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What makes employees happy? This is a question many businesses try to answer if they wish to benefit from worker retention. Demand Media said holding onto existing employees allows for organizations to invest in employees, save money on training and build a relationship with talented individuals.

The ability to monitor satisfaction and anticipate new demands helps companies keep their best people while also ensuring staff members are challenged and working efficiently. Business intelligence software often helps quantify factors organizations once thought impossible to measure in hard numbers. This includes worker happiness.

Knowing what workers need
Utilizing data systems to predict employee satisfaction begins with the job interview. Talent Culture said hiring managers should compare internal information systems to data collected from candidate resumes to see if an individual would be a good fit for an organization.

"Hiring managers should compare internal information systems to data collected from candidate resumes."

This requires companies to measure and monitor the events and actions associated with both happy workers and those that leave after short periods. For example, if a position sees frequent turnover, the business should measure the hours, work output and employee feedback generated by that specific role in the organization. Comparing this data to information from positions where retention is high should show whether the employee, the job expectations or other factors were responsible for frustration.

If this data is available during job interviews, predictive modeling tools should help employers identify which qualities correspond to long tenures and when red flags become apparent.

Responding to employee demands
Inc. suggested the key to keeping employees happy is treating them like individuals. This calls for a performance management system smart enough to anticipate needs based on trends but flexible enough to tailor results to singular workers. For example, it's important managers can recognize signs of complacency and assign tasks based on individual skills when an employee appears bored. 

While there are many industry standards for employment, recognizing the needs and responsibilities unique to each position calls for a personalized intelligent business information system. Unfortunately, Employment Benefit Advisor shared Society for Human Resource Management research that found about three-fourths of HR departments struggle with customization when implementing data analytics.

A professional business intelligence partner can help with strategic predictive planning services. With unique data, HR managers can see exactly when retention activities succeed, when employees need special attention and how to screen for candidates who will be happy in a given position.