Overview: HR Analytics allows HR leaders to leverage so-far untapped information on employee behavior and decisions, in order to create more inclusive and personalized workplace experiences for every single employee. Dive into this blog to understand how you can leverage HR analytics to deliver better workforce experiences.

In every organization, the HR department plays a pivotal role, as it has all the data of one of the most important resources of the organization: the talent. The amount of data that the HR department collects every year is enormous and most HR leaders know how important it is to look into all of this data on a daily basis to make efficient decisions.

But most of the time, HR teams usually only take a traditional view of data. They look into data such as headcount, time to hire or cost-per-hire or even turnover rate, regrettable loss rate, and employee satisfaction as numbers on a report. Although such data has the potential to offer brilliant insights into business performance, it’s usually considered business as usual until an abnormal number shows up.

Data Analytics opens doors to tapping into more telling insights - HR analytics softwares also help organizations track non-traditional data, such as social media behavior and email sentiment. Such data allows companies to not only understand what is going on in the present, but what can happen in the near future as well, and make correctional decisions that affect employees both at the individual and organizational levels.

What is HR Analytics?

HR Analytics also referred to as people analytics is the process of pulling data from various sources and analyzing it with context to business data in order to derive deeper insights on employee performance and behavior.

People Analytics softwares can help the HR team to not just collect relevant data from the different sources of data, but also process the data to understand key metrics such as employee turnover & regrettable loss, and ultimately create stellar employee experiences.

Why is HR Analytics relevant right now?

The HR function in itself has morphed from an operational function to a strategic one over the years. But with the advent of technologies such as people analytics softwares integrated into the system, the function can now become a data-driven superpower in the organization.

But why is this necessary?

With global disruptors such as the Great Resignation, where organizations are seeing record levels of employee turnover, the importance of HR analytics seems only relevant - the argument for implementing people analytics software solutions, stronger.

In fact, without a clear understanding of the data, it might seem like the entire phenomenon was spurred by the 2021 pandemic; on the contrary, it had started even before that.

With a people analytics software, it would have become evident that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

Measuring employee experiences and engagement would have helped several organizations retain their employees with options for relocation, pay & skill upgrades, and more life-enhancing perks.

With a similar implementation of HR Analytics in recruitment, even backfilling would have been less of a pain - organizations would be able to see what motivators could drive up numbers and offer these motivators based on each candidate’s requirements.

The era does not only boast of the enlightened customer, who has everything to research and shop-around, but also the enlightened candidate, who is going to “shop around” until they find the right fit, before they even move to decision.

"86% of HR professionals surveyed indicated recruitment is becoming more like marketing." - Glassdoor 2021

A data-driven talent acquisition methodology can help here.

How does Analytics benefit HR?

There are several ways a HR Analytics / People Analytics software can help the HR team at your organization.

But there are 2 major influencers to your decision to implement people analytics:

1. Helps make better (data-driven) decisions
2. Morphs the department to play a strategic business role

HR analytics can help your HR team by making more data-driven decisions in everything that falls under their purview. HR teams can also take quick decisions without the fear of habitual bias creeping in - because all decisions are data-backed, you don’t have to just trust your gut with decisions.

The importance of HR analytics in decision-making can be felt across:

• Recruitment & selection

• Performance management

• Learning & development

• Succession planning

• Compensation and benefits

Also, because the team is able to bring the relevant data and insights on key people metrics, it can help businesses make better decisions as well. Since the employees are the biggest resource for business, it only makes sense as to how the data can fit into business decisions. After all, unpredicted spikes in turnover can impact project delivery schedules, indirectly impacting the bottom-line.

If you think your team needs a HR Analytics software right now, you need to get in touch with a data analytics solutions provider on the double, who can work with you through the entire implementation process, as a true partner. This is important because it's not quite plug and play, and additionally, your strategy and business directives might keep changing, demanding new changes in your people analytics software system from time to time.

What is the future of this technology?

"As of 2021, in the US only 36% of employees were fully or actively engaged in their work and workplace. Globally, only 20% of employees were engaged at work." - Gallup 2021

People Analytics Softwares are here to stay - employee engagement is the biggest motivator. Employees across the world are less likely to be fully engaged at work, and ultimately stay with the employer, if nothing changes.

Organizations need to take a hard look at the importance of HR analytics in retaining top talent, or any talent for that matter, for it looks like the perception of employees towards work has permanently changed, and will remain to be so, even after the Great Resignation tides over.

The only way to ensure a more resilient future for the HR function is to imbibe a data culture into the system, and innovate as you learn more from the data.

About the Author:

Madhu Kesavan is the founder & CEO of W2S Solutions, a globally recognized IT consultancy company empowering enterprises and governments in their digital journey. With 20+ years of experience in IT, he empowers organizations' vision by leveraging cutting-edge technology.

If you are looking for a technology partner who can help you with a Data Analytics implementation for your HR teams, you can write to Madhu’s team @ [email protected]

Connect with Madhu on LinkedIn.