COVID-19 HR Weekly Update #11

(Week-ending 06/20/2020 - week 16)

23% Drop in Weekly Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR

Last week’s decrease by 23% in employee employee coronavirus-related questions into HR, is a continuation of a trend we have been highlighting for several weeks now. 

It tells us that HR have responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic, communicating with and responding to their employees’ concerns, which has resulted in a much better informed and educated workforce, about COVID-19 related matters.

Technology has played a key role in supporting HR throughout the emergency. For example, by optimizing the use of Dovetail’s Employee Portal, HR Case Management, HR Knowledge Management and HR Reporting & Analytics applications, using features such as Case Types, Knowledge Base articles, and an online communications platform, our customers have been able to remain responsive to their employee needs and maintain high levels of service quality.

It’s important to remember that we are still in the midst of the crisis. With Fox 5 reporting four states (Arizona, Florida, California and Nevada) experiencing record highs of confirmed coronavirus cases (with the news seemingly getting worse by the day), this raises new concerns that the virus is far from over in the United States. While on the 22nd June, the World Health Organization recorded highest one-day increase in total cases, with 183,000 added in one day.

Additionally, in a recent Deutsche Bank Research post entitled After Covid: The Next Massive Tail Risk, a team of analysts outlined potential future catastrophic risks, stating:

“there is a one-in-three chance that at least one of four major tail risks will occur within the next decade: a major influenza pandemic killing more than 2 million people; a globally catastrophic volcanic eruption; a major solar flare; or a global war.”

It is becoming ever clearer that we are now in the ‘new world of work’ where HR teams, organizations and their employees, need to be prepared for future global pandemics and crises. We believe HR teams that have risk management strategies in place and have adopted the right HR technology will be best placed to respond to these future emergencies.

Click below for more insights from our analysis of last weeks’ coronavirus-related employee question data:

(Note: Employee cases refer to employee questions, inquiries and requests that are logged as “cases” in the Dovetail HR Case Management solution).

Insight 1 - 23% Drop in Weekly Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR

Insight 2 - Sharp Fall in Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR at the Weekend

Insight 3 - Rate of Closing Employee Coronavirus-related Questions Reduced to 77%

Insight 4 - Employee Cases Created Via Email Increases by 13% And Remains the Preferred Channel for Communicating With HR

Insight 5 - Employee Case-Type Word Cloud is an Engaging Visualization of What HR Teams Are Facing on a Daily Basis During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Insight 1 - 23% Drop in Weekly Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR

A 23% decline in employee questions into HR last week, from 12,222 to 9,540, is an indication that HR have performed well in answering their employees questions about coronavirus since the beginning of March this year, as employees are requiring less assistance from HR.

Employees who have been able to access Dovetail’s Employee Portal features, such as FAQs & Guides, Infographics & Videos and Live Chat have experienced responsive HR Service Delivery. While HR teams using Dovetail’s HR Case Management features such as Case Types, Automated Workflow and Instant Knowledge Search, have the tools at their fingertips to provide the level of service employees have come to expect.

With total accumulated coronavirus-related employee questions into HR having reached 355,006, the productivity, efficiency and service performance gains that technology such as HR Case Management can offer, has never been more highly valued.

Insight 2 - Sharp Fall in Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR at the Weekend

The chart above shows the significant the continual decline in employee coronavirus-related cases being created at the weekend. In fact, this is the lowest number of weekend cases for ten weeks. 

During the crisis, HR have responded by working longer hours at the weekend, moving their teams offsite to work remotely, and optimize their case management technology to reduce the number of inbound inquiries, for example, by making content that contains the answers to employee questions available on an employee communication platform and Knowledge Base. 

We expect HR teams to continue with these practices to ensure workloads remain manageable and the organization continues to operate efficiently during the week and at weekends.

Insight 3 - Rate of Closing Employee Coronavirus-related Questions Decreases to 77%

The rate at which HR teams closed employee coronavirus-related questions decreased from 84% the previous week to 77% last week.

This is the lowest rate of case closing that we have seen during the period analyzed. It is perhaps an indication that a greater proportion of last week’s cases were more complex than usual.

We will continue to monitor this key statistic, as it is a clear measure of how HR are staying on top of the additional workload being generated by COVID-19 for HR teams. Hopefully we will see a bounce back to close rates over 80% this week.

Insight 4 - Employee Cases Created Via Email Increases by 13% And Remains the Preferred Channel for Communicating With HR

Last week saw Email channel usage increase by 13%, as employees continue to switch from using the Phone to Email and creating cases through the Employee Portal.

Email now accounts for 55% of all cases created in Dovetail’s HR Service Delivery Experience, while Phone accounts for 35% and Employee Portal 9%.

By also offering employees the Live Chat communication channel, Dovetail enables HR Service Delivery teams to create an omnichannel experience for their employees, which increases employee satisfaction.

Insight 5 - Employee Case-Type Word Cloud Depicts How COVID-19 Affects HR and Their Employees

Our Case Type Word Cloud is a visualization of what HR teams are facing on a weekly basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The frequency of each Case Type is counted and the font size is assigned to the words in the cloud: the more frequently the word appears, the larger the word is shown in the cloud.

The Word Cloud has several advantages with respect to standard analysis techniques. Firstly, it reveals the essential; the most frequent Case Types come to the surface, highlighting what are the employees most frequent questions. Secondly, by observing the Word Cloud, the viewer can get an overall ‘sense’ of what is happening within the organization. Thirdly, it offers a quick way of analyzing what is happening, without the need to pore over reams of research data. And finally, Word Clouds are engaging. Visual representation of data tends to have an impact, generating interest among audiences, which is why we created one for our HR audience!

Note: Case Types categorize employee coronavirus questions and are used in advanced HR Reporting & Analytics to help HR understand employees' needs and behaviors better, while providing additional insight into what is happening in their organization.

Conclusion 

Last week saw the number of employee cases into HR decrease by 23%, showing the continuing decline in coronavirus-related questions into HR. This is positive news for HR teams everywhere, and is a testament to their workrate and communication skills, in answering hundreds of thousands of employee questions since March, educating employees in COVID-19-related matters in the process.

Dovetail customers utilizing our HR Service Delivery technology, including HR Case Management, Employee Portal and HR Knowledge Management, with features such as Case Types, Knowledge Base and FAQs, have been able to maintain high levels of employee service management, and manage the huge additional workload brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, with reports of increases in coronavirus cases in the US and other parts of the world, HR teams need to be prepared for the worst case scenario now more than ever. By enabling teams to increase productivity, work remotely, and improve communications with employees, we believe HR Service Delivery technology can play a key part in protecting HR, their employees and their organizations from future catastrophic risks.

To stay updated on how COVID-19 is impacting HR teams, Click here to view Dovetail’s Daily Updates for HR on the coronavirus.

Please click here if you would like to find out more about how Dovetail can help you during the coronavirus pandemic.

Click here to read last weeks COVID-19 HR Weekly Update #10