In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Donna Cutting, author of Employees First!: Inspire, Engage, and Focus on the Heart of Your Organization!Donna is the CEO of Red Carpet Learning. She helps brands create cultures of happy, engaged people who deliver exceptional customer service.And she’s the bestselling author of three books devoted to delivering red carpet experiences including her latest - Employees First!: Inspire, Engage and Focus on the Heart of Your Organization.Donna and I talk about how rolling out a red-carpet experience to your employees is just as important as the experience you deliver to your customers. And we talk about some of the key ways to ensure you’re attracting, onboarding, and retaining top talent  - all based on the employee experience you deliver.Some of the topics we discuss include: Organizational culture, employee experience, and customer experience must all work togetherIf you want your employees to deliver a red-carpet experience to your customers, you need to deliver it to them so they know what it looks and feels likeYour goal should be for the customer to feel happier than before they interacted with youHow leaders can instill a sense of purpose in their employeesToday’s employees are looking for something that is bigger than themselvesYou can tap into your organization’s greater purpose no matter your industry or productHow you can compensate your employees fairly without breaking the bankIt’s valuable to listen to and collaborate with your employees to craft the employee experienceThe best ways to listen to your employees are literally getting into a room with them and talkingThe ideal way to attract new employees to come into your organization is by treating them like customersOnboarding new employees is a process that’s longer and more important than you thinkRESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:Donna's siteDonna's book - Employees First!Red Carpet Culture Club