In the past few weeks, we have been focusing our blogs around employee experience and why it is so important to companies. Last week, we highlighted how FullStack can support your business’ employee experience.
This week we are highlighting another Indy-based company that focuses on enhancing the employee experience, Ohana Software. Ohana’s app allows employees to connect and communicate easily. With Ohana, companies can inspire employee engagement across their organization through open communication, celebrating team successes, making company announcements, as well as sharing access to important company information.
We interviewed Managing Executive of Ohana, Christina Zerfas, about the platform and how it can help foster employee engagement and better the employee experience. We also shot a video of Christina at a recent trueU event, which we included below.
Q: Why is the employee experience so important to you and Ohana?
A: The employee experience is important to both employees and companies.
On the employee side, I am invested in making the time at work more enjoyable for hard-working people. We spend about 25% of our waking hours at work. That is a lot of time, and the negative or positive experience during that time will understandably carry over into other parts of your life. At Ohana we believe that people who are happier on the job are therefore happier husbands, wives, parents, children, friends, etc.
On the company side, there is a huge ROI on employee engagement. People leave cultures, not companies. An increase in engagement is an increase in loyalty that can save you turnover costs of about 33% of someone’s salary. It is estimated that the USA also loses $450 billion in productivity costs as a result of disengaged employees. The bottom line is that employee engagement directly correlates with the bottom line.
Q: How is the employee experience connected with employee engagement?
A: Think of your first day on the job. If the company welcomes you, shows you to your desk, and has an agenda for your onboarding, you will have a completely different impression of the company than if you show up, they seem surprised to see you, and you spend most of your day watching HR try and set up your laptop and key.
Your impression of a company becomes your belief. Your beliefs become your actions, and your actions become your results. If your boss shows up to every meeting late, you will be late in turn thinking that punctuality is not important and missing deadlines will decrease productivity. The employee experience is just the first step in the chain reaction to how engaged your employees are
Q: What are some practical tips you would give to a tech company leader who is just starting to prioritize the employee experience?
A: Do not forget that half of communication is listening. Employees will tell you how they want to engage, but you must engage with them first. It is critical to do this with unselfish availability that makes them feel comfortable sharing and an action-oriented investment that makes them realize these changes are the culture, not a fad.
Ohana supports every aspect of the employee experience, which FullStack believes is incredibly important to your company’s success.
