Improve the employee experience

This article describes a common goal for Power Platform—improving the employee experience. It follows a structured framework that includes defining clear objectives, measurable key results, and actionable initiatives. This article aims to guide you in creating your own vision for Power Platform adoption.

Vision

Improving employee experience is a common vision for Power Platform adoption because it directly enhances productivity, engagement, and overall job satisfaction. By providing employees with intuitive, low-code tools, Power Platform empowers them to solve their own problems, streamline workflows, and innovate without heavy reliance on IT. This autonomy fosters a sense of ownership and accomplishment, leading to higher morale and motivation. The platform's collaborative features promote teamwork and knowledge sharing, breaking down silos and creating a more connected and supportive work environment. A better employee experience translates to improved performance, reduced turnover, and a more agile and resilient organization, making it a key driver for adopting Power Platform.

Objectives

Objectives are the key themes or focus areas that the strategy aims to achieve. They are broad, overarching goals that align with the organizational vision and priorities. Objectives provide direction and set the stage for the initiatives and key results. Objectives help ensure that everyone in the organization understands what the strategy aims to accomplish and why it's important.

Typical objectives for improving employee experience include:

• Foster a collaborative culture: Create an environment that encourages teamwork and knowledge sharing across the organization.
• Enhance employee satisfaction: Improve overall employee satisfaction by providing tools and resources that make their work easier and more fulfilling.
• Empower employees with self-service capabilities: Enable employees to independently create and manage their own solutions using low-code tools.
• Drive tangible outcomes: Ensure that collaborative efforts and employee-driven initiatives lead to measurable improvements and business outcomes.
• Streamline workflows and reduce friction: Simplify and automate routine tasks to reduce friction and improve efficiency.
• Promote continuous learning and development: Encourage ongoing skill development and professional growth among employees.

Measurable key results

Key results are specific, quantifiable outcomes that indicate progress towards achieving the strategic objectives. They provide clear benchmarks for success and help in tracking performance. Defining key results is necessary because they offer a way to measure the effectiveness of the initiatives and ensure that the objectives are met. Key results should be realistic, time-bound, and directly linked to the objectives.

Typical key results, aligned with some of the objectives, for improving employee experience include:

• Drive tangible outcomes:
  • Improve employee experience by ensuring that employees are more productive and work on tasks with higher value, aiming for a ___% increase in productivity.
  • Ensure tangible outcomes from collaborative efforts, aiming for ___% of projects to show measurable improvements in efficiency or effectiveness.
• Empower employees with self-service capabilities:
  • Track and grow user satisfaction with the platform, targeting a ___% increase in user satisfaction scores.
• Foster a collaborative culture:
  • Create a culture of collaboration that drives employee satisfaction, with a goal of achieving a ___% increase in employee satisfaction survey results.

Key initiatives

Initiatives are the specific actions or projects that need to be implemented to achieve the objectives. They outline what needs to be done in the immediate term, in the next year, and in the next three years. Initiatives provide a roadmap for action and ensure that there's a clear plan to reach the objectives. Initiatives should be actionable, prioritized, and aligned with the key results.

Typical initiatives, aligned with some of the objectives, for improving employee experience include:

• Foster a collaborative culture:
  • Implement collaboration tools and platforms to facilitate communication between Power Platform makers.
  • Organize regular cross-functional workshops and activities that help teams collaborate with each other, such as hackathons.
  • Recognize and reward collaborative efforts and successful team projects.
  • Create and sustain an online community of practice for Power Platform practitioners.
  • Establish and communicate a way for makers to easily collaborate with IT.
• Enhance employee satisfaction:
  • Conduct regular surveys to gather feedback on employee needs and preferences.
  • Provide training and support to help employees effectively use Power Platform.
  • Implement initiatives that address common pain points and improve the work environment.
• Empower employees with self-service capabilities:
  • Offer comprehensive training programs on low-code development.
  • Create a Maker Portal, for example a SharePoint communication site, with onboarding collateral, development guidelines, self-guided learning, and success stories.
  • Encourage a culture of experimentation and innovation by providing support and recognition for self-initiated projects.
• Drive tangible outcomes:
  • Set clear goals and metrics for collaborative projects and employee initiatives.
  • Monitor and evaluate the impact of these projects on business performance.
  • Share success stories and case studies to highlight the tangible benefits of employee-driven innovation.
• Streamline workflows and reduce friction:
  • Identify and prioritize processes that can be automated using Power Platform.
  • Develop and deploy automation solutions to streamline these processes.
  • Provide training and support to help employees adapt to new automated processes.
• Promote continuous learning and development:
  • Offer access to online courses, certifications, and learning resources.
  • Create mentorship programs to support career development.
  • Recognize and reward continuous learning and skill advancement.