It's Time for HR to Make Better Use of People Analytics - New Survey

Everybody in the business world loves data. In fact, pretty much every decision ever made in a business environment is a result of data that indicates a change is needed. When it comes to human resources, a good way to predict the success of recruitment, training, retention, performance, and many other factors comes down to the smart use of people analytics. But, a new report released this month shows that HR isn’t keeping up with the use of people analytics, like the rest of the business leaders. The Global Leadership Forecast is out for 2018 and it reveals the state of the global workplace and trends to be mindful of. One area that is highlighted is that of the critical nature of data for making strategic business decisions -- something that HR seems to be still slow to adapt.

Why the hesitation to use people data?

A reason for this could be that there is just too much data to weed through and no direction as to what to do with the data or how it can help make better people decisions. Every day, there are forms to complete, managers to counsel, employees to oversee, payroll and benefits to manage, people to interview and process and laws to keep up with. The data that is generated from these activities is overwhelming at best. How can we, as human resource professionals, deal with all the data that is populated from the various systems we use and the tasks we perform? Perhaps if we just start with one area of our organizations that works like a temperature gauge for our people processes, we can make some sense of the data at hand? In this case, we’re talking about employee engagement. The level of connectedness that employees have with the organization, the culture and its objectives is a direct reflection of how well leadership is doing managing other areas. This is why consistently human resource studies show how important employee engagement is to any organization. The impact of negative employee engagement is serious business, therefore it’s better to use engagement levels to keep on top of how employees feel about their work life with your company.

Let’s keep things simple when it comes to data.

Real-time employee engagement tools can be used to evaluate how all other HR efforts are going. For example, if a business is undergoing a change of management and chooses to be transparent about this with employees, it stands to have a more favorable outcome. Employee engagement may fluctuate somewhat during the initial phases of the change, but over the course of time, the engagement levels should climb again. This data can be evaluated and used in reports each week, giving HR a chance to step efforts up to address employee concerns. Employee engagement data is also useful for supporting the goals of the organization, such as recruitment, on-boarding and training. It can be difficult to measure these aspects to get a true sense of the return on investment. New hires can be surveyed throughout their experience to find out what’s working and what needs improvement. They can be encouraged to share their ideas freely using two-way communication tools that are kept internal and confidential. There are very few other ways to get this information from new hires and employees in training programs because they may worry about being terminated from employment.

Bringing people analytics to the table.

It’s easy to learn how to use employee engagement data. It’s also easy to focus on this area, rather than get overwhelmed with data coming from too many sources. The employee engagement data can be used to validate other HR data. This can provide the confidence that human resource professionals need when coming to the decision-making table to introduce new ideas and actions that the organization needs to take.

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Find out how always-on employee engagement data can simplify and validate your work as an HR leader. Thymometrics has the custom solutions your company needs to produce a highly engaged and productive workforce. Find out more by emailing info@thymometrics.com, calling +1 646 760 9323 (US) or +44 (0) 1223 750 251 (Europe) or visiting thymometrics.com.