This CX Day (3rd October) offered an opportunity to celebrate all of the organisations and individual employees involved in customer experience. Although customer experience is in the name of the day, it is important to think about the other side of the equation - employee experience (EX). The two do not exist in isolation, and although it might seem a bit counterintuitive, CX Day should prompt business leaders to consider the value of EX, too.
The correlation between CX and EX
Data from our Smiley feedback collection terminals suggests a correlation between CX and EX. In 2022, the least happy month in terms of customer feedback in the retail and services sectors was August (89.2% positive feedback). Interestingly, August was also the least happy month for employee feedback in that year in those sectors (83.3% positive feedback). This pattern is no coincidence either. As confirmed by further data, the same correlation also exists for positive experiences: the happiest month for CX was January (90.9% positive feedback), and January also saw the most positive feedback in terms of EX feedback (85.5% positive feedback).
Happier, satisfied employees are in a better position to offer exemplary customer service.
From a business leader’s perspective, this makes sense: Happier, satisfied employees are in a better position to offer exemplary customer service, and customers who are having a good experience will have a more positive interaction with frontline staff. CX and EX are intertwined. This relationship between the two should not be underestimated.
Supporting employee experience
So around CX Day - and throughout the year - leaders need to keep in mind how they intend to support employees and ensure a positive employee experience. Part of this is being aware of the pressures on staff. A lot has changed since the pandemic, and when it comes to in-store shopping and hospitality, the dynamic between the customer and staff is still being rebuilt. Equally, as online shopping continues to prove popular, leaders need to consider how this impacts customers’ expectations of staff when delivering an in-store retail experience.
The importance of monitoring customer feedback
Monitoring customer feedback is important for employee experience, too: if good systems are in place to help employees deal with potential situations before complaints are received, this will facilitate a better dynamic between employees and customers. Spotting a CX early issue means that employees can deal with it and prevent a situation where they have to deal with a conveyor belt of complaints.