Employee Experience - Do You Care?

An organisation's reputation for how well it treats its employees significantly affects its ability to attract the talent it needs. What does it take to create an experience that wins employees' hearts? For a start, try this acronym: CARE

- Clinton Wingrove

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations metaphorically beat their chests about how, “Our employees are our most valuable asset.” Employee Experience was hailed as the competitive advantage. During those early COVID19 days, every day, working practices that had previously been described as “not workable for us” became the new norm. And, employees liked it.

But, a few months later, those same organisations were laying off staff. Why? Because they had not prepared for what the World Health Organisation had predicted for years; because managers had not developed strategic plans for their operations or undertaken serious risk analyses; because they had not developed the agility to respond to major turbulence. Consequently, they could not adapt their business model quickly enough or fund modified operations throughout the crisis.

Ex-employees remember. Ex-employees talk. Social media spreads the word.

During the peak of the pandemic (which we all hope has passed), many predicted that there would be a surplus of talent due to the layoffs. Numerically and theoretically that may be true. But, the simple reality is that former employees have long memories and many are opting out of the workforce or choosing to completely change their career trajectory. Right now, airlines that were once magnets for top talent are struggling to recruit. Many of their former employees will not even consider returning. Others who have never worked for the airlines are paying attention to how those former staff apparently were treated.