What are the moments that matter of the Employee Experience?

Moments that Matter (sometimes called ‘Moments of Truth’, or ‘Wow Moments’) are opportunities to surprise and delight an employee and make them feel all warm and gooey towards their employer. These should be peppered throughout the Employee Lifecycle. They may be viewed by some as the ‘soft stuff’ but they really are critical points in the Employee Lifecycle that will have a huge effect on the Employee Experience (EX) and therefore employee satisfaction. In a fashion, it’s not that different from personal relationships. A bunch of flowers here, a nice home cooked meal there, can really keep a relationship alive as it shows that you care for the person.

Compare these two examples.

Example 1: What usually happens

It’s Abigail’s first day. Upon arrival at the office, she walks up to the Receptionist, explains it’s her first day, and says who she’ll be reporting to. The Receptionist asks her to fill in a visitor’s badge, says she’ll call her line manager and asks her to sit down and wait. Around 5-10 minutes later, her new boss Katy arrives, then takes her upstairs.

Example 2: Wouldn’t it be nice

It’s Abigail’s first day. Upon arrival at the office, she walks up to the Receptionist. Upon seeing her, the Receptionist says, ‘Welcome, Abigail— glad you’re joining us!’ She then hands Abigail her staff pass, and says she’ll call her line manager, Katy, who is expecting her. The Receptionist makes some polite conversation, and within two minutes, Katy arrives, then takes Abigail upstairs.

Both of the above examples cost the same amount of money (£0). Okay, Example 2 involves a little more input from the Receptionist, but all good experiences involve buy-in and a bit of extra effort. But the difference in impact is palpable. Example 1 is a rather cold experience. Abigail may well be nervous and the 5-10 minute wait will feel like an age. In Example 2, the Receptionist knowing who Abigail is, and seemingly having prepared for her arrival, will surprise and delight the newcomer; and the polite chat may well make her feel at ease.

Then imagine if the vain of Example 2 continues. What if Abigail is shown to her desk and not only is her tech ready for her, but there’s another moment of delight! Organisations who are beginning to focus on EX often love it when their new hires post pictures on LinkedIn of chocolate and a card on their desk upon arrival—it makes them look like a caring company. This approach is very good, but it could be bettered. What if Abigail mentioned in an interview that she was a big fan of Eastleigh Football Club and on her desk was a brand-new Eastleigh FC mug?

At the end of her first day, much will be a blur to Abigail, but when she goes home, we’d bet that she’ll mention to her friends and family about everything being ready and especially the Eastleigh FC mug.

It’s important to plan your Moments that Matter across the Employee Lifecycle and try to make these as consistent as possible across the organisation. Not everything has to be a Moment that Matters… focus on defining where expectations and/or emotions are high and match or, hopefully, exceed them. Effectively delivering these moments will boost engagement, brand loyalty and retention.

Our Employee Experience Opportunity Toolkit is free to download via our website, which includes a Journey Mapping Template to map the Moments that Matter for your organisation.

Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to know more about creating Moments that Matter or other elements of creating a great Employee Experience.

For more on Employee Experience frameworks, view this page.