Workplace analytics 101: What it is and why you need it

Do you have the data you need to make smart decisions about your workplace? A study by Envoy and Hanover Research found that over half (53%) of organizations don’t. If you’re a workplace manager without actionable data, it’s like trying to plan a trip without knowing where you’re starting.

To make smarter decisions about your space, you need a clear picture. How many employees are actually using it? When do they come in? What are their work preferences? And where are the opportunities to improve? Tracking these metrics is as much about efficiency as it is about creating a workplace your employees will love.

In this blog, we’ll introduce you to the basics of workplace analytics and how to get started. We’ll cover:

• What is workplace analytics and why is it important?
• Examples of workplace analytics

4 questions to consider when looking for workplace analytics software

What is workplace analytics?

Workplace analytics is a set of tools and dashboards to track key metrics like space usage, employee attendance, and visitor volume. With these insights, you can make smarter, cost-effective decisions to optimize your space. For example, you can assess real estate needs, refine staffing strategies, and improve the onsite experience. 

But not all workplace analytics are created equal. Some tools fall short by providing raw data without actionable insights, leaving you with more questions than answers. The best solutions go beyond numbers, offering meaningful trends and recommendations to help you make confident, impactful decisions. Let’s explore all the benefits of workplace analytics below.

The benefits of workplace analytics

You may be thinking: do I really need another tool to manage? The answer is yes—but the beauty of having workplace analytics at your fingertips is that it can simplify your work. By choosing a centralized workplace platform that integrates with your existing tools (and may even be able to replace some to simplify your workflows), you can get a full view of how folks use your space and reap all of the benefits below.

• Increased efficiency. Without the right, actionable data, optimizing the workplace becomes a slow, difficult process with a ton of guesswork. But with insights you can act on, you get a clear picture of how people use the workplace and can make improvements quickly. Even better: your employees benefit, too. When the workplace is optimized to meet their needs, they can work more productively and efficiently while onsite, leading to better business outcomes.
• Improved decision-making. You probably oversee many workplace projects—attendance policies, onsite programs, internal communications, and more. With workplace analytics, you can confidently make decisions to support those projects because you have data to back you up. Want to benchmark your performance against similar companies? No problem. Wondering how efficiently your space is being used since rearranging it? Easy. Need help identifying opportunities to optimize spending? With the right workplace analytics tools, you can do that, too.
• A safer workplace. Having insight into who’s onsite, when, and what parts of the workplace they need access to can help you identify gaps in your organization’s security and emergency response. You can use this data to make smarter staffing decisions, and improve your visitor policies and sign-in procedures to ensure your workplace—and people—are safe.  
• More employee productivity. Workplace analytics can reveal how effectively your spaces are being used, helping you identify when adjustments are needed to support collaboration or focused work. For example, if your data shows rooms are often over-utilized, you can plan for more meeting areas or ensure existing spaces are equipped to handle higher demand. This helps maximize productivity by creating an efficient and comfortable environment for employees.
• Better employee and visitor experience: Creating a great workplace experience starts with preparation. With workplace analytics, you can see how many employees and visitors plan to be onsite on any given day and use this information to improve the onsite experience. For employees, you can make sure there are enough amenities to go around, the space is optimally organized, and your team is adequately staffed. For visitors, you can ensure that offices with low foot traffic still have a welcoming reception—either in person or using a solution such as Envoy's Virtual Front Desk.

Examples of workplace analytics

Now that we’ve covered the benefits of workplace analytics, let’s dive into what you can measure and track with these tools in hand.

Attendance trends: This data gives you insight into how many employees and visitors will be onsite on a given day and how attendance fluctuates throughout the workweek. ‍

• ‍Why it matters: Understanding attendance trends helps you plan for catering, events, and team collaboration. It also provides key insights for your executive team so they can make informed decisions about space utilization, staffing, and future workplace investments. For example, some tools can highlight instances where peak attendance is significantly below capacity. This helps decision-makers identify budget that could be better allocated to higher-priority areas.

Space utilization: Space utilization data examines how effectively your office spaces—like desks, meeting rooms, and shared areas—are being used. Key metrics include desk occupancy rates, room booking efficiency, and average usage times for collaborative or recreational areas.

• Why it matters: This data helps ensure your space aligns with actual needs. For example, if meeting rooms are frequently overbooked, you can reconfigure underutilized spaces into additional meeting areas. On the flip side, if desks in certain zones are consistently vacant, that’s a signal to investigate why. This could be an indication that the windows need shade treatment, the air conditioning vent needs to be covered or turned down, or you might consolidate workstations to free up space for other uses, like team lounges and project rooms.

Benchmarking metrics: Solutions like Envoy allow you to compare your workplace metrics—such as attendance, desk utilization, and visitor traffic—against other similar companies. These insights give you a clear understanding of how your workplace stacks up against peers.

• Why it matters: Benchmarking provides valuable context for your workplace data. For example, high visitor traffic compared to similar companies might indicate a strong collaborative culture but also signal the need for better resource and front-staff planning. By understanding your relative performance, you can set realistic goals, identify gaps, and make informed decisions about optimizing your space.

4 questions to consider when looking for workplace analytics software

Now that we’ve covered examples of workplace analytics, it’s time to help you find the best software to meet your needs. Here are a few questions to consider when you begin the search:

1. Are you looking for point solutions or a comprehensive workplace platform?

It’s tempting to pick a point solution that solves one immediate need, like a meeting room booking system. But is that enough for the long run? Today, you might need to ensure employees can easily reserve the spaces they need for productive onsite work. Next month, you might need insights on how to optimize space usage to control costs. Down the line, understanding attendance trends could be critical for shaping workplace policies and resourcing decisions. A comprehensive platform not only addresses current needs but grows with your evolving workplace strategy.

With a workplace platform, you’ll have a holistic view of what’s happening in the workplace. You’ll access detailed dashboards that provide actionable insights into space usage, onsite foot traffic, and overall workplace dynamics. These dashboards are integrated within a single platform, allowing you to avoid the inefficiency of switching between multiple tools to piece together data. Plus, your IT team won’t have to manage multiple solutions as your needs evolve. More on this below.

2. Will the software scale with your business needs?

Today you may need your workplace analytics to keep track of the onsite space usage of your single office. But as your business grows, your analytics will need to be sophisticated enough to keep up. Make sure your software can handle multiple locations and provide a global analytics overview. This way, your workplace analytics tool can continue to provide critical data points and insight no matter how much your organization matures.

3. Does the software integrate with third-party applications?

Along the same lines, you should consider the flexibility of your workplace analytics solution. Does it integrate with other tools (think: access control, Wi-Fi, and security tools) to create a seamless experience for your team and employees? If so, this will save you and your employees the time and hassle of switching between different workplace tools. Another upside to integrations: they reduce application complexities, which in turn helps tighten your organization’s security.

4. Is the software employee-friendly?

Sure, you need workplace analytics to drive decision-making. But first, you need to ensure that the software is something that your employees will actually use. When employees find the software intuitive and valuable, they’re more likely to engage with it regularly, providing your team with richer, more accurate data to inform decision-making and drive improvements.

A concrete way to check for this is to see whether there’s a mobile app available, and what that app’s ratings are for both iPhone and Android smartphone users.

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Congrats on completing your intro to workplace analytics! This is a great first step to making informed decisions about your workplace. Ready to dig in deeper? Let’s move on to Workplace 201: How to save costs by optimizing your space.

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