Evaluating a Sentiment Analysis Tool to Detect Digital Transformation Stress

Digital transformation (DT) is the process of transformation of the business world with the use of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions. It not only has a large impact on organizations – their competitiveness and performance, but also on employee well-being and their stress levels. To measure the stress associated with such digital changes we used the concept of Digital Transformation Stress (DTS), and its verified psychometric survey-based tools. In this study we proposed and verified an alternative, automatic tool to measure DTS based on sentiment analysis of help desk ticket data set. First, we conducted sentiment analysis (SA) of help desk tickets of an international financial company to estimate how employees’ stress could manifest in official written communication. We identified negative emotions markers and analysed the relationships between the ticket registration frequency and negative emotion markers. Our interdisciplinary research confirmed that there is high and positive correlation between the stress measurement results based on the established psychometric survey and sentiment analysis results of help desk ticket data set. We conclude that the novel tool we proposed allows for continuous monitoring of DTS among employees in any organization, without psychometric surveys. It is an attractive alternative to lengthy questionnaires, as it makes better use of employees’ time while continuously monitoring stress levels to evaluate at any time if an intervention, such as training, tool upgrade or any other support is needed to safeguard employee’s job satisfaction and their well-being.