What is employee segmentation?
Employee segmentation is the process of identifying employees groups and designing human resources practices based on common characteristics and unique needs for each group.
Employee segments will vary for every organization depending on business and employee success strategies. Every business has different and constantly changing requirements. Employee competencies need to be tracked regularly to ensure they adapt to these skills demands.
Each employee has specific motivators in the workplace. Segmenting workers helps target individual goals and integrate them into benefits and human resources strategies. Investing in employee segmentation increases employee motivation, productivity, and engagement.
Businesses leverage employee engagement software to promote positive activity, track employee feedback, and use actionable data to develop employee wellness programs. These tools are employee-centric and work on improving the overall employee experience.
Characteristics of a good employee segment:
- Distinct and identifiable: Unique enough to justify its existence
- Accessible: Easy to reach or targetable
- Stable: Each segment should stay relatively constant
- Valuable: Should add value to messaging and employee lives
Types of employee segments
Businesses can segment employees based on a variety of parameters. The employee segmentation process is comprehensive and must receive buy-in from management across all boards for best outcomes.
Needs-based segmentation
This segmentation is based on employee needs and demands. During an employee’s lifecycle, they will change how they view their roles several times. Effective grouping, in this case, will enable a healthy transition for employees adapting to shifts.
Another way to look at needs-based employee segmentation is to group workers based on personal needs that affect work lives, such as parents who require insurance for their children or workers who are veterans.
Persona segmentation
This segmentation approach is gaining popularity because it is similar to customer segmentation personas. HR can shape groups by humanizing employees and using data to map out traits. When outlining employee personas, it’s important to use accurate, relevant, and extractable insights to ensure the segments can be accepted and used across the company.
Demographic segmentation
A common type of employee segmentation is based on demographic differences within the organization. These parameters include age, gender, location, department, and work environment. Demographic employee segmentation is prone to having sub-groups within segments.
Attitude-based segmentation
Grouping employees based on their feelings and attitudes toward the company provides insights into employees’ perceptions of the employer. This segmentation type is valuable in understanding communication methods, career development, and employee loyalty.
One of the most common types of employee segmentation is grouping workers based on their motivating factors. This type of grouping differs for every employee and significantly impacts performance levels.
- Loyalists: These employees have long tenures and find motivation in role variety and challenging work.
- Careerists: This group is characterized by ambition and the drive to work in different areas. Employees who identify as careerists are more likely to seek out leadership roles.
- Team players: Workers who experience high levels of engagement in a team and place themselves in social situations that are more collaborative.
- Service-focused: These are strong performers motivated by performance-based incentives, such as overtime.
- Hidden stars: Generally dissatisfied and poor performers fall within this category. Workers in this group can be motivated by increased pay and other benefits programs.
Customer-oriented segmentation
Customer-facing businesses, such as call centers, employ this segmentation approach by aligning customer needs with employee needs. For companies that place the customer and employee experience at the forefront, this is an effective way to group sales representatives to select, train, and retain employees.
Benefits of employee segmentation
Employee needs are unique, and one-size-fits-all employee benefits programs can hamper both organizational and employee growth. Employee segmentation ensures that workers can receive specialized benefits for their specific requirements.
Need for employee awareness
Every employee is different and may not fit into a single, uniform group. Identifying factors of motivation based on personal interests, career path, and work-life balance, employee segmentation facilitates customized programs to help companies tap into employees’ true working potential and provide a positive work environment.
Clear communication of goals
Grouping employees makes it easier to understand the personal and professional goals employees want to achieve at work. It also simplifies the process of communicating business goals and diversifies information delivery. Consequently, employee-employer relationships strengthen, and both parties are aligned on shared objectives.
Resource optimization
When a business knows what its employees require, it can manage resources and allocate them efficiently. Companies can adjust HR processes to suit employee needs and workers can take full advantage of company benefits. A successful business understands how workers want to be led, managed, and communicated with to optimize available resources and policies.
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Aayushi Sanghavi
Aayushi Sanghavi is a Campaign Coordinator at G2 for the Content and SEO teams at G2 and is exploring her interests in project management and process optimization. Previously, she has written for the Customer Service and Tech Verticals space. In her free time, she volunteers at animal shelters, dances, or attempts to learn a new language.