The Importance of Data in Personalising Employee Experience
Personalising employee experience goes a long way to making employees feel like valued members of an organisation, as opposed to just a resource…
A work experience that feels personal, relevant, and responsive to individual needs is quickly becoming one of the top expectations for employees.
Forward looking organisations are responding to this challenge and personalising employee experience by segmenting workers into functional groups. This is done based on information gathered through feedback provided by employees, such as what they want from their job, role type, workplace preferences and motivational drivers. These responses are then subject to data analytics.
Using digital platforms, business leaders can provide targeted services to each group based on the outcomes of the analytics. Our experience has taught us that connecting the right platform elements to the right employee types at the right time is key to success. By adopting this approach, companies we work with bring the power of data and digital technology to bear on a critical human resources challenge.
The Role of Data Analytics in Personalising Employee Experience
Personalising employee experience is as a process that results in a relevant, individualised interaction between the employer and the employee. The emphasis is on providing, where possible, customised experiences for each employee, based on their role, career aspirations and personal preferences.
Employees make decisions and take actions every day that can affect their co-workers and the company at large. The way a company treats employees and how much is invested in making employee experiences an appealing proposition is important in driving positive behaviour.
Companies can analyse data using a variety of techniques and tools, including descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics, dashboards, charts, graphs and reports. The goal is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current employee experience frameworks, influencing factors and areas that require improvement.
By harnessing the power of data analytics, companies can:
- Improve their knowledge of workplace trends and patterns, and how these relate to company productivity, engagement and retention.
- Make data-driven talent hiring decisions.
- Identify drivers of employee satisfaction and adjust interventions to improve overall employee experience.
- Identify skill gaps and training needs, which can aid workers in developing their technical competencies.
For organisations that wish to move past assumptions and biases, in order to improve their employees’ experience, data analytics provides valuable and accurate insights. A data-driven approach assists businesses in assessing the impact of their personalisation efforts, identifying areas of success and highlighting potential problem areas.
Leveraging Data for Employee Insights
There is a wide array of data sources that companies can use for the purposes of analysis. These can include:
- Personal information – personal identifiers, information on next of kin, living arrangements (and locale), length of service, attendance and disciplinary records.
- Performance assessments – performance evaluations that compare work performance to predetermined metrics and assessments of ‘softer’ attitudes and social skills in the workplace.
- Survey and feedback data – onboarding and orientation, employee engagement, skills and exit survey results, and
- Social interaction – internal communication channels such as email and mobile chat applications, and external social media platforms can provide insight into the views and attitude of employees.
Employee data analysis helps identify, previously unknown trends and patterns. It uncovers correlations, anomalies, and emerging trends, thus allowing companies to be proactive in addressing potential issues and capitalising on opportunities. It can also play an important part in fine tuning the employee experience across a range of business activities such as:
- Recruitment and selection – identify the best recruitment channels, assessing candidate fit, forecasting work performance and reducing biases in the selection process.
- Performance management – it aids in the development of meaningful performance goals, the provision of feedback and coaching, the highlighting of training and development needs and the identification of high-performing individuals or teams.
- Employee engagement and satisfaction –identifying engagement drivers, assessing engagement initiatives, building employee sentiment profiles and forecast turnover risks, and
- Retention and attrition – highlight those who are mostly likely to leave, provide reasons for attrition, create retention strategies, and improve employee retention rates.
Optimised processes, enhanced decision making, and improved employee experiences are the key benefits companies will enjoy from the leveraging of employee data.
Understanding Individual Preferences when Personalising Employee Experience
Companies can identify individual strengths and weaknesses by monitoring employee performance, feedback and engagement. This can have an important impact on how an employee’s skills development opportunities, for example, are delivered. It can also help in the identification and selection of employees for maximum effectiveness, in multi-disciplinary work teams.
Based on this individual data a company like Coca-Cola allows employees to select work projects based on their personal strengths and career aspirations. Thus, ensuring employees are motivated by tasks that are a good ‘fit’ based on their overall skills and aptitude. To further entrench this personalised approach, the company allows its employees to customise their own rewards, shifting the focus from money as the primary recognition tool, to a holistic range of rewards that are compatible with a variety lifestyle and family obligations. Companies that personalise their employees’ well-being, for example, across their business operations will noticeably improve their overall company performance.
Adapting to Diverse Work Styles
Data from employee communications, voice and video data, location data, or embedded sensors in the workplace can reveal relationship patterns, interactions, and socialising styles. This data can then be used to suggest ways to improve interactions and relationships with other employees, identify mentoring opportunities and point to work settings in which an employee will maximise their skills and talents.
Understanding how to act upon data analysis from employees is particularly important in settings where organisations have diverse work preferences amongst their employees. Detailed orientated individuals who often possess a natural affinity for risk awareness are often best teamed with independent minded colleagues who are results orientated, in order to achieve a balanced approach.
Careful analysis of work data can also provide fresh perspectives on common problems. An industrial firm was challenged by late arrivals, early departures and general absenteeism from work. A comprehensive employee data analysis revealed external socio-economic challenges were at the root of this behaviour. A flexible work arrangement was adopted that led to improved attendance, employee job satisfaction and overall performance.
Ongoing data analysis can be used to monitor the effectiveness of teams and work preferences. We offer leading feedback solutions to our clients that can help them gather data from employees so that companies can identify trends. This enables businesses to tailor their initiatives and communications to address these trends in the pursuit of the optimal work experience for employees.
Fostering a Meaningful and Personalised Experience
Research has revealed that two pillars are critical to the successful use of employee data:
1) transparent data collection practises that foster trust through consent
2) a data strategy that prioritises value creation for employees.
When employees believe their data is being used to judge them, which could lead to dismissal or other negative consequences, distrust and other negative outcomes start to take hold. Data and the analysis thereof, should be used to help employees learn, grow, simplify their jobs, find meaning or happiness at work and reach their full potential.
When developing a data strategy companies must keep these opportunities for creating shared value in mind. Data analytics is a powerful tool but should always be used as an adjunct to human interventions, aimed at creating personalised employee experiences.
Wyzetalk’s Solution
Our digital employee engagement platform is agile and integration ready across a wide range of employee experiences, providing our clients with the ability to offer a degree of personalisation. This helps companies in fostering a culture of belonging and inclusivity by prioritising the unique needs of their employees.
Wyzetalk’s mobile employee engagement solution also offers organisations the ability to segment their workforce, ensuring that the right message gets to the right person at the right time.
Key Takeaways
Data analytics allows companies to tap into a wide range of data sources that help in understanding what drives employee behaviour. It can identify trends and anomalies across the workforce, while also providing insight into the skills development needs, strengths and career aspirations of individual employees.
This detailed understanding opens up the opportunity for personalisinng employee experience. This goes a long way to improving on the job effectiveness and overall employee satisfaction, while capitalising on the strengths of individual work styles and preferences.
Data analytics will increasingly play an important role in optimising business operations going forward. A successful strategy in this regard will be based on ensuring that any gains the organisation makes through this approach is mutually beneficial for both the employer and employee.
Our solution provided the feedback mechanisms to help your company make data driven decisions for the business. Talk to an expert today to find out more.