Change doesn’t have to suck: CX + EX

‘Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.’ – Richard Branson 

To paraphrase Richard Branson, “Happy employees, happy clients” It’s as simple as that. But this won’t happen through osmosis. 

As with CX (customer experience), the employee experience (EX) needs a framework as well. When we work with our clients to help them improve the customer experiences, we use the 5Es Framework. 

The purpose of the 5E framework is to ensure the customers journey is aligned and consistent at each touch point. As the name purports, there are 5 phases: entice, enter, engage, exit and extend. 

How often have you been to a restaurant with great decor, food and service only to find that the bathroom experience to be horrible? It’s not uncommon to find older buildings to be converted into great restaurants. Only to find that all the attention (and money) was paid to the restaurant dining room but the path to the bathroom was left wanting more. 

The 5Es framework helps you connect and align the customers experience at each stage of the customers journey. Consider how you could use the 5E framework for employees? 

Entice

How will you attract the best talent to your organisation? How strong is your brand reputation? 

Enter

How will you bring new employees onboard? What mentor or buddy programs are in place? How will they get to know the organisation quickly and easily for them to undertake their role? 

Engage

How will you keep your talent in the organisation? Better still, how do you help them grow in their roles and beyond? What training is on offer? What else do they need to excel in their role? 

Exit

People leaving is sad, especially when good people move on. But how will you make this an easier transition? For them and their team? Which legacy of theirs do you want to celebrate? How will you make them brand advocates? And lastly, how will you make it easier for them to return one day? 

Extend

Oh, about that employee extension. While they might have gone to a different role within the organisation, it doesn’t mean they can’t be of value to you, in some capacity? Do you have team bonding days? What about off-site strategy sessions? How can you can leverage their expertise with other teams or new recruits? What about speaking engagements or simply social proofing in regard to testimonials or case studies?  

Extending an olive branch to ex-employees as well to engage with the organisation may pay dividends. You want them to be brand advocates for your organisation. To ensure they know they can return anytime or at least recommend like-minded individuals to your organisation. 

We think Change doesn’t have to suck. Even changing the way you think. Make it easy for your future employees to join your organisation. Make it a fun and rewarding experience for everyone involved. Likewise, when good employees leave, celebrate their legacies and great work. Ensure they leave as brand promotors and not detractors. After all, it is your brand reputation at stake here. Don’t ruin it at the other end with a bad exit.

Anthony Carroll,  Senior Marketing Manager  at Mirus Australia is an expert in human-centred design.  Anthony regularly teaches at the University of Sydney, Centre of Continuing Education (CCE) on this very subject and is an Expert-in-Residence on behalf of Mirus Australia, a Gold Partner  of innovAGEING. Please connect with Anthony on LinkedIn. 

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