WNDYR | BLOG

5 People analytics trends to watch for in 2022

Written by The WNDYR Team | May 6, 2022 12:36:00 PM

Perhaps no industry is changing as much as HR and its evolving management of the labor market. To keep up, many HR departments are investing in people analytics to reignite transparency, efficiency and human connection in their remote workplace, and it’s working. 

People analytics trends are uncovering obscure remote work processes and how employees experience them. This intelligent data empowers HR leaders to align their initiatives with what their company needs most in 2022 to build an improved remote employee experience. 

With that being said, the top 5 people analytics trends include:

  1. Talent scarcity
  2. A better recruitment process
  3. Diversity, equity and inclusion
  4. A superior employee experience
  5. Informed performance management assessment

1. Talent scarcity

Research shows that the Great Resignation has no intention of slowing down in 2022. According to Willis Towers Watson’s 2022 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, 44% of employees are seeking new employment and seriously looking as we speak. In the final quarter of last year, 33% were on the job hunt, and 11% planned on beginning their search in the first quarter of this year. 

According to another 2022 survey, 65% of employees are staying with their current employer, which is down by 5% compared to survey results in 2021. 

This has occurred during a time when employees are realizing they don’t have to commute and work the typical 9 to 5 in an in-person office. Instead they’re letting go of traditional ideas of company loyalty and leaving industries that don’t satisfy their professional goals. Additionally, over 50% of employees are looking for a new job to pursue higher compensation.

This means ensuring your employee experience is flexible, remote or hybrid, and strategically compensated is essential to retaining your workforce.  

2. A better recruitment process

Another reason why employee retention may be low is the job market is thriving. The number of job openings exceeds applicants in many industries, meaning organizations are often competing for the same talent pool. 

Even recruiters themselves are getting more scarce according to a iCIMS study showing that recruiter demand has doubled since 2021. All these factors set the conditions for the next people analytics trend: a different approach to recruiting.

Because it takes more effort attracting and retaining employees, organizations are streamlining their recruitment process and using advanced people analytics to manage job applicants. Analytics range from where they are in the hiring funnel, to how candidates match your organization’s culture and mission.

3. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)

DEI initiatives are a high priority for HR managers to lead more ethical and inclusive businesses. Aside from being the right thing to do, building a diverse and strategic workforce is well worth the investment. Diverse workforces are:

Meanwhile, diverse leadership and management teams realize 19% higher revenue than their less diverse counterparts. Lastly, diverse companies improve less tangible factors like morale.

In DEI, employee diversity can refer to employee demographics such as their: 

  • Race
  • Ethnicity
  • Age
  • National origin
  • Sexual orientation
  • Cultural identity
  • Assigned sex
  • And gender identity

Unfortunately, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have frequently been all talk. This is in part due to many companies having poor systems to measure their workforce’s demographics and how different employees experience work. 

People analytics trends are changing this. By seeing demographic data filtered by compensation, position, seniority, promotion and more, organizations can finally follow through on their DEI initiatives.  

In 2022, this means having a clear view into your organization’s workforce and how employees of different demographics experience work to make sure they have an equal experience. Importantly, employee demographic data also shows you where you need to improve work to meet all your employees’ needs.

4. A superior employee experience

Unsurprisingly, driving a strong employee experience is a top priority and a huge people analytics trend. This refers to maintaining visibility and collecting data on every stage of employment, from recruitment to onboarding and development to exit, so you can improve upon it. 

While doing this, people analytics help you understand if your employee experience and culture aligns with your company values. For example, say you promote a strong work-life blend. If your employees have too many meetings to complete work during normal business hours, forcing them to complete tasks after work, people analytics can show you where to reduce nonessential meetings to align more with this value.

For more examples on how people analytics can help you engage your employees and reduce turnover, read our blog on many of our relevant reports

Ensuring your employee experience is an engaging one that aligns with the type of organization you want to lead is powerful and profitable. Aside from making employees feel excited to work, you reap benefits like increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and more. 

5. Informed performance management assessment

Rating employee performance is an essential part of management; it acts as your clearest indication of how well an employee does their job. Knowing this information is key to determining compensation ladders, promotions and even succession plans, which dictate the long-term future of your organization.

After all, payroll is a costly expense and you want to be sure that your highest compensated employees are also the best performers.

For the above reasons, it’s essential to perform accurate digital performance assessments. The visibility that people analytics trends offer can help you fulfill this need.

When viewing your employee’s people analytics trends, you can see:

  • If employees are driving forward profitable projects, or blocking them
  • Employee focus time on high-priority tasks
  • Employee workloads and meeting intensity
  • If strong employees are receiving timely promotions and raises according to their performance
  • Flight risks or employees with low sentiment

All this data can help inform your periodic assessment of employees and implement initiatives to keep strong performers at your organization. 

Use people analytics trends to pave the way forward in 2022

Curious to know the work trends forming in your own organization? Lucky for you there is a way to gain this insight so you can drive a happier, more productive organization.

Pattyrn is a people analytics platform designed to help your teams thrive in remote work environments. It identifies trends across multiple platforms—email, calendar, video conferencing, workflow and task management tools—and benchmarks the combined results so HR leaders can deliberately shape their organization’s digital employee experience. Stay attuned to your workforce as you drive forward digital transformation and implement HR initiatives. And empower employees to grow as individuals and leaders with Pattyrn’s tailored insights on improving their digital work processes.

Put simply, Pattyrn helps organizations get the most out of their business tools so its individuals can bring the most out of themselves. Request a free demo today with our product expert to learn how it all works!