Fifty-two percent of executives said they are unable make “critical” workplace decisions because of a lack of data, according to a recent report from Envoy. The research found that 80% of the same executives would have approached their return to office (RTO) initiatives and policies differently if they had access to accurate data.
The problem, according to the survey’s respondents, is not only the availability of data, but rather the lack of “accurate, unified” data.
“Data is scattered across many different siloed systems, making it extremely difficult for workplace leaders and their teams to gather for analysis. In fact, many workplace managers report having to go to great lengths to manually collect their data,” the company said.
This also comes as other researchers have found that almost half (47%) of employees indicate they would quit a job or begin looking for a new job immediately if their employer mandated a full-time return-to-office policy. Which presents a problem.
Data and AI
The company said, the biggest takeaway from the survey is that “you can’t improve what you can’t measure.”
According to the company, when asked how their businesses would benefit from more accessible and accurate data reporting, 73% of leaders said their companies would be better equipped to measure the success of workplace strategies. The other top answers were: layout/space management (66%), daily workplace services (e.g., food, parking) (52%), real estate investment decisions (49%) and mandated safety audits (47%). Real-time reporting can help leaders pivot quickly to identify inefficiencies or double down on strategies that work.
The answer? According to Envoy, it’s AI. “Soon, businesses will be able to harness the power of machine learning algorithms to analyze their vast pool of workplace data. This will enable them to uncover new patterns, trends and correlations in how employees use the workplace, and predict future behavior based on past patterns,” the company said.
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