Data-driven decision making has become a non-negotiable for organisations because it allows CEOs, C-Suite and managers to monitor, track and improve their KPIs based on real information rather than relying on guess work.
For finance, sales and marketing departments, using data to make decisions is second nature but often organisations aren’t tracking HR metrics in the same way, or leaders aren’t as aware of the value of tracking different HR metrics to measure the pulse of their workforce and then using this information to drive change in the workplace.
Collecting organised HR data gives HR teams and leaders a big opportunity to not only improve efficiency in HR teams but also to give you a better understanding of how employees are experiencing the workplace – in other words your organisation’s culture.
With the right HR data, reporting and software in place, HR teams can provide actionable insights into the workforce, such as prevalent behaviours and trends which leaders can use to make more informed decisions when it comes to enhancing workplace culture and ultimately the success of a business.
The tie between business success and culture is already widely recognised but leaders often don’t have access to the right data in relation to their people and culture to be able to make the best decisions for the people in their workplace. Perhaps you’re experiencing high employee turnover in certain areas of the business but you’re unsure why? With the correct HR data you can pinpoint the root cause of why your employees are choosing to leave and take steps to prevent more employees from leaving, creating business stability and regaining time which may otherwise be spent on lengthy recruitment processes and training new employees to bring them up to speed.
Whilst there are many different types of HR software available from recruitment platforms to HRIS’s, we’re focusing on anonymous reporting and case management software because that’s what we’re experts in and what we believe has the biggest impact on the ability to drive cultural change in businesses.
HR reporting software enhances communication helping to develop employee voice, building a speak up culture
Communication is key to building a positive workplace culture. When there are open channels of communication and employees can speak confidently to their managers and leaders without fear of the consequences, workplaces thrive.
Good communication is intrinsically linked to transparency, openness and trust – all essential elements that contribute towards stronger relationships between employees, managers and leaders.
Anonymous reporting software is one way of encouraging employees to speak up, by offering them an additional channel to speak their thoughts and report problematic behaviour when they see or experience it. It removes the barrier of having your name attached to the report, which deters people from reporting due to fear of negative repercussions.
You may think that because you don’t currently receive many reports from employees that everything in your organisation is fine. But what you may not realise is that people aren’t voicing their concerns or opinions for a number of reasons. It might be that they are worried about negative consequences on their career progression or job security if they speak up, or that they will be isolated or bullied by their team members at work if they speak up. It might be that they don’t feel comfortable speaking up using your current speak-up mechanisms or they don’t trust that their report will be taken seriously, so they don’t report, to name just a few reasons.
As the majority of organisations have culture challenges, it is unlikely that nothing at all harmful is happening at your organisation.
There are many reasons why people choose not to report, more often than not, it’s because they don’t feel safe doing so and they fear the consequences of speaking up or reporting wrongdoing at work but when you give people an option to do so anonymously, you may be surprised by what you find.
Research shows that sexual harassment, along with other types of harassment are vastly under reported in the workplace. One UK survey found that 30% of women who experienced sexual harassment in the workplace did not report it, whilst 53% of those who experienced bullying at work, never reported it. These statistics indicate a need for change in the way we allow employees to speak up about harmful behaviours.
Our research found that 36% of people who have witnessed or experienced bullying and harassment in the workplace have reported it, yet 62% of employees say they would be more likely to do so if they could report it anonymously.This illustrates the need for anonymous reporting mechanisms in our workplaces, to be able to hear from more employees about their experience and get a more realistic understanding of our workplace cultures.
When you work with us at Culture Shift to implement a reporting platform , all your reporting data is stored in one central location, with built-in case management software and an analytics dashboard, this allows you to safely store and effectively analyse your data.We also offer a two-way anonymous conversation feature allowing you to follow up anonymously and offer direct support to the person reporting.
By implementing an anonymous reporting platform and giving employees an additional communication channel, it demonstrates leaders taking ownership of their culture and a commitment to listening to employees to resolve unwanted experiences at work, building trust and creating environments people want to be a part of.
Employee voice is central to improving workplace culture so when you give employees a voice and a way to speak up when they see or experience wrong-doing or unwanted conduct, not only will you get a better picture of what is really happening in your organisation, you can intervene and put steps in place to prevent it from occurring again.
HR software streamlines processes, improving operational efficiency
An all-in-one reporting and case management software like the platform provided by Culture Shift allows you to streamline traditional HR processes.
If your HR team is verbally receiving reports and emails from employees about misconduct or unwanted behaviour in the workplace and open it in a separate case management system, corresponding face-to-face, by phone or email, it’s easy to see how things can get buried in overflowing inboxes and cases may not be followed up properly (or worst-case scenario, at all). What’s more is that the HR data you could collect from all these cases is then not stored in a centralised, standard format or in a way that you can report on, making it difficult to identify patterns in behaviour.
An HR reporting platform with built in case management allows you to streamline this process. You receive anonymous or named reports directly into the HR software, which then goes directly into an easy-to-use case management system which allows you to prioritise reports by risk, assign cases to individual case managers to help manage workloads across the team and ensure nothing is ever missed.
The data is stored in a centralised location and displayed in dashboards so you can quickly visualise trends and patterns of behaviour at a glance, without the need to manually compile a report.
In the Culture Shift platform, our AI name matching feature helps you quickly identify people who are repeatedly perpetrating harmful behaviours without the need to manually go through every report you receive, helping to save you time and improve your risk management with timely interventions.
Improving HR operational efficiency helps businesses reduce costs and improve productivity, processes take less time, and data is stored in a centralised platform with reporting that’s available at the click of a button.
Monitoring data trends creates a faster feedback loop allowing targeted intervention and prevention
By collecting and monitoring HR data through anonymous reporting software, you become clearer on what exactly is happening in your organisation right now. You’re able to identify whether it’s something that is affecting people across the organisation, indicating a wider cultural issue or if it’s pockets of isolated behaviour in relation to a certain person or group of people.
With access to this type of data you’re able to provide more targeted support and intervention methods because you have a greater understanding of the behaviours which are prevalent, who it is affecting and what is damaging your culture. You can intervene with more certainty and confidence that the steps you are putting in place will be effective and are the right steps to prevent and eliminate culture damaging behaviour.
When you receive reports in real-time, the HR dashboard allows you to monitor trends, meaning you have a much better understanding of what is happening right now, and can respond much quicker putting steps in place to respond effectively, creating a quicker feedback loop to address culture damaging behaviour and direct support to those who need it most.
HR software can help you with compliance & risk management
HR reporting software can help you comply with your legal requirements such as the Workers Protection Act by offering a robust reporting mechanism for employees. With the shift in legislation from responding to complaints of sexual harassment to active prevention, HR software such as Culture Shift can help organisations comply, whilst empowering you to create safer, more inclusive workplace cultures.
HR software can help you establish clear investigation protocols. From the moment you receive a report, your prevention efforts are documented with a digitised paper trail of your response to each report inside the Culture Shift platform. Should you find yourself facing an employment tribunal from an employee who is dissatisfied with the outcome of your investigation or response, you have it all documented inside the platform which can be used as evidence should the case escalate, helping you manage your risk.
Additionally, when you receive a report that requires intervention and an employee needs additional, direct support, the Culture Shift case management platform flags cases that are high risk, allowing you to respond quickly and effectively, therefore helping you to manage risk more successfully.
HR data helps you identify learning and training gaps
The HR data gathered in your reporting software can be used to identify skills gaps and inform more targeted training.
We mentioned the new Workers Protection Act above, and with this now in force, across the board training programmes are no longer likely to be adequate, instead targeted training will become the requirement.
When your HR data is pulled into one reporting dashboard, it’s easy to notice changes at-a-glance against your KPIs. With Culture Shift you can hone in on trends across your organisation and really drill down into problematic areas, delving deep into your organisation’s culture, understanding what behaviours are impacting people.
If you know what type of behaviour is prevalent, it then allows you to target your training needs, whether that’s a particular type of training i.e. sexual harassment training or EDI training or whether it’s a particular subset of employees or managers who need that training, you can be more confident that the right people are receiving the right training.
Therefore, by targeting your training requirements, you can be more confident you’ll see ROI on your training spend investment and improvements can be measured using pre and post training metrics in the HR dashboard by monitoring the short and long-term impact of the training in comparison to the metrics pre training.
Choosing the right HR reporting software to help shape your culture
Now you have a better understanding of how HR software and HR data can help you improve workplace culture, book a free demo with one of our experts to see the Culture Shift reporting platform in action.
