As an HR professional, you’re well aware of the importance of employee experience.
You know the profound impact it can have on workplace satisfaction, productivity, and the entire employee lifecycle.
But how do you know whether it’s on track or off the rails? How do you measure employee experience—something that seems so intangible?
It can feel like trying to catch the breeze with your fingers.
Luckily, by keeping an eye on the right metrics and KPIs, it’s possible to measure employee experience and get a good grasp of how your organization is doing.
In this post, you’ll learn how to measure employee experience by tracking the key metrics below. Monitoring these metrics allows you to spot problems and empowers you to develop a strategy that improves employee experience—putting your organization back on track.
What are employee experience metrics and KPIs?
Employee experience metrics and KPIs are a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. They show how good—or bad—the employee experience is within your organization.
Similar to visiting a doctor when you’re ill, the right metrics and KPIs can show symptoms indicating where your employee experience can improve, as well as the causes of any issues. This data provides you with clear insights that enable you to apply the appropriate remedies.
Why is it important to measure employee experience?
Employee experience impacts productivity, engagement, retention, and innovation—all of which influence business success.
That’s why it’s crucial to know the quality of your organization’s employee experience. With employee experience measurements, you’ll be able to identify trends and develop strategies that take care of your people and enhance organizational performance.
The top 9 employee experience metrics to track
By keeping an eye on the nine metrics below, you’ll know whether your employee experience is on track and where you can focus on improvements:
Metric 1: Job satisfaction
Measuring job satisfaction can give you a good idea of how your people feel about working at your company. That will tell you whether there’s room for improvement in the employee experience.
When team members are happy and satisfied with their work, compensation, and the workplace as a whole, it’s usually a sign that your employee experience is on the right track.
Surveys and one-on-one meetings are excellent ways of collecting this kind of qualitative data. To assess employee satisfaction, consider asking team members the following questions:
- Do you feel valued within the company?
- Do you have the tools you need to carry out your work effectively?
- Are you comfortable in your working environment?
- How satisfied are you with your compensation and benefits package?
Metric 2: Employee engagement
Employee engagement refers to how motivated and committed your people are to their work and the organization. High levels of engagement usually show that team members have a positive employee experience.
If your people feel they have the committed support of the company through a great employee experience, they’re more likely to reciprocate that commitment in their work.
Like job satisfaction, regular surveys and one-on-ones are useful methods for gathering data on employee engagement. Because this metric refers to work commitment, it’s also a good idea to measure productivity to assess engagement.
Metric 3: Productivity
Studies show that happy people are 20 percent more productive. And employee experience has a strong influence on the happiness and productivity of your people.
An important part of employee experience is providing the necessary tools and resources for your people to work effectively. For example, outdated computers could make it difficult for team members to carry out their responsibilities—inhibiting productivity.
Monitoring productivity can help you uncover employee experience issues around working conditions like this.
Metric 4: Employee net promoter score (eNPS)
Have you ever enjoyed a meal at a restaurant that was so good you had to rave about it to your friends?
If so, you’d be contributing to that restaurant’s high net promoter score. The net promoter score (NPS) is a metric that measures customers’ willingness to recommend a business to others.
The employee net promoter score (eNPS) evolved from that and works in a similar way. It measures how likely it is that a team member would recommend their workplace to other people.
Obtaining the eNPS involves asking team members one question: On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend your employer to a friend or acquaintance?
People who give a score between 0-6 are detractors, 7-8 are neutral, and 9-10 are promoters. A high eNPS means that you have more promoters than neutral team members or detractors.
To calculate eNPS, subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters:
Percentage of promoters – percentage of detractors = eNPS
Your eNPS can be anywhere between -100 to +100; any score above 10 is good, and above 50 is excellent.
If your organization has a high eNPS, it’s a good sign that you have a great employee experience.
Metric 5: Internal promotions
Growth opportunities are a key part of a positive employee experience. Team members want to know they have the chance to develop their careers and fulfill their ambitions at the company.
Measuring the number of internal promotions shows whether your people have plenty of opportunities for growth. If the number is low, then this aspect of employee experience is lacking for team members, and your people may be more likely to leave the company as a result.
Metric 6: Recognition and rewards
How often does your organization recognize and reward top performers?
A workplace that encourages recognition will have a positive culture. People want to know managers will recognize and reward their efforts—in turn boosting engagement, productivity, and satisfaction.
That’s why tracking the frequency of recognition and rewards can tell you whether you have a workplace culture that promotes a great employee experience.
Metric 7: Retention rate
A high retention rate is a good indicator of an excellent employee experience. Professionals who feel satisfied and happy with their workplace will simply want to continue working there.
A low retention rate, on the other hand, can be a clear sign that there’s a major issue with employee experience lurking in the office. An unpleasant work environment, a lack of opportunities, or compensation packages that don’t quite hit the mark could all be reasons for a poor retention rate.
To calculate your organization’s retention rate, choose a set period of time to measure, such as a year. Then divide the number of professionals working at your organization at the end of that year by how many were present at the start of the year, and multiply that result by 100:
(Number of professionals at the end of the time period ÷ number of professionals at the start of the time period) x 100 = retention rate
Metric 8: Absenteeism
Absenteeism doesn’t refer to planned leave but rather unplanned or unexcused absences from work. Like low retention rates, high levels of absenteeism show there’s an issue with employee experience. It can be the symptom of a serious problem within the organization.
Team members may take unexpected days off to avoid a difficult working environment. If the employee experience is bad enough, people will be doing what they can to avoid coming into work—and may look at other opportunities that offer a better workplace culture.
To calculate the rate of absenteeism, divide the number of unexcused absences by the time period you’re measuring, and multiply that result by 100:
[(Unexcused absences) ÷ (Time period)] x 100 = absenteeism rate
Recommended For Further Reading
Metric 9: Wellbeing
A lack of physical and mental wellbeing could be a sign of a stressful workplace with a poor employee experience.
Regular wellness surveys can be a good way of learning more about the wellbeing of your people. The Perceived Stress Scale can be particularly useful for assessing team members’ mental health.
Collecting this data can show how stressful your workplace is, and whether your organization needs to focus on improving the aspects of the employee experience that support wellbeing. This could include adjusting workloads, bringing in new hires, or rolling out initiatives that promote better work-life balance.
How to measure, track, and improve employee experience with HR tech
HR tech provides many tools that help with measuring, tracking, and improving employee experience.
You can use an HR system to automatically measure key metrics such as internal promotions, absenteeism, and productivity. It’s helpful to set up a dashboard that displays these metrics, so you can easily monitor current trends.
An employee experience platform is a type of software that offers you more specialized tools to improve employee experience. Through this, you can create surveys that allow you to gather qualitative data from people, and use employee experience analytics to assess essential metrics.
This kind of software also comes with performance management tools that help you bring out the best in your professionals and tailor their development.
With HR tech, it’s easier to get a clear insight into the status of employee experience within your organization. And it gives you the means to continuously improve it.
Through employee experience tracking, you’ll be able to measure the quality of your people’s experience. Monitoring the key metrics above will help you detect any potential issues, along with their causes.
With that information, you’re well placed to put initiatives in place that take care of your people and steer your organization toward long-term success.
