Data-Driven Future of HR

A Conversation with People Analytics Pioneer Greg Newman

People analytics has become indispensable for data-driven talent management, workforce planning, and overall business strategy. We spoke with Greg Newman, an acclaimed people analytics leader, to explore this emerging capability's past, present, and future.

With over two decades of global HR data experience, Greg offered a unique perspective on building successful analytics functions. At Deloitte, he's advised leading companies on leveraging people data and technologies.

In this Q&A, Greg shares advice for aspiring analytics professionals, lessons from high-impact projects, and predictions for the field. Read on for insights from a true people analytics pioneer.

V: How did you get started in people analytics?

GREG: My journey into people analytics was sparked after spending 16 years deeply involved in building increasingly large and complex SAP HR systems for global organisations. During those projects, I saw many clients invest tens of millions of dollars in constructing massive HR data infrastructure. However, analytics was consistently the lowest priority item on the agenda. Reporting capabilities were an afterthought.?

This frustrated me, as I saw phenomenal potential being left untapped. These systems contained millions of data points about the workforce, yet companies did little to uncover strategic insights from their people data investments.

My perspective completely changed when I relocated to Singapore and met the founders of an organisational network analytics startup. Their technology visually mapped hidden networks and employee relationships using passive data sources.

I was immediately hooked when I saw that first dynamic network graph exposing critical connections across an organisation. This was the catalyst I needed - people analytics could genuinely transform how companies understand and optimise their workforce. The rest is history!

V: Share an example of an impactful analytics project you led.

GREG: Some of the most impactful initiatives I've led recently have focused on helping clients build people analytics functions and capabilities from the ground up. Establishing a solid analytical foundation is the most crucial and rewarding part of the journey for me.

In three similar recent client projects, we partnered with:

• Assess their people analytics maturity and current gaps
• Create a strategic roadmap aligned with business priorities?
• Define the suitable operating model, resources, and governance required
• Select enabling technologies and tools to meet needs
• Equip leadership with the knowledge to scale analytics as a sustained capability?

Enabling an organisation from zero to a thriving analytics function is highly complex. But the payoff is immense if you lay the proper building blocks - from strategy and talent to technologies and change management. Companies can accelerate generating business value from people's data.

We often see "one-off" analytics experiments undertaken in silos without thoughtful foundational steps. While interesting, these often provide no lasting value. They quickly get shelved and forgotten without a broader analytics ecosystem to leverage the insights.

Getting the fundamentals right from the start results in analytics capabilities that transform how an organisation leverages people's data for sustained impact. That process has been the most rewarding experience of my career thus far.

V: What skills and mindsets drive analytics success?

GREG: For aspiring people analytics professionals, there are crucial skills beyond statistical and technological competency that drive success in this field. In my perspective, two critical "soft skills" and one "hard skill" rise above the rest in importance:

Soft Skill #1 - Curiosity: The innate curiosity to dig deeper into root causes, understand nuanced problems, and frame the right questions is tremendously valuable. Asking, "Why is this happening?" and "How could we solve it?" allows people analytics to provide uniquely human context no algorithm can match.

Soft Skill #2 - Storytelling Ability: People analytics must be translated into compelling narratives that motivate leaders and stakeholders to act. The power to craft convincing stories from data is pivotal. Science informs, but stories inspire action in business.

Hard Skill - Data Engineering: The unglamorous work of collecting, organising, structuring, and cleaning people's data to be analysis-ready is a critical foundation. We can't derive meaning without high-quality inputs. Data engineering ensures analytics functions have the raw material to refine into strategic insights.

Beyond these three priorities, I also think that its easier to teach a HR person about data science, than it is to teach a data science person about HR, I think its critical to have a deep understanding of talent processes. Of course, a curious, collaborative mindset also helps unlock potential value in data across functions.

V: What innovative metric or approach do you find incredibly insightful?

GREG: Despite it being a decade since I was first exposed to organisational network analysis, I remain captivated by its immense power. In my perspective, revealing the hidden networks naturally formed between employees still represents a breakthrough application of people's data.

Traditional HR metrics provide surface-level workforce insights. But network analytics dig deeper to expose the integral human realities of how work gets done, how people develop relationships, exert influence, and collaborate.

By mapping connections and interactions through passive data collection, we can bring network effects to light. Leaders can see who holds central or isolated positions, who are critical knowledge brokers, or which teams have strong versus fragmented teaming.

These relationship patterns provide a powerful lens into the formal and informal structures shaping performance, culture, and agility. I love the focus that Microsoft's Viva is bringing to the topic and also the innovation being brought by organisations like Network Perspectives, they all further underscore the value simple connection insights can offer about inclusion, well-being, productivity, and remote work.

Network analytics add a vivid human layer that surveys alone fail to capture. I remain convinced organisational network analysis represents an enormously impactful application of people data, which remains underutilised relative to its vast potential.

V: How do you make analytics digestible for business leaders?

GREG: A critical priority of mine is exploring how we can make people analytics truly digestible and actionable for business leaders beyond HR and analytics functions. Many fall into the trap of over-relying on data visualisations, charts, and figures alone to convey insights.

Yet, in my experience, this approach misses the mark. As humans, we best understand information wrapped in stories and concrete examples we can relate to our experiences. Leaders must be convinced with clear narrative arcs into which data can be seamlessly woven to accentuate key points.

To make analytics resonate, I imagine trying to convey insights to my father - a pragmatic 70-year-old not inclined to digest academic presentations of complex data. We must bring the data to life in relatable human terms.

Leaders connect with tangible examples and scenarios, bringing analysis out of the abstract and into reality. Storytelling, use cases, and putting data-driven insights into business contexts are the keys to driving adoption. Without compelling translation, the best analysis risks going unheeded.

I love that we fail a lot. People analytics is still at this sort of discovery phase which means we can take risks and try new things. As a team we aren’t afraid of failure, it enables us to innovate fast and create real impact.

V: How do you stay current on people analytics innovations?

GREG: My approach to staying current focuses less on passive consumption and more on active contribution and exchange. I believe collaborating with and learning from the community accelerates knowledge.

Rather than simply reading articles or subscribing to newsletters, I prioritise sharing my experiences through writing, conference presentations, and open dialogue. Documentation and transparency around analytics efforts create valuable discussions.

By contributing your perspective, you attract others with shared interests and practical challenges to connect with. The most resonant learning emerges from mutual exchanges between practitioners doing the day-to-day work of innovating. Passively receiving content scratches the surface of the collective knowledge the community holds.

Analytics professionals should actively participate to advance the larger field. This pulls you into the orbit of others, pushing boundaries and driving people analytics forward in various industries and contexts. Being an inquisitive, generous knowledge sharer continuously enriches me with new learning.

V: What trend or topic is critical right now?

GREG: Ethics has emerged as a topic frequently raised in my recent client conversations. We were progressing from earlier people analytics efforts when the emphasis leaned heavily toward exploring what analysis could technically be undertaken.

Now, mature analytics functions are pausing to ask - what should we do thoughtfully? As the process evolves, we must ensure innovation and curiosity don't outpace ethics and responsibility.

Unfortunately, some organisations have made regrettable missteps by unthinkingly pursuing analytics without enough diligence. Predictive models developed with questionable data practices or biased assumptions have steered poor talent decisions.

These public embarrassments underscore the imperative of grounding analytical work in ethical integrity. Every analytics team should embed checkpoints to review each project against ethical criteria focused on the following:

• Transparency of data practices
• Fairness and avoidance of bias
• Protecting privacy and consent
• Ensuring model accountability

A simple but powerful question we routinely consider - "how would our CEO feel reading about this project on the front page of the news?" This quickly highlights any areas of ethical risk worth revisiting before work proceeds.

V: Where is people analytics going in the next decade?

GREG: Looking ahead, I sincerely hope the label "people analytics" disappears as HR embraces data-driven decision-making pervasively. We should no longer require a separate analytical function.

In 10 years, I expect analytics talent, skills, and technologies to fully integrate into everything HR undertakes - like longstanding finance and marketing competencies. People analytics should become indistinguishable from overall HR strategy and operations.

With barriers like data literacy and lack of analytical talent, the next generation of HR leaders will likely view workforce data as second nature. The capabilities we now bundle under "analytics" will then represent "business as usual" rather than niche expertise.

I foresee this assimilation accelerating as frontline HR roles become more comfortable leveraging workforce insights. HR will transition from asking analytics teams for answers to organically deriving data-driven insights. People analytics will recede into the background as data-driven HR takes the foreground.

V: What do you enjoy most about your role?

GREG: The constant learning and innovation inspires me to work in people analytics. Unlike other more established HR domains, analytics retains an intrepid exploratory spirit.

We are still in a discovery and experimentation phase, seeking to unearth human capital insights previously buried in workforce data. I appreciate that every analytics engagement involves bespoke challenges and objectives requiring custom solutions.

In people analytics, we have the freedom to try new approaches, run pilots, learn from failures, and iterate our way to impact. The complexity of unlocking value from human systems ensures things stay dynamic and thought-provoking.

I'm motivated by the unknowns still waiting to be revealed in workforce data - and how those insights can empower organisations when channelled strategically. People analytics harbours massive untapped potential, guaranteeing things stay exciting and rewarding for the foreseeable future.

I will innovate in a new domain when the function eventually matures and standardises. But for now, the constant change and complexity keep me engaged, fulfilled, and excited for the future.