Majority of Gen Z workers integrating data to improve daily performance, report finds

While many businesses prioritize autonomy and workplace flexibility to improve worker productivity, 65% of employees say that a lack of data is what most negatively impacts the  ability to do their jobs. That’s according to a new report issued by the digital workplace platform Slingshot.

Part one of the two-part “2023 Digital Works Trend Report” explores the relationship between productivity and workers’ access to data or other metrics within an organization that illustrate performance and progress. According Slingshot, the report “shines a light on how data … is now not only accessible to employees, but a critical and necessary part [of] their productivity.”

“Over the last two decades, we’ve seen a shift in how decisions in the workplace are made — going from gut instincts and seniority-led decisions to those based on data that’s now more widely accessible,” Dean Guida, Slingshot’s founder, said in a statement. “This is especially true of newer generations that are particularly tuned into the value of being able to quantify their work and re-route their focus if something isn’t working.”

The report, based on responses from 305 adults working full-time as employees and leaders across four age groups in all 50 states, also offers an in-depth look into some of the other factors currently impacting how employees do their job and the quality of their work, including their relationship with leaders.

Additional insights from the report include the following:

• Companies must “democratize data” across their organizations or risk business decisions being made by employees’ gut instincts. While more than half of workers (56%) gather and use data to make business decisions, 12% say they make decisions by asking the most senior person in the business or department, and 6% admit to going with their gut. It’s likely, according to Slingshot, that these workers are defaulting to such decision-making tactics because the data they need to inform specific decisions is not easily accessible or even available to them.

• Gen Z is the data generation. As digital natives, Gen Z workers (ages 18-26) are integrating data into their jobs more than any other generation. One hundred percent of Gen Z workers say they use data at work at least a few times a week, with61% saying they use it every day. And while nearly three-fourths (74%) of Gen Z workers are using data to improve performance, only 61% of boomer (ages 59 and over) say the same.

• Employees are using data for more than improving productivity and performance. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of workers primarily use data to improve performance, but more than half of them (54%) use data to prioritize goals, and 46% say they use it to create strategic plans and understand customer behaviors and needs.

Related: Cultivating belonging for Gen Z in the workforce

“Data is bigger than just data; it’s the quantification of work: How are employees performing, is the business profitable, are customers happy?” Guida said. “As more companies democratize data across their organizations, employees are more likely to quantify their work and incorporate data into every part of their job. We’ll see this continue to scale from the individual and team level to the organization level.”