If the new Black is employee experience ... start with vanilla.

If you want employees connected to your brand and where its going then start listening and communicating ... especially with the front-line ... the ones who deal with customers.

Before we get all culture and engagement ... start with basics.

Care enough to make their work life simple and easy.

Here is a checklist:-

• Do they have all work-stuff on one App on their own phone?

• Can they bring their own personal DATA (like banking) and manage it on their own phone?

• Can they see their PAY and query it if they have a question?

• Can they book and see their LEAVE on their screen in real time?

• Can they see their ROSTER and query that?

• Is their TIME-SHEET on their phone and can they submit it on there?

• Can they get all work COMMUNICATION channels (Yammer, announcements, messages) on their own phone?

• Can they get any FORM (EG: Incident report?)

• Can they see any POLICY?

• Can they get ON-BOARD using their own phone and get a desk, computer, phone, whatever?

This is especially important for younger employees who grew up with facebook. They don't want 100 systems, apps, sites and interdepartmental bureaucracy. They want simple.

The first step in the engagement journey ... stop annoying them. I can tell you how.