How an HR pro uses Domo to push back on the pandemic

Ray Ball knows how difficult it can be to work from home, day in and day out. Like many others during the COVID-19 pandemic, Domo’s vice president of human resources has struggled at times to cope with not having “somewhere to go in the morning and come back to at night,” as he puts it.

“Seeing the same walls of your home every single day can be tough,” he said. “I still feel engaged and tied to the business and my groups, but it just isn’t the same. It’s hard to feel the same level of connection to everything when you’re the type that feeds off that kind of structure and energy.”

While Ray would love nothing more than for things to get back to normal, experiencing what comes with working from home has served him well. He knows, thanks to Domo’s Safe Worker app, which Domo employees have applied to come into the office each day, for whatever reason. And he uses that information to make sure those co-workers feel supported.

“Employee wellbeing is always important, but especially at a time like this,” Ray said. “So, for me, it’s really great to be able to know who I should probably check in on or follow up with. In doing so, it also helps me to put the right tools in place for people to utilize in order to address this crisis in the best way possible.”

Having that real-time data at his fingertips has also allowed Ray and his team to get a sense as to where Domo employees are with the pandemic, from how they’re feeling about it to how that feeling matches up with how the virus is trending in places where Domo has a physical presence, including Utah, Japan, Australia and the U.K.

“It all factors into how we plan and how we communicate,” Ray said. “It informs so much.”

With the Domo platform, Ray can also easily pull together up-to-the-minute, visually approachable reports for the executive team; determine who might need a polite nudge to complete a corporate citizenship training assignment; and stay on top of high-priority company initiatives, such as the diversity-and-inclusion-based ParityPledge.

“We will always hire the most qualified candidates, but a key part of that effort involves making sure that we interview at least one female and one ethnic minority for any job opening we have, which is what the Pledge is all about,” Ray said.

“There are so many benefits to having and maintaining a culture rich in perspective, so having clear visibility into who’s applying for our jobs, their diversity-related information, and what positions maybe attract certain demographics plays a big role in how we achieve that.”

The Domo platform also enables Ray to gain a much larger view of what’s going on throughout the organization, from top to bottom.

“Because it sits on top of everything and can pull information in from everywhere,” he said, “you’re never left to guess where things stand with, say, sales CRMs, or your client services group, or how other teams or departments are tackling or tracking certain projects.”

Ray and his teammates even use Domo to get internal requests pushed through more effectively and efficiently. “Whether it be approvals for compensation-related changes, hiring people, or spot-bonus awards, we can get down the path pretty quickly, because you can always see how far down the line a request is, and who it’s sitting with,” he said. “It’s like an HR dream come true.”

To learn more about how Domo helps organizations get more value out of their data and operate with an optimum level of business intelligence, click here.