With 'quiet quitting' on the rise and concerns about a potential Great Resignation 2.0 in 2025, organizations must take a proactive approach to understanding how exactly their employees work. Retaining top talent and maintaining efficiency requires more than guesswork into employees' experience - it demands real data and actionable insights.
Defined by Gartner as an advanced set of data analysis tools for measuring and improving workforce performance, workstyle analytics helps organizations uncover how employees interact with technology, workflows, and their work environment. In an earlier blog we discussed what workstyle analytics is in detail and how it works, and in this piece we'll explore four teams that can benefit from it.
1. C-Suite: Demonstrate How Hybrid Working Decisions Are Data Driven
A sure-fire way to disengage a workforce is for major decisions to appear arbitrary. Much is being made of the tension between the workforce and leadership over 'return to office' (RTO) mandates. Unfortunately, much of the language being used to justify getting employees back to office is laced with issues of trust. It can be hard to gather the intelligence to determine whether remote or office-based work produces better outcomes for an organization, yet this must be done if executives trigger the precise thing they are trying to avoid, productivity impact, but forcing being back to the office.
Workstyle analytics has precisely this kind of decision support as one of its primary aims. By analyzing, in accessible terms, organizational outcomes correlated with things such as work location and collaboration patterns, executives are able to share with teams the basis upon which decisions are being made, thereby garnering the support major initiatives such as RTO require.
With continual and near real-time insight into what is and what isn't working for employees, the c-suite can align business strategy with real workforce performance data to drive better decision making. This means they can replicate success in specific parts of the organization across all teams to boost revenues and success.
2. HR: Spot Burnout Before It's Too Late
Employee burnout has long been a challenge for HR teams. In fact, Gallup reports that 51% of employees experience stress "a lot of the day". Yet, with employees working from home, the office or even from abroad, it's becoming increasingly difficult for HR to spot early signs of burnout and disengagement before they escalate.
Data from workstyle analytics enables HR to identify employees consistently working outside of standard hours or managing excessive workloads. By detecting these patterns early, HR can proactively intervene to minimize burnout risk and foster a healthier, more balanced work environment.
Workstyle analytics also provides visibility into employee engagement. If an employee's digital activity shows signs of disengagement - like avoiding core platforms or dropping off certain workflows - HR can take a data-driven approach to addressing concerns. Teams can review workflows, assess morale, and implement targeted improvements to enhance job satisfaction and retention.
3. IT Teams: Decide What Systems and Technology to Upgrade
Digital friction plagues modern businesses. Gartner reports that 47% of technology users experience high digital friction, and 34% experience friction several times a week. And our research shows that 5.5 hours are lost per employee per week due to poor digital experiences. To reduce this downtime, IT teams need to identify technology that's frustrating and slowing down employees.
Workstyle analytics provides in-depth data on device performance, application usage, and digital experiences, illuminating how users interact with tech, as well as the performance of hardware and software. IT teams can use this data to pinpoint malfunctioning technology and address digital friction points that hinder productivity.
IT can also apply this data to make smarter decisions about technology upgrades. For instance, workstyle analytics can identify employees who need more powerful devices earlier, such as those transitioning to roles involving business Intelligence or AI, while delaying upgrades for employees with less demanding digital workloads.
4. Line of Business Leaders: Identify Skill Gaps and Digital Champions
Our research reveals that only just over half of businesses (52%) can identify workers that need training and support of use technology. Often the responsibility for ensuring training needs are met comes down to line of business (LoB) leaders, who are always looking to increase their teams' efficiency and ensure tasks are completed in the optimal way. Whether the head of a sales team or customer service lead, it's critical that LoB leaders have a clear view of where employees are struggling with technology and what's slowing them down - this can be difficult when relying on subjective feedback or disconnected performance metrics.
Workstyle analytics takes the guesswork out of this process. It enable LoB leaders to identify employees who may be taking longer to complete tasks to understand who needs additional training, to balance workloads across colleagues, and to provide employees more time to focus on specific tasks.
At the other end of the scale, workstyle analytics highlights those using technology effectively - from completing a workflow at speed, to finding a workaround to further streamline processes. These 'digital champions' can serve as role models, share best practices, and help upskill colleagues - to optimize the efficiency of the whole team.
An Holistic Approach
Workplace analytics offers immense value to organizations by providing actionable insights that benefit HR teams, IT departments, LoB leaders, and C-suite alike. With a comprehensive, 360-view of employee behaviors, challenges, and performance, companies can make data-driven decisions and optimize processes. Organizations can stay ahead of the curve and build a workforce that's engaged, efficient, and adaptable for the future.
