Having leaders who commit to customer experience (CX) and establishing the agency’s CX vision and strategy are essential steps in your CX journey. But developing and maturing a fully functional CX capability requires much more. It takes the entire organization with a common mindset and the skills to improve service delivery.
Effective CX management hinges on understanding and measuring your current capabilities. We at Technical Assent recognize this need. Our CX capability model and assessment tool enable you to benchmark your progress and strategically plan for future enhancements.
One of six components, Workforce Development and Engagement, focuses on providing employees with the training, resources, recognition, and support they need to build and apply CX-related skills. Investing in employee growth and experience helps organizations improve service delivery, retain talent, and achieve their CX objectives more effectively.
Key Elements to Developing and Engaging the Workforce
Our work over more than a decade led us to determine four core things to prioritize:
- Training and resources: Provide education and tools to develop employees’ CX skills and knowledge to help reduce your reliance on external experts and enable employees to internalize CX practices.
- Recognition and rewards: Implement systems to acknowledge and motivate employees and reinforce behaviors that align with your CX goals. This can also enhance employee experience and improve overall organizational performance.
- Recruitment and retention: Attract and keep skilled practitioners while equipping current employees with the necessary expertise to support the organization’s vision.
- Employee experience (EX): Create a supportive and engaging work environment to ensure employees feel valued. This can lead to better customer outcomes and sustained high performance.
Best Practices for Developing and Engaging the Workforce
As the prime contractor partnering with VA’s Veterans Experience Office on both CX learning initiatives and employee experience, we know what it takes to effectively develop and engage the federal workforce. Here’s what you can do to drive success:
- Foster open communication: Create channels for employees to share feedback and ideas about CX improvements. This makes them feel valued and brings fresh perspectives.
- Encourage employees to experiment: Celebrate the achievements of early adopters and innovators. Inspire others to follow suit.
- Provide diverse learning resources: Go beyond training. Establish learning communities, share innovation tools with employees, and use websites, intranets, newsletters, and events to boost learning and build employee connections.
- Prioritize employee experience: The intersection between EX and CX is indisputable. Invest in the experience of your employees, both in delivering exceptional service, and in their personal relationship with your agency. Understand their journey from the hiring process through their departure and address bottlenecks and pain points they experience.
Benefits of Developing and Engaging the Workforce
Equipping the workforce with everything they need to deliver exceptional CX is a force multiplier. Recognizing and rewarding employees who excel in delivering exceptional CX reinforces its importance, boosts morale, and embeds CX into your agency’s core values.
Check out our blog about the next component in our model, Managing Organizational Performance.
.jpg)