Faster insight into employee feedback: From two days’ work to a single click

ECE Group is one of Europe’s leading real estate providers, specialising in shopping centres, urban districts and property management. By implementing a data-driven analysis of internal HR feedback, the company has gained deeper insights into its internal stakeholders and reduced the analysis process from two full working days to just one click.

About ECE Group

Mail-order pioneer Werner Otto founded ECE in 1965, introducing shopping centres to Germany. Today, under Alexander Otto, ECE develops, realises and manages properties across asset classes and entire urban districts. Through specialised companies such as ECE Marketplaces, ECE Work & Live, ECE Living and ECE Real Estate Partners, the group provides integrated property services and fund management.

"In times of rapidly changing conditions, we need data that is both reliable and immediately accessible. This data provides the solid foundation on which to build the right strategic decisions for the future. With 4PLAN we now have exactly this tool – and a strong system that can adapt easily and flexibly to our needs.”

- Pascal Franke, Lead analytics, Controlling & Systems

Lack of transparency in measuring the impact of products and services

ECE Group already uses 4PLAN in several areas for visualising and analysing data across systems. Building on this experience, it was a natural step to also use the solution for analysing internal HR feedback – for example on e-learning programmes, team workshops, change initiatives or recruitment activities. This was particularly relevant as the manual analysis had been very time-consuming.

Although around 60 pieces of internal HR feedback were collected every month, the company lacked an effective way to consolidate and analyse the data. As a result, insights into the impact of products and services were limited.

Key challenges:

• No consolidated overview of internal HR feedback despite extensive data.
• High time investment (approx. 2 working days) for manual data preparation.
• No possibility for quick ad hoc analysis.
• Untapped potential, as feedback was not systematically evaluated.

Data-driven feedback analysis with 4PLAN

After positive experiences with data visualisation in other areas, ECE Group decided to apply the same approach to handling internal HR feedback. In collaboration with S4U, a tailored solution was developed.

Implementation steps:

• Analysis and harmonisation of data sources (e.g. rating scales).
• Collaboration with IT to ensure optimal data availability.
• Development of a conversion list for systematic data transformation.
• Creation of dashboard queries for visual data preparation.
• Technical implementation via API with JSON, 4PLAN tables and 4Integration.

From two working days to real-time analysis at a single click

The implementation of automated HR feedback analysis has led to major improvements in both efficiency and decision-making.

Concrete benefits:

• Reduction of time from approx. two working days to a single click.
• Consolidated overview of all employee-related feedback in one place.
• Direct insight into the impact of individual products or services.
• Faster response times through instant access to knowledge.
• Stronger employee and customer focus via data-driven product optimisation.

Product Owners also benefit from the increased transparency: they can track the impact of their initiatives and derive concrete actions – for example regarding the relevance of e-learning courses, the effectiveness of team workshops or change processes, recruitment campaigns, or handling employee enquiries in the ticket system.

Image credit: ECE Group Services GmbH & Co. KG

The future for ECE Group

Looking ahead, ECE Group plans to integrate additional information into the dashboard structure and, in line with the shift to the cloud, to move both 4PLAN and reporting onto the central platform. The aim is to establish a single point of truth for data input and analysis. The new solution also strengthens team culture: joint analysis cycles foster knowledge sharing, and positive feedback boosts employee motivation.