Building A Business Case For An Employee Experience Platform

Making a business case for new technology can be a tough nut to crack, especially when some organisations are tightening their belts amidst a challenging economic backdrop. But, as many HR professionals know, now is not the time to rest on your laurels when it comes to keeping employees engaged and happy.

In May 2022, for the first time ever the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found that there are fewer people available to work than jobs. The primary reason for this labour shortage is that more people than ever are reporting that they do not want a job due to stress, mental ill health, a desire to change their lifestyle and a need to feel valued.

As job vacancies outstrip the number of unemployed people actively looking for work, the need to retain employees is more urgent than ever. Which is where your business case for new initiatives that directly impact the employee experience comes in.

We have created this guide to help you build a compelling business case for an employee experience platform. One that demonstrates why your department needs a new tool to support the employee experience, details why key stakeholders should care, and reinforces just how valuable it will be for the business as a whole.

What Is A Business Case?

A business case is a compilation of resources that justifies a new project. It provides a thorough run down of the who, what, where, why and when necessary in order to provide context and justification for key stakeholders before being accepted, rejected, cancelled, deferred, or revised.

It is required when resources (such as time or money) are needed for a project

If you are in charge of building a business case, it is your job to outline and assess key areas such as:

• The problem or opportunity
• Benefits
• Risk
• Costs
• Technical solutions
• Timescales
• Impact
• Organisational capability & capacity

While you may know and understand why a new project, such as investing in an employee experience platform, is necessary, it doesn’t mean that everyone else does. Your business case solidifies the idea, not just for yourself but key parties, eliciting buy-in and providing a clear roadmap for investment, implementation and assessing impact.

Justify your need for an employee experience platform with these statistics

Drive productivity by cutting back on time spent searching for information

Employee experience platforms – like HulerHub – enable your workforce to find information and resources quickly and easily.

In 2013, a survey by SearchYourCloud revealed “workers took up to 8 searches to find the right document and information.” And nearly a decade later employees are still faced with the same problem:

• A 2021 survey from Wakefield Research and Elastic revealed that 54% of U.S. office professionals report wasting time searching for much-needed files in cluttered online filing systems.
• McKinsey reported “employees spend 1.8 hours every day – 9.3 hours per week, on average – searching and gathering information.”

On the impact of digital tools and their impact on productivity:

• 42% of employees say that the ability to access information quickly and easily has the greatest impact on their productivity levels.
• 46% of employees feel as though digital tools make them more productive.

With your employee experience platform acting as a reliable, consistent source of truth for all your resources, you’ll drastically reduce the time employees spend looking for things and increase productivity.

Increase retention and talent acquisition by shaping better employee journeys

The labour market is more competitive than ever. And better employee experiences across key touchpoints of the employee journey (such as preboarding, onboarding, learning and development, promotion, etc) lead to an improved employer brand/reputation, better retention and higher engagement.

Here’s a rundown by numbers:

• Research by Brandon Hall Group found that organisations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82%.
• Companies that excel at internal mobility retain employees for an average of 5.4 years, nearly twice as long as companies that struggle with it.
• A positive candidate experience makes a candidate 38% more likely to accept a job offer from a company.
• A 2019 report by PeoplePath and Cornell University indicates about a third of corporate alumini maintain connections with previous employers as clients, partners, or vendors – and that 15% of new hires come from alumni rehires and referrals.

In short, all areas of the employee experience matter when it comes to areas such as retention and talent acquisition. From onboarding through to offboarding, creating personalised journeys that meet the needs of employees mean they are more likely to join, stay, recommend other people and even possibly come back.

Improve customer experiences by making your employees happy

There’s no getting away from it. Customer experience and employee experience go hand in hand. When employees feel valued and are given all the tools they need to do their jobs efficiently and make decisions autonomously, they are better equipped to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Let’s look at the stats:

• Gallup’s State of the American Workplace report found that employees who feel engaged in the workplace are more likely to improve customer relations. What’s more, the same report found that companies with highly engaged workers report 20% higher sales!
• The Aberdeen Group identified that companies who actively engage employees have customer loyalty rates that are 233% higher than those that don’t. (Employee Engagement: Paving the Way to Happy Customers)
• In a report that explores the financial implications of an engaged workforce, Build A Culture of Engagement – Make Employee Engagement Happen, studies found that just a 5% increase in employee engagement can lead to a 3% jump in revenue.

Supercharge collaboration while delivering on flexibility for employees

Many employers are wrangling with the ways in which they can make remote and hybrid working continue to be effective in a post-pandemic landscape. While employees are fairly keen to continue working flexibly in regard to their location and schedule, lots of organisations are balking at the thought because of fears that collaboration and productivity will suffer – despite many statistics stating otherwise.

Fact of the matter is, with the right technology and support in place, remote and asynchronous collaboration is possible. In face, it’s not only possible but can greatly benefit your business:

• According to Slack, real-time collaboration software can increase productivity by 30%.
• 81% of employees rate peer collaboration apps positively.
• In the Gartner 2021 Digital Worker Experience Survey, 43% of respondents said that flexible working hours helped them to achieve more productivity, and 30% of those surveyed said that less or no time commuting allowed them to be more productive.

For all of the above reasons, building a compelling business case for an employee experience platform is a no brainer in order to reap these kinds of rewards. But where to start? Here are the key steps for creating a business case that goes the distance.

9 Steps To Building a Compelling Business Case For An Employee Experience Platform

Be Brief & Concise

When creating a business case for key stakeholders, less is more. Your business case should only contain the most relevant information to support the decision making progress in a language everyone can understand.

While it might be tempting to throw everything at the wall in the hope that something sticks, it’s much better to boil everything down to the key essentials. For every point you include, ask yourself: will this help someone to make an informed decision on the project? If not, take it out or rephrase it in a way that hits the mark.

Make Your Executive Summary Interesting

Every business case requires an executive summary. This is your chance to make a great first impression by succinctly conveying vital information about the project to the reader.

While your executive summary should not be War And Peace, it should set the scene for your case by providing general information on the issues surrounding the business problem and the proposed project or initiative created to address it.

Although the executive summary comes first in your business case, it’s advisable to leave writing it until the end, so you can use the rest of your report to inform your introduction.

Eliminate Conjecture

Conjecture is an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information. And it can be super damaging for your business case. Avoid conjecture where you can, instead use statistics and available data to steer your argument.

Prior to creating your business case, it’s advisable to do as much research as possible into the issue, the solution and anticipated outcomes. Anecdotes are far less convincing than big data and numbers, so you should use what you have (including the internet) to your advantage.

Demonstrate Value and Benefits

The value and benefits a project brings to your business are by far the most compelling elements of your business case. Clearly describe what results will be achieved by moving forward with the project, how you intend to measure them, and what value they will bring.

For example, if you anticipate that an employee experience platform will reduce staff turnover in your business, clearly state this. Provide your current turnover percentages and cost of turnover, as well as how you intend your chosen employee experience solution to reduce that and by how much.

Involve Appropriate Team Members

You shouldn’t try to create a business case on your own. Instead, get input from appropriate members of your team, especially subject matter experts from other functions such as finance, HR, IT, etc.

Involving other people outside your sphere of knowledge and expertise will help you to create a 360 degree picture of the problem and how your chosen solution can solve it. In addition, these types of discussions early on can also make you aware of previously unknown obstacles, as well as anticipate the questions your key stakeholders may have.

Link Your Solution To Core Business Objectives

In order for your proposed project to appeal to key stakeholders, you need to present it to them in a language they understand. It’s likely that the people who will give the final sign off for your project will be motivated by core business goals.

Consider linking anticipated benefits and improvements to the core objectives of your business such as reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and reducing staff turnover, instead of just listing them. Again, if you can, bring in qualitative and quantitative data to support this!

Present A Balanced Perspective

While you’ll likely have a strong preference for the solution you’re presenting, it’s important to show a balanced perspective in your business case. As well as showcasing your idea, your business case should also include a breakdown of other viable alternatives you’ve considered.

Doing so will prove to key stakeholders that you know your stuff. Not only that, but you have taken the time to consider a range of solutions backed by an appropriate amount of research and data.

Personalise The Benefits

Each stakeholder will respond differently to the value and benefits you present to them. Capitalise on this by clearly outlining key benefits that appeal to the different interests, values and concerns of each stakeholder.

We’re big fans of personalisation here at Huler. We think it makes all the difference when it comes to getting engagement from the people you are communicating with, and it’s no different for your business case!

Highlight Pain Points & Missed Opportunities

Your business case should highlight a challenge or pain point that you have identified. In the end, your recommendation is the salve. It should have tangible benefits attached that justify the cost, be that financially or in terms of resources.

On top of this, you should take the time to identify the opportunities that will be missed if your recommendation is not adopted. For maximum buy-in, it is essential to make key stakeholders aware of potential pain or further challenges if these solutions aren’t adopted.

Getting Buy In For Your EX Vision

Now you understand how to create a compelling business case for an employee experience platform, it’s time to start building it and researching the best employee experience platforms you can find.

Luckily for you, you’ve already found the best. HulerHub is the employee experience platform that gives you full control over the employee journey from end to end. Requiring very little IT dependency to launch and maintain, it’s the perfect solution for HR teams looking to centralise the digital workplace while making the employee experience engaging, personalised and relevant for everyone in their business – regardless of when, where or how they work.

But don’t just take our word for it, book a demo to see the platform in action. We’re so confident that you’ll love the software that ahead of your demo we’ll spin up a personalised Hub for you business to show you just how powerful it could be for your people and your organisation.

What are you waiting for? Get in touch and let’s get started.