Natural Language Processing, The Next Frontier
One of the true “next frontiers” for Holistic -- and the business of helping people be successful at work and life -- is around the idea of natural language processing and machine learning. Basically, taking our words, turning them into data, and using them to better understand what people are experiencing.
At Holistic, we’ve identified four primary areas where we’re using natural language processing, machine learning and predictive analytics to foster more equitable, fair and inclusive experiences at companies.
On each of these, there is a free resource listed below that you can have access to, if you want.
Translations
Company-by-company, division-by-division, individual-by-individual, folks have such a unique and customized way of communicating these days. One of the things that we’ve really realized at Holistic is that nobody needs to tell anyone else who they are -- rather, it’s our job to create an environment where people can bring their whole selves and we meet them where they are. So, we’ve designed a series of tools and mechanisms that allow people to self-identify in any fashion they want, and we use NLP to translate everything into the categories that we need. This is a really powerful technology and we think this will be a game-changer in the DEI industry.
FREE resource: If your organization doesn’t already have demographic information for your employees, now is the time to collect it. This survey uses natural language processing and other machine learning to allow employees of any company to submit their demographic information on their terms. As we say, you don’t need Holistic -- or anyone -- to tell you who you are or how you identify yourself.
Values analysis
Your values are more important than ever. If you don’t have values, you need them -- and if you do, you need to be sure that they are working for you. Holistic informs its partners about their values using a methodology that allows everyone in your company or community to have a voice, which we then explore using natural language processing.
Here’s the thing -- people’s voices need to be heard in a values process, but we also need to understand that these values generation (or analysis) processes are complicated and time consuming.
FREE resource: We have developed a “Values survey” that organizations can take and use to determine what their values should be, or, if they already have values, how they’re doing. The survey is easy to use, and it accesses a massive database of values-related material that we have assembled and that we’re able to plumb with NLP. Everyone should talk with us about their values.
Sentiment Analysis
Open-ended information is tough to process. Companies have tons of information that is already assembled, but all too often, it’s not really accessed in any fashion. So it just sits there. It goes to waste.
Two perfect examples: exit interviews and performance reviews. Far too often, these endeavors result in treasure troves of potentially valuable information that is never acted upon. And, even if it is acted upon, it is only because of a Herculean effort by one individual on the team. What we do is we can quickly analyze huge amounts of information to understand A) what people are talking about and B) how they are feeling about it. It’s straightforward, fast and actionable.
FREE resource: Send us any file of data from either performance reviews or exit interviews -- or really anyplace where there’s a bunch of open-ended responses. (An old employee survey would work AMAZINGLY as well). We’ll run it through our NLP engine and give you a report of what it shows.
Prioritization and Corroboration
At Holistic, we always say, “There’s a huge difference between being underpaid and feeling underpaid.” We can safely say that we all probably feel underpaid, in one fashion or another -- but we all can’t actually be underpaid. Being able to help our clients empirically understand the “truth” behind what is being conveyed by their employees is essential. Is this a real problem? Is this just people complaining? Is this a problem that could arise in the future?
We use NLP to sift through significant amounts of corporate information and we’re able to ascertain what is actually a challenge versus what is perceived to be a challenge. This is fundamental for leadership teams, who have limited time and must focus their attention on REAL issues with REAL solutions.
FREE resource: We have developed about a dozen pulse or micro-surveys. These surveys cover all manner of things -- communications, decision-making, benefits, flex work, compensation philosophy, transparency -- key issues that organizations frequently deal with. We use these surveys to quickly understand what’s an actual challenge for an organization, and what isn’t, and then we’ll come and meet with your leadership team for an hour to discuss our findings. It’s a great and easy way to get some really interesting and valuable insights.
We are super excited about natural language processing and machine learning and its potential to impact every aspect of Holistic’s operations and every aspect of your company’s employee experience as well. Please take a look at the free offerings above, and consider trying out one or more of them! Or email us here and we’ll talk with you about how we can help.