The employee experience can be explained as a series of small interactions throughout a person’s tenure with a company that ultimately define their overall sentiment. Certain organizations, that have earned reputations for offering positive employee experiences, incorporate this distinction into their recruiting strategies. Smaller businesses, hoping to define an employee experience of their own, can borrow ideas from the playbooks used by the best organizations, even if they not ready to launch a full-fledged strategy. 
As a leader, you should set the tone of how the individuals on your team interact by making a concerted effort to learn the names of the people working for you and also by ensuring they know your name as well. If you build a foundation based on respect and recognition, these qualities will continue, even in your absence. At the very least, you should know the names of those directly reporting to you. If you have an unusually large group of employees directly under you, you may consider relinquishing certain responsibilities—but that’s for a future discussion. It’s not uncommon for the manager of a large team to address each member of their team by name. Avoid the typical excuses used by some, such as “I’m too busy to learn everyone’s name,” or “I’m just not good with names.” In either case, it’s unacceptable and demonstrates a lack of effort.
As leader, it’s up to you to foster an environment where employees feel comfortable enough to speak up within their organization for situations that directly involve them. Picture a scenario where a new employee’s name is mispronounced by their peers. This individual should be able to correct their colleagues, or even their manager, without repercussions. As a leader, you should have a vested interest in ensuring that each member of your team feels respected and included, and inclusion starts with treating everyone equally. Simply put, make it your mission to engage new employees, establish a line of communication with them, and ensure that you’re pronouncing their names correctly.
In most professional settings, you should strive to steer clear of using nicknames when addressing your employees. Contrary to the notion that nicknames are a great form of camaraderie, it’s advisable to keep the working environment focused on the responsibilities at hand without distractions. There are always, however, exceptions where employees collectively come up with monikers to address one another, usually as a way of promoting engagement. If you choose to incorporate this into your strategy, it should be done with the collaboration of those involved, and without omitting certain members from the discussion. When in doubt, you should always take the safe approach which is to use employees’ official names. Remember: Don’t ever ask someone if there’s a nickname they go by simply because their name is difficult to pronounce.
Above all other reasons, addressing your employees by name promotes respect and recognition across your organization. If you’re uncertain about whether or not a name is being pronounced correctly, simply ask. Give your employees responsibilities, give them direction, give them leadership, and above all, give them respect. One thing you should never give them is a name other than the one they’re referred to as. Add this to your toolkit and start defining your employee experience.
