Well, this is where employee experience journey mapping comes in. The right plan can help you visualize a path to success for every employee. But what exactly is employee experience journey mapping? Equally importantly, how can it be put to use in your organization? We’ll explore all that, and more, here. 

What is employee experience journey mapping? 

As a business, the concept of customer journey maps are probably familiar to you. Here, you’ll plot out different customer interactions with your business, employee experience journey mapping is no different. 

As with mapping a customer journey, an employee journey map covers every interaction an employee has with your business. This spans key stages such as the moment they apply for a job on your careers page to the time they eventually leave. 

Throughout the process of mapping, you’ll identify pain points in the employee lifecycle. What barriers exist that impact employee satisfaction? How can they be overcome? At the end of the process, you’ll have a clear overview of the employee experience. 

Why is Employee Experience Journey Mapping Important? 

Put yourself in the shoes of a new employee for a moment. From day one, your employer has provided positive experiences to make you feel at home. The onboarding process was smooth and you fitted in with the team from day one. What’s more, you’re getting plenty of feedback and have a clear path for improvement. 

In this kind of scenario, an employee feels much more at home and won’t be in any hurry to find their next employer. In this way, employee experience journey mapping helps to massively boost employee retention. You gain valuable insights that help you optimize employee experiences. 

With 44 million people quitting their jobs in 2023, this should be a priority for businesses that want to hold onto their top talent. 

Of course, it isn’t just about reducing employee turnover. Positive employee experiences mean teams are more likely to work harder. They feel enthusiastic about their employers and motivated to meet their goals. This enthusiasm will also be reflected in their interactions with customers. So, they’ll represent your brand better, resulting in greater customer satisfaction. 

How to Create an Employee Journey Map 

We’ve discussed just a few of the many benefits of employee journey mapping. Hopefully, you now realize how helpful this process can be for your organization. But where should the process of journey mapping begin, and more importantly, how can you get it right? 

→ Free Journey Map Template – Download Now!

Here are some tips for journey mapping success. 

Gather Data and Define Your Goals

Successful employee journey mapping begins with some introspection. Which areas of the employee experience would your organization like to enhance? Finding the answer shouldn’t be about guesswork. Do you want to increase employee satisfaction rates, improve efficiency, or assist with professional development? 

Whatever your decision, it should be underpinned by clear evidence. This requires data. Luckily, your organization is probably already sitting on a goldmine of employee data. This might relate to the hiring process, onboarding experiences, productivity in the workplace, and many other areas. 

Alongside this, craft employee surveys to understand opinions first-hand. Ask about the pain points team members face in their day-to-day lives. Employee feedback can be a valuable way of uncovering some of these issues. 

This data can start to paint a picture of the overall employee experience. Look for inefficiencies, hurdles, and other issues that crop up—these are the areas you’ll need to focus on. From here, you can begin to zero in on a set of goals for your journey map. 

Choose Your Metrics

Monitoring progress toward your goals is key for staying on the right track. For this, you’ll need a set of relevant metrics that align with your overall business objectives. Keep an eye on these over time to make sure you're headed in the right direction. 

Some examples of key performance indicators include: 

• Employee net promoter score – Measures how likely an employee is to recommend your organization to others. Scores below six indicate dissatisfaction, while scores above eight indicate contentedness. Middle scores are classed as neutral. 
• Overall retention rate – Displays the percentage of employees who remained at your organization during a given period 
• Track tasks – Focuses on employee engagement. Displays the percentage of employees who were absent during a given period. 

Map Out Touchpoints 

You should now have a much stronger understanding of the current employee experience. But to make improvements, you need to deliver change at every stage of the employee journey.

So, create a visual representation of the employee journey listing all the key touchpoints. The overall journey will be similar, whether they’re working on transformer models or managing the team that does so.

Your map should encompass every interaction an employee has with your business. Remember, this begins before day one of employment. Be sure to consider the process of submitting applications, as well as any job interview stages. Your map should also include any service channels utilized by employees, such as an Employee Web Portal and any messaging apps. 

For each touchpoint, list potential changes that can help reach your overall goals. For instance, to improve employee satisfaction, you might look at ways of improving the employee onboarding process. Being as thorough as possible will help you have the strongest overview of the employee journey. 

Involve Employees 

Employee experience journey mapping shouldn’t be a one-sided process. After all, no one understands the employee journey better than the employees themselves. To build a positive company culture, be sure to involve teams throughout the mapping process. 

This means having one-to-one discussions with employees and learning about their individual career goals. Alongside this, allow them to air any frustrations they may have. Not all staff will feel happy about sharing these grievances publicly. Providing options such as anonymous surveys can help employees feel more comfortable.  

Ultimately, focusing on individual employees helps to prevent staff from feeling like just another cog in the machine. It demonstrates that you’re actively invested in their personal development. 

Work Towards Continuous Improvement

Employee journey mapping is a continuous process, and you won’t always get it right the first time. Journey mapping needs to be refined, and can sometimes involve a lot of trial and error. Learn from mistakes and adapt your mapping to account for them.

What’s more, the workplace will likely evolve. The rise of technologies such as Agentic AI is likely to profoundly impact how organizations operate. This, in turn, means that the employee journey will change. If your mapping remains static, you’ll fail to capture and understand employee experiences. That’s why it’s important to review and update your mapping regularly with fresh data and insights. 

Start Mapping Today 

Your employees are an essential part of your organization’s success. That’s why understanding their goals and day-to-day struggles is essential. Employee experience journey mapping can help you provide the support and assistance to help your team thrive.

It all begins with planning. So, why not start following our tips one by one and map out your employee journey? One thing is guaranteed, your team will thank you for it.