Companies invest a great deal of time and money into finding new ways to streamline their processes, to sell more, and to make everything more effective and profitable. You’ve possibly experienced this yourself—using new management techniques or organizational systems to try to improve output and boost results.
But are you optimizing your number one asset—your people? While most businesses start the fiscal year with a business strategy in place, many forget to factor in the people who ultimately execute that plan (i.e., your employees). Smart businesses use a discipline called talent optimization—a practice for aligning your people strategy with your business strategy for optimal results. Talent optimization leverages people data to put the right people in the right places and give them what they need to do their jobs well.
Consider this scenario: you have two software developers. One greatly prefers problem-solving, while the other would rather focus on optimizing a system you already have. Who would you put in charge of a cutting-edge project that requires innovation and out-of-the-box thinking? You’d probably pick the first developer—the one good at problem-solving.
It can take a long time—and a considerable amount of effort—for a manager to pick up on these differences in personality and behavior. Fortunately, there are some incredibly valuable analytics tools designed to measure people data and provide key insights to the people seeking to optimize their talent.
What is people data?
Before digging into different tools that measure people data, it’s a good idea to understand exactly what the term means.
People data—also known as “employee data”—is essentially key information about the people who work for your business. It often involves datasets that describe the people who work for you, their strengths or weaknesses, and how they think, communicate, interact, and work.
Having the right information can help you make smarter decisions when it comes to aligning your talent with your business strategy.
3 analytics tools to gather and apply people data
People data covers a broad scope. While you might want to home in on one area—such as employee sentiment or candidate experience—consider other possible use cases. A well-rounded tool can provide actionable insights on a variety of people data, ultimately creating more value for your organization.
These are three of the best tools available to help you gather, analyze, and act on the employee data for your company.
What is The Predictive Index?
The Predictive Index offers software, workshops, and consulting to help organizations implement talent optimization in their organization.
What business problem does The Predictive Index solve?
Most business leaders start their year with a business plan. But they leave out the people who ultimately execute that plan: their employees. The Predictive Index offers software, workshops, and tools to help organizations align their talent with their business strategy.
Product features:
Set behavioral and cognitive requirements for roles, prioritize candidate fit based on match scores, behavioral assessment, cognitive assessment, guides for helping employees navigate their relationships, personal development charts, manager development charts, guides to help managers tailor communications to employees, identify leadership team alignment with organizational strategy, map how teams work together.
2. WorkiQ
What is WorkiQ?
WorkiQ provides real-time visibility into work and productivity.
What business problem does WorkiQ solve?
WorkiQ helps managers gain more insight into employee productivity so they can help employees focus, prioritize, and develop.
Product features:
Measures employee activity and productivity in real-time, see how quickly employees are working, track time spent on non-productive sites, assess the effectiveness of task bots, identify any team members who may be struggling to complete tasks.
3. 15Five
What is 15Five?
15Five is a continuous performance management suite that keeps regular tabs on what your employees are working on and how they’re feeling.
What business problem does 15Five solve?
Using weekly check-ins, 15Five allows employees to track progress on OKRs, recognize peers for a job well done, and share feedback about what’s impacting their work.
Product features:
Weekly OKR tracking, peer recognition, manager-employee check-ins, 1:1 meeting planning, feedback mechanisms
How to choose the right tool for people data analytics
When choosing a people data measurement tool, take some time to consider what your greatest business problems are. Then use that information to determine where your people data collection and analysis should start.
If you’re ready to hire new team members, prioritize a tool that can help you find the best fit for an employee for your needs. If you want to improve the function of the team you already have, productivity and employee engagement tools may be a solid option.
Remember, you don’t have to choose just one. When people data is collected and analyzed, it’s incredibly valuable. Seek to leverage people data insights whenever possible to improve business performance.
