As we now are hopefully turning the corner on the worst of the pandemic, it’s back to the office and back to normal for those in the workforce...or is it?

Thinking about employees and the workplace in the framework of customer experience will be essential in keeping workers engaged and happy to prevent a phenomenon known as the great resignation.  Another phrase that’s making headlines lately is sheltering in job - according to a LinkedIn study, 74% of employees seem to be just biding their time, waiting for a better opportunity to open up for them on the horizon.

Turnover is rampant – and for good reason.  Many workers have had a taste of working from home and aren’t willing to give that up.  Others have moved to greener pastures (literally), away from expensive cities and costly commutes (in terms of time, money, and mental anguish) in favor of the promise of a better life.  Still others get counted out as hiring managers often exhibit unconscious bias in hiring, which leaves out a lot of people of color.  Using AI for hiring is a way forward.

So, what will it take to keep the workplace of the future engaged and happy? Let’s explore a few potential applications of customer experience in the workplace.

A Positive Company Culture is Key

Company culture is much more than a few cheap perks such as coffee and casual Fridays.  If you think company culture is just a luxury, consider this: In 2020, 85% of employees were not engaged, an equivalent of a $7 trillion loss in productivity.  Many workers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, want to attach a higher level of meaning to their work and not just a paycheck.  Getting everyone aligned on changing company culture for the better is key.  Employees need to know that it is a safe space to do so and not in fear of job loss or gaps in education.

Technology to Support a Distributed Workforce

It’s hard enough to keep everyone safe and secure when they are all working in one place, but what can IT professionals do when it comes to a variety of unsecure work from home environments? They’ll need to be cognizant of building secure networks and making it easier to login for a better customer experience.

Time to Start Your Own Gig?

It might be just the time to start your own business, after all.  Of course, proceed with caution as you don’t want to kill your dream before it’s ready by leaving your day job.  Still, using the power of storytelling, you can impact so many people.  If you’re building a new website, you’ll be sure to want to build plenty of links to it as well.

Bringing it All Together

Whether you’re working from home or a hybrid mix of a safe return to the office and remote work, the pandemic has made us more thoughtful about how we show up to work and how we should celebrate and support each other through anxiety-ridden times.  Let’s continue to bring positive values to the workplace that we can be proud of at the end of the day.