Turning Morale into Usable Data

In HR we talk a lot about morale, but is there a way to define it and break it down into something measurable HR can use to improve the workplace?

We Know It's Important, But What Really Is It?

Employee morale is a crucial aspect of the employee experience that HR professionals need to understand and manage. It refers to the overall mood, outlook, and satisfaction levels of employees in the workplace. A positive morale leads to increased productivity, job satisfaction, and employee engagement, while low morale can lead to absenteeism, low productivity, and high turnover rates.

While HR professionals often talk about employee morale, it is not always clear what it means or how to measure it. Employee morale is a complex concept that encompasses a range of factors, including job satisfaction, communication, leadership, and work-life balance. To improve employee morale, HR needs to understand these factors and how they contribute to employee engagement and retention.

Turning Feelings Into Data We Can Use

One way to measure employee morale is to use people analytics. People analytics involves the use of data, analysis, and insights to understand and improve the employee experience. By using people analytics, HR can collect data on employee behavior, sentiment, and feedback, and use this information to identify patterns and trends in morale.

One key aspect of measuring employee morale is understanding the voice of the employee. This typically involves gathering feedback from employees through surveys, focus groups, and consultants, to understand their perceptions and experiences in the workplace. This feedback can be used to identify areas of concern and take targeted interventions to improve employee engagement and retention.

We all know the problem with this old approach though. Sales has access to realtime revenue numbers. Finance tracks expenses daily. Supply chain can call up where everything is right now. The CEO has up to the second stock price information. 

HR on the other hand has to either wait for a quarterly employee survey or ask expensive consultants to come in to find out what morale is like. The workforce is too large, dispersed and diverse to understand in person with the soft skills of observational perception we used in the past. These old methods are not automatic, continuous or realtime enough to understand a workforce that has to be kept at high engagement levels to reduce attrition and maximize productivity.

AI Solves Our HR Data Problem

New HR analytics software is available to solve this type of problem. AI based solutions like TruPulse bring HR from the old-school reactive methods of the past to the same level of modern data analysis that powers every other department in the company. Continuously and automatically understanding employees gives modern HR teams the data they need to proactively address employee morale issues by fixing issues quickly before things get worse. 

Most HR professionals will agree that solutions to employee concerns exist, and solving the problems before they get worse is easier than waiting to solve bigger problems later on. Now that next generation analytics tools for measuring issues like morale and trending topics are available to all companies, HR teams have the data they need to prioritize what they want to change.

Imagine the impact HR teams could have if they always received notice of any major changes in employee morale along with the top trending topics on employees minds. What if instead of waiting for a survey to go out and get processed, an HR manager could just call up a dashboard showing what employees are feeling right now. Big data is quickly changing HR into an agile, insights powered team capable of proactively improving the workplace experience.

For example, morale is at 80% today versus 60% last month. The top trending topic employees are talking about this week is the turnaround plan the CEO announced on the company call. Great to know things are on track and you have the results immediately to share with management.

Maybe morale is down from its 6 month average of 75% to 60% this month but it is down even further to 50% among women. The new return to work program and benefits package are trending negatively. Let’s get this fixed quickly and you have the data at your fingertips to show where the problem is.

The biggest challenge for HR teams in moving forward with a data driven program has been solved by products like TruPulse that provide automatic, continuous and realtime data. Now HR teams can transition themselves from long, reactive planning cycles to realtime agile solution implementation.

Improving Morale

In addition to measuring employee morale, HR can take steps to improve it. One key factor in improving morale is communication. By fostering open and transparent communication, HR can build trust and create a positive work environment that supports employee engagement and retention.

Another key factor in improving morale is leadership. Strong and effective leadership can inspire and motivate employees, leading to higher levels of engagement and job satisfaction. By providing leadership training and coaching, HR can develop managers who are effective at inspiring and motivating their teams.

Work-life balance is also an important factor in employee morale. By providing flexible work arrangements and promoting work-life balance, HR can create a positive work environment that supports employee well-being and job satisfaction.

Finally, HR can use targeted interventions to address specific areas of concern and improve morale. For example, if survey data indicates that employees are dissatisfied with their pay and benefits, HR can develop a compensation strategy that meets employee expectations and supports employee retention.

Improving Morale With AI Based Solutions

Employee morale is a critical aspect of the employee experience that HR professionals need to understand and manage. While it is a complex concept, it can be defined and measured using AI based people analytics software and by understanding the voice of the employee. By gathering feedback, tracking metrics, and taking targeted interventions, HR can improve morale and create a positive work environment that supports employee engagement, retention, and overall job satisfaction.