How do we look at the employee experience at bell & hurry? What are the most common challenges we face in improving the Employee Experience (EX)? How can we measure the level of EX? Is it an HR discipline or is it more complex? What are the trends in Employee Experience?

Lukáš Zazvonil, CEO of bell & hurry, talks about all of this in today's interview.

Lukáš, can you describe how we help clients improve the employee experience?

We approach the employee experience by mapping employee journeys. That means we look at how employees operate from A to Z. We then link this to the customer journey, because every digital customer interaction is preceded by some form of employee interaction.

We find the points where these journeys overlap and look for ways to improve employee processes so that the customer experience is positively impacted.Our role is to create and optimise internal tools and processes so that they not only support, but also contribute to creating value for the end customer.

We help change the internal environment so that employees can contribute more effectively and with greater engagement to the overall success of the company.

What impact do you think employee experience has on client success?

It can have a big impact. When employees are happy and have tools that make their jobs easier, it reflects on the quality of their work and customer satisfaction.I think of employee experience solutions not as an expense, but as a strategic investment in the success of the company.

Improving internal processes and simplifying the work of employees leads to greater efficiency, which in turn has a direct impact on the quality of service and products offered to customers.

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What challenges do you face with clients when it comes to improving the Employee Experience?

The big challenge is to overcome the perception of Employee Experience as an exclusively HR topic and to integrate it into the broader context of the business.

It doesn't make sense to invest in improving the Employee Experience from the HR budget when I know it will have a direct positive impact on the customer experience and business results.

Another challenge tends to be the reluctance of employees to adopt new practices and any changes in general. Or they welcome the changes, but in nice Czech terms, "not on their backyard".

Sometimes it also happens that the changes that occur in the company have a direct impact on the KPIs of individual departments. Often their KPIs are then re-set, usually increased.

And of course sometimes people don't like that.But these are all things that we know in advance and can work with.

How does bell & hurry help companies overcome these challenges?

Our approach is very practical and collaborative.

Firstly. We help you quickly identify key areas where the employee experience can be improved. We'll even show the direct impact on business results. This activity can be compelling in its own right. People see the tangible impact of the changes and are much more engaged.

Second, we work with teams at all levels of the organization to ensure our solutions are relevant and tailored to their specific needs and goals.

Third, and equally important, we educate and engage employees in the change process to ensure they are supported and motivated.

Fourth, our work gradually begins to speak for us. When the first results are visible, all doubts disappear.

"Employee Experience is not an HR topic. We look at it in a broader context."

How do you measure the success of initiatives aimed at improving the employee experience for clients?

By being able to map the employee journey to the customer journey, where specific business KPIs are often given, we are able to quantify success quite accurately.

We focus on metrics that can quantify improvements in productivity, efficiency and ultimately client profitability.

But we don't just look at numbers. Of course, we are also interested in feedback from the employees themselves.

Is it possible to map each employee journey to a customer journey?

From my point of view, there shouldn't be an employee path in a company that can't somehow be linked to the business path.

In the end, it doesn't matter whether we're talking about workers, lawyers or HR people. Everyone's work translates in some way into the business results of the company.

For example, onboarding a new employee. The quality of the internal onboarding process determines how quickly and well a new employee is engaged in the work process and is able to generate value. After all, this has a direct impact on customers and the business as a whole.

The problem is that for most companies, the customer journey is important, but the employee journey is seen as a necessary evil.

"Every employee journey can be mapped to a customer journey."

What employee experience trends do you predict for the next few years?

I think the emphasis on integrating employee and customer experience will grow, due to the recognition that the two are interconnected and have a direct impact on the success of the business. It's the same experience, just from a different angle.

We'll see a strong shift from the traditional HR view to a holistic view where employee experience is not separated from the overall company strategy, so the quality of employee and customer experience will be measured in the same way, using the same metrics.

If Employee Experience is not purely an HR thing, should companies build dedicated teams focused on improving the employee experience?

I don't think so. Most companies already have quality customer experience (CX) people today. They have processes and methods in place. And since we've already established that employee experience is just a different perspective on customer experience, there's no need to build anything from scratch. That's the good news. That you just need to turn your attention to the employee part as well.

The bad news is that people in CX departments are often in over their heads with their work. So there's no need to build new teams, but there will definitely be a need to invest in new people to focus on just employees and internal processes.

How can a designer help companies improve the Employee Experience? How does this collaboration work?

The process is that the company finds out that it has a problem. Sometimes it's that they have a hunch where and sometimes they have no idea.

We come into the company and identify the friction points.

Most often we see employees using tools that are outdated, slow, and cluttered. Some tasks are done twice or more. Often they do tasks that don't make sense to them, and when we ask why, the answer is usually "Because that's the way it's done." That's the kind of sentence that always makes us focus. This is a sure way to spot a weak spot.

There are also problems in setting up internal processes where the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. Communication is lacking not only between departments. The tools associated with internal communication are broken or inadequate.

We have methods to detect all such problems. We then map the individual bottlenecks to the customer journey and prioritize them.It's a classic design process. We prototype everything, test it, and then implement it into the business.

It doesn't always have to be an adaptation in digital tools, but very often it is. Sometimes we just make process changes or educate.

"We will measure employee and customer experience in the same way, using the same metrics."

Is the Employee Experience enhancement a one-off event?

It certainly isn't. It's not a project. It's a never-ending process. The rounds of measuring, collecting feedback, evaluating and incorporating the findings have to be done regularly. Unless you want your internal tools and processes to start to limp over time.

What companies can do one time is bring in someone to help them set up a process. They don't have to elaborately invent it and set it up themselves, that tends to be quite expensive. It's good to get help from someone who has done it hundreds of times and has experience. Then companies can take it over and continue on their own.

What advice would you give to companies that want to improve the employee experience but don't know how to do it?

I would recommend that companies start with a thorough mapping of their internal processes and identify where and how employee journeys can support their business goals.

It is important to listen to the needs and suggestions of employees, as they are the ones who have the best insight into what is actually working and what is not.

It is good to remember that you don't need to change everything at once. Companies can start with one tool or one team. When it comes to pushing change into the company, it's easier if you involve the CEO or other high-level managers directly in the process.

I would also like to reiterate that companies should approach Employee Experience as an ongoing process, not a one-off project, and be prepared to make investments, not just financially, but also in time and strategy.

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