Getting Ready For All Things Data: Upskilling and Reskilling HR For More Data-Informed Decision-Making
This panel was part of the Hacking HR event: The People Analytics Global Summit
It is an undeniable fact that people go through endless amounts of new information every single day. Even with the smallest details, we acquire new knowledge we have never seen before. Putting that into the perspective of the workforce, it is just the same. People also undergo a series of never-ending learning; hence, the upskilling and reskilling.
Learning is a ceaseless process. Now that we live in a fast-paced world, where almost everything is controlled by digitalization and technology, there is also a need for us to cope with these changes. Although there are still people who prefer to live in a traditional setup, we cannot afford to only be stuck with this if we aim for an innovative future. If we want to move forward, we must be able to adapt to the changes that are currently happening in the world. Therefore, upskilling and reskilling are one of the most paramount facets that every employee must take into consideration if they want to be successful in their chosen field.
As we are now in our last panel, we have allotted a session that primarily focuses on the importance of upskilling and reskilling, especially that they contribute to the formulation of more data-informed decisions. Joining us today are well-known and esteemed individuals, coming from different backgrounds, who are experts in HR. Our panel for today comprises of: Quinn Knudsen, Head of People Analytics of BASF; Ebby Ajegbo, Vice President, Global HR Operations of Axalta; Katie Dykstra, Diversity Recruitment Manager of American Insurance Family; Salvador Segura-Ortega, Global HR Digital Transformation Leader of IBM Corporation; and lastly, Gary Bolles , Chair for the Future of Work of Singularity University.
To start the discussion, the speakers briefly introduce themselves for the audience to have a background of what they do. Afterwhich, we asked them to share some skills that HR must learn, may it be in the next 6 months or in a year.
Gary initiated the conversation and mentioned four buckets that HR must be able to take into consideration: effectiveness, growth, involvement, and alignment. Working in HR, it is important that there is an essence of effectiveness and value in the output of people that can contribute to the growth of the organization and workforce. Employees must be able to inculcate involvement, especially now that companies are prioritizing workforce diversity. More so, encouraging alignment is also important considering that everybody has a different place in their journey.
Following this, Salvador pointed out that data helps us understand our problems and determine the solutions to it. He also mentioned that HR must have business acumen by allowing our data scientists to understand, interpret, and solve business problems. It is also important to have consulting skills because our data people can create data hypotheses which will help them define if they are working with the right data. And by knowing the right data, they are able to formulate solutions to the problem. Lastly, communication is also a must. Once we have analyzed the data, we need to communicate it via storytelling, marketing, presentations, and visualizations. Hence, effective communication goes a long way.
Meanwhile, Katie emphasized the importance of storytelling with data. It is important that we know how to effectively storytell in order to let your audience understand what is our business. Aside from that, it is also important for us to be innovative and try new ideas. Hence, curiosity is really an important factor. The more curious you are about bringing new things to the table, you actively continue thinking of unique ideas to bring about the business.
On one hand, Quinn pointed out the need to take some humility and vulnerability to try something new. To innovate. To go out of your comfort zone. To learn whether or not you are a data person or not. Moreover, it is also important to have the ability to construct and formulate good questions because having a good analysis starts with asking good questions. The idea of setting up a hypothesis is a good indicator for a flourishing business.
Ebby, on the other hand, mentioned that it is important for HR to get really comfortable with leveraging the skills. HR gets caught up with the word “analytics” to the extent that they keep looking to get new skills versus really encouraging them to leverage the skills. With that, it is really vital to have constant conversations with the business by really getting curious about almost everything to help the business succeed. Come up with so many questions and answer them with the help of data. At the end of the day, what matters is really making HR comfortable in using data to find answers.
Moving forward, we also asked the speakers to share their insights regarding creating a culture of data literacy that values data as a driver to make better business decisions.
The speakers gave well-coherent and remarkable answers to the questions. Hence, to sum up what they said they emphasized on meeting people where they are. It is really important that we understand where HR is when it comes to upskilling. Aside from that, explaining the whys is extremely essential because it allows us to connect the dots. Hence, we must use data to help build the picture on what the business needs.
To add on that, we must also take into consideration the process of hiring. What type of people do we want to bring in our organization? It is really important that the people we have in our organization are well-equipped and aware of the culture of the company. Moreover, decision-making is now based on evidence rather than tradition and hunch; hence, we need data to make better decisions. We also need to improve ourselves and understand what is right and wrong which is backed with data. Most importantly, looping into the culture of the company is also necessary in HR. We must be clear about what is the culture of the organization by getting to the nearest basics before anything else.
领英推荐
You may also check out the other articles on our?The People Analytics Global Summit?Series:
-----------------------------------------------
The Hacking HR's Experts Council
We are thrilled to invite all Directors, VPs/SVPs, and HR C-suite level leaders in companies with over 100 employees to join us as Founding Members at the Hacking HR's Experts Council!?
The Expert Council's goal is to provide insights, ideas, recommendations and expertise about very specific topics to the thousands of members of the Hacking HR community and the extended HR global community.
?The Experts Council is also a place for community for senior HR leaders to share and also ask, to be safe while having vulnerable and open conversations about the challenges in HR, and from there to generate insights and ideas and innovations for the extended Hacking HR community!?
In addition, Founding Members in the Council will always be our priority to invite for our Hacking HR events, particularly our annual global online conference, and also podcasts, and much more!?
Almost 400 HR leaders from around the world have already joined, including multinational and local companies, for profit, nonprofit and government institutions, different sectors and industries as well.??
Do you want to join us??
Are you an HR leader (director, VP/SVP, C-Suite) in an organization with more than 100 employees??
Reach out to us: [email protected], and let us know more about you!
(Please note that at the moment we are not including consultants/vendors in the Council.)
Senior HR Leader | Building High-Performing Teams | Talent Management | HR Transformation Architect | Coach
2 年Florin Dragusin Mila Pascual-Nodusso spot on!