An organization’s ability to provide an exceptional employee experience impacts its success in many ways, from driving profitability and growth to enhancing customer satisfaction. However, now that the majority of insurers have adopted long-term hybrid or fully remote environments, both managers and organizational leaders are having to adjust how they approach this essential area.

The employee experience encompasses all interactions an individual has with your company, as well as their feelings around their role, well-being and environment. A strong employee experience provides opportunities for growth, a sense of connection and belonging, ongoing two-way communication, and a culture that is reflected in daily actions and decisions.

Regardless of whether your organization is fully remote, hybrid or in-person, how can you create an employee experience that has a positive impact on each individual?

Tailor Your Approach.

Not surprisingly, there’s no one-size-fits-all method to ensure a positive employee experience. It’s important to assess your organization and situation, as well as your team members and leadership, to develop an overall framework and define parameters. This can serve as a guide for accommodating individuals’ unique needs as much as possible, while still being able to meet your departmental and organizational goals.

Aim to understand and embrace different communication styles and personality traits, while also respecting varied values and preferences. For instance, some employees may prioritize flex time and work at their highest level of performance during non-traditional hours. Others may prefer a structured nine-to-five schedule and have strict boundaries around their availability outside this timeframe.

In addition to asking about employees’ preferred work styles, make sure you also understand how they want to receive feedback, as well as how they’d ideally like to interact with you and their colleagues. Depending on their comfort level, encourage them to also share this information with others on the team to further promote an environment that respects each person’s unique needs.

Empower Managers.

Managers can make or break the employee experience, while also impacting your organization’s overall productivity and retention rate. It’s important to remember most individuals have had no formal training in virtual management or in adjusting their styles to be effective in today’s environment. Help set them up for success. Consider tools and resources that may be helpful to those who are new to managing remote employees or who could benefit from further skill development.

Recognize All Interactions From Recruitment to Exit.

The employee experience encompasses an individual’s entire relationship with your company. As they progress within their employment life cycle, determine how you can increase their engagement and loyalty within each stage.

Recruiting and Hiring Process: An individual’s experience with your organization begins even before their first day of work. Recruiter interactions, the interview process and offer negotiations all shape their perception of the role, team and organization.

New Employees: During an employee’s first few weeks and months on the job, making them feel a part of the organization and creating a sense of connection to their role and team is essential. Start building employee loyalty early on by keeping new hires engaged and helping them visualize their futures with your organization.

In addition to a comprehensive and intentional onboarding process, determine how you can lay the groundwork to meet their longer-term goals. What professional challenges and career growth can you provide? How can you help them achieve their aspirations?

Seasoned Employees: Demonstrating a commitment to ongoing professional growth is also important for engaging more tenured individuals. How can you continue to give them new challenges and exposure to keep them engaged and energized?

These veteran employees also have a great capacity for giving back to the organization by mentoring newer team members and sharing their depths of historical knowledge. As your organization’s environment shifts, be empathetic and understanding as they work through changes. Consider asking for their feedback as new processes, protocols and tools are rolled out, leveraging their input to ensure they feel heard and valued.

Reimagine Your Corporate Culture.

Even corporate cultures that were strong prior to the pandemic must be reaffirmed in the scope of today’s workplace.

Especially in hybrid and remote environments, it can be challenging to cultivate a unified culture and purpose among employees. Take time to reflect on how you can support the following actions:

• Encourage relationship-building among employees.
• Actively learn about individuals’ priorities and activities outside of work.
• Set expectations and leading by example.
• Cultivate a sense of belonging.
• Ensure an inclusive workplace.
• Demonstrate a prioritization of mental health and well-being Incorporating lost aspects of your pre-COVID culture.

Focus on Collaboration.

Competing priorities and limited daily interactions have taken a toll on collaboration for many companies. Work with other managers and leaders within your organization to identify ways to enhance and encourage ongoing collaboration and information sharing. This could include implementing standing monthly meetings, proactively pairing individuals on projects and providing tools for more fluid communication. The goal is for collaboration to eventually occur more organically and with less prompting as new habits develop among employees.

At the same time, help create a greater sense of purpose and meaning in individuals’ daily work by directly tying their actions to larger company objectives. Align employees on enterprise-wide goals and create interdepartmental projects focused on attaining them. Along with bringing individuals together to execute these tasks, communicate how other team and individual goals directly and indirectly make an impact on the organization’s success.

Providing an exceptional employee experience regardless of tenure, level and location should be an ongoing priority. The business landscape will continue to evolve and adapting your approach will lead to productive and fulfilled employees who can make the greatest impact on your organization.

*This article was originally published by Insurance Journal, CM’s sister publication.