The link between employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX) can no longer be denied. According to a Gallup study on how employee engagement drives growth, companies with highly engaged employees outperform their competitors by 147 percent and companies in the top quartile of employee engagement experience 10 percent higher customer ratings. For companies wanting to improve the experience of their customers and grow their business, they must look at employee morale and engagement.

Unfortunately, not all businesses are ready to make EX a priority. In fact, while nearly 80 percent of executives rate employee experience as important, only 22 percent think their own companies have successfully built a differentiated employee experience. As a result, many businesses continue to ignore how crucial their workforce is to the experiences of their customers and their bottom line.

Case in point: reports show that 85 percent of employees are not engaged or are actively disengaged at work, amounting to an economic deficit of approximately $7 trillion in lost productivity.

Here are three ways brands can optimize the EX for the rest of 2018 and beyond (and enhance customer relationships as a result):

1. Personalize employee benefits

Modern employees aren't interested in a one-size-fits-all work experience; the same way they expect retailers to cater to their individual preferences as consumers, they expect their employers to offer benefits tailored to their unique needs. Successful businesses are distinguished by their ability to provide personalized customer experiences, but in order to deliver top-notch customer service, the employee experience must be rooted in the same values.

When employees are treated with the same level of care as customers, they're able to communicate what the brand has to offer based on first-hand experience. This is critical because at the end of the day, your employees are your most important brand ambassadors. Developing a culture that prioritizes EX not only encourages frontline staff to positively promote the brand both on and off the job, but encourages loyalty and gives businesses the opportunity to help their employees become seasoned customer care professionals.

Brands offering benefits that enable workers to achieve higher levels of balance (e.g., on-site childcare, fitness reimbursements and flexible schedules) will benefit from a happier, more loyal workforce. For example, brands may accommodate a Gen Z worker seeking student loan assistance, while Baby Boomers might prefer higher 401(k) matches as they prepare for retirement.

Starbucks is a great example of a company prioritizing the employee experience and noticing a positive impact on how they're perceived by customers as a result. Starbucks offers employees a range of generous benefits including health insurance for part-time staff and free tuition for the entire workforce. Not only does offering these benefits encourage employees to give their all on the job, the company's efforts to improve experiences internally have impacted public perception of the brand, with a recent customer study showing 87 percent of the company's brand affinity is driven by the way they treat their employees.

2. Prioritize transparency

Today's workforce expects transparency from employers. For example, 69 percent of U.S. adult workers wish they had a better comprehension of what fair market salary is for their position. It benefits brands to make not only salary data, but all high-level company news transparent across all levels of the business because when communications are open, there are higher levels of staff motivation, performance and retention.

In other words, transparency is the key driver in engagement. In order to achieve this, executives should be checking in consistently with employees, not just to communicate company news and initiatives, but to understand what their staff is lacking and what their needs are. When employees feel they're being heard, they'll be more inclined to perform to their fullest potential. Further, when communication is constant, employees feel more connected to the brand and, therefore, more equipped to represent it to customers and external partners.

When executives are transparent about big-picture goals and initiatives, employees are more inclined to go the extra mile to deliver high-level customer service because they have a deeper understanding of how their efforts are directly impacting the business as a whole.

Ultimately, you don't need to solely communicate the good news in order to motivate employees. In fact, 82 percent of employees at businesses that pay less than industry standard were still satisfied with their work because the 'why' was clearly communicated to them. At the end of the day, it all comes down to fairness, and transparency helps boost employee confidence, thus elevating the level of customer service they're willing (and able) to provide.

3. Enrich education

Education in the form of training, skill development and certification is a critical aspect to building employee engagement and enhancing the CX. The more educated the staff, the more capable they are of carrying out successful customer relations.

Brands offering continuous learning opportunities will not only benefit from a more highly skilled workforce—with a stronger capacity to close sales or solidify customer relationships—but will enable workers to take charge of their own professional development. This is critical as robots and AI are forecasted to create 133M new jobs by 2022, and brands need to prepare by skilling up agents to work alongside these technological innovations.

Walmart, for example, uses VR headsets to enrich employee learning across areas, including new technology, compliance and soft skills like empathy and customer service. Employees who are given access to appropriate training and learning opportunities such as this, will be able to utilize new technology to enhance their skills in the next age of customer service.

As we close out the year and look ahead to 2019, companies poised to excel against their competitors and create strong relationships with customers are those willing to invest in unleashing the potential of their people—and in order to do so, employee satisfaction needs to be the top priority.

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Olivier Camino is founder and Global Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Sitel Group. He is responsible for all Operations and Account Management. Since January 2016, Olivier has served as COO of Sitel Group and continues his commitment of reshaping the future of the Customer Experience Management industry.

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3 ways to optimize the employee experience and create a better business brand

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