Employee experience: make your organisation fun to work for!

Once upon a time, it was simple. As soon as you started a company, applicants were lining up to work for you. Once they were inside, the employees were happy to sit there for a lifetime. The world has changed. People have become picky and are much more likely to hop for another job.

If you now have a company, you need to make sure that people join you want come to work. But how do you give your company a good dose of happiness at work?

Employee experience: this is how you make your organisation fun to work for!

In the modern world, work must mean so much more than just providing food and being able to pay the mortgage. Working should also be fun. As an employer, you can still offer such generous salaries — if the employee experience isn't right, employees will slip through your fingers like sand.

It's not just about having someone with you anymore. must work. It's in your company wanting working is the trick.

Happy employees mean happy customers.

That knife really goes both ways, according to various studies.

Happy staff works better, comes up with more creative ideas, gets sick less often and likes to hang out with you for a while. As an employer, you reap the benefits of this yourself, and your customer also notices very well whether employees are feeling good about themselves.

This positivity has a direct impact on services and production figures. A good one employee experience is therefore a real win-win situation. But how can you increase your employees' happiness at work?

Our tip: focus on three areas of focus at the same time, and you'll quickly turn it into a wonderful work party!

1. Technique

Huh? What does technology have to do with something as soft as happiness at work? We can almost hear you think it. Well, quite a lot!

Just imagine what it feels like to spend an entire morning bumbling with a server that's not working. Of course, that won't make you happy at all. Turn that experience around: how wonderful is it to work in an environment where the technology is completely right and helps you do your job easily and well? Exactly!

Of course, you can have a sharp purchasing policy, but don't cut corners too much on your equipment and software.

Your newly acquired applicant will quickly drop out if that smartphone turns out to be a lot less smart than it looks. Outdated programs that keep crashing, printers that glitch, having to remember a hundred passwords to log in, or an incomprehensible app.

All no-gos if you're going for a positive one employee experience.

If there are any malfunctions, don't let them simmer for too long, but solve it, and, if possible, with a laugh. If there is a delay in the repair, tell the victims quickly and clearly, do not leave them dangling in uncertainty.

Another tip: Before redesigning your ICT landscape, keep an inventory of the requirements and wishes of the end users. Do not do that for the form, but as input for your policy and actually do something with the outcome.

Learn exactly what users need to get work done. Which phone, laptop, app or device would really make them happy and why? In your survey, make sure you have plenty of writing space for your own ideas, complaints and questions. Maybe it takes some time to swallow some negativity, but see it as a learning moment: this way, you'll find out where it's tight and how things can be better.

That will make the entire organisation better!

Listen to our podcast 'The Happy Worker' for more happiness inspiration!

2. The physical environment

You can take this tip almost literally. It's about what someone sees, feels, smells, and experiences as soon as they enter your company. So what actually happens in your head, body and heart? With some creative ideas, make sure that your organisation feels like one big, warm for everyone”YES!”. That everyone would like to work for you!

Actually, it's not that complicated to start with this. Look at your company from an outsider's point of view. Check out that experience with all your senses. Just to name a few examples:

• what view your eyes? Is there sufficient daylight in the workspace? Are there musty old photos on the wall in broken frames or did you opt for cheerful, accessible art that makes you happy? Play with the use of color and its influence on your brain. Use the knowledge that color can influence your behavior as a positive asset. For example, set up a space where you need to think creatively with lots of activating orange accents and a quiet workspace with more calming green.
• what hear you? If people have to work in a noisy office garden, or in a noisy factory, it's good if they can take a break or work just as focused in a quiet environment. Experiment with sound-absorbing materials in the workplace to improve acoustics. Replace loud, fast music for quieter music easy listening or maybe even light classical music and see what it does to your colleagues.
• what trial you? Are you gnawing a lukewarm sandwich out of your lunchbox in the afternoon or is there a crisp fresh salad waiting for you? That really matters to your break experience. Of course, not every employer has the budget to fly into a caterer, but a mill with cup-a-soups or a nice bowl of work fruit can already make a lot of difference. Investing in good coffee, the work engine for many, also brings happy faces.
• what feel you? The temperature of the workplace must be comfortable. Not too hot, not too cold. If you are stuck at a 'wrong' temperature (think of a cold store), make sure you have good insulation suits that are also comfortable. Sufficient fresh air must flow in to prevent headaches. And of course, your employees sit in a good chair with a desk at an ergonomic working height. If you are unsure whether your office is doing well with ergonomics, flying in with a specialised occupational therapist can prevent a lot of absenteeism.

‍3. Organisational culture

He may be the last to be named, but remember to take a close look at this aspect. You can provide your new employee with the most expensive laptop and shower it with caviar and champagne. If the vibe is not good, his heart is not going to beat faster for your company.

A good organisational culture feels safe and inspires. People dare to try new things without fear of being judged. If mistakes are made, they are shared in a positive way, so that colleagues can also learn from them. This is the only way new ideas are born and products improved. But how do you create such a safe work environment?

Of course, books have been written about this, but we want to highlight two points to put under your pillow.

First of all, it is important that within your organisation the vision and core values clear are. What do you stand for? What is the purpose of your organisation, how do you want to work and, above all, how do you want to togetherwork? By discussing that thoroughly with each other and recording it literally, you get a nice frame of reference that everyone can fall back on. Leave colleagues in their own hands as much as possible, but don't forget to name where the limits reach.

That only provides clarity, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Another important condition is the example function from each manager. Great stories about self-direction and safety collapse like a house of cards when your manager does the opposite in daily practice.

A socially safe team has a manager who dares to show his vulnerability, doesn't hide his own mistakes and is really open to feedback. A manager who also human dares to be. Of course, that's exciting, but so is it for other employees.

So far, some tips on pimping up the employee experience. It sometimes takes some time to try out what suits your organisation, but above all, see that as a fun challenge. The secret often lies in the little things, in the element of surprise.

A game in between, a tasty snack during the break or celebrating a success. So that doesn't have to cost a lot of money, but it sometimes takes a bit of creativity and guts.

And let that make the manager's job more fun! Does he also have an extra dose of happiness at work!

Do you want some more tips about employee experience?

‍That works out well, because Pluvo also has some useful ideas for increasing happiness at work in your company, which are easy to build into your online environment. Listen to our podcast 'The Happy Worker' for more inspiration!