Introduction
Welcome to the latest edition of EXclusive News, produced by Brand Experiences. This month we share stories from events in Birmingham, Brisbane and Kuwait; discuss how to build empathy into your EX; and share some fresh thought leadership. We’re EXcited to bring you this newsletter and if you find it useful, do share it with your networks.
Creating an Inclusive Employee Experience
Our Head of EX, Nicholas Wardle, was in Kuwait in March, speaking at the Diversity and Inclusion Summit on the topic of 'How to create inclusive employee experiences'. He also took part in a fabulous panel discussion on what works and what doesn’t. As Nicholas kept repeating: EX is best built 'from the people, for the people'!
At the event, we launched our brand-new publication Creating an Inclusive Employee Experience which we’ll be making available via our website soon.
Building empathy into your EX
Partnering with the Institute of Internal Communication, we created the Employee Experience Opportunity in 2020. We have produced a number of things, which are free-to-use, including the EXO Survey, a whole bagful of EX Tools and an EXO ROI Calculator.
Empathy must be high on the agenda at the moment, as we've received lots of enquiries about how to best utilise our Empathy Map template. To share an example of where they can be useful, imagine you're building the journey of an employees' first day. We recommend trying to put yourselves in their shoes and in a workshop, answer the questions in the map below. By working to understand what the new employee is going to go through, you can then seek to build a first day with the employee at the heart and support them in feeling welcomed right from the off. After all, you want them to come back the next day!
Long Live Employee Engagement
Last week, Nick Dale and Greg Alder presented a workshop on 'Long Live Employee Engagement' at the Brisbane Business Hub to a room full of professionals eager to unlock the secrets of employee motivation. The workshop identified the motivators that help each of us to be more engaged, productive and healthier. Nick and Greg also had a bit of fun introducing the mojo platform with some audience participation and demonstrating that when you understand what motivates your employees, they are more productive, resilient and enjoy improved wellbeing. Many left the workshop feeling inspired and eager to apply the strategies they learned at their own organisations.
Nick and Greg will continue to run these workshops and welcome any opportunities to share their expertise with businesses in Australia and the wider AsiaPac region. Please connect with them if you think you can help us spread the mojo message!
How effective EX boosts wellbeing
Also this month, Nicholas Wardle spoke about EX at the health and wellbeing @ work event at The NEC in Birmingham. He discussed Employee Journey maps and then the group workshopped what a good-to-great last week would look like for an employee – all the while focussing on aspects of health and wellbeing.
You can download our EXO Toolkit, which includes the Employee Journey Map template here.
Monetising the Employee Experience
This book, co-written by Mike Sharples and Nicholas Wardle, is a practical guide on how to build the case for investment in EX, how to achieve senior leadership buy-in, and the tools you’ll need to develop a winning culture.
A reviewer said:
"One of the most pleasing aspects of this book for me is the foregrounding of staff productivity and how to really impact this. Surely, if there was even the faintest chance that we could meaningfully increase productivity, then we would embrace it with every muscle and sinew in our body! This book shows you exactly how to do it; truly, it is ground-breaking. I cannot recommend it enough.”
You can purchase your copy here.
EX and CX are two sides of the same coin
In the latest The IC Podcast, Nicholas joined Katie Macaulay from AB Communication to discuss why EX deserves parity with CX, the importance of identifying employees' intrinsic motivation, and he repeated the mantra of EX being built 'from the people, for the people'.
Upcoming EX Events
Introduction to Employee Experience Masterclass
- 22 May 14.00-16.00 (GMT)
- Online
- Chargeable
- Nicholas Wardle will explore employee experience, debunking myths and providing insight into the employee experience opportunity, the impact of motivation on organisational success, investment priorities, the three 'Es' of productivity and much more!
EXtra EXtra...
Just in case you missed them, here’s some recent thought leadership across our channels and some reports we think you may find useful:
Personalising EX: Alternatives to the Carrot and Stick Approach - Why is this approach no longer effective and what alternative methods can employers use to motivate their employees?
Engage for Success Employee Engagement Survey 2022 - Which tells that engagement not only dropped during the pandemic (-11%) but is now rated at lower than pre-pandemic (-8%).
Qualtrics 2023 Employee Experience Trends Report – Which informs that employees all crave more human experiences.
You can stay up-to-date with all things EX by following Brand Experiences on LinkedIn or via our website.