(Week-ending 05/16/2020 - week 11)
Weekly Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR Increase by 8.6%
Since last week, employee coronavirus-related questions, inquiries and requests into HR have increased by 8.6%, from 29,708 to 32,249 this week. This marks the sixth week of an upward trend of COVID-19 case volume for HR teams in enterprise companies operating both within the US and the rest of the world. Along with the total accumulated number of cases (for the 11 week period analysed) now reaching 254,759 cases, this trend shows the ever increasing workload HR are having to manage, and the pressure they are under.
Please click the Insight links below to understand more about what HR teams are facing during this crisis.
(Note: Employee cases refer to employee questions, inquiries and requests that are logged as “cases” in the Dovetail HR Case Management solution).
Insight 1 Weekly Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR Increase by 8.6%
Insight 2 Weekend Coronavirus-related Employee Questions Decrease But Remain High
Insight 3 Employee Coronavirus-related Question Close-rate Increases Slightly from 87% to 89%
Insight 4 Phone Usage Increases by 13% As Employees Require Immediacy of Response to Their Questions
Insight 1 Weekly Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR Increase by 8.6%
The weekly upward trend for the quantity of employee coronavirus-related questions into HR continues, as it increased by 8.6% to 32,249 last week. Employees are feeling increasingly anxious about a number of issues including their job security, health and safety in the office, and about how they can travel to work, and get into the office safely as the lockdown eases. Questions like “Is the company likely to reduce hours/salaries or layoff staff this year?”, “How is the company protecting staff if I come into work?”, “Are you able to recommend the safest way for me to get to the office, and once arrived, what is the procedure for entering the office building?”, are questions we are seeing be asked of HR.
The job insecurity brought about by the pandemic, coupled with the easing of the lockdown, looks set to increase the number of questions employees will have for HR. We therefore believe COVID-19-related questions into HR will remain high during this week.
The chart below is an illustration of the quantity of additional work HR are managing since the beginning of March this year, with accumulated cases now totaling 254,759.
At Dovetail, we continue to work with our customers to ensure they are able to optimize the use of our technology, including the Employee Portal and HR Knowledge Base to help communicate coronavirus-related information to employees and reduce the number of cases created, and HR Case Management, to ensure maximum efficiency is gained in case management operations.
Insight 2 Weekend Coronavirus-related Employee Questions Decrease But Remain High
Compared with the previous weekend, employee questions, inquiries, and requests into HR decreased, indicating a slight respite for HR teams.
However, last weekend still saw the second highest number of cases created at a weekend since the 1st March, showing HR are continuing to adapt to increased workload in order to ensure employees experience a high response rate.
Insight 3 Employee Coronavirus-related Question Close-rate Increases Slightly from 87% to 89%
HR teams continue to perform well during the pandemic, closing almost 90% of all coronavirus-related cases on a weekly basis. Week after week, and now working remotely, HR managers are still seeing their teams cope well with the extra workload during the crisis.
We predict that, as HR remote working teams drive ever more efficiencies from using HR technology features such as collaboration tools, employee engagement platforms with knowledge base (such as Dovetail Employee Portal and shared Knowledge Management), and advanced HR Reporting, it will continue to improve its operations and maintain high case close rates.
Insight 4 Phone Usage Increases by 13% As Employees Require Immediacy of Response to Their Questions
The chart above shows clearly that, over the last couple of weeks, employees are preferring the Phone for communicating with HR, with the percentage share of total cases being created via Phone now reaching 64%. This reflects employees’ need for quick answers to complex or multiple questions, most likely brought about by their growing levels of anxiety caused by the impact of the pandemic.
With the economic outlook continuing to look bleak, and no vaccine for COVID-19 in sight, the immediacy of response that the Phone channel offers, looks set to make it the communications channel of choice for the majority of employees.
Insight 5 Dovetail’s Customer Word Cloud Reflects Employees’ Feelings of Anxiety Brought About by the Coronavirus Pandemic
This week, Dovetail’s Coronavirus Case Type Word Cloud continues to show how prevalent the Coronavirus and COVID cases are, as both words grow in size in relation to all other case types.
The Word Cloud will continue to be an image that captures the ‘new world of work’ employees are now living in.
Note: Case Types categorize employee coronavirus questions and are used in advanced HR Reporting & Analytics with Smart Dashboards to help HR understand employees' needs and behaviors better, while providing additional insight into what is happening in their organization.
Conclusion
Weekly employee coronavirus-related questions into HR continue to increase, while cases created at weekends continue to remain high, which is reflected in the quantity of employee coronavirus-related questions coming into HR now totaling over a quarter of a million cases. There’s no doubt HR managers and their teams are working hard, demonstrated by weekly case close-rates increasing to almost 90%. Many HR teams have adopted remote working and still show that they can perform well in the most difficult of times. Their performance is aided by using the latest in HR software tools, such as Dovetail HR Case Management, Employee Portal and HR Knowledge Management applications, to help meet the challenges they face today.
To stay updated on how COVID-19 is impacting HR teams, Click here to view Dovetail’s Daily Updates for HR on the coronavirus.
