The best HR and People Analytics articles of 2022 (Part 2 of 2)

Last week, I published Part 1 of the annual compendium of my 60 best resources on people analytics and HR of 2022. The response to the publication has been as humbling as it has been overwhelming. Thanks to all of those who shared, commented on and reposted Part 1. It is much appreciated.

As a reminder, Part 1 covered five topics: i) the future of work, ii) workplace strategy and hybrid work, iii) the ‘Great Resignation’, iv) people analytics, and v) employee experience, listening and wellbeing.

Part 2, herein, covers resources on the following five topics: vi) workforce planning, skills and talent marketplace, vii) leadership and culture, viii) diversity, equity and inclusion ix) the evolution of HR, and; x) hr and people analytics technology.

Thanks to the LinkedIn gremlins, I had to split the 2022 compendium into two parts. I hope this doesn't spoil the enjoyment for readers. Perhaps if I'd shrunk the list down to just 30 articles then it would fit into one newsletter! But, as I hope readers will agree, that would have meant having to remove too many good resources - and I am notoriously indecisive :-)

In the year ahead, as I wrote in?my 12 HR Trends for 2023, HR has a unique opportunity to lead the way to to a more productive, inclusive, healthier, and humane future of work.?The selections below help point the way ahead. I hope you enjoy reading, and if you do, please?subscribe to my weekly Digital HR Leaders newsletter, which is published every Tuesday, and please tune in to the Digital HR Leaders podcast - do check out last week's episode with Diane Gherson , Dave Ulrich , and Ian Bailie on The Top HR Trends That Are Set to Disrupt The Workplace in 2023.

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WORKFORCE PLANNING | SKILLS BASED ORGANISATION | TALENT MARKETPLACE

SUE CANTRELL, MICHAEL GRIFFITHS, ROBIN JONES AND JULIE HIIPAKKA -?The skills-based organization: A new operating model for work and the workforce

The Deloitte team of?Susan Cantrell,?Michael Griffiths,?Robin Jones?and?Julie Hiipakka?continue their excellent series of articles about the evolution of the skills-based organisation “to meet the demand for agility, agency and equity.” The consequence of this shift is that the dominant structure of work for the past century – the job – is increasingly being disrupted. For example, the article quotes?Anish Singh?of Unilever: “We’re beginning to think about each role at Unilever as a collection of skills, rather than simply a job title.” The article draws on a Deloitte survey of more than 1,200 professionals to highlight how companies are increasingly decoupling work and provides a wealth of insights and visualisations including: both executives and employees want a new approach to jobs and work (e.g. 73% of workers say skills-based practices would improve their experience at work), skills-based organisations see better results (e.g. 63% of organisations that embed a skills-based approach are more likely to achieve results than those that have not adopted these practices), and the case for changes continues to develop (e.g. 77% of business and HR executives say flexibly moving skills to work is critical to navigating future disruptions). Finally, the team present a skills-based operating model (see?FIG 35) based on four principles: i) liberating work from the confines of the job, ii) reconceiving workers from being employees in jobs to being a “workforce of one, iii) using skills, rather than jobs, to make decisions about work and the workforce, and iv) building a ‘skills hub’. Look out for Susan and Michael on next week's episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast (available from January 17)

BRYAN HANCOCK, CHRIS HIGGINS, JONATHAN LAW, SARAH OLSON, NIKHIL PATEL, AND KATIE VAN DUSEN -?Taking a skills-based approach to building the future workforce

Perhaps the most positive aspect of employers shifting towards a skills-based approach to human capital and talent management is it means moving beyond degrees and where candidates went to school to a focus instead on the skills a role requires and that a candidate possesses. As this excellent study by?Bryan Hancock,?Chris Higgins, Jonathan Law,?Sarah Olson,?Nikhil Patel, and?Katie Van Dusen?and the team at?McKinsey & Company?finds, a skills-based approach helps both employers and workers: “Through a skills-based approach, companies can boost the number and quality of applicants who apply to open positions and can assist workers to find more opportunities to advance internally, which can help employers improve retention. It also helps communities by creating more and better job opportunities for a broader, diverse pool of workers.” The article also provides guidance to employers and workers on how to overcome barriers to implement skills-based practices; and making a skills-based approach a reality.

RAVIN JESUTHASAN AND DAVID GREEN -?The Journey to a Skills-based Organisation and the Role of the Talent Marketplace?

The effort required for companies to transition to a skills-based organisation should not be underestimated. Someone who has been a pioneer in shaping this discussion is?Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, global leader of?Mercer’s Transformation Services business, and author of four books including the landmark?Work Without Jobs, co-authored with?John Boudreau, which was published in 2022. In our collaboration for?myHRfuture, Ravin and I discuss i) how to redesign work to make it more accessible and agile, ii) how companies are turning to talent marketplaces as they move from jobs to skills and capabilities as their currency for work, iii) why companies need to develop organisational capability to deconstruct, redeploy and reconstruct work at scale, iv) findings from research on companies who have implemented a talent marketplace, and v) tips for chief people officers and companies looking to make the shift to a skills and capabilities-based approach. For more on this topic, listen to the episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast with Ravin and John Boudreau:?Does the Future of Work Mean Work Without Jobs?

Implementing a talent marketplace is less about technology and more about changing a legacy of work in jobs

JOSH BERSIN -?Building A Company Skills Strategy: Harder (and More Important) Than It Looks

Josh Bersin shares seven lessons from helping companies assemble their end-to-end skills strategy. He emphasises that while building skills is not a new idea: “What is new is the technology, applications of AI, and the idea of using skills in an integrated way for recruiting, development, internal mobility, and pay.” One of the lessons Josh shares is: Don’t try to boil the ocean (“I wouldn’t advise you to build a skills taxonomy for your whole company at once. Rather, what we see works best is to focus on one of three use-cases” – see?FIG 38). This echoes the guidance offered on prioritising workforce planning efforts in Insight222 ’s?New Playbook for Workforce Planning, co-created with members of our People Analytics Program, and which was published in 2021 – see extract?here.

NITHYA VADUGANATHAN, BEN ZWEIG, COLLEEN MCDONALD AND LISA SIMON -?What Outperformers Do Differently to Tap Internal Talent

Research finds that?lateral career opportunities?are more than twice as important as compensation in predicting employee retention, as well as a key contributor to employee engagement and company performance. Despite this, a new collaborative study between?BCG Henderson Institute?(Nithya Vaduganathan?and?Colleen McDonald) and?Revelio Labs?(Ben Zweig?and?Lisa K. Simon) finds that only 10% of job opportunities today are filled with internal lateral hires. The article for?MIT Sloan Management Review, identifies companies with higher internal lateral mobility rates and higher employee satisfaction who are leading the way?(see?FIG 39). It also outlines the four talent practices that are setting these?talent mobility outperformers?apart: i) Shifting to employee-led mobility programs, ii) Expanding mobility options to project or internal gig work, iii) Taking advantage of technological innovation, and iv) Integrating mobility with other talent practices. The article also shares insights from outperformers including?Patrick Hull?(Unilever),?Asaf Jackoby?(Amdocs),?Lucrecia Borgonovo?(Mastercard),?Carmel Mitchell (She/Her)?(Fidelity International) and?Hamish Nisbet?(HSBC).

ALLAN CHURCH AND NATALIE CORI –?How to tame the Talent Marketplace

Like a growing number of companies, PepsiCo has either implemented, is implementing, or is considering implementing a talent marketplace. As such this article by Allan Church, Ph.D. and Natalie Cori of PepsiCo’s global talent management function on ‘nine truths’ to consider as you take the plunge, is as timely as it is invaluable. The nine truths include: i) the talent marketplace is highly dependent on strong technology, ii) the talent marketplace is fundamentally at odds with traditional talent management, and iii) you get what you measure (see?FIG 40).

JAMES MCKAY AND MEGAN ANDERSON -?Planning for a future-ready workforce

With major disruptions such as digital transformation and the pandemic, strategic workforce planning is not only increasing in importance but is also a source of competitive advantage. This article by James McKay , Product Owner for Strategic Workforce Planning and Megan Anderson , Chief Operating Officer, Technology at ANZ, shares lessons on applying a business lens to building SWP capability at the bank and highlights two powerful examples of SWP initiatives and outcomes. In ANZ’s Technology division, SWP is supporting efforts to better understand key roles and capabilities as well as develop modelling tools to improve the ability to ‘see around corners’. In contrast, in the bank’s Australia Retail and Commercial business, SWP is helping make sense of how the workforce will need to evolve to support the ongoing digital transformation and the reinvention of customer experience.

LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE

KATHLEEN HOGAN -?Why Leaders Can’t Ignore the Human Energy Crisis

As?Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s Chief People Officer, highlights in her compelling article, since the World Health Organization categorised burnout as an occupational phenomenon in 2019, it has only become more widespread. Kathleen describes it as a ‘Human Energy Crisis’?requiring “a new kind of workplace sustainability that’s an imperative for every organization,” where the task for leaders is about “regenerating energy for our employees at work and ensuring it’s renewable and sustainable.” Kathleen highlights work?Dawn Klinghoffer?and the people analytics team has done to enable Microsoft to shift “from measuring how productive and engaged employees are to how well are they thriving,” before outlining six key areas where leaders can tackle the Human Energy Crisis: Putting culture and purpose front and centre, making wellbeing holistic, supporting career growth in meaningful ways, focusing on leader and manager capabilities, building supportive team connections, and being intentional to offer flexibility where possible. To learn more about the work Kathleen is leading at Microsoft, including how she and CEO Satya Nadella undertook a successful culture transformation at the tech giant, listen to my conversation with her on the Digital HR Leaders podcast:?Microsoft's Chief People Officer on Creating a Data Driven Culture in HR.

KATARINA BERG AND TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC -?How to make better and faster decisions when you are struggling to keep up

As the world becomes increasing complex and uncertain, making better decisions becomes ever harder for leaders. Moreover, as Katarina Berg and Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic reveal in their excellent article for?Fast Company, enabling people to have more choice can exacerbate this difficulty: “Psychological science has long suggested that too much choice comes not only with an inability to make decisions, but also higher levels of anxiety and dissatisfaction with our choices”. The article provides six recommendations to making better and faster decisions including guidance on i) when to practice precision (“When your decision really matters, you need data, knowledge, experience, empathy, and mindfulness”), ii) when to use critical thinking and curiosity, and iii) avoiding decision hoarding (“Do not pile onto mini decisions that will fundamentally make you bad at making big and important decisions”).

Developing a reputation for smart, objective, pragmatic decision-making will not just help your career, but also the success of your team and organization.

DIANE GHERSON AND LYNDA GRATTON -?Managers Can’t Do It All: It’s time to reinvent their role for the new world of work

Digitalisation, agile initiatives, and the shift to remote and hybrid work have all dramatically transformed the role of managers. Managers now need to focus on enabling their teams to be successful, rather than being served by them; coach performance, not oversee tasks; and lead in rapidly changing, more-fluid environments.?As this Harvard Business Review?article by Diane Gherson (former chief human resources officer at IBM) and Lynda Gratton (professor of management at London Business School) reveals, managers are struggling to keep up. The article examines three companies that are reimagining the role of the manager: Standard Chartered, IBM and Telstra, where managers have been supported to develop new skills, and managerial responsibilities have been radically redefined. For more insights from the authors, you may want to listen to Diane Gherson (here) and Lynda Gratton (here) in conversation with me on the?Digital HR Leaders Podcast.?

LIZ FOSSLIEN AND MOLLIE WEST DUFFY | FIRST ROUND -?A Manager’s Guide to Helping Teams Face Down Uncertainty, Burnout and Perfectionism

Unless your name is Rip Van Winkle, you’ll have probably seen some of Liz Fosslien ’s viral illustrations capturing the workplace anxieties that have really come to the fore over the last few years. This article on?First Round, provides a comprehensive guide (and some of those powerful illustrations – including?FIG 43) for managers seeking to help their teams confront uncertainty, avoid burnout and push back against perfectionism, and is based on a new book entitled?Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay, written by Liz and her co-author Mollie West Duffy . A must-read for any manager seeking to support their team – and themselves. For more from Liz and Mollie, I recommend listening to their conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Help Your Teams Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay.

Burnout isn’t only about the hours you’re putting in. It’s also a function of the stories you tell yourself and how you approach what you do — in the office and at home

ROB CROSS, MICHAEL ARENA, GREG PRYOR, REBECCA HINDS, AND TIM BOWMAN -?How to Fix Collaboration Overload

Research finds that the time spent on the collaborative elements of work – such as email, instant messaging and meetings – has?exploded by nearly 50%?since 2010. While collaboration supports growth, innovation, and agility, too much can lead to employee burnout and attrition, and actually damage productivity. As?Rob Cross,?Michael Arena,?Greg Pryor,?Rebecca Hinds?and?Tim Bowman?highlight in their article for?Harvard Business Review, employees are too often left to fend for themselves when tackling collaboration overload. But the responsibility lies with companies as well, and in the article outlines four ways for organisations to tackle collaboration overload: i) invest in tools and platforms that protect workers’ focus and impact, ii) equip workers with collaborative intelligence, iii) establish organisation-wide collaboration norms, and iv) do a reset. For more on this topic, I recommend Rob’s book?Beyond Collaboration Overload, and listening to his conversation with me on the?Digital HR Leaders podcast:?How Can You Reduce Collaborative Overload?

Organizations need to do a better job of helping employees manage collaboration overload

MARTIJN WIERTZ -?Five Steps to Making Organisational Culture Tangible

With topics such as hybrid working, automation, skills scarcity, and rising awareness of inequality in the workplace, understanding and shaping organisational culture is increasingly challenging and more important than ever. In his article for?myHRfuture,? Martijn Wiertz , who works in the Global HR Data & Innovation Department at Rabobank, shares five steps designed to enable people analytics teams, organisational researchers and other relevant practitioners to provide companies with tools for working on organisational culture. The first step is to come to a shared problem definition on culture, where Martijn highlights a number of models that can help formulate this definition including the ‘Iceberg model’ (see?FIG 44) from De Nederlansche Bank, which is composed of three layers; mindset, group dynamics and behaviour.

TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC AND BEN WABER -?Toward Fairer Data-Driven Performance Management

In their article for?Harvard Business Review, the dynamic duo of?Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic?and?Ben Waber?highlight that despite the advance of people analytics, innovative HR technologies, and machine learning algorithms, reliable and bias-free evaluations of employees’ job performance remain tantalisingly elusive: “Ask any organization to identify their top employees, including managers and leaders, and to prove their selection with hard evidence or data, and they will look at you perplexed.” To solve this challenge, Tomas and Ben outline how organisations first need to identify what constitutes real, meaningful performance, and tie this to the high-level goals of the organisation. They explain, and then provide some thoughts, on how this involves creating a continuum of performance metrics encompassing individual employees, teams, divisions, and the entire organisation.

Executives shouldn’t think that they can design metrics in a vacuum, or that just because a metric is predictive that it’s ethical to use.

ANTOINE FERRèRE, CHRIS RIDER, BAIBA RENERTE AND AMY EDMONDSON -?Fostering Ethical Conduct Through Psychological Safety

While corporate studies such as Project Aristotle at Google and the Art of Teamwork at Microsoft, highlight the role psychological safety plays in team effectiveness, team performance, and creativity, there has been scant research on the role of psychological safety in workplace ethics. As such, this extensive research collaboration with Amy Edmondson by the team of Antoine Ferrère , Chris Rider and Baiba Renerte at Novartis of over 38,000 employees in 100+ countries, is as revealing as it is welcome. The results demonstrate the integral role psychological safety plays in the ethical climate of an organisation, as well as emphasising the critical role of line managers in creating safe spaces for employees to discuss concerns.

Building a psychologically safe environment to facilitate speaking up about ethical conduct is relevant to both company reputation and long-term business performance

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

BONNIE DOWLING, DREW GOLDSTEIN, MICHAEL PARK AND HOLLY PRICE -?Hybrid work: Making it fit with your diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy

Employers continue to be eager for a return to the office, but employees revitalised by improved work-life balance are not. Research by Bonnie Dowling , Drew Goldstein , Michael Park , and Holly Price for McKinsey reinforces the idea that hybrid work is here to stay, as well as revealing what empowered employees love about hybrid work models and the risks to diversity, equity, and inclusion if managers get the evolving flexible workplace wrong. The article highlights three practices to prioritise (see?FIG 46) in order to grow an inclusive culture to improve performance and organisational cohesion, as well as employee wellness, engagement, and retention.

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STEPHANIE CREARY, CAROLYNN JOHNSON, SHUJAAT AHMAD AND MATTHEW BIDWELL - How Data Analytics Can Help Advance DEI?Article?|?Video

A hugely illuminating discussion on trends in diversity analytics and data disclosure featuring Carolynn Johnson Franklin, MBA , CEO of DiversityInc., Shujaat Ahmad , Director of People Analytics at LinkedIn and Wharton professors Stephanie Creary and Matthew Bidwell . Stephanie summarises the conversation of how analytics can help advance DEI?here: i) use reliable data to understand the problem, ii) ensure that those analysing DEI data are highly-skilled, iii) develop benchmarking reports, iv) engage potential changemakers through data-driven conversations and insights how DEI can be advanced, and; v) work with academic DEI researchers who are experts in data analytics and interpretation to strengthen data analytics practices.

JOAN C. WILLIAMS AND JAMIE DOLKAS -?Data-Driven Diversity

Although tracking data is key to doing better when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), as Joan C. Williams and Jamie Dolkas reveal in their article for?Harvard Business Review, most companies have yet to adopt evidence-based, metrics-driven practices—even though they’ve acknowledged DEI as a moral imperative and recognise how it can help their bottom line. In the article, the authors provide guidance designed to help companies take stock of their DEI goals, assess their tolerance for risk and recommend adopting practices (including outcome and process metrics) to achieve their goals while mitigating risk. For more insight on this topic, listen to Joan Williams in conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders Podcast:?Why Companies Need to Interrupt Bias to Truly Create Inclusion.

You should be willing to risk as much in the DEI arena as you would in any other arena in which you have important business goals.

HENRIK BRESMAN AND AMY EDMONDSON -?Research: To Excel, Diverse Teams Need Psychological Safety

While the theory of psychological safety being key to unlocking the promise of diversity in teams is not new, empirical evidence has been lacking. Until now. In this article for?Harvard Business Review, Henrik Bresman and Amy Edmondson reveal the findings of a study they conducted with 62 drug development teams at six large pharmaceutical firms. The study found that the key to getting teams to work better together and tap the potential of diversity was to create a psychologically safe environment (see?FIG 47). The authors then discuss three ways to do this encompassing: framing, inquiry and bridging boundaries.

Psychological safety may hold the key to unlocking the benefits of diversity

RASMUS HOUGAARD, JACQUELINE CARTER AND MARISSA AFTON -?When Women Leaders Leave, the Losses Multiply | MONIKA HAMORI, ROCIO BONET, PETER CAPPELLI, AND SAMIDHA SAMBARE -?Women Are Stalling Out on the Way to the Top

In a?2022 episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast,?Rasmus Hougaard?shared the findings of research he conducted that found that?women are more effective leaders than men. Rasmus and his co-authors found that on key leadership qualities such as wisdom and compassion, female leaders rank significantly higher than their male counterparts and that this also has a direct impact on business results (see?FIG 48) So, where are we with regards to the advancement of women in the most visible leadership roles in our biggest businesses? To answer this question, the writers of the second article, in?MIT Sloan Management Review, analysed the career histories and demographics of executives in the 10 highest-ranking jobs in Fortune 100 companies during the past 40 years. Findings from the research include: i) Despite accounting for 47% of the U.S. labour force, women held just 27% of the Fortune 100’s top leadership positions in 2021, which while an increase is still woefully short of equal representation, ii) Women are mostly stuck in support roles, with only 6% being at the highest tier (CEOs, presidents, and COOs), iii) Women take less time than men to reach a top-tier executive position from the start of their careers (see?FIG 49), and iv) Women switch companies more often. The article also provides guidance on how companies can do better including around hiring and development as well as in promoting more women to ‘feeder’ roles.

THE EVOLUTION OF HR

DAVE ULRICH -?How Do You Advance Your HR Agenda?

Perhaps no single figure has done more to shape modern HR than?Dave Ulrich, and the bi-weekly articles he publishes on LinkedIn are always insightful and packed full of insights. In this article, Dave highlights how advancing HR requires both art?(“…creative and divergent innovations that adapt to changing circumstances to discover new ideas” and science (“…disciplined and convergent insights that meld theory, research, and practice to deliver on promises”). He then outlines how HR has evolved (see?FIG 50) and presents an integrated human capability framework (see?FIG 51) that is designed to provide a blueprint for HR convergence and progress. Two other articles Dave published in 2022 I recommend diving into are i) HR N.0 Ten Ideas Shaping the Future of Human Capability, and ii) HR’s Disclosable Impact on Value Creation: Governance and Guidance for Growth Through Human Capability (G3HC), written with Norm Smallwood ,

HR is less about HR and more about the outcomes of doing HR work

ROBERT BOLTON | KPMG -?The future of HR: From flux to flow

An excellent report by?Robert Bolton?and his team at KPMG, which is based on a survey of 300 HR leaders, and interviews with 12 organisations considered to be leading their peers in the future of HR. These ‘pathfinders’ are: “Building the capabilities needed for their marketplace, and to deliver their firm’s strategy. They’re providing people insights to enable decision-making. And they’re embedding themselves into other business functions and the C-Suite, to allow the value of HR to benefit the whole company.” The pathfinders are also focused on six critical priorities for the next three years: flow, digital, analytics, talent, purpose, and wellbeing. The report is full of insights, visualisations and guidance from the 12 pathfinders:?Pascal Ernst?(Aegon),?David McCormack?(AIB),?Mike T.?(Albertsons),?Danielle Harmer?(Aviva),?Simon Ashley?(BP),?Cori Davis?(Genentech),?Amy Coleman?(Microsoft),?Rachel Warwick (CPsychol)?(Ocado Group),?Angela McKenna?(Salesforce),?Ron Crawford?(Starbucks),?Emma Taylor?(Tesco), and?Kay Jarvis?(Tevva).

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LAURA BLUMENFELD, NEEL GANDHI, ASMUS KOMM AND FLORIAN POLLNER -?Reimagining HR: Insights from people leaders

In the last two years, HR functions in multiple organisations have played a pivotal role in helping their companies throughout the various stages of the pandemic. Interviews by McKinsey with more than 80 chief human resources officers at some of the largest companies in Europe and the United States suggest that CHROs believe this influence will persist, with 90 per cent also envisaging significant changes to the HR operating model over the next two to three years. The authors - Laura Blumenfeld , Neel Gandhi , Asmus Komm , and Florian Pollner then outline elements of this new operating model (see?FIG 53) and explore how HR leaders can shift HR from a support to a leadership function.

The pandemic showed HR is as relevant to business success as typical core functions like R&D, sales, or production

CéDRIC BORZéE –?Why is Upskilling HR so Important?

There’s arguably never been a more exciting time to work in HR – nor a more challenging one. The pivotal role played by HR during the pandemic in many organisations has led to increased expectations on the function by CEOs.?Our own research at Insight222?finds that while 90% of CHROs expect HRBPs to use people data and analytics in their daily work, only 42% of HRBPs are building their data literacy skills. During the last year, over one thousand HR professionals have completed the?myHRfuture?HR Skills Assessment. In his article,?Cedric Borzee?presents benchmark analysis of these results (see?FIG 54) and provides insights into the capability areas that organisations should focus on upskilling their HR functions in. If you enjoy this article, I recommend delving into another article Cédric published in 2022: How to Upskill HR and Build a Data Driven Culture.

TSEDAL NEELEY AND PAUL LEONARDI –?Developing a Digital Mindset

Learning new technological skills is essential for digital transformation, but as Tsedal Neeley and Paul Leonardi write in their article for?Harvard Business Review, this is not enough. Employees need to embrace a digital mindset, which the authors define as: “a set of attitudes and behaviors that enable people and organizations to see how data, algorithms, and AI open up new possibilities and to chart a path for success in an increasingly technology-intensive world.” Neeley and Leonardi lay out the basic principles for developing a digital mindset across the workforce (including continuous learning, accelerating adoption across different employee attitudes to digital – see?FIG 56?– and aligning digital systems), and provides examples from the likes of Atos, Unilever, Moderna and Philips. The article draws on material from the authors’ book:?The Digital Mindset. I also recommend listening to Paul’s conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How To Help Your Teams Develop A Digital Mindset.

Employees who develop digital mindsets are more successful in their jobs, have higher satisfaction at work, and are more likely to get promoted

HR AND PEOPLE ANALYTICS TECH

NITHYA VADUGANATHAN, COLLEEN MCDONALD, ALLISON BAILEY, RENEE LAVERDIERE, DAVID ALLRED AND SESH IYER -?The $12 Billion Opportunity in HR Technology

This article from the BCG team of Nithya Vaduganathan , Colleen McDonald , Allison Bailey , Renée Laverdière , David Allred , and Sesh Iyer cites the huge growth and investment in the HR Tech market (see?FIG 57) and breaks the talent management value chain into six steps: i) anticipate future talent needs, ii) assess skill levels, iii) source talent and match internal candidates to opportunities, iv) develop the skills and capabilities of the current workforce, v) embed workers in the organisation and vi) manage employee performance. The authors then highlight the desire of enterprise customers for an integrated solution, and present three strategies for HR tech firms to create an edge: i) develop differentiated data to power predictive analytics and insights, ii) create a strong skill taxonomy, with the capability to adapt it for industry and company context, and iii) establish a position that connects or orchestrates multiple parts of the talent management value chain.

STACIA GARR AND PRIYANKA MEHROTRA –?People Analytics Technology 2022: Executive Summary

RedThread Research unveiled their third annual study of the burgeoning People Analytics Technology (PAT) market in 2022, with an executive summary of 26 pages, which is available to all. Key findings include: i) the market grew by 53% YOY, has a value of just over $3 billion and nearly half of the vendors that participated in the study received investment in 2021, ii) vendors are not responding fast enough to use cases required by customers (e.g. through providing capabilities to non-people analytics practitioners) and iii) average Net Promoter Score dropped to 58 from 67 YOY.?FIG 58?emphasises how crowded the PAT market is and also highlights how the volume of firms that have survey capabilities and are integrating data has grown. Kudos to the authors Stacia Sherman Garr and Priyanka Mehrotra .

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JOSH BERSIN -?HR Technology Market Disrupted: Employee Experience Is Now The Core

According to? Josh Bersin , in his analysis of the HR Tech market, there has been a seismic shift in the way companies approach their HR Tech stack from starting at the ‘core’ to instead transferring emphasis to employee experience and talent intelligence systems: “The HR tech market has changed. The layers on the top (the Employee Experience and Talent Intelligence Systems) are now the core.” Josh then looks back at the history to explain this evolution, provides examples including from the likes of DHL, Delta and Colgate-Palmolive, and provides some visualisations that illustrate the shift.

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ANDY CHARLWOOD AND NIGEL GUENOLE -?Can HR adapt to the paradoxes of artificial intelligence?

Two eminent voices in our field - Andy Charlwood and Nigel Guenole, PhD - investigate potential scenarios on how AI is and will affect the field of HR. Conclusions include: i) the oft-cited challenges of bias and unfairness are solvable, ii) there is risk that the use of technology for organising work represents a significant risk that AI use will degrade the quality of work, and; iii) HR professionals should “develop the skills to ensure that ethics and fairness are at the centre of AI development for HR and people management.” If you enjoy this paper then I recommend listening to Nigel Guenole in conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: Why is Organisational Behaviour Important in the Workplace?

FROM MY DESK

Below follows selected resources I penned or co-penned in 2022.

DAVID GREEN – How to build a data driven culture in HR?

April saw a return to the conference stage for the first time in 27 months to speak at and chair?People Analytics World?in London - and deliver the closing keynote on?how to build a data driven culture in HR?(see copy of slides below).?

DAVID GREEN – 12 HR Trends for 2023: Humanising (the Future of) Work

The 2023 Trends were drawn from work and research we’ve undertaken at Insight222, conversations I’ve had with guests on the Digital HR Leaders Podcast, and contributions from a stellar group of practitioners, academics and thinkers in our field. The 12 trends presented all coalesce around the unique opportunity HR has to lead the creation of a more productive, inclusive, healthier, and humane future of work.

BRYAN HANCOCK, BILL SCHANINGER, LUCIA RAHILLY AND DAVID GREEN -?Talent at a turning point: How people analytics can help?

In this episode of the McKinsey Talks Talent podcast, Bill Schaninger, Ph.D. , Bryan Hancock , Lucia Rahilly and I reflect on a talent market in the throes of changes—and how HR leaders can use people analytics to navigate the current inflection point successfully. Topics covered include: HR in the spotlight, what employers are getting wrong about the Great Attrition, how to make a difference in diversity, equity and inclusion, rethinking the workplace, managing privacy and the role of people analytics.

PHILIP ARKCOLL AND DAVID GREEN -?The Future of Work is Not About Where You Work; It is About How You Work and Measure Success

In an interview for the?myHRfuture?blog,?Philip Arkcoll, CEO and co-founder of?Worklytics, outlines how the pandemic has irrevocably changed the way we work through the proliferation of remote and hybrid working. This is changing the dynamics of work culture, interpersonal skills, team collaboration and organisational innovation. Phil explains how companies are using organisational network analysis to measure and understand these dynamics and supporting efforts to improve wellbeing, identify burnout (see?FIG 61) and drive productivity. Phil also provides a powerful example of how one Silicon Valley technology firm used the Worklytics platform to identify and turn around high collaborative overload caused by too many meetings and not enough focus time.

MELISSA ARRONTE, DAVID OSTBERG, AND DAVID GREEN -?What is the Future of Employee Listening?

As part of the?Insight222 People Analytics Trends 2022 study, we asked 184 companies where people analytics is adding the most value to their organisation. For the second successive year, ‘Employee Listening’ emerged as one of the top two areas, and companies are increasingly investing more in employee listening and coupling it with people analytics. In this article for the?myHRfuture?blog,?Melissa Arronte?and?David Ostberg (He/Him)?of?Medallia?share their thoughts with me on the future of employee listening. Topics cover the current state, the greatest opportunities to evolve, how to address the most common questions asked by companies about employee listening (see?FIG 61), and what the best companies are doing differently.

VIPIN SHARMA AND DAVID GREEN -?The Business Value of Democratising Access to People Data at Tata Steel

As part of Insight222’s?People Analytics Trends?study, three components critical to?developing a data driven culture for HR?were identified (see?FIG 63). The research also found that while 81% of CHROs expect HRBPs to use people data and analytics in their daily work, only 43% of companies are actually developing the data literacy skills of their HRBPs. One company that is simultaneously democratising access to people data for decision making and?upskilling HRBPs and the wider HR community?is Tata Steel. In this article, Vipin Sharma , Head HR Strategy, Analytics & HR Innovation Labs, explains how this has helped Tata Steel address important business challenges with people analytics, including bias in performance management.

A people analytics team will not be able to create a significant impact without the involvement of HRBPs

LUIGI M. FIERRO AND DAVID GREEN -?How ING Uses Skills Data To Support Workforce Planning And Employee Experience

One finding from?Insight222’s research on workforce planning, was that 90% of companies expressed a desire to build a skills-based workforce planning process, but only?26% are actively doing so. One of those companies is ING, and in this article Luigi Maria Fierro , former?Head of HR Strategy and People Analytics, explains to me how ING is using people data to derive insights into the skills and capabilities required across the bank and how these insights can be used to inform their future workforce strategy.

People data can give us significant insights into our skills and capabilities across the bank and can assist us in investing in the right areas so we can ensure we are ready for the future.

THE DIGITAL HR LEADERS PODCAST

In addition, we published 46 episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast in 2022! A huge thank you to all the guest and sponsors, who in order of appearance are: Thimon De Jong , Steve Scott , Melissa Arronte , Medallia , Charles Jennings , René Gessenich , Nancy Doyle , Nigel Guenole, PhD , Hani Nabeel , iPsychTec , Placid Jover , John Boudreau , Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA , Jason Averbook , Laura Stevens PhD , Lo?c Michel ?? , 365Talents , Charlie Johnston , Isabelle Chappuis , Gabriele Rizzo, Ph.D., APF , Ethan Burris , Lisa V Chang , Abdul Hummaida, PhD , Orgvue , Peter Cappelli , RJ Milnor , Whitney Johnson , Jordan Pettman , Tertia Wiedenhof , Ian Cook , Visier Inc. Shlomit Gruman- Navot , Ampie Swanepoel , Werner Merbold , Jennifer Moss , Kevin Wheeler , Alicia Roach , eQ8 , Paul Leonardi , Laura Wright Shubert , Rasmus Hougaard , Mollie West Duffy , Liz Fosslien , Ivori Johnson (She/Her) , Emily Connery , ChartHop , Tiffany Monroe , Madhura Chakrabarti, PhD , Anna Lundstr?m , Mark Mortensen , Ronni Zehavi , HiBob , Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN ??? (née Schouten) , Dawn Klinghoffer , Toby Culshaw , Stefaan van Hooydonk , Andreas De Neve ?? , TechWolf , Paulette Alviti , Matthew Yerbury , and Nicholas Biller

THANK YOU

Thanks to all the authors and contributors featured here in Part 2, and also last week in Part 1 as well as across the monthly collections from 2022 – see January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December - your passion, knowledge and expertise continues to inspire. Thanks also to my colleagues at Insight222, the guests and sponsors of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast in 2022 and the great many of you that share and engage with the content I share. It’s much appreciated. I wish you all well for a happy, healthy and successful 2023.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Green ?????is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work.?As Managing Partner and Executive Director at?Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 90 global organisations.?Prior to co-founding Insight222 and taking up a board advisor role at?TrustSphere, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics.?David also hosts the?Digital HR Leaders Podcast?and is an instructor for Insight222's?myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar,?Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value?was published in the summer of 2021.

SEE ME SPEAK AT THESE EVENTS

I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work, and data driven HR at a number of upcoming events in 2023:

• 25 January - The Strategic Agenda for People Analytics in 2023 (Webinar with Nicky Clement (she/her) and Ian Cook )
• 16 February - Discover How Leading Companies Impact Business Value with People Analytics (Insight222 webinar with Dawn Klinghoffer and Jonathan Ferrar)
• 19-20 April - People Analytics World (London)
• 26-28 September - Insight222 Global Executive Retreat (Colorado, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
• 17-18 October - UNLEASH World (Paris)

More events will be added at a later date.