AI Investments, Personalization Distinguish Perceptyx in Fosway 9-Grid™

For the second consecutive year, Perceptyx has earned the distinction of being a Strategic Leader in the Fosway 9-Grid™ for Talent and People Success, published by Fosway Group, Europe's premier HR industry analyst firm. This recognition is a testament to our commitment to innovation in three critical domains: artificial intelligence (AI), personalization, and integrations within the HR technology ecosystem. 

In the article that follows, we’ll explore each of these three domains.

Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning Models

Perceptyx's investment in AI technology has been strategic — a reflection of our belief, also emphasized in Fosway Group’s report, that AI will be a critical differentiator in the marketplace and transformational to Employee Experience (EX).  

Our utilization of sophisticated natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning models underlines this commitment. With a remarkable 94% accuracy rate in theme and sentiment analysis, these models excel in sifting through extensive open-text comments to unearth rich, nuanced insights — akin to systematically and repetitively finding needles in a haystack.

Another breakthrough was the development of an entirely new NLP model that discerns the why behind employee comments. This new Intent model enables HR professionals and managers to swiftly identify suggestions, needs, and concerns, bolstering the capacity for responsive and effective action. 

Currently in beta, our Emotion model provides additional insights, distinguishing between six emotional valences: low sentiment is broken down into anger, fear, and sadness, while high sentiment is broken into love, joy, and surprise. This gives HR leaders and managers further insight into the voice of employees, helping them take meaningful action more quickly. 

Source: Fosway Group; Fosway 9-Grid™ Talent & People Success (November 2023)

The AI Insights Engine — Personalized Insights to Prompt Action

Our AI Insights Engine is a sophisticated component of the Perceptyx ecosystem, developed to extract and elevate critical insights from across a wide array of listening events. It's engineered to streamline the decision-making process for managers and HR leaders, surfacing novel insights and accelerating the transition from insight to action. These insights are meticulously tailored, taking into account the user's specific managerial role and the breadth of their responsibilities.

Perceptyx's Microsoft Teams Bot

The engine's intelligence extends its reach beyond the confines of the Perceptyx People Insights Platform, integrating with workplace communication systems, most notably Microsoft Teams. This integration ensures that personalized insights are not only derived from a comprehensive analysis but are also communicated effectively, placing them directly in the workflow of the managers and HR leaders. The delivery method is as critical as the insights themselves, providing immediacy and relevance that drive prompt and impactful actions.

Cultivate Intelligent Coaching — AI-Powered, Personalized Feedback for Managers

Cultivate Intelligent Coaching employs 'passive listening' and AI to discern managerial behaviors and recommend actions for improved management practices.  By analyzing managers’ digital communications in email and messaging platforms like Teams and Slack, Cultivate Intelligent Coaching pinpoints specific managerial behaviors, providing greater self-awareness of behaviors that can both contribute to — and detract from — an optimal employee experience (EX). This AI functionality not only discerns contextual nuances and behavioral cues within interpersonal exchanges but also proffers tailored recommendations and developmental features. These resources serve as a virtual coach to foster improved team dynamics and an environment conducive to optimal employee performance.

Personalization at the Core of Employee Experience

As Fosway Group pointed out in its report, personalization is a cornerstone of EX in the contemporary workplace. Modern employees harbor expectations for experiences at work that are as tailored and responsive as those they encounter in their consumer lives. Perceptyx's technology meets these expectations by facilitating sentiment analysis that enables in-depth listening to employees without the need for lengthy surveys. This approach allows for a nuanced understanding of employee sentiment, paving the way for interventions and communications that are specifically aligned with individual or group needs, sentiments, and preferences.

Perceptyx's platform goes beyond the traditional aggregation of employee feedback. By dissecting and interpreting complex data sets, the platform identifies distinct 'drivers' of employee satisfaction and engagement. This capability is especially potent for pinpointing the specific needs of discrete and even small employee populations within sprawling organizational structures. The granularity of insights provided empowers HR professionals and managers to discern and act on the unique motivators and concerns of discrete employee segments.

The ability to respond to employee feedback with personalized actions is paramount. Where other vendors may provide a generalized overview and recommendations, Perceptyx delivers specificity. This specificity enables HR departments and managers to craft and implement responsive actions that resonate on a more personal level with employees. The result is a more meaningful engagement with the workforce, fostering an environment where employees feel distinctly valued and understood, which our research has shown is critical in nurturing satisfaction and loyalty.

Seamless Integration: Bridging Platforms and Processes

In the evolving landscape of HR technology, Fosway Group’s report argues that the integration of solutions into the broader tech ecosystem is essential for long-term success. In recognition of this, Perceptyx has invested in specialized connectors to enterprise HRIS systems such as Workday, Oracle, and SAP SuccessFactors,  as well as adding support for Microsoft Teams earlier this year. By embedding talent processes into workplace communication platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Perceptyx has streamlined the way customers engage with employees, meeting them within their daily digital workflow. This integration enhances the responsiveness and participation in listening events, ensuring that employee insights are not only gathered but also acted upon promptly and effectively.

The deployment of a Microsoft Teams Bot by Perceptyx serves as a bridge, connecting the conversational aspects of the workplace with the analytical horsepower of Perceptyx's platform. In doing so, it facilitates a dynamic two-way dialogue that is essential in mature organizational cultures. It's not just about passively collecting data; it’s about actively fostering a communicative environment where feedback is rapidly translated into action. Our bot acts as an always-on conduit for continuous feedback and insight delivery, embedding the employee listening process directly into the natural communication flow of Microsoft Teams.

Strategic Acquisitions for Enhanced Personalization and AI

As Fosway Group noted, the HR technology market is increasingly characterized by strategic acquisitions, with companies seeking to enhance their capabilities and competitive edge. Perceptyx's acquisition of Humu earlier this year represents a prime example. Humu's Behavioral Framework, an extensive library of science-backed nudges covering nearly 100 behaviors and 2,000 carefully targeted nudges, combined with Perceptyx's AI Insights Engine, will amplify HR's ability to drive transformation through strategic action.

Energizing High-Performance Cultures

However, integrated products don’t mean much if they aren’t able to energize high-performance cultures. Humu pioneered the application of nudge theory to workplaces, driving organizational change through a rich library of innovative behavioral nudges. These nudges are small yet powerful prompts that lead to significant transformation within organizations by continually encouraging incremental changes in behavior. 

By integrating Humu's behavioral nudges into the People Insights Platform, Perceptyx is poised to accelerate both the speed and the impact of the action-taking process following employee listening events. The integration is designed to reduce the friction usually associated with taking action in response to employee feedback, making it simpler, more inclusive, and scalable. This approach ensures that every employee can be reached and involved in the process of taking action, while at the same time supporting managers to lead responsive action more effectively. Thanks to innovations like these, HR departments can expect to see a tangible, positive impact on their company's culture and performance, further underscoring their business value in the development of high-performance teams.

Demonstrating HR's Impact

The Fosway Group’s report is clear on another crucial point: validating HR's strategic value has always hinged on the ability to link people initiatives to tangible business outcomes. Perceptyx has consistently demonstrated this connection, for example, by mapping employee engagement to store performance in cases like Ahold Delhaize and Columbia Sportswear, and then crafting strategies to elevate both. Today, the platform's advancements are streamlining the process of showcasing the impact of HR initiatives at a granular level —  right down to individual managers and teams.

As organizations act on the insights gleaned from employee feedback, Perceptyx's enhanced capabilities will allow them to trace the origins of these initiatives back to the specific listening events that sparked them. This traceability is crucial for illustrating a clear trajectory of improvement and for measuring progress against broader organizational goals, such as enhancing engagement or safety culture, bolstering retention, or elevating customer satisfaction.

Closing this strategic loop — from insight to impact — is not just a matter of recording metrics but of narrating a story where HR is the protagonist driving organizational success. It is about evidencing HR's role in not only identifying areas for development but also in executing and tracking the effectiveness of interventions. Through advancements in the People Insights Platforms, Perceptyx is setting a new standard for how HR's contributions are perceived and valued, ensuring that the narrative of HR is one of measurable, impactful change. This, in essence, is how we’ve become a Strategic Leader — and how we plan to remain one for years to come. 

Partner with a “Strategic Leader for Talent and People Success”

By providing a comprehensive suite of products for listening, analyzing, and acting on employee feedback, Perceptyx is not only predicting the future of work but actively shaping it. Through personalized insights and intelligent nudging, we are crafting an environment where continuous improvement is not just an objective but a tangible reality for organizations aiming to thrive in a rapidly changing business landscape. 

To learn how your organization can benefit from working with a Strategic Leader in the field, schedule a meeting with a member of our team.  To download a full copy of Fosway Group’s report, click here.