Making Lemonade Out of Lemons: How We Met 2020’s Challenges Head-On to Help Businesses Improve Productivity

If you had asked us back in 2018 when we launched Prodoscore what the chances would be of the majority of the U.S. workforce working from home in two years, we would have answered “Slim to none. Actually, make that none.” But 2020 has brought more change in five months than we’ve had in the last 10 years. And one of those massive changes has been transitioning an entire workforce to home offices.

Prodoscore was built to provide productivity tools for employers and employees. Our software pulls existing data from widely used business tools – such as Microsoft Office and Google Suite – to produce a Productivity Score™ (aka a “Prodoscore”) each morning, for each employee, to help them be more productive and efficient.

Today, in the wake of COVID-19-induced business and economic environment changes, this tool is needed more than ever.

 

How Productive Are Remote Workers, Anyway?

With almost everyone working at home, we wanted to see if people were more or less productive out of the office – and what we found was shocking. After looking at 100 million data points across 30,000 of our users, we found that employees were 47% more productive in March and April this year. Meaning, employees working from home during COVID-19 have been more productive than when they were likely in the office.

That’s huge, right?

We certainly thought so. So, we put together a data report with this information and worked with our PR firm to help tell the story.

 

The Journey to CNBC, Forbes, MarketWatch and Other Media Coverage

First we went to CNBC’s Eric Chemi with a story about a productivity tool that wasn’t spyware. This led to an on-air conversation with him about why Prodoscore is different, and why it’s a must-have tool for organizations that want to boost productivity without “spying” on their employees. Chemi said, “The software tracks worker activity and then provides managers with a score on a productivity scale. While employers aren’t required to tell employees they’re being tracked, Prodoscore recommends that they do.”

After the CNBC story ran, our team pitched the productivity data findings far and wide and quickly secured a feature story in Forbes. They reported that “Without using spyware or capturing keystrokes, a California-based company has tracked a 47% increase in worker productivity. Based on non-invasive technology that doesn’t grab user passwords, credit card info or other sensitive data, an eye-opening survey shows that smart companies are gaining ground by having workers work from home. What does the data tell us about how employees and team leaders can maximize output during the new normal?”

MarketWatch also picked up the data as part of a larger trend story, saying “The COVID-19 pandemic forcing those who could work from home to do so has led to a surprising result — improved productivity. U.S. workers were 47% more productive in March and April than in the same two months a year ago through cloud-based business tools, chat applications and email, according to an analysis of 100 million data points from 30,000 Americans by workplace-monitoring company Prodoscore.”

With additional placements in HR.com, BBC, and various local TV stations, our message was officially out there. And we were ready!

 

The net-net: we’ve increased our potential annual revenue 10 times, our number of opportunities in play is up nine-fold, and the number of potential seats is up almost 90%. There’s a lot more to come, and we’re excited about this opportunity to help organizations get the most out of their employees – during COVID-19 times and beyond.

 

For more information about how Prodoscore can support your team, contact us today.