Data is the new oil.” – Clive Humby, British Mathematician
Data presents an exciting opportunity to streamline all processes within organisations.
Quality collection and analysis of data will help optimise human resource management, strategy, operations, and talent management to perfection.
Data Seeks Perfection
The purpose of putting this amount of effort into data collection is to get closer to perfection.
We spend too much time and energy on inefficient processes in all practices. Data analysis helps us get rid of the unnecessary and inefficient. This is similar to an athlete who practices for years to stop making inefficient motions with their muscles.
Employee Engagement Aligns with the Search for Perfection
Did you know that only 13% of employees are engaged? The rest of the vast share of the workforce does not do their best at work. They can be very difficult to motivate and might also be actively job-searching.
Improving Employee Engagement helps workplaces in their search for the optimal.
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee Engagement is the level of enthusiasm and passion that employees feel for their job.
What Employee Engagement is Not
Employee engagement must not be confused with employee satisfaction. A lot of employees are satisfied while they may not be engaged. According to SHRM, 89% of US employees are satisfied with their jobs. However, according to Gallup, only 36% of US employees are engaged in their jobs.
Satisfied employees may or may not give their best. They may be operating at a cruising pace. They may abuse company time. They may or may not add to the team morale.
Engaged employees, on the other hand:
- Give their best and ensure quality output
- Operate at a higher gear compared to their peers
- Lift the entire team’s morale
How to Track Employee Engagement with Data
Data plays a crucial role in the initiation of Employee Engagement activities.
Employee Engagement Activities for Data Collection
The following activities can be conducted to track data and assess the state of employee engagement within the organisation.
- Use an Employee Engagement Platform that Tracks Data
An Employee Engagement platform can provide more benefits than just collecting data. Platforms as such help provide innovative benefits to employees and run employee engagement driving activities such as Rewards and Recognition on the platform.
They can become a one-stop solution for all Employee Engagement needs in the organisation.
- Run a Survey
Running a survey is an efficient method of gathering intel on the state of employee engagement.
Employee engagement surveys may include questions such as, ‘When did you last feel frustrated in the workplace?’ or ‘What do you think about the workload being given to you?’
- Track Internal Data for Pointers on Employee Engagement
There are several pointers for Employee Engagement within an organisation. Some of them are:
- The number of internal promotions happening in the organisation
- The number of people asking for more responsibilities
- Customer reviews and feedback
- Feedback from immediate managers
- Review every Week
This method gathers more quality information when compared to surveys as many people might not open up to surveys.
HR leaders can establish weekly contact with the employees and the manager in terms of one-on-one reviews. These reviews will become an open space where they can ask flexible questions.
How to Interpret Employee Engagement Data?
A common fallacy while learning how to track Employee Engagement with data is looking for short-term changes.
Employee engagement is a long-term commitment that reaps long-term gains.
- Focus on converting job satisfaction into employee engagement
- Do not view employee engagement activities that collect data as a means to an end, rather view it as an ongoing process within the organisation
- Set the bar high!
Results From an Interesting Study
A study by Emerald Insight shows interesting results. One of the methods of interpreting employee engagement data is to measure the value created vs the investment put into the employee engagement activities.
Did you know that the value created by engaged employees exceeds the cost put on employee engagement in the workforce, including on the disengaged employees?
Employee engagement activities are an infallible way of improving the performance of the workforce!
Conclusion
Tracking employee engagement data is an innovative and efficient method of improving the performance of an organisation and of streamlining talent management. Interpreting this data will help HR leaders convert people in the organisation who are ‘satisfied’ into engaged, driven employees. This will help organisations create immense value which far exceeds the cost of employee engagement activities.