When it comes to understanding your employees, HR analytics are probably the most powerful tools available. While the effects of employee recognition tools are immediate, looking at the behind-the-scenes data can provide powerful insight: who is thanking who? Which teams are working well together? Which people aren’t engaging?
Each year, employees are becoming more global, mobile and diverse; they’re interested in work-life integration and a consumer-grade experience. With apps like OneHub | Reward and Recognition, employers can engage with these elements – and thus the workforce – through HR technology that harnesses flexibility, mobility and social connection.
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Analytics from these technologies can then be used as evidence to inform your people strategy and connect it with your business strategy. Undeniably, even with all the data in the world – analytics can never overpower the human component of HR. People are human, and will always be slightly anomalous. Nonetheless, this simply increases the importance of HR utilising analytics to check in with their people, gain insight and include them in designing their own employee experience – speaking with your people on a one-to-one basis will help with any anomalies.
CollaborationWith the rise of remote working, co-working spaces and multinational departments, understanding your people’s collaboration has never been more important. The number of people working from home has jumped 74% since 2008 and will only continue to rise. Recognition tools can help connect these otherwise separate parties, and help include agency workers or contractors into your organisation.
Recognition data provides a snapshot view of how teams interact, and can reveal which departments work well (and which don’t). This insight can in turn allow you to adjust everything from your communications strategy to your seating plan, and empower HR to make positive strategic changes for the betterment of productivity and collaboration across the entire business.
CommunicationData gathered from Recognition tools also empowers your people strategy by demonstrating how your people use the technology. Are recognitions given during work hours, at home or on the commute? Is there a certain day of the week which is most popular? This kind of insight can empower you to make decisions based on evidence – perhaps confirming your current strategy’s success or supporting potential future changes.
While many employers may already know how their people prefer to communicate, analytics can provide tangible statistics to back this up and influence future technology investments or decisions. Not to mention, this data is priceless for informing communication strategies – if you know your people engage more on a Tuesday afternoon via their phone, then you can ensure your next important communication is sent at that time in an optimised format.
CultureOften overlooked, data is an unexpected aid to help identify influencers within an organisation – individuals who are popular among colleagues, who support others through interaction on the platform, or receive frequent commendations. Organic feedback such as this is useful when considering further rewards, position changes and even potential future people managers.
Recognition data also presents a unique opportunity to see which company values your people are connected to. This dataset allows you an overview of which company values your people are most engaged with, and presents the opportunity to adjust your values or educate on them as needed.
Engaging an ever-changing workforceHowever you use HR analytics and people data, the potential findings are undeniable. Getting a backdoor insight into the natural behaviours and tendencies of your people allows you to implement change and growth organically, and confront issues before they become too challenging. What’s more, it’s a fantastic opportunity to see the power of recognition in action. So why not take a look at your recognition data and see just how far your people will go to say, ‘thank you’?
