55% Feel Companies Can Use Data More Effectively To Improve Employee Retention

Data is one of the most important things for a company to survive and thrive in today’s world. Many studies have also shown that companies collect vast amounts of data every day. But what role does meaningful data play in a business context? What data do businesses usually track? And are they making effective use of their data? Unsupervised’s recent study revealed some interesting insights. While the findings were around data related to customers, employees, and other business goals, we shall cover the insights keeping HR professionals and leaders in focus.

Employee Performance Is the Fifth Most Tracked and Analyzed Data

For starters, among the types of data most frequently tracked and analyzed by organizations, sales volume was at the top, with 45% of companies analyzing it. This was followed by customer demographics, with 38% of companies analyzing it. Employee performance metrics came fifth, with only 30% of companies analyzing it.

Top 10 types of data most tracked and analyzed by companies

Source: Unsupervised studyOpens a new window

Interestingly enough, only 50% of the companies used aggregationOpens a new window , a process of compiling data in a consumable way, to gain valuable insights. The remaining 50% analyzed the numbers outright. Further, smaller companies were less likely than average to aggregate or analyze data.

Regarding who handled data management, 42% of the companies did it internally, while 34% took external support. About 24% used both external and internal sources to manage the task.

See more: Invest in Data and Analytics To Drive DEI Program Results

More Than Half of Respondents Believe Data Can Be Used To Improve Employee Satisfaction

Once organizations have data, how do they utilize it? The study found that there were five top ways companies leverage data. Purchasing was at the top with 54%, followed by general strategy at 51%. Staffing (47%) and performance tracking (42%) came in fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

It was further found that the primary reasons for leveraging data were customer and employee satisfaction and retention. Having said that, 55% of respondents felt that their company could leverage the data more effectively to improve employee satisfaction and retention. The average respondent felt that their company used data only to 75% of its full potential.

About 51% of respondents felt companies saw increased productivity by leveraging data, while only 34% experienced employee satisfaction. Also, only 30% experienced improved employee productivity, while 25% saw increased customer retention.

Companies Struggle To Utilize Data Effectively

The study found that companies struggle in multiple areas to understand and interpret the data they aggregate. For example, 24% of respondents felt gathering data was difficult, while 30% felt analyzing data was difficult. About 30% felt using data to make decisions was challenging. Further, only 49% of respondents felt using data to make decisions was easy. On the positive side, 65% of respondents felt their company gathered data effectively. Yet, only 57% felt their company used data effectively to make decisions.

So, what are the challenges companies face when working with data? For 65% of the respondents, the high resource requirements were a challenge, and for 52%, uncertainty around how to gather and analyze data was a challenge. The following are a few other challenges.

Challenges companies face while working with data

Source: Unsupervised studyOpens a new window

Ineffective use of data also led to various problems, such as varying interpretations of results, confusing and misleading results, and the inability to use the results as a whole.

34% of Companies Consider Employee Satisfaction Among Top KPIs

The study found that companies’ top five key performance indicators (KPIs) tracked were employee performance, employee habits and behavior, marketing and sales, revenue and profitability, and customer metrics. In fact, 69% of respondents tracked employee performance and 43% tracked employee habits and behaviors. Unfortunately, only 34% of companies considered employee satisfaction among their top three KPIs.

Determining which areas are most important for implementing a KPI strategy depends on the business objectives. Having said that, a whopping 95% of respondents felt that their organization had room for improvement regarding their KPIs. The most common area of improvement for 65% of respondents was having more relevant KPIs. For 61%, it was making better use of their KPIs.

See more: Why Are Enterprise CRM Pros Struggling To Make the Most of Their Data?

Make More Efficient Use of Data

There is no doubt that data is an inherent part of most organizations’ decision-making efforts. However, given that more than half of respondents feel that their companies can use data more effectively to improve employee retention, leaders should focus on arriving at better decisions using their data. Here are a few tips to make it happen.

Define your company’s goals and objectives, for example, improving employee satisfaction and retention. This will help you identify the right KPIs and metrics. This will, in turn, help you determine which data to analyze and what questions to ask to achieve your business goals.
Ensure the data you collect is of high quality. While organizations focus on collecting data, many tend to ignore data quality. In fact, according to a 2020 Nielsen study, data quality was a top priority for only 28% of respondents. Poor quality data can lead to poor decisions. Hence, ensure the data you collect is of top quality.
Ensure you have the right tools and resources for data collection, aggregation, analysis, and presentation. After all, what is the point of collecting vast amounts of data when you do not have the resources to analyze and present it in a consumable way?
Use artificial intelligence (AI) to gain better and hidden insights. Using these tools, you can gain insights that may surprise you and help you make better decisions.
Guard against biases. It may often happen that you may gain certain insights but ignore them due to an unconscious bias. Hence, collaborate with stakeholders who do not share your biases to gain valuable insights and arrive at better decisions.

These are by no means exhaustive tips. But they can certainly help you arrive at better decisions regarding your employee-related goals, such as productivity, satisfaction, and retention.

How are you utilizing your data more effectively to make better business decisions? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .