Unlock the people equation - Using workforce analytics to drive business results

Every day we read of data, analytics, mobile and social media. Clearly the corporate vocabulary is changing – CMOs, CIOs, CMOs, CFOs and CHROs all are very alert to the transformation and disruption around them. All forward thinking leaders today are asking how do we get the data and what do we do with this data to deliver business impact. As today’s data driven world gets more sophisticated via mobile, cloud and terabytes of data from social behavior, most organizations lack the tools and skills to turn their data into business insights. In this scenario, it is not surprising that CHROs want to get better insights on their workforce to drive impactful business outcomes.

Consider this:

?      Less than 20% of the organizations today are able to apply predictive analytics to address important people issues

?      Over 40% of organizations are limited to basic HR reporting capabilities

?      More than 50% of companies report difficulty with integrating workforce data from HR and non-HR systems

*Source – IBM IBV Study

While in recent years, many companies have strengthened their analytics capabilities in areas such as marketing, supply chain and finance, a lot fewer have begun to apply analytics to get insights on workforce dynamics around turnover, engagement and productivity.

Today, there are a range of internal and external forces influencing organizations to use workforce analytics for e.g. the changing nature of the workforce like millennials, compliance requirements driving the need for transparency, rapid pace of transformation – requiring deeper insights on workforce skills and many others. In this scenario, timely HR intervention such as identifying the best hiring sources or optimizing employee engagement can address business issues such as optimizing costs, enhancing the customer experience, accelerating sales, managing risk and above all accelerating the pace of innovation.

Today, forward thinking companies are going beyond the traditional analytics approaches of benchmarking, forecasting, scenarios etc and thinking outside the box to utilize emerging technologies for workforce analytics. Social Analytics, neuroscience analytics and Cognitive HR are some of the newer areas to detect patterns and gain insights on employee behavior. 

As the complexity of workforce challenges continues to rise, so will the demand for more quantitative approaches to address the increasingly difficult people-related questions. The power of workforce analytics lies in its ability to challenge conventional wisdom, influence behavior, enable HR and business leaders to make and execute smarter workforce decisions and ultimately, impact business outcomes.

However, it is essential for all leaders not to lose sight of the “human” in workforce analytics. This data is fundamentally about people and any related decisions will affect people as much as processes. As people data becomes increasingly available and accessible, and as the analysis of this data becomes easier, it is important to recognize the value as well as the limitations of analytics. The true value of workforce analytics lies in its ability to better inform decision makers, it is not about removing the human from the decision making.

We are rapidly moving into an era where it is no longer about “should we do workforce analytics?” but to “how do we do it?” Conversation within HR has to change; HR has to equip itself with tools, skills and workforce insights to be able to sit on the table with business and talk of business outcomes. 

So how should we go about equipping HR, all ideas welcome.