How to Build the Best Employee Experience Strategy: 5 Steps

Employee experience as a term has the unique predicament of being both the most overused and overlooked concept in today’s world of work at the same time.

There is no denying the importance of having a concrete employee experience strategy and providing your team with a positive work environment.

Employees today are far more demanding from their companies and more often than not, those demands aren’t unreasonable.

• According to a study by Glassdoor, 76% of job seekers say a diverse workforce is important when evaluating companies and job offers.

• While 94% of employees say they would stay longer at a company that invests in their career development.

The expectations mentioned above are issues directly related to the employee experience organizations cultivate. It is crystal clear that if a company wants to attract top talent, reduce churn, and develop its key players, it needs a solid employee experience strategy.

That is why in this article we will be answering the following questions in order to help you practice employee experience management as effectively as possible.

• What is employee experience?
• How to build an employee experience strategy?
• What are some employee experience strategy examples?

We also included four real-world examples and cases where some of the top organizations in the world implemented the right employee experience strategy.

What is an Employee Experience Strategy?

An Employee Experience (EX) Strategy is about designing an environment where employees feel connected, supported, and motivated throughout their journey with a company.

It is an initiative or a series of initiatives organizations implement in order to make sure their employees are part of a positive environment.

An employee experience strategy spans the employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to ongoing development and eventual exit. It’s about creating a workplace where employees thrive across all stages of the employee lifecycle by addressing both their personal and professional needs.

“Employee experience is not just about making employees happy. It’s about creating a workplace where employees feel valued, engaged, and supported, which in turn drives productivity, innovation, and success.”

Josh Bersin

The foundations of an employee experience strategy can be built on the following principles:

• Building a positive work culture.
• Emphasizing employee engagement.
• Fostering a sense of belonging.
• Encouraging open and positive employee feedback
• Promoting work-life balance.

Your EX strategy can also be centered around personal growth and development, offering your team opportunities for career advancement. Employee development initiatives after all can go along way in providing a positive employee experience.

While we will be diving further into examples of employee experience strategies, let’s move our attention to how exactly an EX strategy can be built!

How to Build an Employee Experience Strategy?

While the steps for building an EX strategy specific to your organization will depend on a wide array of factors specific to your company, the steps highlighted below serve as

1. Understand Employee Needs and Set Goals

An effective employee experience strategy can only be built by assessing the needs of employees and setting goals accordingly. Your employee experience frameworks should be built first and foremost around the needs of your people.

There are many different feedback mechanisms you can implement in order to understand employee needs. You can:

• Gather feedback through employee surveys.
• Conduct regular one-on-ones and check-ins.
• Build focus groups.

If you don’t think you have the right tools to gather employee feedback or conduct surveys easily, you can always try the best feedback and survey tool in the Microsoft Teams ecosystem, Teamflect, a try for absolutely free!

Once you’ve gathered feedback from your employees, use it to set achievable goals for your EX strategy. Examples of these goals can be:

• Reduce onboarding time by 20% while increasing new hire satisfaction scores by implementing a streamlined digital onboarding process.

• Increase employee engagement scores by 15% within the next year by enhancing communication and recognition programs.

• Introduce flexible work options that increase employee satisfaction with work-life balance by 20%.

• Implement a comprehensive learning and development program that sees at least 75% of employees participating in professional development activities within the first year.

With our objectives set, let’s move on to mapping out the employee life cycle!

2. Map the Employee Life Cycle and Develop Strategies for Each Stage

A successful strategy addresses every stage of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment to exit. Map out each stage of the employee lifecycle and brainstorm initiatives to make sure throughout each stage of their journeys, your employees have a positive experience with your organization.

Some sample employee experience strategy examples for each stage can include:

Recruitment & Hiring Strategy: Create an engaging, transparent, and values-driven hiring process. Use personalized messaging to highlight company culture and emphasize work-life balance and growth opportunities during interviews. Ensure candidates receive timely feedback to keep them engaged, whether they’re successful or not.

Employee Onboarding Strategy: Design an efficient, welcoming onboarding experience that helps new hires integrate smoothly. Offer structured onboarding programs with clear milestones for the first 30, 60, and 90 days, paired with a buddy system for additional support.

Engagement & Retention Strategy: Implement employee feedback mechanisms, such as engagement surveys and pulse checks, to continuously gather insights and make necessary adjustments. Offer flexible work arrangements and recognition programs to keep employees motivated and loyal.

Employee Exit Strategy: Conduct meaningful exit interviews to understand why employees leave and use that data to refine your strategy. Maintain positive relationships with alumni by creating an alumni network that offers career support and keeps them engaged with the company.

3. Foster a Positive Workplace Culture

Building a positive workplace culture is crucial for driving employee engagement and satisfaction. At the heart of this is fostering open communication, where employees feel heard and valued. Encouraging regular dialogue, whether through all-hands meetings or direct feedback channels like surveys, creates a culture of transparency.

Inclusivity is another cornerstone of a healthy culture. Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ensures that every employee feels a sense of belonging. Companies can support DEI through initiatives like diversity training, employee resource groups, and mentorship programs.

4. Provide Development and Recognition Opportunities

A strong Employee Experience Strategy must include clear development opportunities. Employees thrive when they know their career growth is supported.

Offering continuous learning through workshops, online courses, or mentoring gives employees the tools they need to advance. Personalized individual development plans tailored to individual goals help employees stay focused and motivated.

5. Use Data and Adjust Continuously

Your strategy should not be static. Use employee feedback tools, data from performance reviews, and surveys to measure the impact of your strategy. Regularly assess what’s working and where improvements are needed. The ability to adapt based on data-driven insights is crucial for maintaining a relevant and effective strategy

4 Examples of Employee Experience Strategies

Below you will find some sample employee experience strategies that you can choose to implement in your organization. With each EX strategy example, we’ve also included a real-world case of how some of the top organizations in the world implement these strategies.

1. Personalization and Employee Development

A successful employee experience strategy involves offering personalized development opportunities. Companies that invest in tailored career growth pathways help employees feel valued and motivated, which in turn boosts retention and engagement.

This level of personalization can include mentorship programs, skills development, and career progression plans that align with individual aspirations.

Strategy Example: How Adobe provides personalized growth opportunities

Personalizing the employee experience means acknowledging that every worker’s journey is unique, and the key to success lies in creating growth paths that align with individual goals.

Adobe has mastered this through its “Check-in” program, which replaces traditional annual reviews with more frequent, informal discussions between managers and employees. This approach allows employees to focus on personal development, setting goals that align with their career ambitions.

Adobe also offers employees the flexibility to shape their own career paths through various learning and development opportunities. By providing tailored mentorship, access to internal resources, and opportunities to upskill, Adobe ensures that each employee feels supported in their personal and professional growth.

Key Takeaway

Personalization and ongoing development foster a sense of ownership and growth, directly contributing to higher retention rates.

2. Fostering a Positive Workplace Culture

Another key strategy is fostering a strong, supportive workplace culture. This includes creating an environment where employees feel safe, heard, and valued. A positive workplace culture enhances collaboration, trust, and overall employee satisfaction, contributing to long-term retention.,

Strategy Example: How Google’s 20% fosters creativity and boosts engagement

Google has built a reputation for having one of the most engaging and positive workplace cultures globally. At the heart of their strategy is an open, feedback-rich environment where every employee is encouraged to contribute ideas.

Google’s famous 20% rule allows employees to dedicate a portion of their time to passion projects, fostering creativity and innovation within the company.

The company also provides a wide range of wellness benefits, from on-site health services to flexible work schedules, ensuring employees maintain a healthy work-life balance. This focus on well-being and freedom within the workplace not only attracts top talent but also keeps employees deeply engaged with their work.

Key Takeaway

A flexible, open culture that prioritizes employee well-being fosters innovation, creativity, and engagement.

3. Prioritizing Employee Feedback

A strong employee experience strategy emphasizes employee well-being by offering mental health support, wellness programs, and benefits that promote a healthy work-life balance. Collecting and acting on employee feedback ensures that the organization is continuously improving and addressing any concerns that may arise.

Strategy Example: How Salesforce encourages continuous feedback through pulse surveys

Salesforce’s employee experience strategy is rooted in a strong feedback culture, ensuring that employees’ voices are consistently heard and acted upon. The company gathers feedback through regular pulse surveys and one-on-one check-ins.

These mechanisms allow Salesforce to stay in tune with employees’ evolving needs, uncovering issues like workload stress or career development bottlenecks before they escalate.

What sets Salesforce apart is how it translates feedback into tangible action. The company doesn’t just collect data. It actively uses it to refine policies, improve well-being programs, and enhance leadership practices. For example, if feedback highlights high stress levels, Salesforce might expand its mental health initiatives or adjust workload distribution to address burnout concerns.

Key Takeaway

By actively using real-time feedback to adjust workplace practices and policies, Salesforce ensures employees feel valued and heard, improving overall engagement.

4. Empowering Middle Managers

An often-overlooked element of employee experience is the role of middle managers. Organizations that empower managers to take initiative and lead effectively improve the experience for their teams. This strategy involves providing leadership development and creating mechanisms for managers to communicate regularly with their teams, ensuring their needs are met.

Strategy Example: How IBM empowered middle managers to enhance employee experience

At IBM, the role of middle managers is central to its employee experience. IBM provides leadership development programs to empower managers with the skills necessary to support and guide their teams effectively.

This includes training on emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and career development. By fostering strong leadership skills, IBM ensures that managers can be a direct source of support and motivation for their teams​

Managers are encouraged to hold regular one-on-one meetings with employees, addressing challenges and aligning resources. IBM’s strategy focuses on creating leaders who are accessible and responsive, helping employees feel supported at every level.

Key Takeaway

Empowering middle managers with leadership training and fostering regular one-on-one meetings strengthens team support and boosts employee satisfaction.