You send out employee surveys expecting valuable insights, but the real challenge lies in making sense of the responses. Without the right approach or technology, your data remains just numbers on a screen. Every team, department, and role within your workforce experiences the workplace differently.
So how do you segment employee sentiment and demographics in a way that makes sense? More importantly, how do you present this data to leadership in a way that drives real change? Our work experiences are shaped by so many factors, including roles, teams, locations, personal motivations, and life outside of work.
Employee segmentation helps you make sense of these diverse experiences, allowing you to take meaningful action based on real employee insights.
What is employee segmentation?
Employee segmentation is the practice of dividing employees into distinct groups based on shared characteristics or attributes. They can include factors like job roles, location, age, gender, tenure, or personal motivations. The goal of segmentation is to analyze how these different groups experience and perceive their work environment.
Employee segmentation is a critical part of analyzing survey results. By segmenting employee survey data, you can gain a deeper understanding of:
- How different employee groups perceive leadership, communication, and team dynamics
- Sentiment around job satisfaction, training, and development
- The impact of location, role, or tenure on employee engagement
- The unique challenges or needs of diverse employee groups
- Trends over time and how changes affect specific segments
- Potential issues before they escalate, helping you act proactively
- Opportunities to replicate successful practices across teams and departments
- How DEI efforts are perceived and where improvements can be made
Many simple employee survey tools require respondents to manually answer demographic questions like “What department do you work in?” or “What is your job title?”. These questions often lead to challenges with data accuracy and concerns about confidentiality. Today, the most advanced employee survey tools pull demographic data directly from your HRIS, eliminating the need to ask these kinds of questions within the survey. This ensures accuracy and anonymity, therefore providing more reliable responses.
Employee segmentation examples
There are many ways to segment employee survey data, depending on the attributes that best reflect the unique characteristics of your workforce. The most common categories of segmentation include:
Business-based: How employees’ roles, functions, and external factors influence their work experience.
People-based: How personal characteristics and demographics shape employees' perspectives.
Sentiment-based: How employees feel about various aspects of their work experience.
These categories allow you to analyze data from different angles, providing a more comprehensive understanding of your workforce. Let’s dive deeper into the different types of segments within each category:
How to analyze employee survey results using segmentation
To make the most of your employee survey data, follow a clear process that helps you uncover insights, identify trends, and take targeted action:
1. Define goals and tailor survey questions
Identify the specific insights you want to gain through your survey, such as differences in engagement or satisfaction across roles or locations. Next, craft survey questions that target these areas. For example, ask Likert scale questions about motivation, career development, or work-life balance. This will ensure the data you collect aligns with your segmentation goals.
2. Filter and compare survey data
Invest in technology that lets you break down data by factors like job role, location, or employee sentiment. For example, if one region reports lower satisfaction, you can focus on that group to uncover the reasons, whether management, benefits, or workload. Then, look for correlations within the segmented data. For instance, certain roles might show higher job satisfaction or specific age groups may feel more valued. This approach helps you break down the data to see patterns and understand how different groups are experiencing their work.
3. Take action
Create targeted action plans for each group. For instance, if specific teams show higher engagement, identify the factors driving their success and replicate those practices across other teams. Be sure to act on feedback quickly to drive the most impact. When communicating survey results, make sure to share the segmented data with employees in a clear, transparent way, explaining how the insights relate to their specific group and what actions will be taken to address their unique needs.
4. Give managers access to their team’s survey results
A great way to empower leaders is by giving them access to their team’s segmented feedback. This enables managers to address team-specific needs and make informed decisions based on the data. For example, if survey results show that a particular department struggles with work-life balance, managers can focus on creating more flexible scheduling options for that team.
Moving Forward with Employee Survey Segmentation
As employee segmentation becomes a core part of your survey analysis process, having the right survey tools is key to unlocking the full potential of the data. WorkTango’s Surveys & Insights platform integrates with your HRIS to ensure accurate demographic data while maintaining employee anonymity. With customizable survey templates, powerful reporting features, and actionable insights, you can create targeted strategies for different employee groups and implement action plans that drive real change.
By applying segmentation with the right tools, you can turn data into action that drives continuous improvement and long-term success.
