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Mention customer experience, or CX, and marketers get giddy. They want to deliver a great experience that will keep customers engaged and excited. Now people expect companies to keep this end of the bargain even at work. 

The problem, though, is that brands don’t put nearly as much effort into the employee experience, or EX, as they do with CX. That is, EX is the red-headed stepchild. But isn’t the individual employee equally, if not more important, to a company’s success than the individual customer? After all, an employee on average brings in $300,000 in annual revenue.

It behooves companies to pay attention to EX. In fact, companies can look to more mature CX practices to inform and improve EX. How well are your CX and EX efforts lining up? The CMO Council is taking a hard look at strategies, challenges and execution, comparing CX and EX side-by-side. Share your insights and receive a complimentary advance report of the findings.

Related: CX, EX, AI, oh my! Are you making strides in all these key areas? Take our survey. 

Fundamentally, EX and CX are about creating and managing human experiences. Practically every marketer knows well-defined CX goals shared across the company are keys to success. It makes sense that the EX strategy should also develop goals with clear business outcomes, according to a Forrester Research report, “Top Lessons For EX From The CX Playbook.”

Other lessons include:

1. Using design methods to create better experiences

2. Researching people’s needs and acting on insights, not merely measuring experiences

3. Building an outside-in culture

4. Gaining executive support

5. Enabling people with the resources to meet the demands of their roles

You also might want to take a closer look at the customer service department. That’s where CX and EX collide, as customers interact with customer service agents daily. So how do brands make customer service staff happy? It sure isn’t the pay. Rather, it comes from core EX fundamentals, such as empowerment and enablement.

“Allowing agents a sense of autonomy is a start, but it isn’t enough,” says Ian Jacobs, vice president, research director at Forrester. “Brands also need to ensure that customer service agents have easy access to the tools and information they need to do their job — which is to provide a positive customer service experience.”

Of course, EX and CX also have stark differences. The Forrester report highlights some of them, including a difference in underlying psychology. Consumers interact with brands only occasionally, whereas employees engage with the company several hours a day over the course of weeks, months and years. Employees may have to overcome emotional barriers as they manage and balance their work and personal lives.

“The goal of CX improvement programs is to get customers to be loyal to a brand, buy more from it, and recommend the brand to others,” says Forrester in the report. “In contrast, the goal of EX improvement programs is to get people to bring their best selves to work every day and give their full attention to doing the work to the best of their ability. This is a tall — and very different — order … ”

Related: CX, EX, AI, oh my! Are you making strides in all these key areas? Take our survey. 

Related: Get ahead of the disruption! Become a CMO Council Member today!