Numerous surveys over the last few years of CEOs and business managers consistently identify "people analytics" as one of, if not the most, needed and desired HR competency...but they also see it as one of the most underdeveloped skills in the organization.  HR people themselves rank analytical/data/digital literacy as the one skill they would most like to develop in 2019. 

 

Interestingly, however, a recent review indicated that most HR leaders believe that they already have at their disposal a significant suite of technical tools - such as AI and big data based applications.  

 

Why this seeming contradiction?  Our experience and research indicates that there is a gap between the technical/digital tools already in place and the human competency and skills requisite to leveraging those applications effectively.  It's a bit like having one of those high-end restaurant quality stoves in your kitchen but not knowing how to follow a recipe.  Organizations will struggle to derive the full value of predictive analytics models if they don't have analytically proficient and proactive HR business partners on board.

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Not every company is prepared for or even needs to roll out an AI-Data Science-Machine Learning-Big Data type program.  But what companies need and can benefit from sooner rather than later is to understand how the smart and focused use of data, information and analytical frameworks:

• can inform better/fairer decision making about people,

• will help managers achieve their business objectives,

• should support the realization of a diverse, inclusive and transparent organization, and perhaps most importantly...

• will drive fuller engagement of employees.

 

We refer to our specialty practice in this area as "Thoughtful Analytics"  which we define as optimizing the combination of data and analytical tools with human judgment to inform managers about people and business drivers, identify the root causes of problems, assess solutions, track progress, and inspire ideas and innovation.

We work with companies to evaluate their current capabilities and needs around people data and analytics, identify the gaps -- relative to both current and future state objectives -- and design and implement the plan to fill those gaps through a combination of training, upskilling, data governance, systems and technology, and HR process enhancements.  We work to ensure that companies build an HR analytics model that specifically fits the needs and objectives of our client company and that can evolve up the value curve over time from fulfilling ad-hoc reactive data requests to integrated, proactive, strategic and even predictive/forward looking analytical agenda that answers key questions, and both solves and preempts problems.  Our goal is to instill analytics as a core sustained competency among HR professionals. 

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