Metrics - New Feature - Whistle

New Feature

Metrics in Whistle and how to use them

Metrics, an important new feature from Whistle

Metric Icon in Whistle

We recently released a new Metric Builder feature for the Whistle employee loyalty platform. But before we get into how it works, let’s talk about what “metrics” are and why you’d use them in the first place.

A metric is any measurable employee action or behavior. Sometimes they are directly related to a goal oriented task, such as outbound calls made or support tickets closed. Other times metrics can be used to track more general activities like high-fives given or even task completion like submitted onboarding paperwork.

Why are metrics important?

Understanding how to better invest in people is one of the most important aspects of your business and because historically this has proven difficult – most companied do not.  For example, do you know the ROI of your learning or rewards or wellness programs?

Because metrics give you the ability to easily integrate data from external sources or behaviors with Whistle programs, you can understand what program elements actually move the needle on your bottom line.

For example, a manufacturing company could provide safety training and then a manager can verify that the training is being done correctly through Whistle.  Over a short period of time the manufacturer can see the difference between just the training and the verified training on the costs related to safety.

Metrics can also be requirements to unlock access to additional programs or even trigger incentives.  So in the example above, a badge or reward could instantly be awarded to the employee.  (read more on the value of real-time rewards)

There are 3 types of metrics in Whistle

  1. Verification metrics are forms that ask the participant or another person (like a manager) to verify a task was completed.
  2. System Metrics are integrations into other technology platforms that confirm a task or milestone was achieved.  System metrics can be everything from a form being submitted to a sales goal being achieved.
  3. Whistle Metrics are tasks that are completed within the Whistle platform by a participant.  For example, a learning program completed or quiz passed.
Metrics in Whistle App

How do we use metrics?

One of Whistle’s pillars of Employee Loyalty is to create employee programs that help train, engage, and reward. Oftentimes metrics can be used to supplement the training activities in these programs. After consuming the microlearning, the employee may be required to do in-person training with a mentor, or take a practical exam. These activities can be tracked as metrics, and contribute to the overall completion of the program.

Another use for metrics can be to help orient an employee around the tasks to be done, or path that they’re on. In an onboarding program, metrics can illustrate to the employee what must be done; submit W9, sign employee handbook, have lunch with your manager. These simple true/false metrics are presented as a checkbox within the program that the employee can sign off on (or in some cases, their manager)

Metric builder in Whistle

One of Whistle’s pillars of Employee Loyalty is to create employee programs that help train, engage, and reward. Oftentimes metrics can be used to supplement the training activities in these programs. After consuming the microlearning, the employee may be required to do in-person training with a mentor, or take a practical exam. These activities can be tracked as metrics, and contribute to the overall completion of the program.

Another use for metrics can be to help orient an employee around the tasks to be done, or path that they’re on. In an onboarding program, metrics can illustrate to the employee what must be done; submit W9, sign employee handbook, have lunch with your manager. These simple true/false metrics are presented as a checkbox within the program that the employee can sign off on (or in some cases, their manager)

Now that we know more about what metrics are, and how we might use them, let’s look at the message creator and see how it works within the Program Builder.

A program usually contains some combination of learning modules, surveys, metrics, and rewards. Collectively they define a path for the employee. Sometimes it’s a learning path, and sometimes it’s a goal-oriented path towards specific behaviors.

We can use the metric creator to tailor progress goals, tasks, and inputs that support the program. These metrics must then be “satisfied” to complete the program and earn the reward.

Let’s think about a call center that has built a training program to help their newer employees “level up”. This might include some training about how to best use the available resources as well as some tips on talking to customers. At the end of the program, the employee might be required to log a certain number of calls before leveling up to a more advanced role. This is how we would create that metric. 

One important element you’ll notice on the form is the toggle at the bottom, “Participant can self report”. This determines if the employee is capable of adjusting their value for this metric themselves. Most of the time we believe it makes sense to trust your team to self report. There may be times where the metric is compliance based, in which case it probably makes sense for a manager to sign off.

Notice as we create the metric we define conversational elements; the noun of what it is we’re measuring, and the verb, or action associated with it. This helps us display the metric to the end user in a conversational manner that’s easy to understand. If we click on preview, we can see what the metric will look like when presented to a user in the program.

Metric completed in Whistle

Capturing a metric in a program

Once the metric is created, we define a goal number for it within the program. This is the number the user has to reach to satisfy the metric and complete the program.

Now that you understand how metrics work, consider how you might incorporate metrics into your next training or onboarding program. Metrics are a great way to engage your team beyond learning content, create a guided path, or set expectations around behavior and performance.

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