Seven Stages of the Team Member Experience

Seven Stages of the Team Member Experience

A positive team member experience drives a positive customer experience.

“Gallup has found that a staggering 87% of employees worldwide are not engaged, but companies with highly engaged workforces outperform their peers by 147% in earnings per share.” – Harvard Business Review

All team members are unique individuals and therefore, all team members have unique talents, goals, and desires. The Harvard Business Review suggests companies reframe the team member experience to match the same attention that it puts toward the customer experience. Team members should be grouped based on the same nuances that customers are grouped for (desires, motivators, intimidators, etc.) rather than the fairly limited standard grouping based on job title, rank, etc., to improve productivity, and general satisfaction in the workplace. 

To better understand this nuanced approach, the team member experience can be described as a journey similar to that of the customer experience. Here, we have outlined the importance of the team member journey in seven stages and highlighted each step’s importance to the overall team member experience: 

1. Attraction

    1. Cultivating a strong workforce with productive, driven team members that buy-in to the brand and align with the company’s core values starts with the hiring process. Attracting the right people is crucial to building a successful team and business.
    2. Make sure the brand’s online presence, including social media, review sites, website, and press represent the company well. Would a potential team member doing research on a company want to work there? The answer should be a resounding YES!
    3. Make the employment announcement indicative of who the company is – the voice of the announcement should be authentic, down to earth, and excited while communicating what the company and the open position is all about – this should help attract the right people.

 

2. Application

    1. The application process should be simple and non-intimidating, while also being thorough – keep it straightforward. 
    2. For every person who applies, make sure to respectfully communicate with them. Even if it is a simple response stating your gratitude that they applied, but that you are not interested at this time, is essential. 
    3. Ask for feedback about the hiring process from those who go through it. Allow candidates to share their experience so that you can further improve it in the future. 

 

   

3. Onboarding

    1. This step is SO IMPORTANT! This is a crucial stage in the team member’s journey when they get to learn the intricacies of the company and the role they will play in it. Therefore, it must be framed as a collaborative process. The person in the role of training manager or onboarding supervisor should communicate genuine excitement and openness to the new hire. 
    2. Feedback, Feedback, Feedback – a new hire brings a fresh perspective and a new set of eyes to the company. Therefore, begin collecting team member feedback from the start of the onboarding process. Utilize training surveys at each stage of training as well as pre- and post- check analyses to evaluate how much the team member is learning and how much they are able to implement the training into their job performance. This will also help to improve the onboarding process. 
    3. Feedback will also be beneficial in detecting and addressing problems with a new hire sooner rather than later.

 

4. Retention

    1. We want to retain team members. Team member turnover is costly and time consuming; therefore, you want to keep the good ones. How do we do this? By establishing a positive, mission-driven, supportive company culture. 
    2. Supervisors and management exist to support and serve their team members, so they should act as such. All management personnel should be accessible and open to team member feedback at all times. Reviews should be conducted periodically (30/60/90 days after hire and then every three months). These reviews will be an opportunity for management and team members to engage in a dialogue around performance, values, inspiration, goals, and constructive feedback. Managers should still make themselves available, outside of the periodic reviews, for conversations with team members.
    3. Team Member Incentives – Reward good behavior. Schedule team building events outside of work. Empower team members to take on approved projects that spark their zone of genius. Encourage team member bonding outside of work. 

 

5. Development

    1. When people feel stagnant, they tend to search elsewhere. This is especially true for work. When team members feel they have nowhere else to grow within the company or they have exhausted all development opportunities they will look for new challenges elsewhere. As an employer, this is what you want to avoid. 
    2. Engage in conversations with team members to assess where their true passions lie. Empower team members to take on projects within the organization that make them feel challenged and fulfilled. Another good way to empower team members is to offer them educational opportunities, such as online training courses or workshops or business retreats. 
    3. Team members that feel like they are growing and developing will not want to leave the company.

 

6. Exiting

    1. Though companies should do everything in their power to prevent exit (as outlined in the previous five stages), exit for many team members is inevitable. Therefore, team member exit should be conducted with gratitude and grace. 
    2. Conduct an exit interview. Asking the team member for feedback at the exit is important! It also reinforces the company’s commitment to team member feedback at all stages of the team member’s journey. At the core, people want to feel heard. Make sure team members feel that way, even when they are leaving. 

 

7. Alumni

    1. The world of business, especially in the cannabis industry, is small. Ex-team members may go on to work for a competitor, a customer, or a business affiliate. Ex-team members may also be asked to share their experience working for your company with potential new hires, journalists, and potential customers or business partnerships. Therefore, make sure to continue to positively engage ex-team members online and in the community, and ask for feedback when you can. By maintaining a healthy relationship, it may result in a successful rehire in the future.
This article was contributed by Feel State

Feel State is a Missouri based dispensary brand focused on helping better connect individuals to themselves, each other, and their communities through the use of cannabis.