Identify Organizational Gaps Using Qualitative Data

In the data-driven world of modern business, numbers often reign supreme. However, savvy leaders recognize that quantitative data tells only part of the story. Enter qualitative feedback: the rich, nuanced information that provides context, uncovers hidden insights, and offers a deeper understanding of your teammates’ experiences and perspectives. Qualitative feedback encompasses nonnumerical data such as open-ended survey responses, customer reviews, teammate suggestions, and focus group discussions. Unlike quantitative data, which answers “how many” or “how much,” qualitative feedback answers the “why” and “how” questions. Illuminate the reasons behind trends and behaviors through narratives, opinions, and explanations.

Take for example a question from PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears 2024 survey. They asked more than 56,000 people to think about changes they experienced in their role in the last 12 months and rate the extent they agreed or disagreed with several statements. One statement from this survey I thought was interesting asked respondents to rate their agreement level with this phrase: “I don’t understand why things need to change; the former state was working fine.” Nearly half of respondents (44 percent) indicated they did NOT understand why things need to change. Wow. One question that comes to mind for me is, what’s going on in their organizational communications? You likely have lots of other questions too.

This is an interesting data point to consider for addressing organizational gaps. However, it doesn’t give us any of the rich understanding of WHY people are feeling this way. Or HOW this sentiment is affecting people’s work on a day-to-day basis, or HOW their interpretation of changes in the organization contributes to their productivity or engagement levels. Was there a particular shift in the company leadership that pushed for change? Was the organization restructured or were jobs cut that influenced how these individuals responded? It’s hard to understand or know the WHY behind HOW people are responding.

This is why it’s critical to utilize qualitative data in a robust analysis to understand the root cause of employee concern. There is so much that can’t be said when you only look at the numbers on a spreadsheet or in a graph. Qualitative data doesn’t have to be a slog to categorize and review now either. Here are a few pointers to get you started on accessing deeper insights from your teammates.

• Create a short, three- to five-question survey with free text options. Make the survey anonymous (I know, that’s scary!) to achieve higher survey completion rates. This survey should ask key questions related to some of the most important aspects you want to know. For the example above, you could ask respondents a question such as, “What are some ways you would like to know about changes happening in the organization or within your department?” Keep these questions open-ended!

• Develop small focus groups and record the audio. It’s difficult to remember exactly what was said, even when you’re taking notes. Rich stories and detailed experiences are often shared in these focus groups, which can be a trove of useful information to help identify and address gaps in your organization. Remember, you can usually use software to transcribe the audio as well. So, you don’t need to do that!

• Use AI to create themes and help you sift through lots of qualitative data responses. Of course, you’ll need to double check and confirm the output, but using an AI tool (for nonproprietary feedback) can help you move through the data analysis process much faster.

Leaning into qualitative data collection can be a great complement to your quantitative data collection and should be used to understand what’s really happening in your organization—beyond the numbers on a screen. Access deeper insights and boost teammate engagement by digging into their feedback and experience.