In recent years, consumers have been seeking products and services that are more tailored to their individual wants and needs, thus causing personalisation to become an important consideration for companies. Research by Deloitte shows that offering personalisation, such as Spotify’s ‘Daily Mixes’ or Coca-Cola’s popular ‘Share a Coke with’, campaign increases brand loyalty and revenue, as 25% of consumers are willing to pay more for a more bespoke service. Personalisation also contributes to deeper and more meaningful customer relationships.
But what does personalisation mean for your employees – your most important customers?
With 36% of employees (49% of millennials) likely to leave their jobs within a year, it’s important that you take steps to ensure that your employee engagement is a focus, in order for them to remain loyal and avoid spending additional time and resources replacing them.
Unique Feedback
Personalisation can start from your hiring process, before your candidates become employees. Research by the Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC) shows that 22% of individuals think that the most important change that employers could make is providing more feedback throughout the hiring process. In the same study, the REC recommends that this feedback is personalised for all candidates – regardless of their success.
Upon completion of Arctic Shores’ assessments, candidates receive a personalised feedback report outlining their natural strengths and behavioural preferences. This gives them immediate feedback after they have engaged with the assessment, and has the added benefit of elevating your company image, and increasing the engagement of prospective employees.
Offers and Onboarding
Before the employee even on-boarded with your company, personalising the job offer can have range of benefits for both parties. Michael Solomon of 10x Management (who pair companies with freelancers) uses the example of salary fluctuating depending on the conditions of work such as working from home, equity, or having to travel often. By understanding what matters to them, you can see if there is a good culture fit and reduce the risk of a wrong hire.
Once the offer has been accepted, creating a personalised experience from day one will allow your new employees to feel valued from the outset and make their first days as smooth and stress-free as possible. HROnboard make the comparison between a first day in a new job and the first day in a classroom. A poor first day can result in the employee never feeling fully integrated, thus impacting their performance.
They suggest using a tailored first day schedule with tasks and content specific to their new role and department. As well allowing your new team member to feel more valued, it is likely to be more effective than a standard onboarding process. New starters who take part in well-structured onboarding programme are almost 70% more likely to stay at the company for 3 years, and have an 11% increase in performance.
Flexible Working
According to research by Harvard Business Review, when individuals are given choices in controlling their work space, they have higher levels of job performance and satisfaction, and tend to view their employers are more innovative.
Flexible working allows this. It presents your workforce with the opportunity to alter their hours, or to work from home, to suit their personal commitments and contribute to work/life balance. If your employees prefer to work from the office, co-working spaces host a variety of environments to suit a range of learning and working styles – from bustling communal areas to private booths.
Introducing flexible working in terms of how, where and when someone works, is one step you can take to enhance employee engagement.
Bespoke Benefits
Offering a personalised benefits package would influence almost 6 in 10 employees to stay at their current organisation. One example comes from heath and beauty giant Boots who rolled out their flexible benefits scheme in 2016. Staff members logged onto an online portal and chose their own benefits such as life assurance, childcare vouchers and holiday buying. This is attractive to both current and prospective employees, as it gives them more satisfaction and control within their role. It boosts morale and acknowledges that each member of your team is unique.
Utilising personalisation with your employees, as well as your customers, can allow for increased engagement and productivity. Your employees are your greatest customers, so make sure you treat them as such.
