When presented with the topic of “HR analytics” or what is commonly known as “people analytics” the first thing that comes into mind is basically a bunch of statistical numbers, charts, and graphs pertaining to the collected information on the behavior and decisions that were made inside an organization. What had happened within the year, how conflicts and problems were resolved or handled to what were the emerging solutions the management had made to take control and asserted dominance when certain situations managed to surge.
Well, you basically get the gist of what HR analytics is in a nutshell already but do you have any idea or at least a hypothesis in mind on what significance it portrays or how the case of analytics has managed to pave its way to the human resources industry?
Having a bunch of gathered data lying around that typically has the records of what had happened in the workplace unlocks the opportunity and provides leeway for the management to create minimal to extensive changes inside the organization. The idea or the concept behind this is that gathered data from the past will help the organization produce better results in the future, fill in the voids where there was room for improvement before and help the management gain a better insight on matters that may escalate in the workplace. If you would think about it, it is basically having past reliable information or validated data where you can rely on frequently and use as a basis to conduct better decisions and create superior operations inside the workplace.
“Every experience in your life is being orchestrated to teach you something you need to know to move forward.” Brian Tracy
The analytics or validated data gathered in the previous processes will help the organization learn from their past mistakes and basically let growth prosper even further. A better understanding of previous encounters will help the management gain the upper hand and have an advantage to what may come ahead. Decisions and actions will be more precise and spot on when there is already previous data that the management can count on.
Analytics is integrated with the Human Resources industry because the people in this department are in charge of a lot of things in the organization. Recruitment or hiring processes, development, and training of new employees in the organization, maintaining a harmonious workplace, employee relations, retention strategies, promotional opportunities to keeping watch of the peace in the workplace, HR’s are expected to take charge of the latter. Having data on these things can help the people in the Human Resources industry handle their tasks better.
Here are several benefits and opportunities HR analytics can create or generate inside an organization:
Significant Change in Training Employees
One of the things that HR is in charge of is the training and development of its employees. It is an important role and a very dire mission you might even call it, being trained well will determine if the employee will excel or dwindle on their position in the organization.
How the training and development process was held or experienced will seriously impact their performance in the workplace. Being trained in the most sufficient and effective way possible will help mitigate mistakes that may occur and give the individual a handle and a tight grip on what they are doing on their job.
Recording or having significant data on the process can help an organization adjust and alter their ways of teaching to accommodate what is needed for the trainee. Different strategies and approaches will be used to help them truly understand, learn and absorb the knowledge or the skills being taught for their respective industries. As cliché as it sounds “the past, is the best teacher for anyone”. The organization will have the right insight if their approach to their training is well adjusted and be able to know where their strong or focal points are in the process as well as where they are lacking.
“Learning experiences are like journeys. The journey starts where the learning is now, and ends when the learner is successful. The end of the journey isn’t knowing more, it’s doing more.” — Julie Dirksen, learning strategy and design consultant
Crucial Improvement in the Recruitment and Hiring Process
Recruitment and hiring in the industry still have their ups and down or challenges today. Even though we have reached an age of technology and the digital era that has made the human resources industry’s job on the recruitment side easier. Finding candidates and resumes are very accessible through global social media platforms, the screening process of some potential candidates are just a phone call away and communication-wise we are able to conduct conferences and meetings with managers or bosses around the world with just a tap of a button.
The challenge in the recruitment and hiring process is not the access of data and the bridge between the candidates, the problem of an HR is the ginormous load of candidates that have passed their resume for the same job, the strenuous task of screening each individual to letting them go ahead with the final interview. An overload of candidates that may or may not even have the proper quality and assurance with what the organization was looking for is a very common issue when recruitment comes into play. Recruitment executive search firms can be of help but what if you are inside the internal hiring team and urgency for the position is very critical?
With hundreds of candidates which have different skill sets, experiences, attainments, personality to qualifications that they may or may not have to offer the organization that passed their resumes for the respective job, the question that lingers around is how will you be able to learn and be more productive in the recruitment process?
Past data in which how the candidates were evaluated can give you a strong impression on what the company is truly looking for. As there are several applying candidates that we’re able to pass the screening process and some that we’re able to enter the final interview, recruiters in the human resources department can correlate the data when they try to search and screen the candidates in the future. Productivity-wise the process will be much easier on their load because applications will be filtered properly in a way that unsuitable candidates will be ignored and more ideal candidates can enter the field. Data analytics helps the recruiter gain a sharp eye and have a better basis in which candidates will be up for an interview that the organization will consider as an asset and not just a liability in the end.
“You can have the best strategy and the best building in the world, but if you don’t have the hearts and minds of the people who work with you, none of it comes to life.” – Renee West, Luxor and Excalibur Hotel
Boosted Employee Retention Rate
There will be numerous times that an employee will leave the organization due to personal reasons, better opportunities, bad workplace relations, you name it, but at the end of the day when an employee waives their goodbye to an organization it also opens up an opportunity to question and investigate the true underlying reason behind this.
Have you ever heard of an Exit-interview? As the name implies It is a type of interview which calls in the person leaving and collects information as they try to understand the reason why the candidate has made the decision to leave their post. Having the interview and the past data recorded where employees try to leave their position in the organization can help you shed some light on where the organization has gone wrong or help identify the areas where there have been conflicts in the company’s end for the employee to leave.
As a person working in the human resources industry watching a decline in the employees of the organization already radiates a beam that there is a problem. Having an idea where that problem is occurring can help the organization retain more of its employees in the long run and develop better retention strategies. The will be a need for a change of course and address the issues that have been raised. It may be through the structure of the company, too little pay, attrition in their work, the lack of belonging to negative company culture. Using or having HR Analytics can help determine these things and be a guide book for you to better the organization and use them to the best of your advantage.
“Connect the dots between individual roles and the goals of the organization. When people see that connection, they get a lot of energy out of work. They feel the importance, dignity, and meaning in their job.” –Ken Blanchard
