Introduction
Employee engagement analytics can help organizations identify the correlation between employee performance and engagement scores. It can help them mitigate the cost of poor hires and improve the value of their employees. According to a survey of over 664,000 employees, employee engagement can have a positive impact on the earnings per share and operating income of an organization. Through analytics, such as engagement surveys and interviews, organizations can improve the efficiency of their workforce by understanding the various factors that influence employee engagement. It enables making informed decisions and improves the effectiveness of their workforce.
Interview Summary
The interview is conducted by Jesse Harriott, who interviews Kathy Andreasen, Chief People Officer, Endurance International Group. The topic of the interview is the effectiveness of talent analytics for business performance improvement. Andreasen emphasizes the key role of a skilled human resource manager in using talent analytics for company benefits (Isson & Harriott, 2016). Furthermore, the interviewee claims that talent management is essential for improving high-performance employee retention and encouraging low-performance employee turnover,
Talent Management Questions
Talent management is particularly relevant to the identification of the factors that impact employee engagement, which validates the use of particular questions enabling adequate adjustment of employees according to the needs of a company. In particular, the questions are related to the motivating factors for engagement, their effect on the productivity of an organization, the correlation between skills and engagement, and the particularities of different generations’ engagement. Talent engagement analytics includes performance appraisals, industry standards, and the voice of the candidate.
Importance of Employee Engagement
Proper engagement strategies are based on appropriate leadership, which contributes to employee engagement by instilling commitment and a sense of belonging (Isson & Harriott, 2016). According to the interview with Kathy Andreasen, organizations develop and disseminate values and corporate culture principles to encourage employee engagement to reduce possible organizational losses (Isson & Harriott, 2016). An outcome of such approaches may include lower sickness rates, higher productivity, more innovation, and fewer conflicts. Overall, an engaged organization has strong and authentic values based on mutual respect and trust, as well as demonstrates higher innovation and retention rates.
Employee Engagement Surveys
One of the most critical factors that a company can consider when it comes to implementing its employment surveys is creating a functional action plan. It can be done through the use of employee engagement analytics, which typically involves asking employees about their level of satisfaction. In addition to being able to provide feedback on their performance, the survey also asks about their manager’s influence and how they contribute to the company’s success. Overall, the action plan for employee engagement evaluation implies that the measurement should be transparent, accountable, based on feedback, and oriented toward change implementation.
PWC on Employee Engagement Surveys
To maximize the benefits of engagement surveys, the leadership team must take ownership of the results. According to Chris Ippolito, a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the measurement of employee engagement improves the effectiveness of organizational performance (Isson & Harriott, 2016). However, Kathy Andreasen claims that engagement analytics empowers employers with valuable data about the retention of talent (Isson & Harriott, 2016).
Business Outcomes and Engagement
Analytics initiatives should not only focus on measuring employee engagement but should also be part of a strategy that aims to understand the various factors that influence a company’s business outcomes. For instance, in the case of employee engagement surveys, the focus is usually on determining whether or not employees are engaged. However, according to the interview with Kathy Andreasen, to sustain or improve employee engagement, practitioners should also identify how programs can improve the effectiveness of their efforts to maximize business outcomes (Isson & Harriott, 2016).
Predictive Engagement Surveys
When collecting employee opinion data, one should use a robust predictive model that can help to make informed decisions and improve the efficiency of an organization. This data can be used to predict employees’ performance and improve workforce quality. Collected data sets might be combined to create a variety of analytic tools that can be used to analyze and improve the effectiveness of the organization. For instance, one might integrate customer surveys, onboarding, and exit surveys, recruiting data, and other HR data to identify a measurable component of engagement for future use for the benefit of the organization.
Before the company starts working on a predictive analytics strategy, it is essential that it first clarifies the senior leaders’ stance on the kinds of metrics and outcomes they are focused on. In addition, to ensure that the metrics collected from the employees are predictive of organizational goals, it is important to ensure that the individuals responsible for collecting the data are well-prepared and cooperative. Indeed, the linkage analysis helps identify the most important metrics about the company’s operations (Isson & Harriott, 2016). Furthermore, the involvement of all responsible stakeholders will ensure the accuracy of measurement and its proper interpretation. Finally, adequate changes to the engagement tactics should be followed to adjust the metrics to the desired level.
Employee Engagement Measures
The typical approach to measuring employee engagement involves conducting an annual survey where employees rate their level of satisfaction. This method can provide insight into their attitude’s impact on the company’s performance (Isson & Harriott, 2016). Moreover, employee engagement measurement addresses employee engagement indicators that are quantitatively and directly related to the employees’ perception of themselves. However, this data might be deemed subjective since some people do not know where to start when it comes to addressing these measures. Nonetheless, when asked self-reflection and work-perception questions, employees’ subjective responses generate an invaluable pool of data that in a long-term perspective comparison, might indicate positive or negative changes about organizational outcomes.
Direct Metrics of Employee Engagement
When identifying a measurable set of metrics indicating employee engagement, a company might start by analyzing the amount of work that employees do outside of their regular working hours and the time spent in collaborations. In addition, it might assess the time of reviewing nonwork content online and work e-mail activity (Isson & Harriott, 2016). Other metrics, such as productivity measures, are additionally considered to see how employees perform. The interview suggests that the collection and proper analysis of such data will allow for assessing employee engagement accurately (Isson & Harriott, 2016). Thus, the abundance of data that might imply the level of individual employee engagement provides the human resource management department and the leadership of a company with sufficient highlights of the required work.
VoloMetrix Use
Engagement analytics can help organizations create effective programs to keep their workers happy and improve their performance. One of the most common ways organizations can use this type of data is to analyze how their staff members spend their time. For example, with the help of VoloMetrix, they can see how much of their sales team’s time is spent interacting with customers (Isson & Harriott, 2016). Some leading tech companies, such as Symantec and Genentech, use this type of data to improve their operations. Thus, VoloMetrix is one of the many tools for automating the process of data collection and evaluation in terms of employee engagement and its maximization for organizational benefits.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the link between corporate performance and employee engagement is vital. However, the strategies used for employee engagement must be based on the company’s unique characteristics. Although surveys are critical to measuring employee engagement, they cannot identify the individuals’ motivating factors. The leadership team must agree on the targeted business outcomes to implement effective employee engagement metrics. Non-survey metrics can also provide early warning signs of employee danger, thus expanding the volume of knowledge about risks associated with talent retention and empowering organizations for responsible decision-making in terms of human resource management.
Reference
Isson, J. P., & Harriott, J. S. (2016). People analytics in the era of big data: Changing the way you attract, acquire, develop, and retain talent. John Wiley & Sons.