are on the front lines of delivering the most critical elements of customer service that contribute most significantly to customer satisfaction.  Happy, engaged employees care more about the experience they deliver to customers, leading to better results. According to research, improving employee experience (EX) in retail stores can increase revenue by as much as 50 per cent and operating profit by as much as 45 percent. Companies investing in EX are also seeing a 73 per cent improvement in productivity and a 75 per cent improvement in customer satisfaction Customer and employee journeys go hand-in-hand Every customer experience is intertwined with an employee experience through the interactions, platforms and processes they share. If these experiences are viewed in isolation, it leads to a lack of synergy and underused technology. Many retail businesses are using decades of tools, processes and systems built on each other without ever taking a step back and reimagining what the experience is like for both customers and employees. Businesses need to invest in the employee journey if they want to optimize the customer journey. To do this requires a holistic approach to employee management, encompassing every stage of an individual’s journey within the organization. This ranges from their initial interaction and interview as prospective candidates to their departure from the company. As well as enhancing CX, this is also important for recruitment. Given the seasonal nature of retail work, businesses will often want to rehire previous staff. Many “farewells” are not actually final. An employee who has had a great experience will be far more likely to return rather than take their skills and knowledge to benefit a competitor. Providing the right tools is critical Technology is key to providing an optimal employee experience. Brands cannot rely on their employees to think on their feet if they don’t have the tools to support them. Management is often out of sync with front-line staff when it comes to technology. While 52 per cent of C-suite members believe their corporate technology is working effectively for their customers and employees, only 32 per cent of employees say the same, according to Mendix research.  An important approach is service design. This addresses both CX and EX together, considering both the frontstage (what a customer sees) and backstage (what a customer doesn’t see) involved in delivering a service. It requires working together with customers, stakeholders and employees to map journeys over time, develop personas and blueprint all aspects. For example, as retailers invest in chatbots and other digital customer service channels, providing innovative digital tools to employees should be at the top of the list. AI-driven scripts based on caller sentiment analysis can better prepare call center employees to provide the right interaction for the right customer need at the right time. Or for physical retail stores, equipping employees with mobile devices that provide real-time inventory updates can also improve their ability to assist customers efficiently. Employees are also customers Ensuring a positive employee experience is even more important for mass-scale retailers where every job applicant is a potential customer or purchase-influencer. One noteworthy example is a retail CEO who was initially perplexed by a parent’s complaints that their teenage child had received no response when applying for a position within the company. This was a negative experience for the applicant and left them with a poor impression of the organization which they shared with friends and family. To address the complaints, the CEO embraced innovation by implementing a best-in-class artificial intelligence (AI)-powered recruitment solution. This system streamlined the hiring process and ensured that every applicant received timely feedback, addressing a longstanding issue, as well as enhancing the organization’s reputation as a responsive and considerate employer. This commitment to managing employees from “recruitment to farewell” is a testament to the evolving landscape of workforce management. Technology plays a pivotal role in creating a positive and engaging experience for all employees, from their very first encounter with the company to their final farewell. Although this investment can be more challenging, particularly for smaller retailers, the long-term gains in productivity, employee retention and customer satisfaction should result in rapid ROI. Retailers can systematically improve employee experience at scale by connecting customer and employee experience journeys and investing in digital employee experience transformation. The employee experience is inseparable from the customer experience. It’s time to take action and understand and enable employee journeys the same way we do with customer journeys.