Last month, my colleague Dave Johnson and I published a report that shared a better way for companies to measure the quality of their employee experience. The Employee Experience Index rests on years of research by Dave and myself but also incorporates findings from academic studies that update what we know about what makes a great employee experience.

We now have two years of data back, and it’s clear what factors matter most to employees about their experiences working for a company. Companies must empower, inspire, and enable their employees. Think of factors like granting employees freedom to decide how to do their jobs, or inspiring belief among employees in the core mission and values of the company, or that the IT department helps them be productive. It turns out that these are some of the most important elements of an employee experience to get right.

When companies do get them right, they create what we call “happy warriors.” These are employees who are satisfied and secure in their jobs, inspired and enthusiastic about the work they do, and generally bursting with energy, enthusiasm, and creativity. These are the types of workers every company wants.

And the best news is that when your employee experience creates more of these happy warriors, you get the added benefit of better employee retention, stronger advocacy from employees — both in recommendations for your products and services (NPS) and for your open jobs (eNPS) — and more productive employees.*

So how should companies use the Employee Experience Index? Well, first take a look at the report for more detail on the factors in the model and their importance in gaining better employee outcomes, then administer the EX Index questions to your employees. Forrester can help you field the survey, analyze the data, and compare it to our benchmark data so that you know how your EX stacks up, whether against the overall data, your industry, or geography. From there, make a plan (or update your existing one) for improving the employee experience. The data is compelling that improvements in employee experience lead to real gains in employee outcomes across the distribution. What I mean is that if your current EX is poor, you will benefit in terms of improved retention, advocacy, and productivity from advancing it to OK. And if your current experience is good, you will still see sizable gains in retention, advocacy, and productivity from advancing it to excellent.

If you’re interested in improving the employee experience, check out the full report on our website. Or listen below to the CX Cast episode that Dave Johnson and I recorded on the index.

 

* NPS: Net Promoter Score. eNPS: Employee Net Promoter Score. Net Promoter and NPS are registered service marks, and Net Promoter Score is a service mark, of Bain & Company, Inc., Satmetrix Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.