The Covid-19 pandemic has catapulted a number of businesses towards embracing working from home (WFH) at a pace that couldn't have been anticipated as recently as January 2020. The impact of this massive push toward digital transformation has presented fresh challenges in keeping employees engaged.
As employers grapple with the notion of keeping their workers focused and motivated towards their tasks in an entirely remote environment, big data is beginning to emerge as a key tool for businesses to successfully operate on a WFH basis.
(Image: Business Wire)
As the chart above shows, 20% of respondents to an Adaptavist study noted that remaining focused on their work whilst avoiding domestic distractions was the greatest challenge they faced when working from home.
Worryingly, other respondents cited fears for creating the right conducive working environment and their own mental health as further challenges.
Such concerns can’t be taken lightly by employers, and it’s essential that companies create a functional environment that not only ensures employees can remain productive but that they can also keep well equipped, motivated and happy.
Significantly, big data can play a major role in helping employers to identify the best measures to take with employees on a case by case basis and to help them to succeed in a WFH environment.
Cater Directly to Employees on an Individual Basis
Before big data and WFH, businesses typically papered over emerging problems with quick fixes, rather than getting to the bottom of what may be going wrong. One of the key issues here revolved around managing office culture. How can a company cater to employees based on their bevavior? Is the work culture positive? Is it reflective of the company?
Despite as many as 80% of employers claiming to conduct surveys to gauge employee satisfaction, the Society for Human Resource Management believes that “many admit that they don't understand how to interpret the results nor what to do to improve survey scores.”
Big data can change this trend in a fundamental sense. In a world where each employee is different, it may have been the case that we needed to see a big data intervention even during the days of in-house teams. Now, as employers are more distanced than ever from their workforce, and unable to communicate in a face-to-face manner as a means of seeing those important physical responses to queries and task management questions, big data has become imperative for reaching employees.
Here, it’s essential to use data to better understand your employees. Discover what inspires workers, what causes them to lose motivation, and what challenges, and avenues for communication that they’re more apathetic about to help improve their performance levels and happiness.
Much of these employee comprehension challenges can be found in the huge volumes of HR data already available throughout businesses. From personality questionnaires to analysis surrounding employee performance and behavioral reactions to different forms of communication, it’s possible to gather plenty of relevant information surrounding important employee metrics for employers to comprehend and act upon.
By embracing the information our staff share on a daily basis surrounding their motivation and engagement, it’s possible for businesses to ensure that their workforce is happy and eager to reach their goals at all times.
Acting on Macro Trends
Today, the analytical data produced by employees has the potential to help businesses to identify micro and even macro trends before they develop into a wider problem.
By spotting such trends in their early stages, HR departments can help the business to alter their focus in order to leverage stronger connections with employees and to avoid growing risk factors.
“HR leaders who embed data into their regular weekly routine demonstrate focus, accountability and credibility that’s on par with other business units in the company,” notes Zaina Orbai, Chief People Officer at The RealReal
Whilst spotting macro trends using big data can be a tall order from a more analogue perspective, there are many platforms that can operate behind the scenes to ensure that employees remain engaged throughout their tasks.
One example of a big data employee engagement tool is IntelliHR, which continually analyzes employee sentiment surrounding business processes to help optimize the pursuit to task management among companies.
This use of big data platforms that are capable of engaging employee satisfaction and task management habits to the point where it can automate entire workloads for individuals can be an excellent way for companies to get the most from their staff without risking negatively impacting their happiness.
Such software can even be used to help optimize employee communication and collaboration tools within business models.
For instance, remote work forces have increasingly been forced to use video conferencing to collaborate with one another. But when the microphones and webcams are switched off after a presentation, how can employers know the impact of their slides?
With big data services charting employee sentiment and performance in the wake of remote presentations, companies can use the emergence of macro trends to optimize slides and create a thoroughly engaging presentation.
Through the use of platforms like Powered Template, which works to deliver premium quality PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote presentation templates, as well as a suite of data presentation and infographic templates, employers can gauge feedback and modify their content piece by piece to create bespoke presentations to suit the needs of their teams.
Powered Template’s premium subscription services mean that businesses can create custom presentations that are pre-prepared and 100% editable to reach out and appeal to the right employees at the right time.
Furthermore, the platform also features a wide range of stock images and graphics, meaning that presentation templates can be modified and adapted quickly to correspond with wherever the data is pointing.
Although the age of WFH has been a shock for some businesses, big data can help to keep your workforce close and as engaged as ever with actionable advice and efficient workload suggestions.
With the help of the right software, your business can be ready to continue innovating deep into the era of digital transformation.