Shwetha Pai became enthralled with the idea of mapping out organizational structure and discovering how employees interact with each other when she was earning her MBA at Columbia University.
“I was fascinated by this idea that managers need to be aware of the formal structure — which is their org chart — but also the informal, organic way that people interact with each other, because that’s really the way that people work,” she said. “You have a skeleton, which is your org chart — the hierarchy and the few people beneath them — but you also have this really dynamic and constantly changing nervous system within the organization that is fueled by relationships and connections.”
"Unconscious bias is something that exists, but you need to consciously work to negate that bias. Without measuring it, it’s very hard to understand how to negate that and attack that bias."
Pai applied this concept to her own team at Barclays Capital and enjoyed seeing how it impacted the organization. Later, she was looking for a tool to map relationships that employees build within an organization in an attempt to better understand those bonds. However, Pai found that there was no tool of that kind available and decided to build it herself.
The end result is OrgAnalytix, a software which uses a six-question employee questionnaire to collect data that is run through a machine learning model. The insights collected are organized into an employee relationship map and inclusivity index, which helps companies visualize hidden data within their organization.
“We get deep insights through visualizations of relationship maps and machine learning models, which tell us a lot of detail on inclusivity, productivity or general employee engagement,” Pai said. “Mangers can harness those networks in order to make teams work better, keep employees happier and make sure that they feel valued, retain them and enhance the performance of the whole team.”
Pai runs OrgAnalytix as the CEO of the startup. She is aided by OrgAnalytix CTO and co-founder Matthew Salerno, who designed the software. The team is also aided by COO Brian Stout, who is in charge of partnerships, implementing strategic vision and customer relationships. Salerno and Stout work for OrgAnalytix remotely from Birmingham, Alabama and Colorado Springs, Colorado, respectively. The team all met online and decided to work together based on their similar interests surrounding the idea of allowing leaders to harness relationships in order to manage teams.
The OrgAnalytix software is currently in its early stage, and the team has completed seven pilots of the software so far. Product is in the early stage. They have completed seven pilots so far. Most pilots have been in financial services, but they have also branched out into manufacturing, consulting and the service industry. Focuses of the pilots include diversity and inclusion as well as ensuring companies integrate new employees into company culture in way that sets them up for success.
OrgAnalytix recently began working with UpTech as part of the accelerator’s seventh cohort of startups. UpTech is helping OrgAnalytix in the areas of customer validation, problem validation, market discovery, and developing their go-to market strategy.
Pai said that the growth of OrgAnalytix has been driven by the idea of employee networks being at the forefront of corporate consciousness, as well as a focus on diversity and inclusion. The OrgAnalytix software can help leaders visualize how unconscious bias manifests within their company and even help identify solutions.
For example, unconscious bias may affect the way employees communicate, who they communicate with, seek advice form and socialize with, and who employees get information from when you have a question. OrgAnalytix can help visualize all these networks.
“Unconscious bias is something that exists, but you need to consciously work to negate that bias. Without measuring it, it’s very hard to understand how to negate that and attack that bias,” Pai said. “What we’re hoping to do is, by shining light on that giving companies a way to measure that, now they have a way for them to track it and assess it. Our product can help managers be more proactive in leveling that playing field.”
Pai said leveling the playing field for women and other minorities in the workforce is the goal of her startup. OrgAnalytix also aims to have an impact on employee productivity. Unrealized employee productivity loses around $7 trillion per year around the globe. By helping leaders ensure that their employees feel more valued within their organization and that they have the tools needed to enhance their relationships within companies, OrgAnalytix can tackle one of the major loss makers in the economy.
