By Hannah Price
Enterprise Service Management (ESM) has many benefits for organisations, namely: increased efficiency, cost-savings, and improved cross-departmental collaboration. But does it go beyond that? Does ESM make for happier employees?
The employee’s experience of ESM
Choosing to implement ESM has direct consequences for our employees, therefore, it makes sense that it affects their experience and mood.
The reason: changes that ESM makes to the way we work will alter how our employees operate on a daily basis. For example, by onboarding multiple service departments in our organisation (like IT, HR, and facilities) onto one tool, we’re changing the way said teams communicate. Perhaps they’re used to emailing one another or heading over to the other side of the office for a chat, instead, we’re asking them to collaborate through software.
A change for the better
Ultimately, this new way of working will make their lives easier. In fact, in a survey of 500 C-Suite professionals, it was revealed that 72% of business leaders believe that cross-departmental working at enterprise level benefits employee engagement and experience.
While the initial effects of ESM will take some adjustment for our staff, the long-term benefits are more than likely to change their mood and experience for the better.
By empowering employees with a better area to communicate and collaborate between teams, we’re giving them access to the knowledge of an entire organisation. They will be able to deliver an improved service experience to users, therefore receiving higher customer satisfaction. And more efficient processes thanks to cross-departmental working will free up their time to get on with the important tasks. All these points contribute to our improved employee’s experience.
Benefitting from engaged employees
Now, happier and more engaged employees are just one benefit of ESM (cost-saving, increased efficiency, and more, make up the rest), so why is this such an important aspect for every organisation?
Improving the work-life experience of our staff brings many more benefits for them and the business. When our employees are happier, they are more motivated. Organisations need not use pressure tactics to encourage hard work, as it comes naturally. Plus, employees become better advocates of the business, are likely to stay longer, feel empowered to be honest with their feedback, have a greater sense of loyalty to the product and service, and deliver a better experience to customers.
Let’s focus on the last point.
The domino effect
It’s a reality: happy employees make happy customers. A report by Gallup revealed just that. They found that engaged employees are more likely to improve customer relationships. So,
when staff are motivated and captivated in their work, they will go above and beyond to make users happier.
You might have guessed it, but happy customers make for successful business too. They will become advocates for services and products – encouraging others in the organisation to utilise what’s on offer – and will be more inclined to engage with your service teams to help make vital improvements. It’s a domino effect and the first piece is ESM.
ESM makes happy employees and customers
The answer is yes, ESM does make for happy employees, who then improve the satisfaction of our users. But we can only truly reap the rewards of this way of working with the complete buy-in of our staff.
Therefore, it’s vital that everybody from top to bottom understand how they can benefit from increased efficiency (by having more time to get on with the important stuff), improved customer satisfaction (due to our unified service delivery), and innovation (thanks to the cost-savings) – surely aspects that every organisation would not turn down the chance to achieve.
Hannah is a Service Management Consultant and Knowledge Management Expert at TOPdesk UK, charged with guiding organisations to achieve service excellence by connecting the people and technology, empowering them to work better together. To find out more about the benefits of ESM, download the free Transforming the Norm eBook with exclusive statistics, data, and experience stories.
