Is your HR department reactive or proactive? If you find yourself constantly having to put out fires, it's probably the former. And that's the traditional way HR has operated — simply responding to business needs as they arise. But today, the profession is increasingly recognising that preventative measures are better than cures. For example, if you could anticipate the causes of high staff turnover and head them off, just consider how much time you could save on hiring and recruitment.Of course, you can't spend all of your time talking to every single employee about their problems — especially in a large organisation. But what you can do is use anonymised employee data to spot trends, identify issues and predict problems. This data can then guide you towards solutions that actually work, rather than imposing top-down policies that are essentially just guesses. The best news is that most, if not all employees are now carrying around powerful devices in their pockets. And when teamed with the right apps, they make for powerful and efficient data-gathering machines.The need for privacyOf course, gathering data from people via tech has a bit of a bad rep these days. Companies like Facebook are in trouble with multiple governments for gathering personal data such as your financial information, physical location and purchase history, and selling them on to advertisers. But HR departments neither demand nor require this kind of personal data. What we're talking about here is anonymised results that point to broad trends among the employee base. Take health and wellbeing for example — HR departments are increasingly trying to promote better physical and mental health outcomes among their staff, as a way of minimising sickness and absence, as well as creating a healthier and happier workforce that's going to perform better overall. But simply guessing what kind of campaigns, information or assistance will promote this in a particular organisation is like shooting in the dark. As anyone who uses smartwatches or fitness apps will know, apps and devices can tell you an awful lot about a person's health, habits and challenges — sometimes even things they don't know themselves. And when that information is gathered in a collective, anonymised way, it can help ensure your health campaigns are targeting the right issues, and give you measurable data as to whether they're working or not. Granular dataTo get a rounded-out view of mental and physical health trends within your workforce, you need to collect various types of data. For instance, step counts are an easy and nearly ubiquitous metric, thanks to the technology that people often have at their fingertips, such as smartwatches. These devices not only track physical activity but also monitor sedentary behaviour and sleep patterns. Additionally, gathering information can be as simple as asking people about their health behaviours and habits through an app, like what they have been eating or if they've been regularly hydrating.The advantage of using technology lies in its ability to go beyond a mere one or two data points. This enables the gathering of data at a very granular level. The more detailed this information, the more useful and in-depth the analysis — thus allowing for a better understanding of what's truly happening with employee health.Start with your HR goalsWhen it comes to practical data gathering, it's crucial to start with your HR goals and work backwards. Create assessments and collect the information that will be the most beneficial and informative for gauging the efficacy of your existing policies. The key is to harness technology to make the gathered data as timely and current as possible. Having granular data on individuals in near real-time allows for an immediate understanding of health and wellbeing. One can then track ebbs and flows in these metrics and contextualise them. Observing changes over time across various age groups and demographics provides a wealth of insights. However, it's essential to ensure that all this data remains anonymised to maintain trust in the technology and data collection methods.It's important to consider that intensive and continuous assessment of employees starts to border on constant surveillance, that's why appropriate firewalls must be built into the system. The data should be gathered in a way that allows HR departments to understand changes in employee health and wellbeing without making it punitive.A successful approach to achieving this could be through partnerships with tech companies that have the necessary knowledge and infrastructure. Transparency about this process towards the employees will further ensure that they are aware of how their data will be used to invest in their wellbeing.How YuLife can helpAt YuLife, we're firmly focused on helping HR departments gather the most valuable data related to employee health and wellbeing. By leveraging the features and capabilities of YuLife, HR departments can gain insights into employee wellness, make data-driven decisions and design targeted interventions to improve overall employee satisfaction and productivity.It all starts with the YuLife app, which encourages employees to engage in various wellbeing activities, such as walking, cycling, and meditation in exchange for real-world rewards. In this way, such activities are gamified, creating a fun and interactive experience for employees. HR can easily access data via the Employer Portal: a comprehensive analytics dashboard that provides HR with real-time insights into employee wellbeing metrics. The dashboard presents aggregated and anonymised data, ensuring employee privacy while still allowing HR to analyse trends and patterns across the organisation.This data enables HR to gain insights into employee physical health, detect patterns of inactivity or high stress, and design interventions that promote healthier habits and work-life balance.Another valuable aspect of YuLife is its employee rewards system. Employees earn points for engaging in wellbeing activities and can redeem these points for various rewards, such as discounts, vouchers, or charitable donations. HR can leverage this data to measure employee motivation, track participation rates, and identify the most popular rewards. This helps HR assess the effectiveness of incentives, refine reward strategies, and continuously improve employee engagement.In short, all of the information provided by YuLife can be used to identify employee trends, understand the impact of wellbeing initiatives, and tailor programs to better meet employee needs. And that makes for better people strategies and a healthier, happier workforce overall. About YuLife.YuLife is working to reimagine the insurance industry by protecting lives, rewarding living and inspiring life. We’re on a mission to transform traditional insurance into a life-enhancing experience each employee will value and use daily. How does it work? Our award-winning app uses behavioural science and game mechanics to reward your people for living well while offering protection in case of crisis. And with our top-rated employee assistance programme, your team gets access to mental, financial and social support, virtual GPs, nutritionists, life coaches and more to help them live their best lives.Because we believe that your employees should benefit from their insurance from day one – and that wellbeing should be accessible every day, for everyone.Request a demo for your team today.