Employee research and insight has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. It has moved from a simple annual measurement of employee satisfaction to more regular measurements of the whole employee experience and lifecycle.
There’s now a sharper focus on leadership and management, flexible/hybrid working practices, technology, wellbeing and communication. And for any organisation to succeed, it must be agile and have people-centric listening cultures. This goes on top of ensuring that workforces are inclusive, no matter where employees work from. But, at the heart of employee research is the concept of understanding human behaviour. This is how organisations can provide the best experience, leadership, and connection, to enable employees to be the best that they can be.
The WorkBuzz platform provides instant employee feedback for organisations to gain an insight on staff perceptions, so that they can strategically build a culture that employees choose to engage with. But what if this level of employee understanding could be taken even further? What if your organisation was able to gain an in-depth, professional analysis of employee responses and what they truly mean? Here at WorkBuzz, we describe ourselves as HR’s secret weapon. But we also have another secret weapon: our People Science team!
What is ‘People Science’?
People Science is a people-centric approach to the study and practice of happiness and success in the workplace. It is the sum of employee research, real business insights, and the study of human behaviour. And it is an approach that helps organisations create a powerful and more impactful employee experience.
“People Science is all about turning complex employee research data and analysis into a digestible compelling story for organisational change.” John Backhouse, Principal Consultant and Head of People Science at WorkBuzz
Why is People Science important?
People Science is an important part of any organisation’s employee engagement research strategy. This is because People Science will unpick and clearly translate the range of employee experience data received on a deeper level. They will also highlight the most problematic areas that have surfaced from the data – specifically areas that will have the largest impact on driving engagement. And once an organisation retains a deeper understanding of their people, business success will be more attainable.
How does it help HR teams improve employee engagement?
Our People Science team will work to identify the best way to ask the right questions, understand your unique people story, inspire action, and make smarter people decisions. Understanding staff on a deeper level will provide HR professionals with a clearer vision on how to engage employees in a way that collectively resonates with them. More realistic decisions will then be made as a result of more insightful data and evidence being considered.
How does it help senior leaders?
Employee engagement impacts all areas of an organisation, whether that be the costs associated with a high staff turnover or its influence on customer satisfaction. Utilising People Science as a part of your employee listening strategy will help leaders to scope out a targeted employee engagement programme – with the objective to help solve key challenges which are impacting performance. The team will help identify the specific areas your organisation should be primarily focusing on, particularly the areas where the impact from improving employee engagement will be at its largest. Then, key actions and messages will be provided for leaders to help drive the biggest positive change:
- Employee engagement transformation – People Science will identify the key themes having the greatest impact on engagement. For example, leadership, communication, and trust, then identifying actions, programmes and priorities.
- Employee experience strategies – People Science will define the employee experience, the key ‘moments that matter’, and identify the necessary actions to deliver the desired employee experience.
- Employee empowerment – People Science will help organisations understand the factors which empower employees, and what these look like practically. They will also look at how organisations can create activities and interventions to power staff.
If your organisation is struggling to create an engaged workplace and wants to get to the bottom of where staff tensions lie, the People Science team at WorkBuzz are here to help you. Discover the root causes, what staff responses really mean, and better understand specific employee behaviours. Just drop us an email at hello@workbuzz.com and we will forward you on to a member of our People Science team for an open discussion about what they do, and how they can assist.