4 Essential Use Cases for People Analytics During the COVID-19 Crisis

One of the most powerful ways to manage the shift to a new way of work for organizations during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is to implement people analytics – or the approach that uses employee data to solve specific business problems.

To be effective, an organization’s people analytics approach must be based on three steps:

• Collecting the right data
• Interpreting it in meaningful ways for maximum impact
• Using it to make decisions that benefit its employees first

In the kind of crisis we are currently living through, the role of HR takes center stage. Managing the switch to remote work, laying off employees, furloughing them, communicating changes in processes, all depends largely on the humanitarian side of HR. But how do HR and organizations arrive at these decisions? With evidence-based data.

Here’s where people analytics can play a major role. We explore four use cases for people analytics to manage the return to work amid the COVID-19 crisis.

4 Ways to Use People Analytics to Empower Your Workforce Now

People analytics can help with not only immediate concerns but also future requirements of the organization. If there’s one thing that this crisis has taught forward-thinking HR professionals, it’s that foresight is a powerful tool in minimizing the sudden impact of a global event – a pandemic in this instance.

So, while people analytics can help you bring the workforce back to safety, it can also help you decide the kind of leadership that will be required in the future, the skills gaps that have been created because of this crisis, and the business priorities that you will have to now hire, retrain, or redeploy for.

For this, collecting real-time data by focusing on the pulse of the workforce is paramount. Julie ChellOpens a new window , chief people officer at Civica, agrees, stating that “Real-time information means businesses can take immediate action, start planning now for what comes next, and adapt thinking about what lies beyond.”

 

How do you begin collecting data? Dr. Serena HuangOpens a new window , the global head of people analytics at the Kraft Heinz Company, shares her three-step process to use people analytics efficiently to answer the difficult questions: “My favorite question is: ‘What decisions will you make differently if you had this data?’” Following this, Huang asks a set of three questions to approach the people analytics process:

1. What business problem are we trying to solve?
2. What actions will we take if we knew the answers?
3. What data will we need to get the answers?”

When you have the answers to these broad questions, it’s time to apply analytics to specific use cases.

1. Track the health and wellness of your employees

One of the most popular uses of people analytics at this time has been the integration of public health data into people analytics dashboards to gain insight into employee health – primarily, their potential to have been exposed to and carry the COVID-19 virus, and their potential return to work.

This data can help the business determine in which state/city operations can be resumed safely. It can help identify the risk factors of employees who may need to resume work that involves a high amount of contact with customers – such as in retail stores.

“Most top-of-mind for business leaders right now is their return to work strategy, with 83% of CFOs saying they are planning to change workplace safety measures, according to PwC’s COVID-19 Pulse SurveyOpens a new window ,” says Nik ShahOpens a new window , people analytics leader at PwC. “What people analytics provide is hard data, and that can take place in many forms – from better understanding what matters to individuals to contract tracing.”

Leverage your people analytics platform to generate insights on these questions:

• What is the COVID-19 situation in various countries and states our employees are in?
• How many employees have been infected?
• How many employees have recovered and may be ready to return to work?
• How much of our workforce might still be at risk when considering the return to work?

2. Measure the impact of remote work on collaboration and productivity

The remote work model that was imposed upon us has become a welcome change to the way businesses work. In PwC’s CFO Pulse Survey, 68% said that the “crisis-driven transitions to remote work will make their company better in the long run.”

But are all employees thriving in this environment? Do all employees’ roles allow them the flexibility to work from home? Ask these questions of the people analytics data you collect:

• What are the productivity levels of employees as they work from home?
• Based on that, how much of the workforce can be made to work remotely on a permanent basis?
• How much of the workforce must return to the office, and why? (Consider the nature of employees’ jobs, employee preferences, their remote work setup, and family obligations)

Huang tells us how the company has used people analytics through the COVID-19 crisis. “Our goal throughout has been to create a continuous listening strategy to ensure employees’ voices are heard. For example, we designed and validated employee surveys, and quickly turned feedback data into actionable insights for leaders. We have been regularly asking employees for feedback on various topics, such as team collaboration, company communications, home office setup, and wellbeing.”

At Civica, says Chell, they use regular employee pulse surveys to “gauge real-time opinion on factors such as collaboration and any issues around remote working during this period.”

Shah asserts that “Capturing the sentiment of your workforce gives HR leaders the data to help make smart decisions about planning for the future and optimizing their investments,”

Chell also notes the role of artificial intelligence in people analytics. “By applying artificial intelligence (AI) to the data, real-time workforce analytics allows business leaders to draw broader insights into behavior and attitudes, analyzing responses by function or geography.”

3. Use people analytics for workforce planning

In the case of workforce planning, deploying people analytics can help you identify your staffing requirements. Use data collected on employee skills and competencies to optimize the role of each employee and answer these questions:

• Does a role need a full-time employee?
• Would a gig worker be able to deliver better ROI for a short-term skill requirement and enable cost savings?
• Would you need to hire for new roles for the new work that might emerge after COVID-19?
• Can you retrain existing employees for these new roles?
• Or would it make sense to reassign an employee with a skill set to the new role and close a skill gap?

If you need to lay off current employees, delving into the same data can help you make logical decisions about whom to lay off and differentiate between critical and redundant employees.

4. Provide transparency to your workforce

Using people analytics data can do is provide complete transparency, which the organization can then communicate to their employees.

Employees are concerned about the return to work – not only can the fear of contracting the COVID-19 virus prevail, but the associated stress and anxiety from merely being exposed can also take a toll on employee productivity.

Shah talks about the value of transparency in building trust with the workforce as they return to work: “Transparency right now is key and with the ability to provide employees with information as to whether or not they were in close proximity with an individual who tested positive, companies can provide increased efficiency of exposure, and, in turn, help build the trust of their workforce as they play a critical role in easing tension with employees as they return to the office.”

Chell agrees that “Efficient management of data can transform relationships between leaders and employees, leading to improved engagement and, crucially, can free up time and resources for HR professionals to focus on transformational activities.”

The Future of the Workplace Must Be Determined by People Analytics Data

The goal of implementing any type of HR technology must be a positive employee experience and leveraging people analytics at such a time can deliver this experience. At Kraft Heinz, says Huang, “Our employees are the consumers of HR services. A positive employee experience has been crucial to our company’s agile response during the pandemic.”

Chell states that deploying people analytics can help one key area of the employee experience: employee listening. “Listening to an entire workforce and becoming more transparent and trustworthy over decision making allows an organization to improve their agility, resilience, and growth,” she says.

“Whether a health crisis or a natural disaster, the heart of people analytics is about providing data and measurement of the barriers and challenges companies are facing in real-time. This can range from personal health and wellness to productivity implications. But capturing that data in real-time – when it matters most – is key,” says Shah.

Collecting data in real-time can help an organization plan for a new future. People analytics is the solution to this need, so long as HR is aware of the problems the organization is focused on solving and is armed with the right skill set to interpret and use people analytics data meaningful.

How have you used people analytics through the COVID-19 crisis? Share your thoughts with us on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window .