How to improve engagement with data
Employee engagement is a critical factor in determining the success of any business. Engaged employees are more productive, more likely to stay with the company, and contribute to a positive work culture. However, recent studies have shown a decline in engagement levels across industries. According to a 2024 Gallup poll, overall employee engagement has dropped to its lowest level in over a decade with 4.8 million fewer U.S. employees are engaged in their work. This decline in engagement has serious implications for businesses, including decreased productivity and increased turnover.
Understanding engagement drivers and pain points
To improve engagement, it is crucial to understand the factors that drive it. Engagement drivers are the key elements that influence an employee's level of dedication and commitment to their work. These can vary from one organization to another, but common ones include job satisfaction, recognition, career growth opportunities, and work-life balance. On the other hand, pain points are the obstacles or challenges that hinder employee engagement. These can be anything from poor communication, lack of transparency, inadequate training, or ineffective leadership.
By leveraging data from employee surveys, performance evaluations, and other sources, organizations can uncover patterns and correlations around what truly drives employee engagement. For example, by analyzing survey data, an organization may discover that employees who receive regular recognition and feedback are more engaged than those who don't. These insights can then be used to design targeted interventions and initiatives to enhance engagement.
How to collect and analyze engagement data
Effectively capturing and analyzing employee data requires a thoughtful and systematic approach. Here are some key steps:
- Define objectives: Clearly define what you want to achieve through your data collection and analysis. Identify the key questions you want to answer and the metrics you want to measure.
- Collect relevant data: Gather data from various sources such as employee surveys, performance reviews, HR systems, and external benchmarks. Ensure the data is accurate, complete, and anonymized to maintain employee privacy. Using an integrated platform can be helpful in automating this process and maintaining a central source of truth for your data.
- Clean the data: Pre-process the data to remove any inconsistencies, errors, or missing values. Organize the data in a structured format for analysis.
- Analyze the data: Use data analysis and visualization tools to uncover insights and patterns within the data. Look for trends, correlations, and outliers that may indicate engagement drivers or pain points.
- Take action: Based on the insights gained from the analysis, develop actionable strategies and initiatives to address the identified engagement drivers and pain points. Monitor the impact of these interventions and make adjustments as needed.
The key to understanding your workforce lies in your data. Analyzing employee data enables leaders to identify root cause issues and take a proactive approach to workforce management.
About Arbor
Arbor is an AI-powered labor intelligence platform that helps leaders drive business outcomes with people data. We turn messy, siloed HR data into clear, actionable insights instantly—no manual work required. Make smarter decisions that drive real results: boost engagement, reduce turnover, hire faster, and accelerate workforce planning.
