QBE Insurance is having more data-driven conversations with senior leaders around employee engagement and HR, aided by more frequent staff surveys and data collection.
The insurer’s employee listening program, called ‘Voice’ was changed three years ago from a once-a-year engagement in favour of shorter, more frequent surveys that were aligned to specific business needs or moments in the employee journey.
“Analytics plays a crucial role in understanding and improving employee engagement by providing data-driven insights that inform HR decisions and strategies,” QBE’s Melbourne-based global head of people data and analytics Kanella Salapatas told Digital Nation.
“This macro view of the employee population helps identify trends and patterns to drive focus on ‘what next’.”
Salapatas said that bringing data into conversations with the executive team enabled HR to “add more strategic value and build credibility.”
According to Salapatas, analysis of the data assists can be used to identifying problems, provide insights into how QBE is performing, and as a trigger to improve business operations.
“While leaders have access to immediate insights, ongoing analytics are essential to track trends, understand satisfaction drivers and identify potential areas of concern,” Salapatas said.
“After each employee survey, we analyse the data to guide meaningful conversations and translate insights into actionable steps.
“Importantly, we avoid reacting to isolated trends, such as a single low score from a leader, which may be an anomaly. Instead, we focus on identifying recurring challenges leaders may face.”
“Our program is centred on enhancing leadership capabilities and fostering positive workplace culture,” she said.
Technology plays a vital role in the collection, transformation, exploration and presentation of people data and workforce insights.
Data is used to help model potential scenarios ahead of decisions being made, allowing QBE’s leadership group to “understand impacts, mitigate risks and ensure that decisions are informed by data.”
Salapatas said she is “excited about advances in AI and their potential to transform the future of work, shaping both the capabilities and skills of the [QBE] workforce.”
“There is an exciting opportunity to leverage these capabilities to improve efficiencies, while always prioritising ethical considerations and including our people in the process,” she added.
Engagement and sense of belonging
QBE Insurance’s head of employee experience Jerome Moulin described the ‘Voice’ employee listening program as “helping create a more cohesive and focused approach to employee experience initiatives.”
The program seeks to gauge – among other things – candidate experience, onboarding and exit feedback, and uses both targeted surveys and focus groups.
Text analytics is also to glean insights from a free-text box on surveys that enabled respondents to provide more unstructured answers.
“Together, these elements provide the organisation and people leaders with a continuous, up-to-date view of our culture, employees’ sense of belonging, and emerging concerns,” Moulin said.
Moulin said the program has driven a better understanding of work-life balance, belonging, inclusivity, leadership, wellbeing and other factors that impact employee experience.
“For instance, one key finding highlighted the importance of flexible work options, which helped to shape our hybrid work policies and experiences,” he said.
“Another insight revealed a strong connection between engagement and sense of belonging: employees who reported a lower sense of belonging were 20 percent less likely to participate in future surveys, 14.6 times more likely to feel undervalued and 5.3 times more likely to leave.”
Moulin said the insights have “guided important initiatives” including nurturing an inclusive culture that “prioritises employee wellbeing and supports both personal and professional growth.”
“Outcomes from our listening efforts also help direct focus toward key organisational priorities, such as advancing Diversity & Inclusion, the introduction of ‘sense of belonging’ targets and reinforcing our purpose, as well as improving processes including the onboarding of new employees.”