How to Make Data Work Meaningful

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FOR ALL THE EMPHASIS on employee satisfaction in recent years, the experiences of millions of workers have worsened. The latest Gallup poll on the topic, from November 2024, found only 18% of U.S. workers are satisfied with their company. After holding steady at more than a quarter of employees during the previous decade, satisfaction scores plummeted in 2021 and have not recovered. Engagement, meanwhile, is down to 30%, the lowest it’s been since 2013.

Organizations are struggling to make changes that really work for their staff. Three key factors most powerfully affect how people feel about their work: belonging, configuration, and inspiration or purpose. Two of these — belonging and purpose — are driven largely by human interactions. (Configuration, which can refer to where and when a person gets their work done, involves interactive atmospheres for some people, while others prefer to work from home.)

My research found that people in human resources roles generally find more meaning in their work — and experience more satisfaction and engagement — than those in finance roles. Why? People in HR roles tend to have more interactions with fellow employees than those in finance do. Through interpersonal interactions, many people find a sense of belonging within the organization, which involves a shared sense of identity. These interactions also afford people greater opportunities to learn about the results of their work, and how their actions are impacting people’s lives.

Now, more than ever, working with data has become a larger part of most jobs. Some people have even taken to saying, “Almost every job is a data job.” A study of physicians found that they spent 45% of work time inputting data into electronic health records. A survey of teachers found 30% spent more time working with data than they did preparing for lessons.

There are myriad benefits of using data to calculate diagnostics and make strategic decisions. But data work also runs specific risks of reducing a sense of meaning. These recommendations can help your team tackle data work with intention and a sense of significance:

Employ information architects. Recent research has found that workers quickly face information overload, which can lead to anxiety, confusion, and burnout. Also, too much data is poorly structured and ambiguous, which leaves people frustrated. And all too often, workers have to waste time searching for the data that’s most relevant.

AI tools can go a long way in sifting through information to get employees only the information they need to analyze for their functions. Researchers also recommend employing information architects — people whose job it is to organize the flow of information.

Connect data to personal growth. Another part of the solution is for leaders and managers to show their reports how their data-focused tasks offer opportunities for learning and development, along a trajectory to a higher-level position.

For example, considering that most employees want to develop new skills, delegating data tasks in ways that help people build their skills is essential. Many also want opportunities to lead teams. Giving them opportunities to oversee a data assignment and organize team meetings for updates can transform their work into an engaging, meaningful, and even exciting project.

Ensure two key forms of contact. Meaningful work, engagement, and satisfaction are all heavily affected by leader-member exchange, a term comprising the types of interactions people have with higher-ups and reports. My research found that when leaders and managers make sure to connect directly with their employees, including conversations about data-oriented tasks, those interactions can go a long way toward imbuing work with a sense of meaning.

Employees also need contact with people who are impacted by their work. This beneficiary contact serves as a powerful reminder why all their efforts, including number crunching and other data-centric tasks, can make things better for people. All too often, visibility is not available to employees. They may go weeks, months, or even years without seeing how their work benefits others.

Ask for insight. Even now, in the era of AI, humans excel at understanding data and drawing insights from it. It’s crucial for any organization to recognize that a worker may have ideas and feedback to share based on the data-centric work. They may have spotted systems that aren’t working or discovered outliers that went in a different direction and succeeded.

When people are told from the beginning that their work with data won’t just be about number crunching — that it will be an opportunity for them to discover hidden gems and present them to the company — they’re much more likely to feel engaged and satisfied.

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Sweeping statements about corporate purpose won’t make work meaningful. Building a work culture that connects people with meaning takes efforts focused on individuals. It also takes a willingness to change when those efforts are clearly falling short — and today, too many employees feel burdened with dry data work. Organizations can take these steps to empower a workforce in which those engagement scores reach new heights.