The concept of data-driven organizations has been around for decades. Today, we have sales data to drive business decisions. Customer data to drive marketing programs. Production data to drive operational efficiencies. Supply chain data to drive sustainability efforts. Business decision-makers use data to understand everything around them — except themselves. It’s true. Most organizations have limited insights into employee behavior, including productivity, collaboration, customer interactions (outside the traditional contact center), and meetings.
Perhaps nowhere is this lack of insight more glaring than the recent trend of quiet quitting. According to a Gallup poll, more than half of the workforce is engaged in some quiet quitting — that is, selectively choosing to work the minimum requirement of one's job, not going "above and beyond," and not working after hours, often because an employee feels overworked or unengaged. Yet the same study also points out that a simple 15- to 30-minute conversation between a manager and their direct reports each week can dramatically affect how engaged an employee feels.
The trouble is that only some companies are tracking employee engagement and productivity. For example, how many hours per week does each employee spend in meetings? How much time do they spend answering customer calls, even when it’s not in their job description? Do managers and their direct reports talk once a day? Once a week? Once per month? Data like this can provide insights into employee engagement and satisfaction and help human resources (HR) teams develop processes to improve working conditions and hiring practices.
Data for the People, by the People
Tracking HR was more straightforward in the past when it could be done mainly through human observation. Employees worked in the same office building, departments were often co-located, and employee issues could be quickly and personally addressed at the management or HR level. In today’s environment, however, many employees work from home, and teammates who once worked across the aisle from each other may now work across continents.
Just as digital transformation has changed how organizations deliver customer experiences, it has also changed how they provide employee experiences. Yet companies frequently treat customer data like gold and employee data like junk. Is it any wonder, then, that employees are feeling unheard or unappreciated?
As organizations change how they communicate and collaborate, they are responsible for measuring change’s effect on employee productivity and satisfaction. Think of it as democratizing data: data for the people, about the people. Because, as important as customer and sales data is, organizations are ultimately driven by people.
Think about the way you would run your organization if you knew:
- Sales, marketing, and technical support teams spent 25% of their time handling customer service calls because you don’t have a dedicated contact center.
- 80% of meetings occur on Mondays and Fridays, causing employees to double-book meetings and miss important calls.
- 50% of meetings are recurring weekly departmental meetings that could be replaced with one-on-one meetings between managers and their direct reports.
- A six-hour time difference between team members added a 30% delay to a project’s schedule.
For some businesses, such as retail stores, customer data will always be king. But it’s critical that companies not mistake the king for the kingdom. Using data-driven insights to measure employee satisfaction, performance, and productivity is necessary for maintaining an engaged and happy workforce. Employees may be "quietly" quitting some job functions, but the real problem is that organizations aren’t listening to their employee data. In reality, employees tell you loud and clear through their call detail records and collaboration tools that they’re overworked, under-engaged, and opting out of specific responsibilities.
How Can Mitel Help?
Organizations can learn a lot by understanding how their employees communicate and collaborate. Especially in these times, when digital interaction is often the only interaction we have with colleagues and customers, gleaning insights from those interactions can strengthen the connections that hold us together.
Mitel can help your organization democratize your data for the good of your workforce. See what insights Mitel Performance Analytics can provide to improve your organization's performance.
