Workforce analytics is having its moment in the spotlight, thanks to the unique insights it provides into a company's human capital. Today’s workforce analytics systems leverage advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms, equipping businesses with data to make informed decisions about their workforce. In this post, we’ll discuss the top benefits of workforce analytics and why it’s worth implementing.
What is workforce analytics?
Workforce analytics is the practice of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data to better understand the behavior, performance and potential of a company’s workforce. Broader in scope than HR analytics or people analytics, workforce analytics incorporates data from all aspects of your workforce to uncover trends and make predictive models. By leveraging workforce analytics, organizations gain insights into attrition rates, employee engagement, training effectiveness and talent acquisition, among other vital insights for companies of any size.
10 benefits of workforce analytics for businesses and employees
Implementing workforce analytics is beneficial for both the organization and individual employees. It allows you to:
1. Improve data-driven decision-making
With workforce analytics, HR leaders and company executives have data to inform decision-making. While instinct is an important part of working with people, it often leads to inaccurate assumptions and poor outcomes. Managers who rely on observations may also find this is harder than in the past due to the adoption of hybrid work models. Workforce analytics uses real, measurable data to provide deeper insights so managers can make informed decisions.
2. Improve employee engagement
Employee engagement is a driving force for successful organizations, but managing the employee experience is no easy feat. Tying back to the previous point, workforce analytics collects a variety of metrics to help quantify engagement levels for individual employees, teams and the organization as a whole.
These insights help leaders understand factors that positively and negatively impact engagement — and make adjustments accordingly. For example, if you notice a team led by one person is highly engaged while a team led by someone else shows signs of disengagement, this indicates potential issues with management styles. Once you implement changes, workforce analytics continues to track shifts in engagement to show if the change is effective.
3. Detect early signs of burnout
Burnout is a common plague in today’s workplace, harming individuals and organizations in many ways. By the time an employee shows symptoms of burnout, such as calling out sick more often or leaving for a new job, it’s too late.
Leveraging workforce analytics data lets managers and leaders see burnout risk before it takes an employee out of commission. It allows you to stay ahead of missed deadlines, drops in employee performance, increases in overtime, lower productivity and higher levels of distraction — all the early signs an employee is heading toward burnout. These insights help make it clear when it’s time to redistribute workloads, amplify training programs or have frank discussions with workers to nip burnout in the bud.
4. Boost workforce productivity
How much work employees complete in a given period of time is the basis of productivity and the foundation of organizational success. Finding and removing barriers to productivity is the number one goal of most organizations.
Workforce analytics shows which tools, programs and processes enhance workplace productivity — and which detract from it. For example, adding collaboration and communication tools is usually a great idea for increasing productivity and engagement, especially across remote teams. But studies show these tools are also the number one cause of employee distractions. Seeing how and when employees use these tools empowers managers to implement changes that keep productivity high while giving employees what they need to function.
5. Reduce costs from unused software
If employees aren’t using a tool or software system, it’s a wasted resource. With SaaS costs growing year over year, cutting down on unused or duplicative systems is an important way to reduce costs in your organization.
Workforce analytics clearly shows which tools employees use most and how effective those tools are for getting work done. The data also shows when a necessary tool is underutilized so managers can implement better training programs. Managers and directors also use this data to justify SaaS purchases to finance teams so the right tools are available and prioritized in the budget.
6. Balance workloads among employees
Working too much is the number one contributor to burnout. Workforce analytics shows managers which employees are putting in more hours than normal for long periods, making it difficult to meet deadlines. The data also shows which employees are hitting their marks with ease and may need more work to feel fulfilled.
Leveraging this real-time data empowers managers to actively balance workloads and have ongoing discussions with employees about goals and expectations.
7. Plan for future workforce needs
Knowing what your workforce needs now is hard enough, but predicting what it will need in the future takes more work. Workforce planning software harnesses workforce analytics data to determine your workplace needs long-term. Historical data shows trends so business leaders can understand what might be coming up, and how to prepare for it.
For example, seeing an increase in demand during a certain time of year could indicate the need to ramp up hiring in the months leading up to it. On the other hand, noticing things slow down during a different time of year might indicate it’s a good time to train employees or suggest they take time off.
8. Optimize the candidate selection process
Knowing what jobs you need to fill is easy. But actually filling them? That takes work. Finding the right employee for each job means more than looking at skills or experience. By using workforce analytics to determine what productivity habits make current workers successful, you’ll know what qualities to look for — and have an easier time finding candidates who will thrive in your organization’s culture.
This improves the hiring process by giving you a better understanding of what to look for and what to avoid. Using these insights, you may even eliminate interview phases in your hiring process to streamline the entire thing. With a shorter process, you also stand a better chance of snagging top candidates before they accept another offer.
9. Streamline the onboarding experience
Bringing new employees onto a team is too often a haphazard process. Workforce analytics shows what processes contribute to successful onboarding. You’ll know which paperwork to automate whatwing frequently asked questions to anticipate and when to introduce engaging training programs — not to mention which employees make the best mentors for new hires. Using workforce data also allows HR departments to create impactful follow-up sessions, and equips managers to create proactive plans for keeping productivity high from day.
10. Reduce security and compliance risks
Workforce analytics contributes to better security and compliance by revealing threats from internal and external sources. IT professionals stop phishing and malware by creating security alarms for risky activities, such as unauthorized file sharing or attempts to access blocked domains. And with location insights to show where remote employees are working, managers know when to put restrictions in place or ensure access is secure.
Using the right workforce analytics tools also helps employees understand what data collection is important to the organization — and why. This leads to better compliance with monitoring regulations.
Get better business outcomes with workforce analytics from ActivTrak
Data-driven insights derived from workforce analytics enhance employee productivity, streamline recruitment processes and optimize workforce planning — to name just a few of the fast-growing array of benefits. And with ActivTrak’s workforce analytics solution, you’ll experience them all. With our award-winning workforce analytics cloud, trusted by over 9,500 customers and recognized in five 2023 Gartner Hype Cycle Reports, we provide the visibility and insights you need to enhance employee well-being and drive business success. From hybrid and remote workforce management to productivity coaching and capacity planning, our solutions are designed to help you achieve your full workforce potential. Contact our sales team today to get started with ActivTrak and unlock the benefits of advanced analytics for your organization.
