people analytics
People Analytics will Revolutionize How You Look at HR
Advanced application of data science techniques can aid your organization to manage, analyze, and improve employee performance. Covering a broad scope, people analytics touches everything from workforce planning and recruitment to talent management, performance management, and succession planning. Your organization may know of people analytics under terms like HR analytics and workforce analytics. They all refer to the same concept. With the application of people analytics in HR, your organization can make data-driven decisions about employees to improve overall organizational performance.
People analytics can contribute to a dramatic improvement in operational efficiency. It can also aid in employee engagement and satisfaction, reducing turnover and costs. Is your business prepared to leverage big data with people analytics?
People Analytics Software is Changing the Face of HR
Every successful business understands that HR is a critical function of the organization. HR ensures that the best talent is identified and hired. HR also contributes to the development of a productive workforce with high morale. Your organization may have recognized the importance of data-driven processes and decisions. But if you haven’t integrated a people analytics solution, you won’t be hitting your true potential.
Traditional HR processes no longer serve the needs of businesses in the age of big data. While many organizations recognize the importance of data collection, some fail to utilize it in a way that drives results.
People analytics is one aspect of the wider big data picture that can have a profound impact on your organization. Advanced software can take data from multiple sources, even some outside of your HR databases. Social media, employee performance reviews, exit interviews, and countless data sources can contribute to your people analytics decision-making. People analytics goes beyond identifying trends in employee behavior. It can generate insights into the wider operational structure so that improvements can be made at every level.
Setting Goals and Expectations with People Analytics
At its core, people analytics is centered on talent management and acquisition. Organizations have several key goals when leveraging big data and the insights it generates.
- Reducing the time to hire by eliminating outdated manual processes.
- Increasing the quality of hiring by identifying suitable talent for the organization.
- Collecting new data to improve people analytics through correlation.
The goals are focused on the talent management and acquisition level, but there are benefits further down the HR chain. Improving recruitment can lead to benefits including:
- Improved revenue per employee with better hires and retention.
- General performance increases.
- Reduced attrition.
Like any major shift in organizational strategy and implementation, people analytics does come with challenges.
Meeting and Overcoming the Challenges of Implementing People Analytics
Resistance to change is a challenge that every organization faces. There’s a natural tendency for people to value experience and human expertise more than data and algorithms. While this trend is shifting, it’s still something that must be addressed to drive acceptance of algorithmic people analytics.
Subjective and intuitive approaches to hiring and assessment of talent still matter. Algorithms can’t replace critical thinking. Decisions must be human but based on data-backed evidence.
The simplest way to overcome the challenge of skepticism and resistance within HR or the leadership team is to demonstrate the advantages of people analytics.
- The company must drive a culture of making data-based decisions to ensure that stakeholders within the organization understand the advantage, process, and outcome of utilizing people analytics.
- Clear questions and goals must be set to ensure focus and the possibility of measuring metrics. If people analytics is unguided, it will be impossible to determine the value and impact.
- Data collected must be consistent with and supportive of intended outcomes to limit wasted resources. Collecting too much data is as dangerous as collecting no data at all. Noise in the pipeline can make the decision-making process difficult. Datasets must be clearly defined based on experience, existing shortfalls, or outside expertise. Organizations can rely on people analytics consultants during the transition phase.
- Take action to prove the value of people analytics and reinforce its value within the organizational culture.
People Analytics Will Generate Actionable Insights
Human resource management isn’t a closed ecosystem. It is becoming increasingly clear that it is a core driver of value and efficiency within any organization. Employees are the backbone of every successful business. People analytics is revolutionary but still focuses on core organizational goals and outcomes.
A large aspect of organizational cost is driven by people and performance management. People analytics can guide your focus so that the best value is returned from any strategy or initiative. From recruitment to specialized tasks like employee relocation, people analytics will ensure that you make great decisions based on great data.
From comparing individual employees to entire teams and departments, people analytics algorithms will generate the actionable insights that drive success. Organizations can even bring the view out further, to compare performance across entire industries.
An investment in people analytics is one of the most cost-effective ways to drive operational consistency, improvement, and growth in your business.