Using HR Data The Right Way Is Our Responsibility

A few ways to do good with the data you’re collecting

The amount of stored data in the world doubles every few years. Think about how that relates to your own use of data and how you’re tracking employees. As organizational leaders, data stewardship is an important and growing part of the job.

Today, we track performance, productivity, and so much more. It’s our responsibility to use HR data the right way — for the good of the company and the employees. But what does that look like? Here are a few ways to do good with the data that you’re collecting.

Gathering data can be insightful but also risky. It can feel like a balancing act, but protecting employees’ privacy is hugely important, especially in an era of data breaches, GDPR, and increasing scrutiny around security. How are you ensuring that data is handled with integrity?
 
Companies hold valuable files of employee data, everything from emails to drug testing results to financial information. Whatever you’re collecting, make sure employees actually know how they’re being monitored in the first place. Transparency leads to trust. Privacy policies should be communicated on a consistent basis and in compliance with any relevant laws.

If you’re not sure where to start, consider hiring a consultant or looking into an established protocol like SOC 2. When working with vendors, take a similar approach and ask how they handle any employee data to make sure it’s protected and communicated with transparency with the same care.

Looking at your data and seeking out trends is a great way to understand what your company can improve upon. Trends can help improve business performance, but they can also help employees grow, develop, and thrive. 

For example, there’s plenty of data that your HRIS is probably already storing! Taking a critical eye to your employee demographics can uncover areas of opportunity, especially when it comes to diversity. For example, you might find a lack of racial diversity in management positions, unequal pay across gender, or that you tend to hire people of a certain age. Don’t forget to look at industry benchmarks to see how your team compares.

Even looking at ATS information like the length of time it takes to get from initial job posting to job offer can reveal shortcomings in your hiring process. You may be missing out on great candidates if you have a particularly drawn-out interviewing process. On the other hand, a combination of speedy hiring and quick turnover could indicate that you’re not asking the right cultural fit questions. 

And it can extend into your day-to-day, as well—which departments work closely together? Which teams are operating on an island? Do all people feel appreciated and valued or are just a handful of people getting all the praise? Looking at these interactions through an organization graph can reveal opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and better support for each employee.

You are gathering feedback from your employees, right?

Whether it’s through surveys, stay interviews, or other methods, successful organizations gather feedback to improve. And it’s your responsibility to develop a psychologically safe environment to encourage and protect that feedback!

Once you receive feedback, act on it! Try gathering questions before an all-hands meeting (including anonymous ones) and answer them across the leadership team. Implement periodic – at least quarterly – surveys, and then discuss the results as a team. Then, follow up on any actions taken with a “default to transparency” mindset.

Highly-engaged employees are more than 3 times as likely to say that their organization takes their feedback seriously than those who are actively disengaged.

You have the data, now do something with it! By acting on data, you’re showing the team that you trust them and appreciate their feedback, meaning you’ll get receive candid feedback in the future.

Does anything feel better than meeting — or even surpassing — a goal? 

To get there, those goals need to first be put in place. Your employees need to know what they’re working toward and understand the relevant metrics. Having this data in place makes it much easier to see what’s working and where to find opportunities for growth. 

Of course, it can be demotivating to work toward an unreachable goal. That’s why it’s so important to work together with your employees and gather feedback about your business objectives and check in frequently.

Look for employees who are outpacing their goals. What can your team learn from them? Data can uncover plenty of opportunities to share learnings with a wider team.

Search for areas of improvement where talent is struggling. How can you better support and empower them? Consider professional development opportunities like special training and individual coaching where it makes sense to help your team succeed.

It’s easy to collect data and throw it on a dashboard. That’s what’s affectionately called a data puke. Don’t do that.

Go beyond making the information look pretty. Take a step back and ask yourself why you’re collecting that data and if you’re collecting the right data. Then, protect it, analyze it, and act on it to improve your team! Data can enrich your company, so use it—and do some good with it!

Raphael Crawford-Marks is the Founder and CEO of Bonusly, an enterprise platform that helps companies create high-performance, high-engagement workplaces. He's passionate about building products that help people connect with their work and each other in meaningful ways. Prior to founding Bonusly, Raphael was an early employee at several startups, a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, and an instructor for Year Up.  Visit https://bonus.ly/ Connect Raphael Crawford-Marks