How Can Employee Experience Improve Customer Experience?

What is employee experience?

From the application process through professional development, training, key milestones, and the exit interview, employee experience (EX) is the lifecycle of an employee’s tenure with your company.

When EX is done right, your employees succeed, your retention rates are high, and you increase your bottom line. According to Forbes.com, companies with highly engaged employees outperform their competitors by 147%.

So, what helps move the needle when it comes to EX? It’s the culture, technology, support, leadership, physical environment, and the tools needed to accomplish the job. A well-designed intranet can be one of these tools.

How can an intranet improve your employee experience?

Using an intranet is a valuable way to share ownership of your company. It helps employees see that what they do each day has a direct impact on the success of the business. An intranet allows you to engage with your employees in the following ways:

• Maintaining easy access to document management;
• Training and development, giving them the chance to learn new things;
• Keeping them updated on current events and company news;
• Embracing the feeling of community with opportunities to interact with all employees, including co-workers who are in other offices;
• Providing clear and concise communication to employees regarding the company values, mission statements, and goals.

What is the correlation between employee experience and customer experience?

Customer experience (CX) is how a customer feels about a company, including the emotional, physical, and psychological connection they have with the brand. An example of CX would be how easy it is to use your website or the type of experience the person had with customer service.

A survey done by the Temkin Group suggests that companies that deliver a great customer experience have up to 60% more engaged employees. A happier, more knowledgeable employee is going to take pride in your company and ensure a great customer experience, from start to finish.

Imarc worked with JetBlue to develop a specialized intranet called HelloJetBlue. It supports EX to drive a positive CX. Here’s what’s been said about JetBlue’s new intranet:

Supporting a very strong, positive company culture, HelloJetBlue offers a combination of resources, tools, and news packaged in a friendly, imaginative way. The intranet keeps JetBlue’s employees, known as crewmembers, motivated and firmly grounded, even while soaring above the clouds. -Jakob Nielsen, Principal of Nielsen Norman Group.

Actively working to help your employees feel happy, involved, and knowledgeable will allow them to demonstrate a strong commitment to the company's brand and values.

Interested in learning more about how to reshape your EX? Check out our work with JetBlue, a Nielsen Norman Group Intranet Design Winner.