Let's Get Real with Data: Making Every Employee Interaction Count

We know, we know, diving into the data ocean can feel like finding a needle in a haystack—on a really, really bad day. But here’s the kicker: while we're busy trusting our gut, we’re also drowning in data—2.5 quintillion bytes a day (and yes, that's a real number). Despite this, we’ve got a Harvard report telling us half of us still run on instinct. No judgment, but maybe it’s time to switch gears?

In this newsletter, we’ll:

• Explain why data-driven internal comms matter
• Share some actionable steps you can follow to make strategic internal communication decisions using data more easily.

Why Data Should Be Your Go-To for Internal Comms

Understanding the nuances of employee interactions and responses is crucial. Data serves as a critical ally in this journey, much like a trusted advisor who knows just what your team needs to hear. Here’s why integrating data into your internal communications is not just beneficial but necessary:

1. In-depth Audience Insights: Data offers a clear view into employee preferences, behaviors, and needs, allowing for more targeted and effective communication. It gives you the lowdown on what everyone’s into, from their pet peeves to their pizza toppings (okay, maybe not pizza toppings, but you get the idea).
2. Checking the Score: Are We Winning? With data analytics, you can quantify the effectiveness of your communication strategies, adjust them based on feedback, and clearly demonstrate ROI. And if things aren’t looking great, it’s your cue to switch up the game plan.
3. Tailor-Made Messaging: One Size Does Not Fit All! Ever get a generic "Dear Valued Employee" email and think, "Ugh, really?". Data enables the personalization of communications to meet the specific needs of different groups within your organization, ensuring messages are relevant and engaging.

Follow These 4 Steps to Simplify Strategic Internal Communication Using Data

1. Unpack the “What We Think We Know”

If you want to easily understand structured and unstructured data and use it in decision making, adopting a pattern-oriented mindset is the first step. This includes clearly knowing (and being aware of) what your mission is and what problems you're facing while communicating with your employees or the problems they’re facing when interacting with one another. Once you understand the patterns of miscommunication or lack of communication, you can identify data sources to help you arrive at the correct inferences.

To get started with this, here's what you need to do:

• List out problems you or your colleagues face while communicating with each other, superiors, or clients.?
• Identify any bottlenecks and loopholes within your organization’s existing communication channels. For instance, you may observe that front line workers struggle to communicate with the in-office workers using traditional means like emails. You may find that the messages get missed frequently.?
• Chalk out the goals concerning internal communication that you want to prioritize. For example, ensuring more prompt communication between the in-office and frontline workforce.

2. Gather and Tidy Up the Data

You can collect data on your employees and team members communication and collaboration from multiple sources. For instance, you may look into your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, or human resource management solutions (HRMS). Valuable data include performance reports, customer feedback, tickets raised, etc. You can also find information regarding your employees on social channels, or group chats on WhatsApp that are used frequently.?

Once you have the information you need, you need to cleanse and organize the data in its raw form. That's because it may be duplicated, erroneous, and incompatible with different tools.

This step can be super simple if you implement an employee communication app in your organization that can act as a single source of truth. Using it will ensure all employee-related communication data is consolidated in one place. Speakap, for instance, helps you ensure secure communication organization wide, from its app-based interface. It can organize data-insights for you as well.

3. Break Out the Number-Crunching Gadgets

Once you've organized your data, you need to use statistical tools to derive insights to make strategic decisions. Usually, most ERP or HRM systems include statistical tools from which you can draw insights. For analyzing, here's what you need to get started:

• Access to statistical analytics tools such as SPSS (IBM), R Programming, and Microsoft Excel for generating both inferential and predictive insights.
• Data visualization tools such as Microsoft Power BI and Tableau for understanding the insights you generate.?
• If you are not comfortable with the complex tools listed above, relying on end-to-end employee communication tools can simplify the task for you.?

Read more: Internal Comms Strategy 4/4: One Employee Communication App?

Speakap generates inferential and predictive insights specific to your staff with an easy-to-use and AI-enabled interface. You can use this easily available information to drive your strategic internal communication initiatives.

4. Make Data the Boss

As humans, we tend to rely on "intuition" and biased data (think cognitive biases and logical fallacies) whenever we need to make decisions. To ensure you follow facts instead of gut, establish using data as a part of your policy framework. This will help ensure that you follow a scientific approach and reduce the chances of bias as much as possible.??

To reduce cherry-picking of data, here's what you need to ensure:

• All datasets are anonymized, and confounding variables (things that may cloud your decisions or organizational diversity and inclusion, such as gender, age, or employee race) are accounted for. Read More: Is Technology an Obstacle for Your DEI Initiatives?
• You're updated with the latest data sources and have access to them.
• You understand your employees. This is possible by investing time and resources in qualitative analysis like case studies, observation methods, and interviews in your datasets (make sure not to include this in quantitative analysis to avoid bias).

Sure, data might not be the life of the party, but it sure is a reliable buddy that’s got our backs. So, as we continue to navigate the intricacies of internal communications, let’s pledge to lean on the facts, not just our feelings. After all, who doesn’t want to be on the winning team of smart, informed decision-makers?

Ready to transform your comms strategy? Drop a comment or hit like if you’re with us on this data-driven journey.

Master Your Metrics with Our Latest White Paper

Want to really understand the impact of your internal communication efforts? Check out our latest white paper on "Measuring Internal Communication Effectiveness." It’s crammed with insights and methods to help you gauge your strategies and steer your decisions with solid data. This guide is your key to turning data into your superpower.