When companies are evaluating the experiences that their employees are having every day on the job, the rose colored glasses come out. All companies like to think that their employees are satisfied with their job, have an acceptable work / life balance, and have nothing but positive things to say about the company. Employee experiences on the job are the foundation of an enterprise’s employer brand. But does an employer ever really know if their employee experiences are positive or negative? If employees like a company, they will be vocal about how much they love their company. If an employee is not happy with a company or they are in the midst of a downsizing, their voice can be even louder! In this type of scenario, there is an opportunity for that employee to do real damage to the employer brand, which will negatively impact the level of talent that is attracted to the company in the future. This ultimately has a trickle down effect on executive leadership, teams, and customers because everyone is impacted.
Job Satisfaction Potential
In the competitive workforce, a company’s goal is to ensure that their employees reach their job satisfaction potential. You might be wondering how is this even possible since every employee is different. Well, the good news is that all employees have a common theme in what comprises their job satisfaction. Things like competitive benefits, excellent PTO (paid time off), and cool job perks are all at the top of the list. But employees also have fundamental elements that reflect their job satisfaction at their core. Things like having opportunity for growth, taking on new challenges, and expanding their knowledge from a professional development perspective all speaks to employee core values. This translates into employees sharing their excitement and enthusiasm to anyone they come in contact with in-person or on social media. They share their goals professionally while climbing the career ladder and expanding their capabilities to reach ultimate success. Of course this sense of positive employee experiences shift over time based on the evolution of each employee as a human being with self-actualizing goals of reaching their full potential and career aspirations. But the common thread lies in the fact that each employee wants to succeed while coming to the table with a sense of purpose.
Outplacement Services
In the event that a company goes through a downsizing and needs to offboard some of its employees, they still need to be aware that this may negatively impact employee experiences and their outlook on the company. One of the best things a company can do is to invest in an outplacement service. RiseSmart, a Randstad Company is the premier global outplacement service in the industry. The mission of an outplacement service is to help transitioning professionals in all aspects of their job searches. They provide guidance on things like resume writing, ATS friendly resumes, LinkedIn profiles, job search strategy, salary negotiation, or job interview strategy. Since all of this can be daunting for people in the midst of transitioning to a new job, it helps employees to know that they have a place to turn to for help. Just from an employee morale perspective, it means a lot to them when their employers value their contributions and want to help them land on their feet as quickly as possible. This goes a long way with employees and ultimately impacts a company’s employer brand in the job market and their ability to attract and retain qualified talent in the future.
While not every employee is a happy one, the goal for companies is to do their best to ensure employee experiences are as positive as possible. The focus is on showing employees that they are valued and how vital their potential is (or was) to the company’s bottom line. When employees feel valued, their outlook greatly improves. Employees’ perception of how fairly they were treated, growth opportunities that were offered, and how much they enjoyed their work will culminate in a positive (or negative) employer brand in the market place. Employee experiences are always a continuing journey that evolve over time, so it’s vital that companies do their best to ensure positive employee experiences and leverage outplacement services any time they go through a downsizing. The results will have a tremendous payoff in terms of positive employer brands and attracting top talent that promote a company’s future growth potential.