MARS IT Corp.
Waukesha
Innovation: AI-powered platform to measure employee engagement
Many companies aim to have a more diverse workforce.
MARS Solutions Group, a Milwaukee-based technology and consulting solutions business, views employee diversity and inclusion as a critical business strategy. MARS has leveraged its technology and knowhow to help companies achieve that goal.
Since its founding in 2013, MARS has focused on providing talent solutions, particularly for the engineering, IT and administrative/clerking industries.
“As much as I love the talent industry, I wanted to put all of the technical knowhow and knowledge of data that my whole corporate career was devoted to, and help our customers make better decisions based on the data,” said Rashi Khosla, founder and chief executive officer.
The result was a suite of solutions called IDEA (Inclusive, Diversity, Equity and Advocacy), part of the company’s Ovation platform.
IDEA uses natural language processing and voice analytics to measure abstract concepts, like how employees feel about their work. The engines can read text – such as email or Slack conversations among employees – to derive the sentiments of the overall employee base.
IDEA also provides a “gamified” way for employees to recognize peers, Khosla said.
Traditionally, companies measure employee engagement and sentiment through annual surveys or performance reviews, which take months to review and act on, Khosla said. And when it comes to diversity and inclusion initiatives, she said there tends to be an emphasis on the former more than the latter.
“Us being in Milwaukee, there is a real problem to address in terms of retaining talent and retaining a multigenerational workforce,” she said.
