The importance of colleague experience in the future of work with Chris Carey and Christina Dolding

In this episode, hosts Cat Barnard, Jen Sproul and Dom Walters are joined by Chris Carey and Christina Dolding from Axiom Communications. The guests discuss the importance of colleague experience and its impact on attraction, retention, and business transformation. They emphasize the need for organisations to focus on the entire colleague journey, including pre-joining, onboarding, and post-honeymoon periods. The distinction between engagement and experience is highlighted, with experience being seen as more strategic and intentional. The role of internal communication in designing and improving colleague experience is emphasised, with a focus on listening, co-creation, and authenticity. The future of colleague experience is seen as more intentional and focused on managing life events. The conversation highlights the importance of listening and understanding in employee engagement. It emphasises the need for organisations to truly listen to their employees and take action based on their feedback. The discussion also explores the concept of designing the employee journey and the role of technology, HR processes, and leadership in shaping that journey. Training leaders and supporting line managers in communication are identified as crucial factors in delivering a positive employee experience. The conversation concludes with a focus on the potential benefits of investing time in employee engagement and the importance of considering the human journey in policy design.

Takeaways

• Colleague experience is crucial for attraction, retention, and business transformation.
• Organisations should focus on the entire colleague journey, including pre-joining, onboarding, and post-honeymoon periods.
• Internal communication plays a vital role in designing and improving colleague experience.
• Listening, co-creation, and authenticity are key elements of successful colleague experience.
• The future of colleague experience will be more intentional and focused on managing life events. Truly listen to employees and take action based on their feedback.
• Design the employee journey by considering technology, HR processes, and leadership.
• Train leaders and support line managers in effective communication.
• Invest time in employee engagement to gain time back and improve overall performance.
• Consider the human journey when designing policies.

About Chris Carey

With more than 25 years in employee communication and engagement – the past 20 at the helm of Axiom after holding top corporate communication posts with several multinationals. As a consultant, I help organisations communicate with and engage their people, especially during times of change. I also devise and deliver communication skills training to help people become better communicators and am a seasoned facilitator of conferences and other live events. I’ve designed and delivered a wide range of employee engagement workshops for CEOs and frontline staff alike in organisations across sectors including pharmaceutical, manufacturing, retail, travel, banking and charities. When I’m on stage facilitating a big event, I like to use a high-energy, high-impact facilitation style to make the event live long in the memory. I’ll engage your audience and hold their attention – and then get them to identify and commit to pragmatic actions they can take when they get back to the office or factory floor.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriscareyaxiom/

About Christina Dolding

I have enjoyed over 30 years partnering with people and teams in the corporate world, focusing on both customer and employee experience. I have led and delivered transformation programmes which created outstanding, award winning colleague and customer centric journeys. I strongly believe delivering great, consistent and intentional colleague experiences is, without doubt, the route to delivering the highest possible level of customer experience. Over the years, I have designed and implemented a wide variety of innovative and creative end-to-end solutions that deliver remarkable results, whilst also achieving substantial cost benefits.

By translating the tools, techniques and training used extensively in the world of customer experience, I ensure the voices colleagues are heard and their diverse insights harnessed to positively impact the things that matter most to them and their stakeholders.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-dolding-ccxp/