Measuring HR: Bringing People Analytics to Human Resources
What’s one of the biggest HR trends to expect in 2019? Using people analytics to start measuring HR decisions, from recruitment to compensation and more.
A wealth of data has been at the fingertips of HR professionals itching to delve into it for valuable insight. Today’s HR professional is beginning to reap the benefits of the data collected from every step of the employee experience, from recruitment to retirement. Using big data and AI, professionals are measuring HR efficiencies, project outcomes, boost culture, and more.
Data analytics has the potential to turn information held into actionable processes and outcomes. With the right tools, measuring HR can reveal what’s working (or not working) today and what may be coming in the future. Almost every process in HR can be measured and improved upon.
Data analytics has the potential to turn information into actionable processes and outcomes.
Recruitment
The days of job postings that only encourage applicants to apply are over. With AI at the helm, recruiters are honing in on top candidates with platforms that sort through thousands of resumes to find the best talent available. More than screening for skills and experience, data analytics has the ability to spot key experiential information that may someday be widely used to predict a candidate’s potential for success.
| Measureables: return on investment for recruitment sources; better, faster screening; minimal recruiter downtime; more successful hires. |
Retention
Predictive analytics are helping businesses maintain their staffing levels by analyzing employee churn. Survey information and other ways of measuring HR can help determine employee satisfaction levels and their potential to stay on the job. HR can determine when employees are unhappy, when they should be on the promotion track, and what possible outcome will occur if they’re not.
| Measureables:reduced turnover; higher employee satisfaction; support for internal promotions; succession planning. |
Performance Management
The traditional performance review may be morphing, but the data they hold is ripe for analysis. Some platforms allow business to analyze even old, hand-written performance evaluations to generate employee competency profiles and performance scores for the employee as well as the reviewer.
New performance management systems include open documents that can be assessed by peers, managers and other stakeholders to give a wider perspective of the employee’s work. That data can be pivotal in identifying skill gaps to address areas of need as well as plan future growth and learning for the employee that aligns with business goals and objectives. When a business invests in current staff, retention and engagement increase.
| Measureables: wider range of perspectives on individual performance; reduced bias in the evaluation system; increased retention and engagement. |
Career charting
With data at their disposal, HR can not only identify who’s been in their position long enough to be ripe for promotion (or potentially jumping ship), they can also chart what steps they need to take to get there from here. Data from past employees who’ve stepped up the corporate ladder offer a baseline of information from which to cull. Business can identify current skills gaps as well as potential skill needs to make sure employee’s career projection is in-house rather than for the competition.
A crucial part of measuring HR is assessing salary benchmarks for your industry, region, and employee.
Measurables: upskilling employees for current work boosts productivity; for career progression, savings on recruitment costs; increased engagement and retention.
Compensation
In today’s challenging applicant market, offering the most generous compensation package you can afford is critical to acquiring and retaining talent. In the past, collecting data on competitive salaries was a burdensome and expensive proposition. But today’s HR professional has access to volumes of data on pay ranges, benefits offerings and other perks that could be critical to staying competitive in the market. A crucial part of measuring HR is assessing salary benchmarks for your industry, region, and employee.
| Measureables: reduced attrition rates; avoiding overpayment in wages and benefits. |
Culture enhancement
A strong employer culture and brand are mission-critical to attract and retain talent, and in today’s market the transparency business uses to promote its culture has never been easier. With social media, professional media platforms, websites, and other online means, businesses can highlight employee achievements and staffers can exemplify company pride.
| Measureables: the value of business and employer brands is incalculable. A strong, visible corporate and recruitment culture nets higher attraction and retention rates and brand loyalty. |
With so much data at their disposal, today’s HR professional is in position to measure results and outcomes, forecast for the future and assure engagement and consistency across the company.
