5 vragen over het belang van HR Analytics
What according to you, is the biggest misunderstanding about HR Analytics?
That HR Analytics is only about “soft measures” and excludes business metrics. HR Analytics should be based on understanding the linkages among all categories of metrics, not just people-focused metrics, and ultimately should be able to define business impact.
How do analytics, metrics and benchmarking relate to one another? Can they be viewed as three individual aspects, or are they intrinsically linked?
Well, you cannot benchmark effectively without first knowing which metrics matter most to your organization. And you cannot analyze data in a way that yields strategic insights if you don’t first have well-defined, reliable metrics (among other things).
As HR, do you need to start employing these methods simultaneously, or can you start with any of these three?
I don’t feel there is a requirement to start using the methods simultaneously. HR organizations that are in the early stage of their analytics journey can begin with benchmarking, while they learn how to build a predictive analytics platform.
Does it take months or years to get quality HR analytics up and running in an organisation?
There are a number of factors that can influence the time it takes to build out a successful analytics function. To start, the current state of the organization's data can make the difference between months and years. Organizations need to ask questions such as: Do we have clearly defined, consistently agreed-upon metrics? Are they accurately and reliably measured? How frequently and easily can we access the data? Do we know the most important metrics to inform our people and business strategies?
Examples of other factors that can influence the timeline include internal skill level in areas such as strategic research, data-driven decision-making, and database development, mining and analysis; business leader receptiveness and appreciation of HR analytics; and having a strong champion of HR analytics at the senior level.
Lastly, we need to keep in mind – having more data is not always better.
Can you imagine a future for HR without analytics?
Definitely not. I have been saying for years, we need to move beyond relying solely on scorecards, that tell us where we have been, to leveraging predictive analytics that tell us where we need to go. This approach will best position HR to guide better decision-making, not only about people but also the business.
