How Employee Experience Impacts Company Culture

MX Bites / October 11, 2024

As of today, employee experience has risen to be a key differentiating factor between organizations that thrive and those that struggle. Why? It serves as the foundation for organizational standards.  An employee experience produces an undeniably astounding company culture. It produces an energy that flows throughout the organization and influences both the processes and output of everything done. Employee experience could be described as the focal point that influences the outcome of everything that occurs in an organization. 

Hence, organizations must prioritize growth and sustainability of employee experiences in the workplace. The effect lasts for a long time, not just in the moment. The aim of this article is to help you see the effect of improving your employee experience and the role it plays in improving your company culture and organizational structure. Let’s have a closer look at the concept. 

What is Company culture and how does it relate to employee experience?

Company culture is defined as the shared values, beliefs, and ethics in an organisation. In simple terms, it refers to the way things are done within an organization. While culture is cultivated intentionally, it is produced as a result of the daily interactions the company has with employees. On the other hand, employee experience comprises every touch point an employee has with your organization, right from the hiring process, the daily task delivery, developmental processes, and even up to the point they leave the organization. 

Daniel Coyle, the author of The Culture Code, defines company culture as this: “Culture is a set of living relationships working towards a shared goal. It’s not something you are; it’s something you do.” Great company culture starts with the founders and leaders of an organization, and it gradually influences the employees and clients.  If employees consistently encounter a supportive, inclusive, and empowering environment, this will manifest in a positive company culture. Conversely, if employees feel undervalued or disconnected, a toxic or indifferent culture can develop.

How employee experience impacts company culture

There are so many ways employee experiences can directly impact a company culture, and some of them include: 

1. 1. Employee experience sets the atmosphere. If you want to know a company with a great culture, look at the aura that each employee carries. Customers and other company stakeholders can easily perceive a welcoming atmosphere and reciprocate the energy when they get into a company. Employees are a direct expression of the company values, and if you, as a founder, want to create a more sustainable company culture for long-term success, the best way to achieve this is to influence your employees to start exhibiting the new value systems.
   2. It creates organizational stability: A great employee experience influences employee retention, and this is the bedrock of organizational stability. This, in turn, establishes a company culture that lasts for a long time. When employees carry your company values and ethics for a long time, it builds a solid company culture that other employees that are coming into the organization adapt themselves to over time. Hence, the end goal of improving your employee experience is for employee retention and organizational stability.
   3. It fosters innovation and growth: Nothing beats a work environment where employees are at liberty to freely express themselves, take on challenges, innovate, and build solutions that foster growth in a workplace. It all starts with building an employee experience where people feel safe enough to experiment, express all their potentials, make mistakes, and learn from them.
   4. It strengthens employer brand and talent attraction. How much people are willing to work in your company depends on what they’ve perceived from afar and the results your current employees carry. Great company culture attracts the right set of talents to you and also filters off those who should not be in your organization. Word spreads quickly—through platforms like Glassdoor, social media, and professional networks—about the kind of experience employees have within an organization. Companies with a reputation for providing excellent employee experiences are more attractive to potential hires, which means they have access to a stronger talent pool.

How to improve employee experience for culture and long-term success

1. 1. Invest in training and career development of employees
   2. Prioritize their well-being and create a system for their work-life balance
   3. Promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace and ensure that everyone has a sense of belonging.
   4. Create a culture of openness and encourage employees to give feedback as often as possible.
   5. Leverage technology for easy access and flow of communication.

Conclusion

As the business landscape changes, it’s becoming increasingly important to prioritize company culture as it improves company reputation. Employee experience and company culture are so intertwined that an improvement in employee experience has a direct impact on the culture of an organization. To have a solid culture that stands the test of time and seasons, it’s important to aim for employee retention, because employees are the carriers of a company culture, and a higher level of employee retention ensures the promotion of organizational stability and establishes a company culture that stands the test of time.