Modern Mentor

Design Your Own Employee Experience for 2024

Episode Summary

Learn how to craft your own experience so 2024 is your best year yet.

Episode Notes

Our Employee Experience - our ability to Deliver, Develop, Connect, and Thrive - has a huge influence on how we engage with our work. If you’re feeling frustrated by how your company is managing your experience, then it’s time to take control. Learn how to craft your own experience so 2024 is your best year yet.

Episode Transcription

Hey, it’s Rachel Cooke, your Modern Mentor. I’m the founder of Lead Above Noise—a firm specializing in helping leaders crack their activation codes – unlocking both engagement and performance.

And today I wanna talk about your employee experience. As in – how’s it been throughout 2023? This year’s thrown a lot at us. And a lot of people around me are struggling to feel engaged or excited or even just not drowning in overwhelm.

I think many of us are hoping for a better employee experience in 2024. Our ability to Deliver great work, Develop new skills, Connect with team and purpose, and to Thrive – to feel well and whole.

And what you need to know is that – whatever your company does or doesn’t have planned – there’s a lot you can do to shape the employee experience you have.

So today, let’s identify some things you can do for yourself in the new year to maintain the parts that were great, and change or shift the parts you’d just rather not repeat.

So let’s start with your ability to Deliver.

Because it is in our nature to want to do amazing things.

So how well were you able to deliver great work this year?

Here are some questions to reflect on:

Were your goals and expectations clear – did you understand what you needed to achieve?
Did decisions get made in a timely manner or did you find yourself stuck in waiting mode sometimes?
Did you have easy access to the tools, information, and resources necessary to get your work done?
Were you generally able to decide on a course of action and go execute, or did you feel like you needed to ask permission at every step?
How well did basic processes and policies serve your ability to be efficient?
How about your priorities – were you clear on what they were? And did you have an appropriate number of them?

What actions can you take?

If you felt, for example, like priorities kept being added to your list, but nothing ever seemed to be subtracted, maybe you ask your boss for a bi-weekly check in next year. This way,you can consistently confirm you’re focusing on the right things, while also gently reminding them of just how much is on your plate.

If you struggled to get the person in Finance or Marketing to pull the data you needed, can you consider asking for your own access to the tool so you can do it yourself?

If you found that slow decision-making was holding you back, can you negotiate which decisions need approval versus which you might be ready to run with?

OK, onto Develop

Because we don’t just want to do great work. We want to feel challenged; to learn new things.

So ask yourself…

How was the quantity and quality of the feedback you got this year?
Did you have the space to test and try new ways of getting your work done? Or do you feel like you’re just following someone else’s instructions?
Did you have any opportunities to take on a stretch project?
Did you have access to any workshops or trainings or industry conferences?
Did you have time and space to learn, or were you running a million miles a minute
Were coaching or mentorship available to you?

OK, so where’d you land on the development front? And what can you make happen for yourself in the new year?

A lot of people, for example, have told me that their biggest barrier to development this year was just feeling overwhelmed. Like – no time to learn. Or sometimes breathe. If this was your experience, can you commit to blocking an afternoon – or just an hour – each week for learning time? Doesn’t need to be formal. Watch some TED talks, take a LinkedIn Learning course, grab a coffee with someone in another part of the organization who has something to teach you.

Or maybe you felt like the feedback you received wasn’t super actionable. Like your boss has told you to “be more strategic” and you’re like… how do I do that? Can you ask your boss, in the new year, to offer you some specific examples of things you can do? Or maybe call out, respectfully, in the moment when they see an opportunity to be more strategic?

There’s so much learning and growth you can make happen for yourself with just a bit of creativity.

Let’s talk about Connecting

Because community and belonging are a really big deal.

Have you been able to see how your daily grind is contributing to something meaningful for your customers?
Have you felt like your ideas and questions have been welcome?
Have you made space for building relationships without a formal agenda?
Have you been able to collaborate effectively with peers on other teams?

What can you do to enhance your experience of connection in the new year?

Coordinate with colleagues on the days you plan to be in the office. Connect in person with someone new (or familiar) each time you go in.

Consider quick icebreakers or team builders you might infuse into your team meetings in the new year. Ask your boss for 10 minutes on a weekly agenda to try something out.

Do a quick purpose exercise. Pick a spreadsheet or a survey or a campaign – something you own that can feel monotonous at times. And ask yourself – how does my investing the time in this work ultimately serve a customer? Even if it’s 10 steps away. And by the way, if it doesn’t. Talk to your boss about letting that spreadsheet go.

And thrive. Something we all deserve to do!

You know I hold wellness and boundaries as top priorities. So let’s talk about how your experience has been.

Have you been able to “turn off” during non-working hours?
Have you felt truly recognized for the work you’ve done?
Have you ben able to prioritize your health – physical and emotional?
Have you been able to ask for help when you’ve needed it?

So what can you take control of in the new year?

Can you commit to taking a 15 minute walk each day in the new year?

Can you set up a helping circle – a group of colleagues who check in on each other each day, sharing the burden of work wherever possible?

Can you start your own practice of recognizing and appreciating your colleagues to see if you can start the habit.

You don’t have to flip your employee experience on its head. And you don’t need to change everything by February. It’s all about small steps, small changes, small actions, small wins. Lots of times.

Join me next week for another great episode. Until then, visit my website at leadabovenoise.com if your organization is looking to dial up its Employee Experience or deliver some leadership development that activates change. You can follow Modern Mentor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Find and follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks so much for listening and have a successful week.

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