Data is taking over the world. Sector by sector and department by department, the value of data is being discovered anew. Human resources are no exception to this trend. More and more HR departments are uncovering the immense value that great data can provide. While we often think of people as specializing in soft skills, if your team can learn to utilize data, you’ll be shocked at what they can achieve.

A key part of a manager’s job is collaborating with his or her people to understand their challenges and successes in the workplace, as well as empowering them to work better and be happy with their experiences. But to do this, managers need both a means of collecting employee feedback and assurance that that feedback will be honest, otherwise it won’t be beneficial for company culture improvement or organizational growth.

Data isn’t just for Silicon Valley companies. It may surprise you, but your organization’s human resources department (if you have one) is chock full of valuable business data you can use to improve your hiring practices, productivity, feedback collection, workplace experience, and much more.

If you’re relying solely only annual employee engagement surveys to gather feedback on the workplace experience, good luck. While popular, such surveys provide little more than incomplete information at best. Gathering accurate employee engagement feedback may seem like an impossible task, but it’s far from it. With today’s technology, it couldn’t be easier. For all intents and purposes, annual employee surveys are dead. Here’s what you can do about it.

While operating a business it can be hard to get effective feedback from your people. Their health and happiness influence your success. If people are happy, so too will your customers be. Good feedback allows for new opportunities and innovations, and a transparent workplace creates a strong brand positioned for growth.