(Week-ending 05/23/2020 - week 12)
Weekly Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR Decrease by 21% - A Significant and Positive Development for Employees, HR Teams and Their Organizations
Since last week, employee coronavirus-related questions, inquiries and requests into HR have decreased by 21%, from 32,816 employee cases created to 25,872. This represents a significant drop in coronavirus-related workload for HR and a sign that employees are now more educated in employee-related coronavirus issues, and as a result, do not need HR’s assistance as much as previous weeks.
The insights we discovered from our analysis of last week’s coronavirus-related data include:
(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 Decrease by 21%
Insight 3 Rate of Closing Employee Questions Decreases from 89% to 85%
Insight 4 Phone Usage Decreases by 8% But Remains the Communications Channel of Choice for Employees
Insight 5 Employee Case Type Word Cloud Image Depicts ‘The New World of Work’
Insight 1 Weekly Employee Coronavirus-related Questions into HR Decrease by 21%
The weekly upward trend for the quantity of employee coronavirus-related questions into HR decreased significantly by 21% to 25,872 cases compared with last week. This is the first major positive sign for employees, HR teams and their organizations since we started analyzing coronavirus-related case data, at the beginning of March 2020. It means HR has less coronavirus-related workload and employees are requiring less assistance from HR, both of which are positive outcomes for companies.
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 281,254.
Dovetail customers continue to use our Cloud-based technology, including HR Case Management, Employee Portal, HR Knowledge Management, and HR Reporting & Analytics applications, to manage and resolve these employee cases.
Insight 2 The Volume of Coronavirus-related Employee Questions into HR at the Weekend Continues to Decrease
Compared with the previous weekend, employee questions, inquiries, and requests into HR decreased, showing the respite for HR teams at the weekend continues.
The decrease in weekend cases reflects employees’ greater understanding of how coronavirus affects them, as well as an indication that the pressure on HR is alleviating. For several weeks now, we have been concerned about the continual build-up of pressure on HR teams, and the consequent stress and anxiety this causes to HR team members who are working in such difficult times. We will continue to monitor the situation and, as the pandemic subsides, hope to see this reflected in less stress on the HR function.
Insight 3 Rate of Closing Employee Questions Decreases from 89% to 85%
The rate at which HR teams closed employee coronavirus-related questions fell slightly last week, from 89% to 85%. It is unclear why this occurred since HR received 21% less questions. However, overall the close-rate remains high. We will continue to monitor this data, as it is a key indicator of how well HR (and their operations), are managing the continual influx of coronavirus-related questions.
Insight 4 Phone Usage Decreases by 8% But Remains the Communications Channel of Choice for Employees
The chart above shows employees are preferring the Phone for communicating with HR, with the percentage share of total cases being created via Phone at 57%. While this is a decrease of 8% since last week, it shows that the Phone is used by the majority of employees for getting in touch with HR. The advantage of the Phone channel is that employees can get quick answers to complex or multiple questions. We believe this ‘immediacy’ of response, will continue to make the Phone the most popular choice for employees seeking fast response times.
Insight 5 Employee Case Type Word Cloud Image Depicts ‘The New World of Work’
Case types, or the technical feature that enables HR teams to categorize employee questions by type, is a key feature of Dovetail’s HR Case Management, Employee Portal and HR Reporting & Analytics applications, as it helps HR generate high quality data, analysis and insights that help them (and senior management) understand and monitor what is happening during the pandemic.
We created Dovetail’s Coronavirus Case Type Word Cloud image to illustrate the importance of coronavirus-related case types for HR.
Ultimately, we feel, the image captures the ‘new world of work’ that all employees, and HR are facing today.
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 decreased substantially (by 21%) last week compared with the previous week. In fact, it was the largest drop in coronavirus-related cases since we started analyzing coronavirus-related employee questions, inquiries and requests data.
Surprisingly, the rate at which cases were closed, decreased from 89% to 85%, even though HR received less cases. We will continue to monitor and report on this statistic, as it is a key performance indicator of HR operational performance.
Overall, the story of last week for HR is a very positive one, as HR saw a reduction in their weekly (including weekend) coronavirus-related workload. We are hopeful that this trend will continue as the pandemic subsides.
To stay updated on how COVID-19 is impacting HR teams, Click here to view Dovetail’s Daily Updates for HR on the coronavirus.
