Skills maintenance in a rapidly changing world is challenging. The swift evolution of new technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution will need to take a new and more flexible approach to education and training to meet this demand. We need to be able to upskill employees quickly and effectively to help them be abreast of the digital culture and also understand the digital skills that are important to the future of your organization. One way to do this is through data-driven, people analytics talent development.
People analytics or HR analytics is the process of collecting and transforming HR data and organizational data and using them to identify potential challenges and opportunities to achieve sustainable business success.
All collected information can be presented and stored in easily understandable graphs, charts, visualizations, questions, and answers using data extracted from the HR tools organizations are already using. While many people assume that people analytics exists strictly to improve HR functions, the insights uncovered can help companies drive overall organizational success and meet their business goals.
The benefits of leveraging people analytics to make more effective decisions.
Here are seven (7) steps or processes to do effective people analytics.
Step 1: Dig data that matters
This answers the question,
“What data is relevant to your business goals?”
To further visualize your business goals, you need to set quantifiable measurements to gauge a company’s overall long-term performance. Although digging data is time-consuming, but later on, its outcome can actually save a lot of time and resources by focusing only on areas needing direct monitoring and improvement.
Step 2: Experiment, explore, enrich
Adopting an analytics tool can do wonders in organizing and visualizing data. But the greater challenge is finding the best HR analytics tools to use.
Research, exploring the market, experimenting with different options, and analyzing which option is the best fit for the organization. To start, here’s a list of the most-used analytics tools that may suit your organizational needs.
Step 3: Have an action plan ready
After identifying the organizational goal and gathering the data needed, now is the time to create an action plan. The action plan should be clear and practical. Laying down and screening analytics will help organizations in placing talent management programs, setting up leadership development, and expanding employees and organizational capabilities which would further optimize productivity and provide a number of benefits including but not limited to greater revenue generation, better customer service, build a positive culture within the organization, and employee retention.
Step 4: Avoid legal loopholes
There are existing laws that regulate how information is collected, how data subjects are informed, and what controls a data subject. Failure to follow applicable data privacy may lead to fines, lawsuits, and even the prohibition of an organization from operating.
The entire process of collecting, storing, sharing, and publishing personal information shall be governed by a legal team.
A privacy-compliant organization shall ensure a solid administrative, technical, and physical security that safeguards the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.
Step 5: Create leaner systems
The process of data analysis and interpretation should be basic and allow easy application, updating, and readability.
For instance, in the hiring process, talent acquisition analytics ease the HR department from tediously identifying attributes that produce long-term, high-performing employees.
For learning and development, data-driven analytics can help recognize whether an employee has completed the right training before filling the position, and identify as well what are competencies they need to acquire and develop to yield the best output for the organization.
But it is easier said than done. This step can be accomplished when you have the right team with the relevant skillset in place to streamline the whole process and apply quality controls.
Step 6: Build a fact-based, measurable HR business strategy
Data should take the forefront of any decision-making. And any movement within the organization shall be evidence-based.
It would be beneficial for the organization and the HR department to acquire a realistic business strategy that can align talent to the business.
Step 7: Take technological support
Companies and staff rely on technology to help create efficient business practices. Being able to collect data is one thing, and storing all that data somewhere so users can retrieve it and use it is also another thing. The creation of an online database provides an opportunity for the HR department to easily navigate and access relevant information, subject to data privacy laws.