Since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed people out of the office and precipitated a generational rethinking about the nature of work and its place in our lives, companies and their employees are suffering through an increasingly antagonistic relationship.
According to one analysis, approximately half of Americans are unhappy in their jobs, while 83 percent of people say they are stressed at work, and 25 percent indicated that work is their most significant source of stress.
The response has been swift and expansive.
First, it was Quiet Quitting. A supposed trend popularized on TikTok and proliferated on endless internet headlines featuring employees doing the very least and frightening their managers that they were leading a team of free-loaders. While it’s unclear how much of this trend is reality and how much is internet conjecture, it also included many workers who quit their jobs, creating staffing shortages and degrading working conditions for employees who stuck around.
Now, an inverse trend has emerged. In August 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported a counter-trend, Quiet Cutting, where companies avoid layoffs but reassign employees en masse, further adding to the stress, fear, and burnout that defined the past several years.
As The Journal explains, it’s a “waiting game. Employees to whom it would be costly to pay severance or months of unemployment benefits might decide to leave on their own if they feel stuck in a job they don’t want.”
This endless back and forth, where companies and their workers exchange blows like prized heavyweight fighters, is unproductive. It’s not inspiring people to do their best work; it won’t usher in the next era of innovation that we all need so badly.
People analytics, which involves using data and statistical analysis to make informed decisions about human resources and talent management in organizations, can help companies act more strategically, making informed, intentional decisions to support, inspire, and equip their best asset – their people – to do their best work yet.
Here are three ways any company can leverage people analytics to restore sanity in the workplace.
#1 People Analytics Give Leaders Data-Driven Confidence in Employee Productivity
Employee productivity has been a vexing challenge for many leaders, especially as once-temporary remote and hybrid work arrangements have become permanent fixtures.
As companies try to do more with less, it’s understandable that managers have become a little obsessed with ensuring their employees are as productive as possible. According to a recent Slack survey, that’s exactly the case. Seventy-one percent of business leaders report being “under immense pressure to squeeze more productivity out of workers.”
However, defining and assessing productivity is harder than most managers realize. Rather than relying on data and analytics, many leaders use a vibes-based approach, making assumptions about employee performance without empirical evidence to support their hypothesis.
Specifically, leaders can measure company productivity metrics and individual performance like project completion, revenue generation, or creative output. More narrowly, leaders can use user-activity monitoring solutions to understand how people are working, ensuring that employees are attentive and engaged in professional objectives regardless of
#2 People Analytics Restores Workplace Sanity
For many people, the digital workday is a menagerie of work-like tasks that take up time but fail to actually further company objectives or personal responsibilities.
One of the most noteworthy work-like activities is the influx of meetings inundating people’s calendars. According to Microsoft, meetings and calls have increased 192 percent since February 2020, creating meeting fatigue among teams and imposing tremendous opportunity costs on companies.
Already, companies are leveraging their people analytics to understand the extent of the problem at their organization. Some are shocked by what they find.
For instance, when Shopify analyzed its internal data, it found that excessive meetings eroded office culture and employee productivity, making it a losing proposition for everyone. In response, Shopify canceled recurring group meetings, forbade meetings on Wednesdays, and restricted group meetings of 50 or more people to a six-hour window on Thursdays.
Their response doesn’t have to be your response, but every company can and should leverage its people analytics to better understand workplace norms and the hidden impact they might be having on people and company priorities.
#3 People Analytics Empower Leaders to Support Their Teams
Employees are generally not doing well. They are stressed, burned out, and increasingly fed up, though their leaders might not always be aware.
One employee and executive survey found that 80 percent of executives think their employees are thriving, while just 56 percent of employees “think their company’s executives even care about their well-being.”
Employee analytics can help leaders support their teams, taking the guesswork out of understanding employee sentiment and well-being.
Companies can gather metrics on employee well-being through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Anonymous surveys and feedback platforms are commonly used, allowing employees to share their feelings about workload, workplace environment, work-life balance, and mental health without fear of repercussions.
Additionally, regular one-on-one check-ins or focus group discussions can offer deeper insights into individual and collective well-being concerns.
Making Work Work For Everyone
When harnessed appropriately, this data-driven approach provides an illuminating lens, revealing what truly matters in the workplace: human well-being, productivity, and harmony. Instead of being in the dark, relying on assumptions and instinct, leaders can now make decisions rooted in evidence, fostering environments that are more productive, healthier, and happier for their workforce.
In embracing people analytics, we can re-imagine the workplace, where every individual feels valued, understood, and motivated. Let’s move beyond the antagonistic back-and-forths and chart a new course now.
Isaac Kohen is Chief Product Officer & Founder of Teramind, a leading global provider of insider threat management, data loss prevention and productivity optimization solutions powered by user behavior analytics. Serving enterprise, government and SMBs, Teramind has provided over 10,000 organizations around the world with actionable, data-backed workforce insights that reduce risk, increase productivity, and streamline business operations.
The post How to Use People Analytics to Restore Sanity in the Workplace in 2024 appeared first on HR Daily Advisor.