9 Stages of the Employee Experience

HR Matters: Employee Experience 

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Narrator 1: Hi, I am True Talent and today’s topic is the employee experience. The employee experience is an employee's journey. It refers to the overall set of interactions, emotions, and perceptions an employee goes through during their entire tenure with your organization. To better understand the journey, The National Center on Program Management and Fiscal Operations has identified nine stages of the employee life cycle. These stages highlight the touchpoints and experiences an employee has throughout their employment.

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[Listing stages]

1. Know Thyself – You have to know who you are as an organization before you can share it with others. When the employee’s experience reflects your organization’s one-of-a-kind values, mission, and culture, each interaction an employee has is authentic. Interactions will inspire commitment and support performance.
2. Attract and Recruit – Initial contact between the employee and the organization is where you get to know one another. An opportunity for the employee and the organization to decide to continue the journey.
3. Hire – An exceptional hiring process is clear and aligned with the organization's purpose and culture. It sets the tone for the employee's perception and expectations of the organization.
4. Onboard – A comprehensive process in which new hires are integrated into the organization. It can take up to 12 months. A positive onboarding experience helps employees feel welcome, supported, and prepared for their roles.
5. Engage – Engaging employees is ongoing and super important to an employee's experience. Gallup's 12 engagement elements are the key to unlocking rich opportunities to engage employees.
6. Develop – Employees expect to see a path forward in your organization. Do you offer opportunities for career growth? Do you invest in their future?
7. Perform – Employees expect performance reviews to be fair and accurate, which includes regular feedback and recognizing excellent work.
8. Progress – Do you have standardized metrics in place to measure an employee’s progress?
9. Exit - When an employee decides to leave the organization, the exit process becomes a part of their employee experience journey. A positive exit experience includes a smooth transition and opportunities for networking and staying connected. When an employee has a great experience, they are more likely to become proud ambassadors for your organization!

Narrator 1: Here are nine opportunities to impact your employee's interactions, perceptions, and feelings about your program. In which stage do you believe your organization is the strongest? Where do you believe your organization should concentrate its efforts? Ultimately, engaging and connecting with employees is a crucial part of the employee’s experience. It creates meaningful interactions, fosters a sense of belonging, and builds strong relationships between employees and the organization.

See you next time on HR Matters!

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