4 Ways to Use Data to Become People-First
A people-first organization fosters an environment where employees feel valued, heard, and empowered. To build a people-first culture, forward-thinking companies like Pendo are leveraging HR data to make dynamic, strategic decisions that drive engagement, retention, and fairness. Illoominus and Pendo hosted a webinar to delve into how to make use of HR data to create people-first organizations.
Click here to watch the on-demand recording of the webinar.
What does it mean to be a people-first organization?
People-first organizations prioritize their employees’ needs and experiences above short-term business objectives. To do that, the executives make sure that the HR team or people team has a strategic seat at the leadership table, involving HR and people leaders in all major business decisions.
People-first organizations empower employees by investing in programs and benefits that support employees personally and professionally. People-first organizations value representation at all levels, transparency, and frequent communication with employees. People-first organizations measure and track workforce sentiment, representation, retention and program effectiveness.
The core philosophy is that employees are a company's greatest asset. So people-first organizations shape business objectives and strategies around supporting their people first, rather than the other way around. The HR/people team plays an integral strategic role in advocating for employees' needs at the leadership table.
To start, leveraging HR data is a people-first thing to do. Illoominus and Pendo hosted a webinar on how to do exactly that, and strategic leaders tuned in like Delta Community Credit Union’s senior recruiter Carmen Inman, ShipBob’s VP of global talent Andy Pittman, and Pagerduty’s DEI director Roshan Kindred.
Here are four ideas from Pendo’s Chief People Officer JR Rettig and Senior Director of People Programs and DEI Jess Jolley to help get you started:
1. Evaluate every people program
Any new initiative should have clearly defined success metrics before launch. For example, track participation rates and performance review outcomes. Use sentiment and representation data together to identify correlations such as whether underrepresented are groups less engaged. Impact data shows where to make changes or double down on people programs.
For example, people-first organizations evaluate equity refresh programs to retain key talent effectively and analyze promotion processes for fairness and objectivity. By continuously monitoring and iterating based on key metrics, organizations can ensure that their people-first approach remains meaningful and relevant.
2. Share the responsibility
The key is democratizing access to aggregated, anonymized HR data for people managers. People managers own a major part of talent development and shouldn't rely on the HR team alone for insights. Pendo makes sure people managers can self-serve these critical insights in real time. People-first organizations empower people managers with aggregated, anonymized HR data and insights to develop their teams.
By aligning data analysis with business goals and investing in systems that provide reporting capabilities, managers can make data-driven decisions that cater to their employees' needs and work toward company objectives. Communication becomes paramount, ensuring that managers are well prepared and aligned with company goals.
3. Measure employee sentiment over time
Look at data from across the employee journey to understand, for example, how attrition and engagement scores correlate. Use engagement surveys, stay interviews, and pulse checks to monitor how people are feeling. Segment sentiment data by factors like department, tenure, role level, etc. to spot different experiences.
Negative trends call for a deeper analysis into factors affecting morale like manager effectiveness, workload, and inclusion (or lack thereof). Positive trends can help reveal which people programs are working.
This data can fuel your strategy.
Pendo's culture promotes high-touch, high-communication, and regular cadences of engagement with employees, fostering a sense of inclusion and connection.
4. Track representation and retention
Regularly pull demographic data to analyze workforce representation and diversity, and benchmark against industry standards to assess diversity gaps. Break down representation by level — are demographic groups well-represented in entry level roles but not leadership? Ensure representation data includes multiple diversity dimensions like gender identity, race, age, ability status, etc.
Look at attrition rates segmented by gender, race, seniority level, etc. Analyze attrition relative to representation to spot inclusion issues leading to turnover. This will reveal inclusion gaps and highlight where you may be losing top talent. Address any areas of concern through tailored programs and outreach.
In Conclusion
If you’re analyzing the data in a robust and ongoing way, then you’re well positioned to develop targeted strategies and investment priorities that will make your organization people-first. Becoming a people-first organization requires more than just good intentions — it requires strategic and data-driven decision-making.
By leveraging HR data and platforms like Illoominus, organizations like Pendo can measure, track, and iterate on their initiatives, creating a culture where employees feel valued, engaged, and empowered. Empowering managers and involving the entire organization is critical to success. Embracing the power of data and using it to drive talent management ensures that organizations can make informed decisions that align with their people-first vision.
As Pendo demonstrates, “people-first” is not just a buzzword, but a strategic advantage that leads to organizational success.
