What is an employee journey?

An employee journey, also known as the employee life cycle, is an employee’s various stages of tenure with a particular organization, including the time spent working for a company. This journey begins when a potential employee enters the recruitment process or applies for an open position and ends when they leave the company. Throughout the journey, an employee’s level of engagement can affect their experience with the organization and how they feel about various events and interactions at work.

Why is it important to understand employee journeys?

By creating a map of the employee journey, the individuals in an organization who are responsible for managing employee engagement and satisfaction can analyze where each employee is in their journey and where to make improvements. This map can also remind an employee of their key experiences working for an organization.

Reviewing the employee journey can benefit both the company and the employee in several ways. From the employee’s perspective, the journey impacts how they feel about their role within an organization. They might remember positive aspects, such as their manager taking them to lunch on their first day or their coworkers making them feel welcome. These actions are also important to employers, who often want to engage employees early on and make them feel welcome so that they stay. If an employee has a positive experience with their workplace, they might decide to continue working at the company.

What are the stages of an employee journey?

An employee journey includes six main stages:

1. Recruitment and hiring

Before an employee joins a company, they go through the recruitment and hiring process. Recruiting involves employers communicating with potential new hires who match the qualifications and skills needed in the role, while hiring involves employees completing a job application, meeting with the hiring manager and going through the interview process. This first stage can impact whether someone wants to work for a company. A strong recruiting and hiring process can instill trust in the organization and make it more appealing to a job candidate.

Related: Tips for Recruiting

2. Onboarding

After a company extends an offer and the applicant accepts it, the next stage is bringing that individual onboard. Onboarding may include meetings with human resources, information technology and other departments to learn about the company policies and procedures. Often, this process also includes an overview of any benefits offered to the employee, a welcome from the team the new hire is going to work with and a discussion about the role’s expectations and needs.

Related: 5 Steps for Onboarding New Employees

3. Engagement

Employee engagement affects company culture, productivity levels and the cohesiveness of a team as they work together and collaborate. This stage can include various tactics, from establishing clear expectations to scheduling regular performance reviews. Engaging employees might also involve activities and events designed to strengthen teams and build employee morale.

4. Development

Many people want to grow and develop in their professional lives, so the development phase is important in maintaining high satisfaction levels and building employee loyalty. Developing employees could include offering training and other opportunities to learn and perfect new skills, establishing a mentorship program within the organization or sending employees to continuing education courses. When offering development options, an organization can consider the needs and desires of the employees to promote engagement.

5. Retention

After employees become integrated into the organization, they typically need opportunities to progress and contribute to the overall success. Retention is the stage that relates to how well an employee can perform, develop and contribute to their team. Employee retention also involves how well each employee connects to and feels inspired by the core vision of the organization. Employees who feel supported might be more likely to stay with an organization, so some companies offer benefits to boost retention rates.

Related: 5 Effective Employee Retention Strategies

6. Separation

An employee may choose to leave an organization for various reasons. They might reach the end of their working life and move into retirement, move to a new location, progress into a role at a different level or make a change in their life that causes a change in employment. Understanding why each employee chooses to leave can help an organization develop and improve upon the employee experience and journey for current employees and any new hires in the future.

How to map employee journeys

When creating an employee journey, it’s helpful to follow these five key steps:

1. Create employee segments

Several factors can impact how an employee’s journey looks, so the first step is segmenting employees into unique persona groups. An employee segment typically focuses on the role of each member in the organization. When creating employee segments, consider which roles align with one another in terms of the journey and goals for progression.

2. Identify the journey for each segment

Each segment of employees likely shares some similarities in their overall journey, starting with when they’re hired and ending with their separation from the company. When establishing journeys by segment, it’s helpful to have people from each segment share their input on what a strong journey looks like and how they can become more engaged. Reviewing exit interview data can also help in identifying the journey for each segment.

3. Determine how to gather feedback

It can be helpful for employees to share feedback on their unique journey and the success they had during each stage. You can use methods like surveys or polls to gain employees’ input quickly. An organization might receive more useful feedback when an employee discusses their more recent experiences.

Related: Giving Feedback to Employees

4. Make constant revisions

After gaining employee feedback, it’s important to make constant revisions to the organization to help adapt to the needs of current employees and new hires. For example, when an employee completes a training course during the development phase, you might ask for feedback on the course. A post-hiring survey can also help an organization gather feedback on its hiring and recruiting process.

5. Set parameters for success

With the employee journeys mapped for each segment, the final step is determining how an organization can measure its success in the future. Setting parameters for success can help a company create and achieve its goals to improve the experience of its employees. Companies might review factors such as increased employee retention or higher employee satisfaction rates when creating these parameters.