Take a minute to think about how you make some of your everyday decisions.
When you’re deciding what to wear, you might check the weather forecast to decide between a raincoat or a pair of shorts.
When you’re planning a journey, you might check the traffic to pick which route you’re going to take.
Even when you go out to eat, you’ll probably look at a restaurant’s reviews to decide where to go.
What do all these things have in common?
Analysing data to make a good decision.
That’s where HR analytics comes in – it helps you make great business decisions.
I’ve written this guide as an introduction to HR analytics. Let’s dive straight in…
What is HR analytics?
People analytics, workforce analytics, HR analytics – all different names for the same thing.
Very simply, it involves collecting data, analysing it, and reporting it, to help you measure the impact of your HR metrics on business performance.
It’s a data-driven approach to HR.
And that’s good because it means you can be more strategic in your approach to just about everything. Your decisions aren’t based on gut feeling alone, and you can see exactly how effective policies and actions are in practise.
That’s always valuable, but you could say it’s even more useful when budgets are tight and it’s more difficult to attract and retain top talent.
How can HR analytics help HR management?
Whether you realise it or not, HR collects a lot of data. The issue is that most of it remains unused.
That’s a huge waste.
This data can tell you a lot. It can answer loads of questions you’ve probably had and help make positive changes when it comes to your team.
For example, you likely know what your employee turnover is, but do you know what percentage of that is regretted loss? And could you tell me which of your current employees is most likely to leave in the coming year?
I doubt it.
Because, while HR departments collect and store records on just about everything people-related, it’s rare for them to go back and analyse this information.
The data isn’t being turned into insight.
When you analyse your data, you can learn things like how employee engagement impacts turnover, the effectiveness of learning and development schemes, and even which new hires will become your star performers. In turn, that can improve engagement strategies, learning and development policies, and even your recruitment processes. And that can help you retain the right people for longer, help them develop in the right ways with the most effective training, and hire the right people first time.
Feels like a no-brainer, doesn’t it?
Where do you start?
Well, simply put, to get your answers you need to ask the right questions. But before you do that, you need to make sure you’re collecting the right data in the first place.
A lot of this information will come from standard HR practices. Things like keeping absence records, annual engagement surveys, and performance data all help.
And when you record all this data, you’re able to track the relationships between people’s abilities and organisational outcomes.
Then you start to ask the right questions – and they should be based on things your HR department can have an impact on.
Keep it simple to ease yourself in.
Perhaps you could look at which employees have the most potential for progression. Maybe you want to look at how engagement impacts absenteeism.
Next, you need to select the right data from different systems. You’ll need to clean that data – that means removing old data, incomplete data, or duplicated data – before you analyse it.
It’s worth noting that not all insights will be valuable or even very interesting. But the key is to ask the right questions if you want actionable insights. And the right questions can lead to outcomes you can have an influence over.
If it all feels a bit overwhelming to start with, I can help, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.
How can HR analytics help the wider business?
HR analytics allows your HR department to become a strategic partner, on top of everything else they do. It makes it easier to align your HR strategy with your business goals, taking away the guesswork and really adding more value to the wider business.
When you do it right, you can measure the impact of your HR on your bottom-line, often by looking at your return on investment (ROI).
How valuable would that be?
There are several factors you can analyse to find what will give you the highest impact and the quickest wins…
These are all your people-related drivers of business performance. If you can analyse these, it enables you to spot trends, see where you’re doing well, and crucially, what needs to change and improve.
Of course, when you make those changes, in theory, you should boost engagement, productivity, retention, skills, diversity… the list goes on. And what does that lead to? Increased turnover.
Are you ready to get started with HR analytics?
If this guide has inspired you to get started, what are you waiting for? And if it’s left you with more questions or you’d like some assistance getting started, get in touch. I’d be happy to help.
Give us a call at 07422727229 or contact us using the form below - we will be happy to answer any questions.
Your workforce is the greatest asset your business has. And it’s your workforce that helps you achieve your business goals, or not.
But there’s a disconnect between how you manage your team and how you run the business.
Why? Because you don’t have any insights. You’re making really important decisions about your workforce based on gut feeling and none of it is evidenced by data.
This is how HR analytics can bridge that gap and help you make GREAT business decisions supported by evidence.
Here are just three ways HR analytics can help:
1. You can understand how employee engagement impacts staff retention, turnover and absence.
Recruitment, training and absence are HUGE costs to the business. But all of these things can be managed and avoided by understanding the reason why people leave and don’t turn up. When you bridge this gap, you could also forecast who is likely to leave in the future. Very clever.
2. You can understand if learning and development schemes actually work.
Okay, so you know you need to ‘invest’ in your team. But does that investment actually help improve your bottom line or are you just throwing £££ down the drain. Again, HR analytics will evidence what training is required and will be able to track if and how it has benefitted the business, helping you make SMARTER decisions in the future.
3. Your HR team (the people who manage your biggest asset) can become strategic partners.
Probably the most important one here. HR analytics will enable your HR department to become the most powerful strategic partner you could wish for. Your HR team can unlock the potential in your workforce and help you achieve business goals more affordably and faster.
The ‘Sunday scaries’ are a reality for loads of employees in the UK, and one of the biggest causes is a no-context message from the boss.
That’s along the lines of “we need to talk Monday”, sent on a Friday afternoon. What may seem like an innocuous message to you can be a huge cause of anxiety for your employees – 38% of those who suffer with the Sunday scaries attribute it to this.
Next time you’re tempted to send a message like that, save it ‘til Monday morning!
Your workplace could be more stressful than you think
What are some of the most stressful things in life? Moving house. The death of someone close. A relationship breakdown.
Well, according to research, employees would rank the workplace as more stressful than a relationship breakdown. And that could mean you’ve got some changes to make if you want a happy, engaged workforce.
Train your managers how to look for the warning signs of stress, take swift action, and encourage an environment where your employees are comfortable talking to you about any problems. Need a hand? Get in touch.
49% of UK workers say they’d take advantage of flexible working requests from day one of employment, according to research. This new legislation is due next year, so act now and make employees aware of their rights.
National Payroll Week:
Take paying your employees seriously
Getting paid is why we go to work. Nobody would be working if they weren’t being paid. And with the current cost-of-living crisis, payday can’t come soon enough for a lot of people.
But so many business owners aren’t taking their payroll seriously enough.
Some are paying late without notice or consultation, some are paying on inconsistent dates and some are underpaying (whether that’s getting their hours wrong or not paying minimum wage).
Maybe you’re guilty of this, maybe you’re not?
This is the quickest way to disengage your staff and make their lives really stressful.
Paying your team correctly and on time is really important – you’re demonstrating that you value them and appreciate their contribution to the business which can also go a long way towards retaining your people and creating a good business culture.
Payroll can be a pain though. I get it.
If you’re struggling, let’s have a chat and we’ll be able to help you out with it.
Why are we talking about this right now? The 4th to the 8th of September is National Payroll Week.
My employee is terminally ill, what are my obligations?
Terminal illness is covered under the Equality Act 2010, which requires employers to make reasonable adjustments for sick or disabled employees. You can’t make your employee redundant or force them out. For more advice get in touch.
How should I handle Christmas holiday requests?
The requests will soon be rolling in, so it’s important to have a plan when lots of people want the same time off. Either allocate leave on a first-come, first-served basis, or perhaps decide the business will close over a period. Always be as fair as you can be!
Do all my employees have to automatically enrol in a pension scheme?
If they’re eligible – meaning they’re over 22 years old and earning at least £10,000 a year. Staff may opt-out if they want to, but it’s your duty to automatically enrol them.
Here are three questions for you:
Do you currently have an HR consultant?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you with them?
If the answer isn’t “I’m so delighted I could print 1,000 flyers to spread the word about them”, let’s jump on a call: 07422 727229.
Give us a call or contact us using the form below - we will be happy to answer any questions.
Now, you’ve heard all about employee surveys and how other organisations are carrying them out regularly, and reaping the rewards, but you’re not really convinced they’re suitable for your business. After all, you only employ a handful of people, so what’s the point? Would one even work for a small number of employees? Surely they are designed for large employers?
Besides, things seem to be ticking along reasonably well, and you’ve been running your business for a few years, so it’s best not to risk upsetting things – isn’t it? Oh, but you’d love to find out what your own employees are thinking, though, but it all seems like a lot of hassle, and you don’t have the time, especially if no one bothers to complete it.
Employee surveys are surprisingly easy to carry out and you might be amazed how readily your people take part. They don’t have to be long and complicated.
In this blog post I will share 8 reasons it makes sense to have an employee survey, so you can reap the benefits that other businesses are enjoying.
Measure employee engagement
Identify the hidden talent in your organisation
Build trust with your employees
Become aware of barriers to organisational growth
Proactively deal with issues
Let your people know you care
Understand areas for improvement
Use the results in your marketing strategy
Why have an employee survey?
There’s nothing like data to help you see what your employees need to stay engaged and motivated. Employees that are engaged and motivated are happy employees, and this is so important to keep the momentum going in your business.
Image credit: Emily Morter on Unsplash
The very fact that an organisation conducts an employee survey will send a positive message to your people that their opinions are valued. Surveys are an effective means of understanding the mood and concerns of employees and are instrumental to your plans for growth.
But isn’t this just more work for busy company owners?
It may seem like a lot of work to carry out a survey, but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t need to make it overly complicated or lengthy, but it is important to ask the right questions, relevant to your business. For example, if you employed only field-based staff or homeworkers, it would be irrelevant to ask for opinions on the office equipment or kitchen facilities. It’s also important to follow up on responses from your survey, to demonstrate that you are listening and taking on board the views of your people.
There are many third-party organisations that specialise in providing employee survey platforms, so you won’t be left to do all the work yourself. They are also effective and inexpensive to run, anonymous and therefore confidential.
Here are my 8 reasons it makes sense to have an employee survey, so you too can benefit.
8 Reasons it Makes Sense to Have an Employee Survey
1. Measure employee engagement
Regardless of the size of your business, it’s important that your employees are motivated and engaged when they are at work. If your people are motivated and engaged, they will perform at their best.
Being alerted to any behaviours that indicate there is a lack of motivation and where people are less engaged, means you can talk to individuals to understand why this might be. Maybe they feel as though their ideas aren’t of value to the business, or that the job they are doing is unfulfilling. They could have family, health, or financial concerns. You won’t know until you ask.
By carrying out regular employee surveys you can keep abreast of issues of concern that you wouldn’t normally be aware of, especially if you often attend off-site meetings.
2. Identify the hidden talent in your organisation
There could be hidden talents within your business that you’re unaware of; think how useful it would be to your business to be able to tap into that talent. A recent survey found that half of employees feel frustrated due to the lack of career progression with their current workplace.
It’s much easier, and rewarding, to both the business and the individual, to grow your talent organically, rather than start from scratch with someone new that needs to get to know all about the business before they can contribute fully. There’s also less disruption to daily routine and productivity.
It makes sense, then, to carry out employee surveys to identify these people and to nurture them. This will give them the opportunity to develop and contribute more to your business, while helping to retain, rather than lose them to your competitors.
3. Build trust with your employees
Surveys provide people with a safe space to air their views, which is invaluable, especially if there are individuals in the organisation that are self-conscious about speaking up. There may also be those that, for whatever reason, don’t trust management, who might be reluctant to speak.
Image credit: Antonio Janeski on Unsplash
A survey carried out anonymously provides the participant with the time to consider their responses and elaborate on topics of interest to them, which they may be too self-conscious or cautious to do in an interview.
What better way to build trust with your employees than to communicate with them via a survey? If they know the survey is anonymous and answers are confidential, they are more likely to speak honestly.
4. Become aware of barriers to organisational growth
You’re trying to grow your business, but there’s something standing in your way, and you can’t quite grasp what the problem is. By asking questions of your employees, you are far more likely to learn what these barriers are than if you simply ‘keep your ear to the ground’ or do nothing.
It could be something simple, such as key people being unavailable at certain times. It could be something more significant, such as personality clashes between staff and managers, leading to performance issues, or low morale. All of these can have an impact on the growth of your business.
Being aware of issues early gives you the best opportunity to address problems and move forward with your growth plans with confidence in the knowledge there should be no nasty surprises, giving you peace of mind.
5. Proactively deal with issues
Forewarned is forearmed, as they say, so this is the ideal opportunity to get to know about any issues before they get out of hand, so managers can be proactive in dealing with them. By dealing with issues early, you are mitigating further, more serious and complex issues, which can take longer to sort out.
A survey will identify where there are issues to be addressed. For example, if someone is thinking about leaving, you would probably want to do your best to keep them. It is much easier to have a conversation with them now to find out why they are thinking of leaving, than if you only became aware of their intentions once they have handed in their notice. By this time, they have most likely already accepted a new job.
Proactively dealing with issues such as this can save you time, money, and your talent. A survey will help you to do just that.
6. Let your people know you care
Rather than communicate with your employees by reacting to their complaints, why not reach out to them first and invite them to share their thoughts? This will go a long way to show them you care and will shift the tone of communication from hostile to amicable.
Image credit: LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
An employee survey is the perfect way to start conversations about how your employees are feeling, what they like and don’t like about the organisation or management, and what they would like more, or less of.
Listening to, and acting on, the responses to a survey will strengthen relationships between you and your employees. Isn’t this more favourable than reactively dealing with their complaints, which could alienate them?
7. Understand areas for improvement or development
No business is perfect, and much can be learned from your people regarding what works well and what doesn’t. After all, it is they who are performing the activities that keep the business going, so why not ask them?
Maybe you have been focusing on one area of the business and not yet recognised that another area needs improvement. For example, you want to offer a new service to your customers, but the survey reveals the key people in that area lack the skills or motivation to provide the service effectively.
Once you have gathered the feedback from your survey, you will be much better placed to offer tailored support and training to those that need it to allow them to develop and progress. This can only be good for your business and its customers.
8. Use the results in your marketing strategy
Using some of the highest scores from your survey can be used in your marketing and recruitment campaigns. Tell everyone what a great place your organisation is to work and how happy your people are. For example, if your employees love the company sports day, or they value early finishes on Friday afternoons you can highlight these in your campaigns.
Remember, good customer service applies to your employees as well, as they are your internal customers and the most costly asset of your business. Imagine – you may never have to advertise vacancies again! Wouldn’t it be great if people came knocking on your door to enquire about career opportunities?
Over To You…
So now you know why it makes sense to have an employee survey, what are you waiting for? It’s the smart way to find out what your employees think about working for you, how engaged they are and how you can work better together.
In this blog post I have covered 8 of the reasons why it makes sense to have an employee survey, which enable you to:
Measure employee engagement
Identify the hidden talent in your organisation
Build trust with your employees
Become aware of barriers to organisational growth
Proactively deal with issues
Let your people know you care
Understand areas for improvement or development
Use the results in your marketing strategy
Want to know more? I’ll post more on this soon, so look out for regular updates. You can also complete my contact us form or book a call now find out how BlakeHR can help you to carry out an Employee Survey.
If you would like to find out more about the types of service I offer please visit my “Our Services” page.
So, you’re wondering why it is that your employees seem to be barely present and doing the minimum to get the job done. They stroll into work, or log on at home bang on time, or a few minutes late, then watch the clock waiting for lunch or home time. Why is this? What’s going on? What can you do – is there anything you can do?
If only you could tap into their thoughts about work, what they like and don’t like, what they would change if they could; find out what they really thought of the company – and YOU, the owner. What about an employee survey? This is a method used to gather opinions that can be used by management to build a positive environment.
In this post I will share 5 reasons why you need to carry out an employee survey.
Become aware of burning problems before they get out of hand
You can learn from communicating with your people
Increased employee engagement
You’ll retain your top talent for longer
Your business will run smoother with less interruptions caused by people issues
What is an employee survey?
An employee survey is a means of measuring your organisation’s level of engagement. It is a confidential survey of your employees designed to gather their feedback and assess their engagement levels.
For example, your employees are hard-working, and work well together in their teams. The business has plenty of orders and things are running smoothly. However, you know things could be even better, but you just can’t put your finger on what’s missing. Here’s where an employee survey would be useful to find out what the workers think. Who better to gather valuable insights from than the people within the organisation?
Why are employee surveys important?
It’s important for organisations to know how their employees are feeling, and to gauge any likelihood of people leaving, potentially taking their valuable skills with them. There could be many reasons for employee dissatisfaction, ranging from the tea and coffee constantly running out to feelings that managers and senior management aren’t sufficiently visible or approachable. Other reasons could include employees feeling they have limited scope for development and progression.
I once worked with an organisation where employees were unhappy, always complaining to each other and there seemed to be an ‘us and them’ atmosphere throughout the business regarding the relationship between employee and employer.
After carrying out an employee survey and analysing the results, it was found that employees believed senior management wasn’t sufficiently visible; they felt that decisions and changes that affected them were made without their input, which contributed to their feeling of being undervalued. The business was on a slippery slope to losing some of its most talented people.
Employees elected their own representatives to be the link between senior managers and themselves. Following senior leadership meetings, representatives were briefed on matters discussed and these were communicated back to their peers. This had the effect of repairing relationships between the two parties, giving employees the opportunity to voice their opinions and make some worthwhile contributions.
5 Reasons to Have a Survey
1. Become aware of burning problems
When you know what could be causing anxiety among your people, you are in a good position to address the issues early. It can be difficult for some people to speak up and so they choose to stay quiet; they may think they are making something out of nothing and may not want to make a fuss. An anonymous employee survey gives them the opportunity to speak.
Think how much happier your employees would be if they knew the faulty hand dryers in the toilets were fixed!
2. You can learn from engaging with your people
Your employees are best placed to tell you what’s missing, how things could work better or come up with new ideas that would benefit the business. By listening to them and giving them a voice, they feel part of the business, which automatically motivates them to perform at their best.
When your employees are motivated and feeling involved in the business, they are more likely to turn up every day and this means productivity is improved. More production means more sales, which increases revenue.
Regular attendance when employees are more engaged, leads to fewer absences and leavers, which means less money spent on sick pay and recruiting. Now that’s a good saving.
3. Increased employee engagement
Image credit: Antonio Janeski on Unsplash
When employees feel listened to, they engage more with the business, perform better and are happier in their work. This lifts the mood of the whole organisation and makes it a much happier place to be. There is reduced risk of poor performance and conduct issues.
With fewer performance and conduct issues to manage, your line managers will be able to concentrate more on their teams and business objectives, which means operations run smoother and more efficiently.
With less human hours spent on non-productive work, the business gets the best value from management resources. That’s another good saving!
4. You’ll retain your top talent for longer
Everyone wants to enjoy their time at work. Employees that are regularly surveyed, with effective follow-up, are more likely to stay with their employer. This means you recruit less often, there are fewer skills gaps in your workforce and production is more seamless, as there’s less time spent on settling in new people.
A recent survey of over 6,000 UK workers carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) has shown that 20% say it’s likely they will leave their current role in the next 12 months. Reasons include wanting to increase job satisfaction, the desire for better work-life balance, better pay and benefits and wanting to do a different type of work.
An employee survey will give insights into the level of employee satisfaction, highlighting any concerns and providing the business with an opportunity to dig deeper and address the concerns identified. This could mean the difference between losing your top talent and retaining it. What’s not to like about that?
5. Your business will run smoother with less interruptions
If your people are happier at work, they’re less likely to be absent or perform poorly. This means there’s less likelihood of having to carry out performance management and poor conduct procedures – so employees and managers spend more time being productive.
When there are performance and conduct issues to deal with, especially in a small team, this can have a draining effect on the rest of the team or organisation. The mood dips and productivity suffers. No one likes an environment where people feel dejected. It makes sense to minimise this possibility as much as possible.
Regularly surveying your employees, and following through with solutions, will put you in the best position to keep on top of any people issues that may be simmering under the surface. Win, win.
The bottom line is…
Employee surveys are an important part of getting to know your people and engaging them with your business. Your people are your greatest and most costly asset, so look after them and they’ll look after your business. By surveying your employees regularly, you can address any issues as soon as possible, learn valuable insights from your people, increase their engagement with the business and retain top talent. You’ll also run more smoothly as an organisation with fewer people issues to deal with.
Want to know more? I’ll post more on this soon, so look out for regular updates. You can also complete my contact us form or book a call now to find out how BlakeHR can help you to carry out an Employee Survey. If you would like to find out more about the types of service I offer please visit my “Our Services” page.
Hi, I’m Sandra Blake and I’m the Founder of BlakeHR. I thought I would start my first blog with a Q and A of questions that potential clients often ask me when we first start talking and building a relationship. Why not check out more ‘about me’ when you have read this blog?
How do you approach your work?
My job is to provide friendly support in a way that you can understand. This means:
Not using jargon and “HR speak”
Using plain English, especially in written documents
Providing you with documents or recommendations for best practice
Coaching your managers (if required)
Always working to the mantra that “no question is a silly question”
Tell me about your credentials
I qualified with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in 2009. I became a Chartered member in 2014 after gaining substantial industry experience in the HR field. The CIPD is the industry-wide recognised membership good practice body for the HR and people-related profession.
My HR experience comes from a wide variety of sectors, including, but not limited to, education, central Government, telecoms, retail, logistics/distribution, manufacturing, IT, and accounting.
What experience do you have in project management and HR?
Some of my past projects have included:
Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) also known as TUPE, both for transfer in and transfer out of employees, for multiple organisations
Employee survey analysis identifying areas of concern, including dissatisfaction, potential resignations, interest in development among other things
Transformation and integration, including helping an organisation to implement a new system to combine their HR, payroll, and finance functions
Workforce planning and restructuring of an organisation that took on new projects and required new skillsets
Employment tribunal, where my role was to support the senior management in their response to an unfair dismissal claim
How do you ensure you stay up to date with HR law and compliance?
I ensure this through many different methods. Firstly by Continuous Professional Development (CPD) which is how I am able to call myself a Chartered CIPD professional, and is part of the membership. The importance of staying current cannot be overstated as things can change quickly, and often do in the HR space. I stay up-to-date with HR news and trends by studying, journal reading, networking, and attending webinars frequently.
Why should you choose to work with me?
Because of the type of work that I do, it’s essential to gain trust from the outset. I’m trustworthy, professional, and personable. In recent organisations that I’ve worked with, I have been described as “the voice of reason”, “a safe pair of hands” and even “a comfort blanket”!
I have great knowledge and experience which makes me an essential part of your consulting team for all of your HR and people needs.
Thanks for reading this blog. I hope it has given you a bit more insight into both myself and BlakeHR.
How can I help you with your HR and people needs?
Book a call now to make an appointment for a no-obligation chat, or complete my contact form. If you would like to find out more about the types of service I offer please visit my “Our Services” page.
