Employers value employee feedback but don’t have the right data to help them make changes

Employee feedback has become a critical tool for employers, yet many don’t have the resources to successfully utilize the data they collect to meet employees’ needs.

Many benefits leaders don’t feel comfortable utilizing non-traditional benefits data like financial information, 401(k) and retirement stats, wellness program results, or diversity, equity and inclusion statistics to guide their benefits decisions, according to new research from Artemis Health and Arizent, the parent company of EBN.

Just over half — 53% — of the benefits leaders surveyed say they feel they’ve been “very successful” in using this data to guide their benefits decisions, down from 85% in 2020.

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“Employers are very much ignoring data right now,” says Grant Gordon, CEO of Artemis Health, a benefits analytics software company. “There's a lot of focus on short-term wins because they're trying to keep people in their seats. But long-term investments, like investing in data, have been pushed to the wayside.”

However, this is a challenge they’ll need to overcome if they want to come out on the winning side of the great resignation, Gordon says, but they don’t have to do it alone. He recommends connecting with a data analytics program that has a user interface the organization will be comfortable using. These programs don’t have to be overly complex, but will provide the benefits leader with an account manager who can help the organization comb through all the data in order to make the best decisions for their teams.

“Choose a good partner to help you— you don’t have to figure this out on your own,” he says. “Data can be a really intimidating concept for anybody who doesn't live in it all day, every day. But a good partner will help you think about it and map it to your world.”

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For example, employers can mine their employee population for data around healthcare and whether or not employees are getting the best quality for what they are paying. This data could also show an uptick in employees seeking mental health care, which might mean it’s time to consider a wellness benefit like a therapy app.

“Look for employee populations who are seeing doctors who are low quality, but high cost,” Gordon says. “Look for people who aren't getting the treatment they need for chronic conditions, look for things like high price variability in highly concentrated regions."

As the workplace evolves over time, employees’ benefit needs will, too. Understanding what your employees are saying through their data can help you actually make changes that matter.

“The best way to use data isn't to try to work at an employee level, but to look at the strategic level,” he says. “There's a lot of things that employers can do to try to help employees be more engaged, help them be healthier, and help reduce those costs.”