Employee Journey: What It Is and How To Map It

The key to mastering employee experience in any organization is to always listen to your people at every stage of their employment life cycle. 

Your employees' journey encompasses critical milestones from onboarding to offboarding - and beyond.

And to understand your colleagues better, creating a detailed employee journey map is a must. 

This tool will help you plan out development and meet KPIs regarding employee retention, employee engagement, employee motivation, productivity, etc.

🧭 What is the employee journey?

"Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers." Stephen R. Covey

Just as customers are the lifeblood of any organization, employees are its heart. Your employees work together to grow your business, maintain a positive work environment, and build and maintain customer satisfaction. 

It's no longer surprising that companies are beginning to realize that understanding employees' experience is just as powerful as understanding the customer experience.

The employee journey doesn't begin after a new hire is onboarded. 

Instead, it starts from the moment an applicant comes across your job ad, goes on to their first day and first successes, all the way to the day they leave your organization.

Everything your employee does, sees, feels, and reciprocates during these periods is part of the employee journey.

The employee journey is a powerful framework for People Operations to investigate their employees' experience. This way, HR can easily understand what a company could do better to boost and maintain a greater employee experience.

Investigating employee journeys enables an organization to really listen to its employees' needs, ensure more inclusiveness and equitability, and close gaps that may cause your people to "disconnect" from the company.

🗺️ What is employee journey mapping?

Employee journey mapping means creating a visual representation of the employee journey as employees move through various stages and moments in your organization.

Think of it as a company scrapbook that allows you to preserve, present and arrange employee memories. 

Employee journey mapping allows organizations to clarify roles, prioritize resources, and identify essential moments that matter by visually mapping the various steps and emotional states that employees may experience during their time at the company.

Additionally, employee journey mapping allows you to:

• Strategically align the organization
• Empower and promote employee-centric ideas and actions
• Improve employee experience
• Increase employee satisfaction
• Reinforce positive company culture

A good journey map is based on data

Analyze the data you already have

Employee journey mapping usually starts with a quantitative step. 

Here, you may want to assess KPIs such as employee turnover by analyzing data from your exit interviews.

• What does your employee data tell you?
• What reasons did people name for leaving your company? 
• At what points did employees become disconnected from the organization?

Finding answers to questions like these can be very helpful and put you on the right path to fixing poor employee experience.

Talk to your colleagues

In the second step of the employee mapping journey, you can gather qualitative data through honest conversations with existing employees. Ask your employees about the most critical moments in their journeys and what the organization could have done better to make them more memorable.

A rule of thumb is to use multiple distinct groups. Here's how it's done:

• Talk to employees who left the organization quickly, who had low engagement scores, or those who were vocal about the issues they experienced at the company. This category of people usually thinks well before deciding to leave the organization. Therefore, they are a great example of people who can articulate and articulate the "moments that matter" more clearly to them than others.
• Speak with employees who were the company's top performers within their first year of joining the company and have stayed very long. They know why they like the organization and decided to stay longer.
• Finally, reach out to experienced line managers. Since experienced managers already manage and optimize the employee journey to an extent, it makes sense to get their opinions as they are key players in mapping the employee journey.

👤 The employee journey from the employee’s perspective

Every employee goes through a series of stages, from the day they apply for a job to the day they leave an organization. The employee's journey  can be summarized into the following five stages:

Phase #1: Recruitment/Attraction

This stage encompasses all the necessary steps a people-centric organization should take in hiring a new employee. In addition, you consider metrics such as time to hire, cost per hire, the rate of offer acceptance, and the new hire's quality. 

Were your job ads written and attractive enough to catch the attention and applications of the best candidates? How long was your interview process? How did applicants describe their candidate experience?

Was your interview process fast and reassuring enough for candidates to pick you as their first employer of choice?

These questions and more are necessary because they provide a clear understanding of how to improve the job process, attract the best talents and identify and fix any obstacles driving potential hires away.

"Deal with it before it happens. Set things in order before there is confusion." Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher, and writer

Phase #2: Onboarding

Onboarding encompasses the tasks a new hire has to perform to get up to speed with the company's tools, systems, and processes and the role's expectations. Most new employees, including remote and hybrid hires, need time to integrate and become productive in their new jobs.

In his book, a study by Jac Fitz-enz, "The ROI of Human Capital," signified a special relationship between employee onboarding and employee retention.

Additionally, a joint study by Kronos and the Human Capital Institute shows that 76% of human resource leaders said their onboarding processes are underutilized. The remaining 24% didn't even have an onboarding strategy to start with.

Effective onboarding is the best possible start you can give to a new hire in your organization.

Effective onboarding doesn't only rely on the content of the journey itself but also its ease of use. 

New hires need to be able to digest the materials and navigate the system easily.

If it is too complicated or unstructured, it will reduce their initial enthusiasm for their new job, create a gap in their long-term connection to the organization, and reduce their overall employee motivation and engagement within and with the organization.

Phase #3: Employee development

As employees develop within their roles, you must evaluate their ability as team players, gauge their productivity levels, and identify their career promotion aspirations. You would also want to introduce learning and development opportunities that allow them to expand their skills and set them apart or give them a unique advantage over their peers.

This stage involves gradual events or steps such as:

• Promotions
• Role changes
• Performance evaluations (discussions could revolve around career conversations, training and development, L&D opportunities and preferred techniques, etc.).

Phase #4: Retention

At this stage, your new hires are fully onboarded and have gone from being "new hires" to "full-time employees."

Your main goal here is to ensure that your employees keep performing, developing, and contributing to the company's growth and success.

Also,  you must ensure that the company's culture is consistently reiterated and that employees are aligned with the company's values and still inspired by the organization's mission. 

While companies use various strategies to retain talent, some of our favorite initiatives at Zavvy include:

• Remote and hybrid working opportunities. 82% of employees said having flexible jobs would make them more loyal and less likely to look for another job.
• Inclusive parental leave.
• Implementing best employee enablement practices.
• Offering competitive compensation (and evaluating and adjusting salaries regularly).
• Positive work culture and transparency.
• Work-life balance or alignment.
• Recognition and rewards systems.
• Extended leave or sabbaticals.

Phase #5: Offboarding/Alumni

Employees can leave an organization for reasons ranging from childbirth to retirement, caring for their ill loved ones, an important life decision, mental health reasons, or moving to a new employer. 

It is inevitable that most employees will leave your organization at some stage.

And while you cannot stop them from moving on, you can find out the reasons for their exit and understand how to prevent future employees from following suit.

It's also possible to uncover the truth about the reasons for their exit, as most ex-employees feel they have nothing to lose by being brutally honest.

Moments that matter

Not all moments in the employee would be the same or wield the same emotions.

For example, most of us remember our first day at work but might not likely remember the second or third.

This is why identifying these "moments that matter" to your employees is the first step in understanding the entire employee journey.

Moments that matter include but aren't limited to the following:

• The first job interview
• The first job interview when making a career switch
• Onboarding
• The first one-on-one meeting with the line manager
• The first full performance review
• The first peer review
• The surprise party at work
• Companies supporting a cause that's important to them
• Team events
• Training activities
• Sending them swags or gifts for their birthdays
• Shout out on their birthdays
• Giving them enough time to mourn the death of a loved one and showing support and love.

Tip: The early stages of employment can make or mar an employee's experience. Employees remember the good and bad experiences while resuming a new job.

For example, an employee would remember if it took them two weeks to get their work laptop, access their email, or download necessary updates.

Likewise, they would also remember if their team members made them feel welcome, their manager took them to lunch on their first day or got assigned an onboarding buddy.

🏢 The employee journey from the employer’s perspective

A new hire's experience also ties closely with an employer. For example, if a new employee doesn't have a positive early experience, they are more likely to go through the motions at work and leave within the first year.

This is bad for the employer as they have to spend the extra money and invest time and effort to hire a new employee again. 

In other words, positive candidate experience, excellent reboarding and onboarding experiences, and other memorable moments can significantly impact employee performance and boost employee engagement. Better late than never, identify them and then measure them closely. 

📝 Employee experience journey map template

No two roles are alike. Therefore, every employee journey map will vary amongst organizations. However, this template would give you an idea of creating your own map and using the employee lifecycle as the foundation for your map's structure.

The employee experience journey map template below gives you insight into significant employee touchpoints. It can be used to evaluate what went wrong or correct and identify the next steps for action.

Here's a simple template you can use:

➡️ Click here to access the template

⚙️ How to create an employee experience journey map

Journey mapping is not a new methodology in the world of customer experience. Companies have long realized that mapping customer experience allows them to provide a better and more personalized experience to their buyers and ultimately increase the organization's revenue. 

A CXPA customer journey mapping research report shows that:

• Journey mapping increased customer satisfaction.
• Journey mapping increased a company's Net Promoter Score (NPS).
• 90% of organizations that used journey mapping enjoyed its positive impact.
• Reduced customer churn.
• Fewer customer complaints.

An employee journey map can be a comprehensive overview of the employee experience, from recruitment to training to final offboarding. Here's how to start creating your employee journey map.

#1: Segment your employees

Start by identifying your workforce segments (also known as employee personas).

Ideally, your employee segments should be based on roles (content marketers, digital marketers, product designers, recruiters, product managers, software developers, etc.), not on demographics like age or data.

These variables can be used to parse out the data later. 

Identifying the journey of these various employees is crucial in charting multiple journey maps for different departments.

#2: Create multiple employee journey maps

You don't have to create lots of journey maps. Instead, be inclusive by building sub-maps within a parent map.

For example, don't include information related only to employees' jobs and their responsibilities; consider other variables like the age of the hire and additional personal information you may have access to (ranging from development opportunities, an employees' generation, or even past experiences.

#3: Survey your employees

Conduct regular surveys and gather information to better understand employees' needs and what they think about your initiative and identify areas of improvement.

Thanks to technology, regular employee surveys can be quickly collated and analyzed to glean employee feedback.

According to this research, these are some of the moments employees see as most important.

#4: Revise based on feedback

While surveys provide cumulative data, you also need qualitative feedback when mapping and improving employee journey maps.

For example, if employees participated in a training session, reach out to them to ascertain their thoughts about it, if they found information from the training useful, and if they feel the lessons learned to propel them to want to do better in their careers. 

If your employees provide valid suggestions for improvement or give negative feedback, revisit and revise the training to ensure an improved employee experience in the future.

#5: Measure your success often

Monitor and measure your success at every step of the employee journey mapping. Identify and set parameters for success for preboarding, onboarding, recognition, employee enablement, and development.

When these KPIs are not met to your satisfaction, identify areas for improvement and update accordingly.

📏 How to measure the employee experience journey

The best people suited to give answers regarding how they feel about their interactions with an organization are employees themselves. As mentioned above, employee engagement surveys or emails are great for gauging employee experience, especially during moments that matter.

For example, you may check in on new hires after their first two weeks to ascertain how they are feeling regarding their new position, colleagues and the company. As you gather more quantitative data, it’s easier to compare how the employee experience tallies alongside employee experience KPIs such as productivity, absenteeism, acceptance rates, productivity and turnover. Don’t forget to also implement changes based on the feedback or data received.

🔍 Examples of employee journey maps

Since employee journey mapping is a visual representation of an employee’s interactions throughout their lifecycle in an organization, we bring to you three stunning visuals of employee journey maps we love and suggest you could use or tweak to suit your company’s needs.

1. Integrify’s employee journey map: Fits like a puzzle, you could almost see the dice at play.

2. Bon Voyage! Alex has gathered on the dock. This boat isn't one to miss!

3. If you prefer the underground, there’s something for you too. This employee journey is a fan of the metro, wouldn't you agree? 

📈 Benefits of employee journey maps

With a clear understanding of the employee journey, here are some of the benefits companies enjoy today:

#1: Decreased turnover

94% of employees who leave are more likely to stay at a company longer if it invested more in their career. Understanding the employee journey helps you determine the right learning and development opportunities for your people and strategies on how to plan their development paths accordingly.

#2: Increased employee engagement

A Gallup study shows that 87% of employees are neither engaged nor actively disengaged. It’s no wonder that most HR departments are constantly monitoring and improving their KPIs in this area. Thanks to understanding your employees’ journeys, it’s easier to identify areas of improvement and fix any obstacles that could hinder employee engagement. Additionally, you could also coordinate different fun engagement activities to stimulate employee morale; while tracking the success of each initiative every step of the way. 

#3: Positive company culture

Since 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture hugely contributes to business success, mapping an employee journey creates conditions for a positive work culture to thrive; which in turn; enhances relationships among employees and fosters team spirit.

➡️ Conclusion

Forward-thinking organizations must focus on improving the employee experience.

Zavvy provides the tools and resources to make this happen with its suite of solutions for employee onboarding, employee development, and connection programs  — to foster team spirit, increase productivity and overall employee mental wellbeing.

Your employees are the heart of your business. Empower and support them to enjoy positive experiences, and become the best versions of themselves.

Zavvy makes it possible. Speak to one of our specialists today!