1.3 million people in the UK are predicted to fall into poverty by 2023. That’s a sobering statistic of the cost-of-living crisis which is set to be more dangerous for businesses than the pandemic. As essentials like heating and electricity rise in price, more people will find themselves at risk of financial hardship. Organisations will need to be ready to combat the challenges facing their workforce and safeguard their people in order to manage wellbeing, retention and productivity.

Using a robust people analytics solution means senior leads can make impartial, informed decisions on who to focus on, monitor the take-up of the initiatives they put in place and ultimately, measure the impact these interventions on metrics such as retention, team productivity and engagement.

Here’s how people analytics can help you navigate these challenges

Data driven decisions

We have seen in the last 6 months, businesses react with higher pay rises, one-off cash payments, retention bonuses and financial wellbeing and education support in an attempt to help employees deal with the growing financial pressures.

Some organisations have segmented their workforce to target lower earners, rather than a blanket approach. This is where people analytics can start to add value.

Understanding which of your employees travel furthest, are paid the least, have taken the most time off due to illness, and other data insights can help you size the number of people with a greater need and ensure the financial support you put in place has the biggest impact on those that really need it.

As the options of who to target, what to introduce and how much the business is willing to spend can be many and varied, avoiding opinions and anecdotal evidence clouding decision making is critical.

Measuring impact

Bringing employee data together in a people analytics platform also helps senior teams measure the impact of their decisions and investments on attracting and retaining employees.

If an organisation introduces a one-off payment or a higher pay rise, are they expecting to see an increase in staff retention and engagement? Does offering office-based staff a travel subsidy or lunch allowances impact on sickness absence? Looking at the people data can unlock the answers.

Where optional schemes are made available, such as interest free loans, advances on pay, or financial wellbeing support, monitoring the take up of these initiatives over time immediately helps decision makers understand what is having an impact or where they are not hitting the mark.

Identifying risk

As well as assessing the efficacy of what they introduce quickly and efficiently, employers also want to identify risks in their workforce and to know when and where further interventions are required. For example, with 40% of British adults in employment currently working from home, how will the rise in energy costs affect your remote workforce?  Many of your workforce may be considering whether it’s cheaper for them to go back to the office to avoid heating costs during the day. Offering this option to your workforce may be a simple yet effective way of retaining staff whilst acknowledging the rising financial costs. Is this a viable option that you need to consider? How much of your workforce might this affect?

With a people analytics platform, organisations are able to analyse employee data such as engagement, absence, performance and salary to identify those who may require additional support.

Book a demo with our Illumin8 platform to see how we can help you with your upcoming decisions here.