Making Data Driven HR Decisions: turning data into action?

By now you’ve read a million articles on the rapidly evolving role of Human Resources (HR). Well, this one is going to focus on the evolution of using data to make business decisions.?

Right now, Human Resources (HR) stands at a pivotal junction. For many years HR have been collecting vast pools of people data through platforms like SAP SuccessFactors , Visier Inc. etc.

The emerging challenge I hear everyday is ‘we don’t need more data, we need to turn it into insights’.

For me, this is the next big shift in HR: from gathering data to actively leveraging it for strategic decision-making, transforming data into insights and action that drive business success.?

Embracing a Data-Driven Mindset:

The transition for HR from data accumulation to data utilization requires a significant shift in mindset, and skillset. This new era demands more than basic data literacy; it requires the ability to correlate diverse data sets, such as employee engagement scores with retention metrics, to predict and reduce employee attrition.

Thankfully, good HR software companies have been preparing for this for years, and with AI can simplify complex data analysis. So, you do not need to be a statistician or SPSS super user to surface correlations. Instead, technology interprets and surfaces these correlations for you.

The skills required by HR then become turning these correlations into clear, personalized actions for different business departments, countries, teams etc. Also, asking the technology the right questions that align to your business objectives and choosing which data sets for it to correlate to give you the answers you need. This is where HR’s extensive experience in organizational psychology will be paramount.?

Utilizing Data to make HR Decisions:

HR professionals have access to a plethora of data, including employee engagement surveys, performance metrics, turnover rates, and talent acquisition insights from platforms like Tableau, SuccessFactors, Workday. The challenge now lies in integrating and interpreting this data to make informed decisions.

Examples of correlations you could look into:

• Employee engagement data & turnover trends: understand what engagement drivers cause attrition to predict which business areas are at risk and formulate a preemptive strategy
• Successful candidate data & new hire performance: did those successful candidates make a good hire? How long did it take them to ramp and produce desired performance metrics? Truly understand what makes a good hire for each role
• Employee data & customer data: Understand what employee drivers increase your customer satisfaction scores the most and focus on improving those employee drivers across the company
• Learning data & intent to stay data: understand what learning and development activities drive intent to stay. How effective is your learning? We know lack of development is a key driver of attrition

This strategic use of data not only optimizes workforce management, but also aligns HR initiatives with broader business objectives.?

Fostering Collaboration Between HR and Analytics Teams:

I speak to many organisations where a notable divide exists between HR and analytics teams. Traditionally siloed, these two critical departments often operate independently - one focused on people management, the other immersed in data and metrics.

When asking and answering questions like which department is at risk of attrition? How does our external employer brand ( Glassdoor ) correlate with exit survey data for a real picture? I'm often told 'that data does exist somewhere'. The truth is, these siloes are slowing HR down.

Bridging this gap is essential. By fostering a culture of collaboration, these teams can align their objectives, ensuring that HR policies are not just people-focused but are also data-informed. Regular joint meetings, collaborative projects, and shared goals can facilitate this integration, leading to more effective workforce strategies that are backed by empirical data and analytics insights. This partnership doesn't just benefit HR or the analytics team; it elevates the entire organization by ensuring that people strategies are aligned with business data, driving overall efficiency and effectiveness.

In conclusion, the data journey for HR is not a new one, it's just changing shape. From collecting and understanding data to correlating for strategic utilization. When harnessing and interpreting the rich data at their disposal, HR is a strategic powerhouse, influencing not just people decisions but also the overall trajectory of the business. The future of HR is here, shaped by data, analytics, and strategic insight.