<\/p>\n
According to\u00a0TechTarget<\/em><\/strong>, employee life cycle can be defined as follows: \u201cThe employee life cycle (ELC, also sometimes spelled as\u00a0employee lifecycle<\/em>) is a HR-based model that identifies stages in employees\u2019 careers to help guide their management and optimize associated processes.\u201d In many respects, then, the employee life cycle is similar to the customer life cycle.<\/p>\n Specific employee life cycle models vary, but consistent ELC stages often include:<\/p>\n Recruitment:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0This stage includes all the processes leading up to and including the hiring of a new employee. E-recruitment software may be used to automate some of the selection process, for example filtering applications and resumes for requirements. This is rather analogous to Suspect and Prospect stages of the customer life cycle<\/p>\n Onboarding<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0:\u00a0<\/a>In this relatively brief stage, the employee is added to the organization\u2019s identity and access management system. The stage includes ensuring that the employee has access to any applications and systems that are required for his job.<\/p>\n Orientation<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0:\u00a0<\/strong>In this stage, the employee settles into the job, integrates with the corporate culture, familiarizes himself\/herself with coworkers and management, and generally establishes his\/her role within the organization.<\/p>\n Career Planning<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0: During the planning stage, the employee and management collaboratively develop objectives and goals. Personality profile assessments are sometimes used in conjunction with an evaluation of the employee\u2019s performance to date. This may be periodically re-assessed, somewhat dependent on employee performance and desires, and available paths within the enterprise.<\/p>\n Career Development<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0:\u00a0<\/strong>In this stage, the employee matures in his\/her role in the organization. Professional development frequently involves additional training and\/or exposure. The challenges in this stage are employee engagement and retention.<\/p>\n Termination<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0:\u00a0<\/strong>In this final stage, sometimes referred to as \u201ctransition,\u201d the employee leaves the organization. The specific processes are somewhat dependent upon whether the departure is the result of voluntary resignation, firing or retirement. However, in any case, offboarding is a feature \u2013 the employee is removed from the company\u2019s system. Many organizations schedule exit interviews in an attempt to get useful input from the departing employee.<\/p>\n What should be emphasized in the HR-based models of employee life cycle, especially in\u00a0Career Development<\/em>, is how the job experience is, or can be, enhanced with a focus on commitment to the customer, product and service value proposition, and to the organization itself. This transcends the traditional emphasis on concepts of employee engagement and retention initiatives practiced by most companies.<\/p>\n Anything that prevents an employee \u2013 any employee in the organization \u2013 or detracts from delivering an optimum customer experience<\/a>, must be proactively identified and rectified. So, It should also be noted that, somewhere between\u00a0Career Planning<\/em>,\u00a0Career Development<\/em>, and\u00a0Termination<\/em>, and just as with customers in their supplier relationship,\u00a0Employment Risk\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>can set in. And, again like customers, organizations need methods of mitigating or eliminating risk. It\u2019s part of creating and sustaining ambassadorial behavior, a state of higher purpose, fulfillment and action among employees,<\/p>\n So, the key question: How does the enterprise not just reduce\u00a0Employment Risk<\/em>, but build purpose and fulfillment, especially where staff experience, focus, and motivation are concerned? About fifteen years ago, my colleague Jill Griffin and I identified nine best \u2018people first\u2019 employee experience practices for our co-authored book,\u00a0Customer Winback<\/strong>. Of these, having a culture of trust and empowerment, active training and cross-training (an element of recognition and reward), open vertical and horizontal communication, and proactive career pathing are perhaps the most important. There\u2019s not a particular order in which these should be addressed \u2013 all are consequential.<\/p>\n How these practices mesh and produce desired employee and customer value was nicely summarized by Claudia Saran, a KPMG Principal. In Episode 4, \u2018\u00a0Building a Business With Purpose\u2019<\/em><\/strong>, from a recent (October, 2016) series of business strategy videos her company produced, entitled \u201cThe Entr\u00e9e\u201d, she said:<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really trying to tap into something deeper and capture the hearts and minds of your people\u00a0<\/em>\u2026\u00a0It\u2019s pride, and you want that as a leader. That\u2019s going to breed productivity, morale, retention; and those people are going to be ambassadors for your brand.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Ideally, every organization can benefit from an authentic culture, along with a committed corps of employee ambassadors, individuals who will advocate for the brand\/corporate entity, inside and outside of the company. We\u2019ve witnessed high levels of cultural cohesion and consistent ambassadorial behavior in companies that are fiercely, and successfully, stakeholder-centric (like TD Bank::\u00a0https:\/\/beyondphilosophy.com\/intersecting-viral-marketing-emotional-customer-connection-td-banks-home-run\/<\/a>) . And, we have also seen employee ambivalence and negativism in organizations that are more top-down autocratic, are operations-, sales-, or product-obsessed, and are less focused on stakeholder experience and value delivery (like Bank of America:\u00a0http:\/\/customerthink.com\/creeping-meatballism-at-work-how-bofa-dismantled-mbnas-customer-centric-culture\/<\/a>) .<\/p>\n Within the enterprise, ambassadorship is largely about being relentlessly focused on optimizing the employee experience throughout the life cycle But, that can be a challenge. In our employee experience research and consulting work with clients, we\u2019ve encountered situations where Career Planning and Career Development among long-tenured staff \u2013 both life stages that would support more ambassadorial behavior \u2013 was sacrificed in favor of a much greater emphasis on front-end Recruitment, Onboarding and Orientation. For customers, this would be analogous to Prospecting, Acquisition, and New Customer development.<\/p>\n \n To help make certain that the organization doesn\u2019t get bogged-down in early stage employee modes, which would potentially undermine longer-tenured staff, two key life cycle elements must be a stronger focus. Career Planning and Career Development \u2013 through stakeholder-centric teamwork, cross-functional training and exposure, active and customer-focused reward and recognition, and stronger, more frequent and real-time communication to, and feedback with, all employees.<\/p>\n The Suggested Prescriptive: Simple, get all employees as close to customers as possible, every day.. Make certain that customer value delivery is an achievable accountability in every job description. Build this into every employee\u2019s career path, and the employee, customer, and enterprise will be richer for it.<\/p>\n You Also Might Like…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Republished with permission from CustomerThink.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n
![\"Michael](\"http:\/\/www.beyondphilosophy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-lovwenstein.jpg\" "\\"Michael")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n