The need for HR leaders to connect with the employees around them in 2022 is critical. After the pandemic and the mass transition to remote work caused employees to rethink what they want in their professional careers, 40% of the global workforce is now considering leaving their current employer.
However, this may not be easy to ascertain within your own organization because of the following two reasons:
1. Business leaders are not reaching their workforce
Leaders are out of touch with their workforce under their new digital landscape. While 61% of business leaders report that they are thriving, a majority of those who work underneath them state that they are struggling at work. Employees new to their companies are affected the most, with 64% of them responding that they are only surviving.
2. Productivity is masking employee exhaustion
Burnout from the increasingly digital workplace is rising quickly and making employees feel like they have to be at the beck and call of their work computer at all hours. According to a Microsoft survey, 54% of global employees feel their workload is too high, and 39% are exhausted. Of course, managers not having visibility of remote employee workloads can account for this, but it is also being caused by the rise in digital communication.
Over the past year, advanced people analytics show that:
- Time spent in meetings has more than doubled and shows no signs of slowing down
- Employees are sending 45% more messages via business communication apps, and after-hours messages have increased by 42%
- Monthly work-related emails have risen by up to 40.6 billion
Most of this communication is unplanned, with 62% of meetings and communication being impromptu. Despite this digital overload, 50% of employees respond to messages in five minutes or less. It’s no wonder employees are struggling with focus considering the intensity of their work day.
Why HR leaders need advanced people analytics to understand their dynamic, remote workforce
Ultimately, although the workforce has historically been considered a stable resource, it’s evolving. The competition for talented employees is rising, and it has become increasingly difficult to engage and incentivize employees to stay with an organization. This is especially true for HR and business leaders who don't have the kind of strong, close relationships they need to have with their employees to understand their motivations and challenges.
For HR to cut past a siloed remote organization, they need people analytics to inform their workforce initiatives around:
- Strengthening remote company culture
- Shaping employees’ relationships with work
- Improving the employee experience
- And empowering employees to achieve greater business outcomes
Why? Using people analytics enables HR to improve their employee listening capabilities. They can become part of the 11% who have access to real-time data on their workforce’s state, and accurate data at that since people analytics platforms are designed to tell the full story. For instance, traditional task management tools may show a detailed record of how a recent employee is excelling at work. However, despite their high performance and recognition, they shock you when they tell you that they’ve accepted another job.
People analytics shows you the bigger picture. They were in unessential meetings all day, their workload was above their baseline, indicating anxiety, and new technology was slowing down their ability to complete tasks. Their work-life blend was suffering as a result.
By relying on people analytics, HR could have kept a pulse on the new employee more frequently to ensure that their remote work experience aligned with their preferences and the organization’s values. More broadly, people analytics allow HR to optimize their workforce management, organizational culture and, of course, the employee experience.
Using advanced people analytics to create a deliberate employee experience
At the core of what employees want in their professional careers is meaningful work and the ability to make an impact. Beyond that, a strong work-life blend, advancement opportunities, coworkers they connect with, fair compensation and much more.
Meanwhile, businesses are quickly learning that it’s not enough to tell an employee their company values and benefits, they must take action to ensure that the complete employee experience aligns with their big statements.
For HR leaders in charge of executing this objective, people analytics gives them visibility into the experiences of all employees of different departments and life cycles. Armed with this knowledge, they can re-architect digital work processes within their organization to make work more meaningful and develop employees’ skills. And they can do this in collaboration with their workforce’s input to drive better results thanks to people analytics.
Access advanced people analytics with Pattyrn
People analytics are essential for HR to get valuable employee insights on the workforce they are leading through the future of work, so they can understand the impact of the digital processes and initiatives they implement.
Many people analytics platforms, like Pattyrn, are designed specifically to help remote teams thrive. These tools identify trends across multiple platforms—email, calendar, video conferencing, workflow and task management tools—and benchmark the combined results so HR leaders can deliberately shape their organization’s digital employee experience.
Want to learn how you can stay attuned to your workforce as you drive forward digital transformation? Request a demo of Pattyrn with one of our digital transformation consultants.