How to create journey maps to improve EX (Employee Experience)
A gap between employee desires and company priorities
All too often, leaders neglect to understand employee behavior, and instead invest in financial perks to improve the employee experience. As a consequence, workers can feel like they’re a part of a transaction rather than a working relationship.1
This has contributed to “the great resignation” - when nearly 57 million Americans quit their jobs between January 2021 and February 2022.2 This trend isn’t just US-specific: 43% of employees across the globe were thinking of leaving their jobs in 2022.3
Journey mapping can help
Journey mapping has become a useful and popular tool in both user experience (UX) and marketing. It encompasses creating a visual map detailing all the processes that an individual goes through in order to reach a goal.4
To create a journey map, you first compile all of the relevant actions into a timeline, then add in user thoughts and emotions, and then condense the timeline to create a visualization.4 Understanding the ins-and-outs of a user’s journey uncovers pain points that service-providers can eliminate or revamp.
References
- De Smet, A., Dowling, B., Mugayar-Baldocci, M., & Schaninger, B. (2021, September 8). ‘Great Attrition’ or ‘Great Attraction’? The choice is yours. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/great-attrition-or-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours
- Ferrazzi, K., & Clementi, M. (2022, June 22). The Great Resignation Stems from a Great Exploration. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/06/the-great-resignation-stems-from-a-great-exploration
- Great Expectations: Making Hybrid Work Work. (2022). Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/great-expectations-making-hybrid-work-work
- Gibbons, S. (2018, December 9). Journey Mapping 101. Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/journey-mapping-101/
- Howard, T. (2014). Journey mapping: A brief overview. Communication Design Quarterly, 2(3), 10–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/2644448.2644451
- Schäfer, C., Zinke, R., Künzer, L., Hofinger, G., & Koch, R. (2014). Applying Persona Method for Describing Users of Escape Routes. Transportation Research Procedia, 2, 636–641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2014.09.106
- Emmett, J., Komm, A., Moritz, S., & Schultz, F. (2021, September 30). This time it’s personal: Shaping the ‘new possible’ through employee experience. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/this-time-its-personal-shaping-the-new-possible-through-employee-experience
- Emmett, J., Schrah, G., Schrimper, M., & Wood, A. (2020, June 29). COVID-19 and the employee experience: How leaders can seize the moment. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/covid-19-and-the-employee-experience-how-leaders-can-seize-the-moment
- Morgan, J. (2017, March 10). Why the Millions We Spend on Employee Engagement Buy Us So Little. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/03/why-the-millions-we-spend-on-employee-engagement-buy-us-so-little
- Lee, L. (2021, July 29). You Have Customer Journey Maps—What About Employee Journey Maps? The 360 Blog from Salesforce. https://www.salesforce.com/blog/employee-journey-maps/
- Wowk, A. (2020, December 1). 6 steps to mapping the employee journey at your organization. Qualtrics. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/employee-journey-mapping/
- Holliday, M. (2021, January 29). How to: Employee Experience Journey Mapping. Oracle NetSuite.https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/human-resources/employee-experience-journey-mapping.shtml
About the Authors
Lindsey Turk
Lindsey Turk is a Summer Content Associate at The Decision Lab. She holds a Master of Professional Studies in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston University. Over the last few years, she’s gained experience in customer service, consulting, research, and communications in various industries. Before The Decision Lab, Lindsey served as a consultant to the US Department of State, working with its international HIV initiative, PEPFAR. Through Cornell, she also worked with a health food company in Kenya to improve access to clean foods and cites this opportunity as what cemented her interest in using behavioral science for good.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
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