By Murad Salman Mirza

Gone are the days when budding professionals depended upon the guiding instincts of their employers to provide them with a viable career path.

The capable professional of today is more informed, incisively-skilled and equipped with greater knowledge than ever previously available—all of which gives them leverage and the motivation to maintain their own career momentum. In addition to compensation and benefits, what they seek is an elevated employee experience; hence the evolution of total rewards to include this expectation.

Self-Assent Survey Sample
This article introduces a way of self-assessment for liberated and aware professionals who want to proactively ensure relevance in the foreseeable future. What follows is a self-assessment survey highlighting the key dimensions (in no weighted order) of the employee experience via pertinent questions within each:

Hiring Experience

• Did the job specification adequately reflect all the mandated, expected and desired aspects of the role?
• Did I clearly understand all the stages involved in hiring?
• Would I recommend the organization to others, even if I didn’t get the job?

Orientation Experience

• Did I gain significant knowledge about the key functions of the organization and my role in the respective context?
• Was the HR/talent management function helpful in providing good answers to my questions?
• Were the people involved in orientation willing and able to effectively conduct the various aspects of orientation?

Employee Value Proposition (EVP) Experience

• Am I able to clearly identify the value gained from working in this organization?
• Does the EVP nicely align with my professional goals and expectations?
• Have I been willing to compromise on anything not completely aligned with my professional goals and expectations?

Performance Management Experience

• Is the current process of performance management fair?
• Have I significantly benefited from engaging in performance-related discussions with my supervisor(s)?
• Is my talent potential being put to good use in the organization?

Career Development and Growth Experience

• Am I aware of the career development and growth opportunities available with respect to my role?
• Have I been given solid opportunities to grow and advance my career?
• Have I been assigned a good mentor for navigating my professional journey?

Relationship with Peers Experience

• Do I feel comfortable in working with my peers?
• Are my peers willing and able to do a good job in team assignments?
• Am I motivated to engage in social and informal activities with my peers?

Relationship with Supervisors Experience

• Has my performance consistently improved under my supervisor’s leadership?
• Will I rate my supervisor highly on his/her leadership skills on a confidential performance appraisal?
• Does my supervisor take an active interest in my training, learning, development and growth by ensuring ‘ample’ and ‘visible’ opportunities accordingly?

Relationship with Leadership Experience

• Has a compelling Vision and Mission been defined by the leadership of the organization?
• Does the leadership provide a true role model for the values espoused by the organization?
• Are there clear transparency and effective accountability practices ingrained within the organization?

Organizational Processes Experience

• Are the organizational processes clearly defined and effectively implemented?
• Do the organizational processes go through timely periodic reviews for appropriate corrective/preventive actions?
• Is the ‘voice’ of employees given importance in refining/reengineering organizational processes?

HR/Talent Management Function Experience

• Did the HR/talent management function provide and/or facilitate an effective orientation at the time of induction?
• Do the HR/talent management policies/procedures/processes make sense and provide a firm basis for constructive and harmonized workplace relations?
• Has organizational culture and employee engagement been strengthened by the HR/talent management function?

Reward and Recognition Experience

• Is there consistency in the policies/procedures with respect to rewards and recognition for everyone on the workforce?
• Are there timely periodic reviews for ensuring rewards and recognition practices are not outdated with respect to industry norms?
• Have any peers left the organization specifically due to discrepancy in reward and recognition practices?

Employee Engagement Experience

• Am I excited to come to work every day?
• Are there any visible initiatives taken by the organization that help me in increasing my engagement?
• Does the organizational culture motivate me to increase my engagement?

Organizational Culture Experience

• Do I know the organizational culture?
• Are core values an integral part of the organizational culture?
• Is the organizational culture practiced the way it is preached?

Physical Workplace Experience

• Are the workplaces designed to help in doing work efficiently and effectively?
• Have I appreciated the workplace design of the organization in informal/formal internal/external engagements?
• Is workplace design used as a recruitment tool for attracting desired talent?

Organizational Politics Experience

• Do I feel marginalized/threatened by my peers due to their connections with influential people within the organization?
• Have I been forced to ally with the majority to protect my career prospects within the organization despite serious reservations?
• Are successful people in the organization known to excel in organizational politics?

Employer Branding Experience

• Does the organization have a high professional reputation in the market?
• Am I willing to talk positively about my organization in informal and trusted gatherings?
• Will I be willing to reject an offer to leave my organization for a better pay package?

Technology Experience

• Are there frequent compatibility issues between multiple technologies used within the organization?
• Do the direct and indirect costs of technology justify its usage within the organization?
• Does technology help or hinder the ‘humanistic’ aspect of employee relations?

Psychological Contract Experience

• Have my expectations been met by the leadership on a consistent basis?
• Does an occasional breach of the psychological contract bother me?
• Have any of my peers left the organization due to egregious failure of the psychological contract?

Inclusion Experience

• Do I feel valued by the organization?
• Are my views given importance frequently in reaching significant decisions?
• Have I felt marginalized/neglected/isolated/alone in advocating my rights/concerns to the authorities concerned?

Employee Exit Experience

• Was I comfortable in giving feedback during the employee exit interview?
• Did I have any problems in terms of receiving my severance pay package?
• Will I recommend the organization to others after my exit experience?

Assessment vs. Assumptions
Why wait for someone else to assess ‘your’ employee experience? Whether used as a timely tool by the self-motivated or by management to address existing survey gaps, all of the above speaks to the need for ongoing, intrinsic assessment. The answers can only motivate or move us forward.

The aforementioned self-assessment has also been provided as a timely reminder that one lives a little or dies a little each day based upon the quality of his/her thoughts and the purposefulness of his/her actions.

Therefore, don’t forget to have a good time, however, remain vigilant to the enticement of complacency, the mirage of ‘excess time,’ the inducement of blaming others for personal failures and the compelling urge to abandon hope.

Murad Salman Mirza is an innovative thinker and an astute practitioner of areas within and associated with the fields of organizational development, talent management and business transformation. He has lived, studied and served in different regions of the world, including the US, Australia, South Asia and the Middle East. Murad has more than 15 years of multi-disciplinary experience and has rich exposure to multiple sectors within the corporate world. Currently, he is engaged as a Board Member with two US-based organizations. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at: Murad Salman Mirza.