life balance?

Sentiment and behavioural surveys

Sentiment surveys can help you find out how employees feel about their work and work environment, while behavioural surveys can provide insight into how employees behave in different situations. Both are important as they reveal whether employees have a sense of belonging with the company.

Possible sentiment and behavioural survey questions include:

• How would you rate your overall happiness at work?

• Do you think the company culture supports your wellbeing?

• How often do you go out of your way to help a colleague?

Open-ended surveys

Open-ended surveys give employees the chance to express their thoughts and feelings in their own words—without the restrictions of tick boxes and forms. They help you gather qualitative data, which is often a great way to pick up issues that might be missed by other, more structured surveys.

Possible open-ended survey questions include:

• What’s one thing we could do to improve your experience at work?

• Can you describe a recent positive experience you’ve had at work?

• What suggestions do you have for making our workplace better?

Exit surveys

You should conduct an exit survey or interview every time an employee leaves your company. After all, they provide important feedback on their experience and can prove invaluable in understanding why people might want to leave your company.

Possible exit survey questions include:

• What made you decide to leave the company?

• What did you like most about working here?

• Is there anything we could have done to keep you as an employee?

Frequently asked questions

Improve your employee experience with Zendesk

Employee experience should be a priority for every company because it affects how employees feel about their work, their productivity, and their willingness to stay with the company. A positive EX can boost morale, reduce turnover, and help your business grow. It’s win-win.

Zendesk for Employee Experience makes great EX easy. Our multichannel internal help desk software and 24/7 employee self-service is perfect for both HR and IT teams. Plus, it comes with AI-powered support features, including AI agents and chatbots to handle all sorts of enquiries and support requests.

In short, it’s everything you need to provide class-leading EX for happy employees—and happy customers. Try Zendesk today and give your employees the tools they need and the support they deserve to deliver their best.