Some of the most successful companies wouldn't be where they are if not for their employees, thanks to employees companies can set new and bigger goals, deliver quality projects, and reach new levels.
Hence, a company should always pay attention to its team, find new opportunities to develop it, and work out new strategies to rule out challenges. This does seem like a complicated task, and it really is, however with the right new employee data and its efficient management and analysis, your company is open to new opportunities and higher revenues.
Let's get into more detail about what employee data is, how can a business make use of it, the great benefits, and how to utilize it for a positive change within the organization.
What is employee data?
A study showed that 63% of companies say retaining employees is actually harder than hiring them. The insights gained from employee data can act as a guide for HR professionals and people managers, it will trace out their next best actions and strategies.
Employee data is the personal information about an employee's lifecycle during the course of employment in a specific company.
This data can be as simple as the employee's name, age, and hire dates, or more specific data such as performance results, engagement statistics, and even personal opinions on certain aspects. There are three main types of employee data:
Regular employee data
The name basically talks for itself, this type of data contains names, departments, office locations, reporting managers, compensations, and other simple info that is used in the functioning of personal planning.
Employee data collected for analysis
This type of data is a quick way to conduct a survey and understand why something happened the way it did. After a new technique is introduced the survey from employee data can help understand how its performing and how the initiative was perceived by employees.
Employee data collection without HR intervention
As technologies evolve, so do companies with them, more and more companies started using applications and various tools for the operational side of the business. Companies grant their employees subscriptions and then can access information that is possibly useful in people analytics.
How HR professionals and businesses can use employee data?
For employee data to be actually useful it's key that a professional mind goes to deal with it. Even though a normal person can see some changes in employee data, only a professional will know what to do with the changes and understand the deep meaning behind them. Here is how HR can use employee data:
Effective onboarding
Every new hire is always put through the hoops of documentation, rather than just keeping these documents in the archive, HR professionals can use them to personalize the onboarding process in many ways.
Somewhere in the documentation, the employee has probably included a hobby of theirs, well HR can connect employees to work in pairs based on their hobbies. Also, a professional HR can easily detect the weak sides of an employee and get straight to work on them.
Understanding why employees are resigning
Even though all companies try to retain a specific employee base, there are always new people coming, some leaving, and others who stay for years on end. Well, employee data can fill in the blanks to many questions, employees who leave don't always provide all the reasons that fostered them to leave, whereas data can show statistics in their work life.
The same goes for employees who have stayed with the company for years, HR professionals can interview them, and then compare how their experience differed from the employees that left.
Predict staffing needs
Every company offers their employees time off days, but how the employees use these days can talk a lot about employees. A survey from Glassdoor shows that 87% of employees expect their employer to support them in their work-life balance.
An employee who is constantly taking days off isn't normal, that type of employee might be looking for a job switch or is not invested in the job, these types of workers don't bring good results. While an employee who never takes off days is probably close to burnout, that employee might be too anxious to take a break as they feel it's frowned upon.
Optimization of HR costs
Many managers aren't happy with the fact that HR teams just focus on bringing down attrition rates and absenteeism, they want HR to also contribute to the company's bottom line and impact the performance and financials.
Thanks to employee data, HR teams can now decrease costs by analyzing recruitment data, focusing on personalization to improve performance, and measuring the effectiveness of initiatives.
Key benefits of using employee data
Employee data can serve two purposes, the first is to give companies great insights into different processes and the second is to empower employees by giving them a voice. Here are a few benefits of collecting employee data:
● Analysis. Through employee data, you can gain a more specific picture of the workforce, pull out insights, identify patterns, and present data to top management.
● Turnover rate. Using employee data allows you to control your turnover percentage. You’re able to then make well-informed decisions and take needed actions at the right time.
● Improvement. By analyzing employee data you can see ways to increase productivity by adjusting working hours, giving awards or promotions, and implementing new systems and workflows.
Best practices for using employee data
Companies need to be really careful when collecting employee data since there are federal government guidelines set regarding what info can be collected and for what purpose. Here are some of the best practices to avoid problems when collecting employee data.
Ethics come first
A company always needs to have the right morals set, they need to exactly know, why are they collecting specific employee data, what will they use it for, and how will they store it. If a company is collecting information to determine productivity and employee wellness, the employee needs to sign a release form.
Data security comes in first place
Businesses need to make sure all of their data is highly encrypted, and each staff, manager, or administrator who has access to data needs to understand how to maintain safe employee records. The best solution is to have a very limited circle of people have access to these files with data.
Verify legal compliance
Always research the state, federal, or international laws in your business sector, this will save you from big troubles. Review the laws and regulations on a fixed basis, the same goes for employee data, and don't store old or unused data.
Be open with your employees
Recent research has shown that only 1 in 4 employees is open to providing data to their employer. If you open a friendly conversation with them, explain what information you need, where will you store it, and how will you use it, there is a higher chance of them providing this info to you. You can reference local laws t ensure them that the process is legal and safe, and another great measure is to explain how will it benefit them personally.
Summary
One of the most important aspects to keep in mind when using employee data is compliance with data security regulations and laws. After you start effectively analyzing employee data you will notice ways to increase productivity and make efficient use of human resources. You will have a better understanding of employee skill gaps and will be able to lower HR costs and see where improvement is needed.
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