Managers matter: How data insights change the dialogue & optimize employee experience | Talent Connect 2017

Editor's Notes

• #4 SLIDE OBJECTIVE: Describe how collaboration data can be combined with basic HR information (e.g., organizational hierarchy, roles, titles, geographies, etc.) to generate unprecedented insights Microsoft extracts Exchange email and calendar metadata* for each knowledge worker within a specified population (e.g., geography, department, role, level, entire enterprise, etc.). Based on previous engagements, Microsoft can typically extract around 15-20 hours of time use data for individual contributors, 20-30 hours for mid-level managers, and 30+ hours for senior leaders and executives Metadata is de-identified and aggregated *Metadata: To line, From line, Email domain, Time stamps (sent/opened), Subject line (for email and meetings), Attachment (‘yes’ or ‘no’ only) Depending on the customer’s Exchange archival protocol, Workplace Analytics is capable of extracting historical email and calendar metadata for analysis (historic extraction ability also depends on data quality) To generate actionable insights, Microsoft combines the raw collaboration data with HR information to generate a robust view into the activities and communication patterns of a population HR data can be imported manually by Microsoft via a raw data file or via Active Directory Individual employees (and their related HR data) are de-identified and assigned a random ID number that is matched with collaboration metadata With email domains, Workplace Analytics also surfaces collaborative activities between the Workplace Analytics customer and external parties (partners, vendors, customers, etc.) Privacy and security Workplace Analytics and all used data remains Office 365 compliant Unique populations, including email addresses, levels, departments, and geographies, can be excluded in extraction and analysis In most engagements, customers implement a minimum threshold (typically 5) for data filtering (i.e., analysts can’t filter down to a single individual)
• #5 Onboarding is just one example of the work we do at Microsoft related to People Analytics. Data is providing us insights that can inform programs across the entire employee lifecycle.
• #9 When correlating Workplace Analytics KPI’s to our Global Onboarding survey we find a connection between 1:1 manager meetings and the new hire’s network. When your manager is actively involved in the early stages of the onboarding process, it can benefit the new hire greatly. Our data suggest that the quality of one’s network is related to the manager’s engagement. We found there are a couple of additional benefits for growing large networks. Employees who have higher network growth intend to stay longer. At MS, from our exit survey, the #1 reason why people leave is for career development opportunities. A larger network provides exposure to other areas of the company. When an employees is looking for experience in their career, they will have connections to look internally for opportunities before looking externally. Growing a network can also help an employee feel a sense of belonging, especially for new employees. This idea is reflected one of our culture initiatives, Work as One. Managers can foster inclusive behaviors by introducing their directs to people outside the team and encourage discussion about different work topics. We want people to go out, grab a coffee, grow your network. It is beneficial for the employee, their team, and the company.
• #10 The next set of findings shows the importance of team collaboration and how it impacts a new hire’s perception of team contributions. When new hires spend more time collaborating with their team, they are more likely to perceive that they are contributing to the team’s success. This is extremely important because it encourages new employees to stay engaged and excited about the work they are doing.
• #11 And, with all of that said, we believe human capital management will be transformed by the convergence of workplace analytics, the cloud, AI and LinkedIn.
• #13 So now that we have these insights, how we will get these in the hands of HR and managers to drive impact? Onboarding v-team – our onboarding v-team is comprised of people from different parts of the business. The purpose of this group is to use insights to help drive change that will improve the onboarding experience for new hires. MyAnalytics – [Ask Ryan about what should be said here] #DataDriveHR – we are leveraging our internal social network yammer to help highlight and spread these insights to the HR so they can provide guidance to managers as well – this is where we post a lot of the insights my team comes up with as we are creating a data drive HR. Future - Today is only the beginning. There are so many possibilities how we can use these insights to empower people in real time. Wouldn’t it be great to get a notification on your phone if you have not emailed or met with anyone outside your internal network for a month – serving up suggestions of people to go meet with that have similar roles within the company as you do? Closing - As you go back to your companies ask these questions. What data do you have? How are you leveraging these data to create meaningful insights, and how are you operationalizing those insights to take action.
• #15 First impressions are critical in most scenarios people encounter in their lives. This is especially true in the workplace. New employees can begin to formulate impressions about their organization before they even begin working, which is why it is important for organizations to provide a great onboarding experience to new employees. Onboarding programs provide an early glimpse into the company’s culture so when they are poorly executed, it can put a spotlight on areas of weakness within the company and/or provide an inaccurate depiction of company culture. Not only that, it can influence a new hire’s decision to stay with the company. Poor onboarding experiences can lead to turnover and for some companies, the cost of turnover can be as much as 2x the employee’s annual salary! On the bright side, when executed properly, onboarding programs can help improve productivity by up to 11%, which can lead to increased revenue. It’s not enough for companies to hire the “best and brightest”, they must also support them throughout their onboarding experience.
• #17 Overall, the data suggest that managers meet more frequently with new hires after about 4 months on the job. A closer look at the data shows that managers from “Other” professions (which exclude Engineering and Sales) meet less frequently with new hires in their first 3 months. Given the critical role managers play in the onboarding process, leaders and support staff (i.e., HR) need to encourage managers to meet more frequently early on in a new hire’s tenure. With regard to broader team meetings, Engineers tend to spend more time in meeting with people who have more seniority in their organization. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something we should explore. Particularly if the presence of more senior level employees interferes with a new hire’s ability to share ideas, be productive or take ownership of projects.
• #18 Onboarding Satisfaction – When new employees have a positive onboarding experience, they feel good about working for our company. Thet report feeling proud to work for Microsoft. Inclusion – We see a strong correlation between measurable aspects of collaboration and employee sentiment around inclusion. Inclusion is important because diversifying the workforce will not be successful unless there is a culture of inclusion. This is particularly important for new hires. Contributions to the Team – New employees who believe they are contributing to the success of their team also tend to engage in, what we consider, high quality meetings. High quality meetings are given a score of 85 or above (the range is 0-100). This score is calculated using a number of different components (Attendee Quality, Double-booked Quality, Low Engagement Quality, Decline Quality, Layer Quality, Duration Quality). This might suggest that managers should resist the urge to include a new hire in lots of meetings but rather be intentional about which meetings may offer the most benefit to their new hire. Manager Engagement – New employees who reported having a 1:1 meeting with their manager during their first week had fewer overload meetings, redundant hours and higher meeting quality hours than those who did not have a 1:1 meeting with their manager. This is further confirmation that the manager’s role in the onboarding process is critical and impacts many aspects of the new hire’s onboarding experience.