What's new in HR Analytics? #2

As I wrote in Issue 1 last time, whilst analytics is one of the most talked about concepts in HR, adoption is not as widespread as it should be. Hence the creation of this new and (reasonably) regular round-up of some of the most interesting recent pieces on HR analytics. It is designed to be helpful, informative and irreverent. So without further ado, let’s get into Issue 2.

It’s time to blow up HR and build something new – Harvard Business Review

There is a viewpoint that the ‘B’ could be dropped from HBR, such has been the plethora of HR slanted articles in the Harvard Business Review of the last few years. The current July-August 2015 issue goes a step further by declaring on its front cover that “It’s time to blow up HR and build something new” – a sentiment that many of us wouldn’t disagree with. A series of articles by stellar contributors like Peter Cappelli, Ram ‘It’s time to split HR’ Charan and John Boudreau all have data, evidence and business alignment at their core. If you work in HR and haven’t already snapped up a copy, it’s high time you scuttled off to the newsagent or bought an online subscription now.  

How badly is your unconscious bias affecting your recruiting skills? | Johnny Campbell / Can an algorithm hire better than a human? | New York Times

Not one but two must-read articles, both which heavily feature the harm unconscious bias can play during the recruiting process. The first article by Johnny Campbell, Chief Sourcing Ninja (now THAT is a job title!) of Social Talent, defines bias, how it affects hiring and provides some recommendations on how to mollify this human fallibility in the recruitment process. The second article in the New York Times goes one step further in suggesting that the only way to eliminate bias is by removing the human from the selection process altogether and replace them with an algorithm. As this article reveals, start-ups like Gild, Textio and Doxa are doing some fascinating work with data, algorithms and machine learning that could ultimately lead recruiters to more highly skilled people who are better matches for their companies. Recruiting as a function under disruption; you’d better believe it.

Making sense of Big Data in HR: A practitioner’s perspective | Andrew Marritt

As I wrote in Issue 1 last week, the consensus I hear from many practitioners is that the typical blockers to more widespread adoption of HR analytics are fear (as in too much) and knowledge (as in too little). This recent webinar from Andrew Marritt organised by TLNT and sponsored by SilkRoad, should go some way to helping the curious would-be adopter alleviate both concerns. Andrew is the founder of Swiss based Organization View and is one of the most knowledgeable authorities on the nascent HR analytics space. In the webinar, Andrew explores how practitioners can make best use of data and analytics, cuts through the hype and terminology and offers practical tips in getting started.

Clear Storytelling Boosts Value of Analytics | Tom Davenport    

If the first requisite of HR analytics is to focus on the business problem, the last (assuming we are looking at the process as linear) is the ability to deliver a compelling story that communicates the analytical insights and actions to unlock the problem you are trying to solve. When it comes to analytics, Tom Davenport is arguably the Godfather and this article emphasises the power of storytelling, outlining the options – both human and machine – that are available to enable decisions to be made on the basis of analytical results. Whilst we are on Davenport, I’d also like to recommend his book ‘Keeping up with the Quants’, which is an excellent guide in how to frame analytical questions and working with the ‘quants’ to get them answered.

How HR can harness the power of predictive analytics | Greta Roberts

As this article in the always readable Inside HR states, the ability to combine business outcome data with HR data when making predictions through analytics is one of the most important trends for HR leaders. Greta Roberts, CEO of Talent Analytics, argues that predictive analytics is a lot easier than people imagine and as well as offering examples around predicting flight risk, performance and business outcomes, outlines three steps for HR leaders to get up to speed with predictive analytics.  

That’s all for this edition. Look out for the next instalment soon and please let me know in the comments section of any articles that should be featured in future issues.

About the author

David is a Director at Cielo and has helped a number of organisations design data driven talent acquisition programmes that drive effectiveness, growth and competitive advantage. He also speaks, writes and chairs conferences on HR Analytics and other key tenets driving the seismic change in the future of work.

Connect with David by email, LinkedIn or Twitter 

You may also want to read some of David's other articles:

• Cost Per Hire: "It's the wrong recruiting metric, Gromit..."
• 11 Key Takeaways from #PeopleAnalytics15
• 7 HR Analytics Firms to watch
• Robots vs Humans - where is the Future of Work headed?
• HR Analytics - The New Goldrush?
• The 20 best HR Analytics articles of 2014
• 10 Predictions for HR & Recruiting in 2015 - Part 1 and Part 2
• Never mind the bureaucracy, here's Punk Rock org structures...
• The Who's Who of HR Analytics Influencers - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3and Part 4 
• Is HR ready for the Big Data & Analytics revolution?
• Part 1 and Part 2 of our fictional HR Director's journey into the world of HR Analytics

Keywords: HR, Human Resources, HR Analytics, People Analytics, Talent, Recruiting, Hiring, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, HR Metrics, Cost Per Hire, Workforce Analytics, Talent Analytics, Data Driven HR