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Dan Lewis
HR TRANSFORMATION CHANGE LEAD
Compared to other HR investments where do you think EX should rank in a business priority?
Fundamentally, everything you introduce to employees should be carefully considered, firstly through the lens of how necessary it is for the business and secondly the impact it will have on the employee experience.
If you’re developing your HR policies and procedures to drive up employee experience, it is essential to present a solid business case and secure sufficient budget. Of course, like all corporate spend, cost needs to be justified. Return on investment (ROI) must be presented to the business in the form of improved productivity and easy adoption of the new systems and processes. If executed well, in most cases the enhanced EX will far outweigh the cost of the programme. So, I would say HR investments which focus on driving up EX should rank highly when compared to others.
HR investments which focus on driving up EX should rank highly when compared to others.
It should be looked at more in terms of making sure employee experience and satisfaction scores are at a certain level and determining the investment required to achieve this.
In your opinion, what percentage of a company’s revenue should be invested in EX?
This will vary. In a company where human capital is one of your main assets you should be benchmarking a high percentage. On the other hand, in a company where machinery, raw materials and transportation are the primary expenditure on a day-to-day basis or a year-to-year basis, then investing a higher percentage would not be proportionate to the cost of their “people team”. So it depends, and setting a target in terms of a percentage of your finances could be irrelevant. Instead it should be looked at more in terms of making sure employee experience and satisfaction scores are at a certain level and determining the investment required to achieve this.
What do you think are the most important considerations for today's leaders to ensure the highest levels of employee engagement and satisfaction?
Every employee is a unique person with different needs and requirements. An employee wants to feel valued and have their needs and requirements met, whether that’s being available for their family or working from home. A company’s investments and operational decisions should be influenced by the the views and opinions of their employees and learning what is going on around them. Keeping a check on the competition and what they're doing for their employees is paramount too. All of this needs to be built into decision-making for the future and will also allow for more diversity and representation.
By way of example, the decision on whether or not to bring staff back to the office after the pandemic needed to be carefully thought through. Since many employees enjoyed working from home and had become used to it, simply demanding a return to the office full time without consultation would prompt people to leave. High impact changes like this should never be made without firstly understanding how your employees feel and what their needs are. Systems should be put in place to capture and understand employees' thoughts and needs and all employee change initiatives need to be well endorsed before commencement. By taking this approach following the pandemic, it was clear that our employees were keen to operate a 40-60 working split, one or two days working in the office, the rest of the time working from home. So far this has worked well for the business with a positive outcome on EX.
Systems should be put in place to capture and understand employees' thoughts and needs and all employee change initiatives need to be well endorsed before commencement.
At Vodafone, they are known for their technology, but the truth is, it is humanity that drives their business forward. With the global pandemic raising so many questions for tech brands, it has highlighted the leading role that they need to play. More than 35 years ago, they made the first-ever mobile phone call, they sent the first SMS in Britain and have been changing the lives of billions of people ever since. Now, they are using smartphones to fight cancer, big data for social good, and they aim to connect over 250 million people to their next generation networks by 2025.
