In today's ever-evolving workplace, understanding and catering to the unique needs and preferences of each employee is not just a nice-to-have; it's a strategic imperative. Human Resource (HR) leaders are pivotal in driving this personalised approach, leveraging HR analytics to tailor employee experiences (EX) that not only resonate on an individual level but also drive substantial returns on investment.

Research underscores a staggering 300% ROI from investments in employee experience and company culture. Yet, the State of EX 2023-2024 report by TI People reveals a concerning gap: less than half of organisations are optimising their EX management, with a mere 35% confident in their EX data quality.

From this, it’s clear that we need to move from discussing the importance of the personalised employee experience to taking significant action. Therefore, in this article, we'll explore how HR analytics can be wielded to craft individualised employee experiences.

Bridging the Gap Between CX and EX

In a previous article, we discussed how people analytics plays a pivotal role in enhancing the employee experience by bolstering facets of talent acquisition, retention, workforce planning, diversity, and inclusion, and employee engagement. This article will deepen our exploration, focusing on how analytics can create tailored employee experiences that mirror the personalisation we see in customer experience (CX).

The parallel between customer experience (CX) personalisation and employee experience is undeniable. Just as CX has evolved beyond generic interactions to personalised customer journeys, EX demands a shift from one-size-fits-all approaches to bespoke employee engagement strategies. Notably, only a fraction of companies adapt their feedback mechanisms to different employee segments, an essential step towards true personalisation.

According to the TI People's State of EX 2023-2024 report, only 32% of organisations confess to asking different employee segments different questions when they collect employee feedback.

If we want to create personalisation, are standardising questions across the workforce really going to capture the sentiment of each and every employee?

Kaz Hassan, Employee Experience Industry Lead at Unily, explains:

"If you think about what are the companies that are having the biggest impact on customers and delighting them, they're the companies like Apple and Amazon, and they don't send you a once-a-year survey to ask you how they're doing.

They map out the customer journey and they understand all these different touch points, how did we do here; what was the packaging like; did we make you happy; was the product what you expected?"

Personalised employee experiences entail an intricate understanding of each employee's lifecycle within the organisation. This requires diving deep into individual interactions, far beyond the capabilities of standardised surveys. Innovative companies like Genpact are leading the way, using AI to dynamically customise survey questions based on prior responses, ensuring no two employees' feedback experiences are alike.

Going Beyond Traditional Employee Listening

To truly understand and meet the unique needs of each employee, HR leaders must look beyond conventional surveys. To truly understand and meet employee needs, traditional listening methods only scratch the surface. Connecting people analytics with employee experiences also means going beyond traditional methods of employee listening.

Advanced analytics techniques, including sentiment analysis from text and voice data, provide insights into employee emotions and attitudes, tapping into unstructured data from emails, chats, and calls. Integrating these findings with performance metrics, career development plans, and even social media engagement offers a 360-degree view of the employee experience.

Booking.com exemplifies this approach by analysing employee sentiment on its social media platforms, enabling real-time engagement and feedback tracking. This level of interaction fosters a culture of high engagement and connectivity across the organisation.

Paulo Pisano, CHRO of Booking.com, shares how his team measures the sentiment of employees through the organisation's social media platform, on the Digital HR Leaders podcast:

"We use a platform, it's a classic social media type of platform. We have a very high level of engagement from employees. The beauty of those platforms is that you can track, monitor, measure, you know what's happening, you know what topics are coming up, you know how many people are viewing a video or post or liking it or commenting it.

You can track the sentiment, is it positive; is it negative; what's going on? And we've been using that for a number of years, and we've developed a culture of high engagement across the organisation. That's super-helpful to keep things connected."

Employee Personas from the Marketing Playbook

By leveraging HR analytics, organizations can deeply understand the diverse needs and preferences within their workforce, enabling personalized engagement strategies that resonate on an individual level.

Like the buyer personas created in marketing to target and appeal to consumer demographics, employee personas can segment internal audiences, catering to their unique preferences.

Imagine the impact of tailoring communication to resonate on a deep, individual level with a parent within your team discussing child care or a recent graduate who would be interested in more professional development opportunities. This level of personalisation can enhance the employee experience and create a sense of belonging for each individual within the organisation.

Use your people data to understand the various employee personas within your business. What keeps them up at night? What content do they want to see? How do they like to be communicated?

You want to know everything about what engages these employee personas and ensure that all content, communications and engagement initiatives are targeted and relevant to them in a timely manner.

Kaz Hassan offers a great example of this in play:

"What we see is that kind of Netflix-type experience, like every person that logs into Netflix sees something different because it knows who they are, where they are, you see your top 10 in your area, you know what genres they like and so you've kind of got this fingerprint of an experience that is built to engage me as an individual.

And so, it's bringing these two things together, pointing the right comms, right engagement efforts at the right people, but also let people control what content they're interested in, what notifications they want, through what channels as well”

Kaz Hassan's point about personalisation is crucial in creating a truly engaging employee experience. By understanding and targeting different employee personas, HR leaders can deliver personalised experiences that align with individual interests and preferences.

Personalised Journeys for Every Employee

For HR leaders, the path to elevating the employee experience involves a comprehensive strategy that integrates people analytics at every stage. By analysing preferences, motivations, and interests, HR can deliver experiences that genuinely engage and satisfy each employee, fostering a sense of belonging and commitment.

This strategic shift not only mirrors the personalised approaches seen in consumer marketing but also sets a new standard for employee engagement. Utilising HR analytics to understand and cater to the unique needs of your workforce can significantly enhance the overall employee experience, driving organisational success.

As HR leaders, embracing HR analytics for personalized employee experiences is not just an option but a necessity in the modern workplace. By understanding the unique needs and preferences of each employee, HR can drive personalised experiences that not only align with the company's mission but also contribute to a positive and inclusive company culture.

Incorporate these strategies into your HR practices to transform how you engage with your employees. The time to act is now—dive deep into your HR analytics and embark on a journey towards a truly personalized employee experience that pays dividends in engagement, satisfaction, and ultimately, organisational success.

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