What Are The Key Questions of People Analytics?

Mike West, Author of People Analytics For Dummies

The central question of people analytics is, "How should the organization focus scarce attention and resources to optimize organization outcomes (profit or non profit) from investment in people and related people operations activity?"

Here are related questions that grow out of that central question:

• What core people challenges affect the organization's ability to execute on goals and strategies?
• How do we optimize people investments to enhance a desired business outcome?
• What will motivate an employee or employee segment to apply additional discretionary effort?
• How can HR prioritize programs and policy to reduce costs, while achieving the same or better results
• What drives employee happiness, commitment, engagement, performance and productivity?
• What organizational barriers and organizational problems are getting in the way of employee's ability to perform their best work?
• Who are our problem managers that are driving away good people or getting less than optimal results out of leading people?
• Is the organization aligned around clear objectives? Where is the organization aligned and where is it not aligned?
• What HR programs are working (with intended impact) and what HR programs are not working (with intended impact)?
• How is systemic bias expressed in our organization? Where is the systemic bias? How can it be disrupted for more optimal results?
• How do we connect HR activities to company objectives and strategy.
• How do we influence stakeholders to make a decision or do something (Senior Management, people managers, the rest of the team in HR, and employees)?
• How do we align stakeholders around clear people objectives (Senior Management, people managers, the rest of the team in HR, and employees)?

In racing, if the cars have nearly the same parts, why are there any winners and losers?

The fundamental problem of competition is that if your advantage is expressed in a product or other physical asset, it will be replicated and further perfected and/or it will be completely replaced by something better. 

As someone once said,

"God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

In the short run, the fastest car wins, in the long run the car with the best team wins. Over the long run real differences always come down to people. People apply creativity, people fix problems, people innovate, people apply discretionary effort or not, people stay to help or people walk away, people put their lives on the line for their team, and/or something bigger than themselves. This is the ongoing power of human spirit. There are many aspects to this : leadership, capability, alignment, motivation and support are five things you may want to consider.

People matter, got it, but....

The fundamental trouble with people is that they are people. Anything that is living is simultaneously a component of some whole and also autonomous, able to give but also needing to receive. The relationship between employers and employees can paradoxically be described as both antithetical AND symbiotic. Apart from a whole we cannot exist, however individually we have many choices in what whole we align to. Anything living by nature is changing, illusive, ephemeral and temporary. Anything living will eventually die, by definition!

In response to the fundamentally illusive problem of people in organizations, Human Resource Management offers programs, practices and policies that provide systematic ways of supporting:

• Attracting differentiating talent in a changing competitive labor markets.
• Maintaining or increasing employee productivity over time within a dynamic context.
• Retaining differentiating talent in competitive labor markets.

Shareholders, Managers and Employees have some shared interests, and some conflicting interests – we must figure out how to optimize organizational outcomes, while balancing these seemingly conflicting interests. Organizations need an analytical way of identifying and advocating practices, programs, policies and other decisions that optimize outcomes for the whole.

Much of what is stated above is obvious, but contentions emerge. In contentions between misaligned stakeholders, support of the individual can get left out - to the detriment of the whole.

Here is an example.

I have worked for many companies. I can recall at least one time where it took a week to get my computer. After I received my computer I had numerous software installs and configuration issues to resolve. Thus, I wasn't really started into my work for 3 or 4 weeks or more. 

At Google, on the first day you arrive they ask you what you want and make sure you get it on the very first day. If at any time some aspect of that package is not working you walk to a "tech stop" and hand it to them with, "grunt". If you can manage the words "not working", that should be fine. You can stand there and drink ice tea while a team of people huddle over the engine and a few minutes later hand it back to you working.

Why would you treat the people (your organization's productivity engine) any different than Google does? If you don't think a person's time is valuable, why do you employ them in the first place? Not addressing an employee's issues, from their perspective, directly and immediately, implies that you don't value them. That attitude will never create a winning team. 

At your organization, or for any given division or team in your organization, the problem may not be support, it may be something else. I cannot tell you that without a means of observation. Nobody can tell you that without observation. You have to work out what that is through observation.

The key question of People Analytics is "How should the organization focus scarce attention and resources to optimize organization outcomes (profit or non profit) from investment in People and related People Operations activity?"

People Analytics Question and Answers

“What is People Analytics?”, September 30, 2015, LinkedIn.

“What is NOT People Analytics?”, October 3, 2015, LinkedIn.

“Why People Analytics?”, October 6, 2015, LinkedIn.

“What is the History of People Analytics?”, October 9, 2015, LinkedIn.

“What are the Key Questions of People Analytics?”, October 22, 2015, LinkedIn.

“What is the Actual Work of People Analytics?”, November 8, 2015, LinkedIn.

“Does People Analytics Work?”, February 26, 2016, LinkedIn.

More

Find more of my writing here: Index of my writing on people analytics at PeopleAnalyst

Connect with me on LinkedIn here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/michaelcwest

Check out the People Analytics Community here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/6663060

Buy my book on Amazon here: People Analytics For Dummies , directly from the publisher (Wiley) here: People Analytics for Dummies , or from other places where books are sold.