HR Analytics: Why is Employee Engagement Important?

When it comes to providing intelligent insights related to recruiting, hiring, firing, and managing employees, the use of analytics has proven essential within the HR industry.

Most recently, however, businesses are utilising HR analytics - or people analytics - to explore the impact of employee engagement initiatives, knowing now that employees are the biggest contributing factor to a companies overall success.

In this blog, we’ll explore how HR analytics is driving positive employee engagement in today’s businesses.

What is employee engagement, and why is it important?

Employee engagement is a vital sign of a vibrant and successful workplace, where team members feel appreciated, engaged, and closely linked to both their roles and the company’s overall mission.

Before technology transformed the workplace, employee engagement and productivity levels were recorded manually. This was often through paper based systems like manual logs and time cards, as well as in-person employee observations and task output.

Today, organisations can lean on automated systems to track, monitor, and analyse employee engagement in real-time, gathering valuable data that shapes the future direction of the business.

Employee engagement metrics are used to influence how an organisation attracts and retains the best talent, pairing people analytics and employee engagement strategies to reduce turnover, improve workplace efficiency, and maximise financial performance.

By leveraging these metrics, companies can build a strong foundation for long-term success, here's how: 

1) Employee engagement ensures businesses stay one step ahead

Having an automated system that organises, analyses, and provides continuous feedback on your big data goes a long way for your business – and your employees. Taking away manual data processes eliminates much of the room for error when the data is high-quality, allowing for the most accurate results and enhanced business decisions.

By keeping an eye on employee trends businesses can address any issues immediately, solve problems before they escalate, and find any opportunities for improvement.

Internal quarterly surveys, for example, provide a snapshot of employee actions and thoughts regularly, leaving little room for grievances to build up over-time. This ensures employees are able to work as efficiently as possible, and that the path of communication between decision makers and teams remain open.

When business changers occur, however, it's vital that decision makers regularly monitor the adoption and success of these solutions. This ensures solutions remain aligned with business objectives and that employee engagement remains high.

2) Employee engagement fosters trusted and empathetic relationships

To successfully develop businesses, relationships between employees and employers are vital.

These relationships, however, need to be built on trust, productive feedback and open communication.

Creating an environment where both parties feel psychologically safe is step one for building trusting relationships, which can be done through practising active listening and team collaboration. 

Other ways for business leaders can positively foster relationships with their employees include: 

1. Asking open ended questions: by encouraging thoughtful and meaningful responses, employees will naturally feel at ease and more inclined to share their professional goals, feedback and ideas.
2. Relaying genuine and authentic attitudes: if business leaders take a personal interest in their employees, are transparent and share their own feelings on organisational initiatives, employees will too.
3. Providing constructive feedback and recognition: reward and recognition are vital for showing employees that their input and contribution to the bigger picture, matters. This makes employees feel safe in their roles and encouraged to do well by their employers.

By actively engaging in these initiatives, employee's will not only feel better taken care of, but business leaders will be able to gain a better understanding of employee workflow, taking into consideration processes that are working well and those that are not.

In terms of HR metrics, (i.e. turnover, absenteeism, surveys, training, and development), it’s important to remember that employees want to feel valued. To this end, leaders should be sharing data insights with their employees on a regular basis so that they can play an active part in contributing to positive changes throughout the organisation.

3) Employee engagement allows decision makers to take meaningful action

When it comes to taking meaningful action in the workplace, employee feedback is vital.

Whether it’s about workplace culture, leadership, or processes, employee feedback allows decision-makers to take the right actions, implementing change that will have a lasting effect on the overall business and its workforce.

This can be done through the creation of a strong work culture, where employees are encouraged to speak openly and honestly in the workplace, whether this be during team meetings, one-to-ones and business townhalls.

These collaborations, in turn, contribute to impactful, meaningful discussions, that can be easily translated into action and solutions. 

Aside from this, there are other small (and cost-effective) ways for leaders to engage with their employees. By prioritising feedback and acknowledging an open-door policy, conversation and collaboration can occur more easily, paving the way for direct impact.

People analytics doesn’t begin and end with HR – each individual department needs to make sure that their employees feel positive and appreciated in their place of work.

Unlocking success with HR analytics

By tracking employee engagement at every level, organisations can gain a better understanding of their employee metrics.

Learning how people analytics merged with employee wellbeing and business development, helps organisations to create workplace environments where individuals feel engaged and empowered to thrive.

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