15 ways HR teams can benefit from people analytics

What is HR analytics?

The practice of gathering and analyzing Human Resource (HR) data to enhance an organization's workforce performance is known as HR analytics. The procedure may also be known as workforce, talent, or people analytics.With this technique, HR routinely collects data and compares it with organizational and HR goals. By doing this, you can demonstrate quantitatively how HR efforts are advancing the objectives and strategy of the company.

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For instance, a software engineering company is less productive than it may be if there is a high personnel turnover rate. To get staff to their highest level of productivity, you need to put in the time and money. HR analytics offers data-supported insight into what is and is not working correctly.

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Productivity is measured using people analytics. Graphs, charts, and reviews gather raw data and turn it into insights. Additionally, it provides data for decision-making that benefits both the corporation and its customers. 

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A list of HR metrics that are of great benefit to the organization.

1. Recruitment process
2. Employee engagement
3. Performance management
4. Retention rates 
5. Training benefits

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Also read: Eliminating anxiety of numbers with HR metrics

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What are 15 ways that HR teams can benefit from using HR analytics?

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Big data has been gaining increasing importance lately in the world of business, with the capability of providing truly groundbreaking benefits as long as an organization knows how it intends to use that data to generate insights. In the case of a human resources department, using big data alongside hr and people analytics can offer the company advice into the kind of employees that thrive at the business and what the company should be looking at when hiring in the future. We explored the impact of workforce and benefits of hr analytics and big data on the HR department's ability to hire the right people.

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Benefits of HR analytics

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1. Evidence-based recruiting decisions

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Modern HR organizations benefit greatly from these benefits of hr analytics through the elimination of potential misfits at an early stage. Employing recruitment analytics can improve the efficiency of the r, reduce time and effort to identify candidate quality and ultimately lead to significant cost savings for the business.

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2. Workforce intelligence for proactive strategy

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Advances in hr analytics offer a powerful way to gain critical workforce insights for informed strategy formulation along with measured operational outcomes and ROI. This makes a unique blend of being proactive about the future talent needs of the organization along with a retrospective insight to determine continuous strategic and operational shifts needed for the best talent outcome. 

Also read : How Google is using people analytics to completely reinvent HR

3. Growth and forecasting

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Without the ability to know where you came from, how will you know where you want to go and how to get there? Using benefits of hr analytics will provide a resource and a tool to help formulate that plan and path. It will keep you from making the same mistakes again, it will keep you and the organization honest and accountable, and it will help you make educated decisions. 

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4. Driving business strategy

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As HR and ER departments become more integrated and drive employee experience, sharing insight and trends with decision-makers is vital. Only 22% of organizations report employee data to the board and just over half do so with the C-suite. It should be 100%. To better demonstrate our value to the organization, we need to gather data, use it and share how those efforts help the business. 

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5. Better performance evaluation

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Analytics and big data have shown great potential in areas such as performance evaluations. Millennials and Gen Z make up the majority of today’s workforce, and they prefer real-time feedback. Leveraging cloud-based solutions that offer data analysis is crucial to gain the bigger picture of an employee’s contribution within an organization.

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6. Lowering turnover costs

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Predictive and evaluation of hr analytics can now enable us to build algorithms to predict turnover, not on an aggregate basis, but on an individual employee basis. Data points specific to your company or aggregate data from a number of companies can be fed into an algorithm that will allow you to determine who is a top-flight risk. HR functions can easily touch base with 25 employees the algorithm may identify. 

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7. Creating fair pay systems

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One big benefit is creating fairer pay systems. Knowing how large cohorts of companies that are similar to yours are paying, and how your company compares is the first step in understanding and creating fair pay practices and ensuring that your company is paying fairly. 

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8. Analyzing benefit spend, associated engagement

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Benefits are the second-largest expense after payroll. They play a pivotal role in employee engagement. Understanding what benefits are utilized will help make better decisions about future investment. Big data can also help reduce compliance risk by identifying trends that could drive future risks.

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9. Talent discovery and mobility

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Understanding data about employees, including skills, experience, performance indicators, as well as analysis of trends over time, can help identify people in your organization that has high potential and also offer insights into the characteristics that are a better fit for a given role. Additionally, future workforce development and planning can benefit from an effective big data strategy. 

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10. Trend spotting

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Your HRIS, intranet engagement and more can help you spot trends in the workplace you may not have noticed anecdotally. Attrition, retention, content you share should be analyzed quarterly to determine what you should start doing, stop doing and keep doing. The benefits of reviewing the data and spotting the trends are to tailor your HR and engagement strategies to keep your staff engaged. 

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11. Streamlined talent acquisition

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Bad hiring decisions cost employers up to 30% of an employee’s first-year earnings. Therefore, anything that can be done to ensure the right employee is hired for a role the first time will save employers money. By leveraging big data, employers can determine what qualities make an employee successful in a role, then filter through thousands of resumes to identify the most qualified candidates.

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12. Understanding how to re-skill candidates

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With the lack of skilled workers and employers having to create their own labor pool, benefits from hr analytics and people analytics will play a key role in breaking down job requirements to better understand where and how to re-skill candidates or employees. With the right data, employers can look at what someone brings to the table in terms of creativity and innovation, and translate those skills into what they need. 

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13. Separating fact from fiction

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Data analytics can help HR teams distinguish hearsay from reality. Inaccurate perceptions can negatively impact productivity, morale, and quality. Skilled managers can address these issues with accurate information that can realign teams with their mission and goals. While instincts are helpful in many industries, big data tools allow us to utilize the best of human intuition and quantitative information. 

Since benefits of hr analytics and from people analytics is still in the development stage, HR is still awakening to its immense potential, there will soon be a time when using these tools will become far easier and cost-effective.

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14. Boosting employee engagement
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It's all in the data. Workforce analytics provide insights into employee satisfaction and behaviours, guiding HR to develop more effective engagement strategies. Interestingly, high engagement doesn't just boost morale – it also has a tangible impact on the bottom line. Did you know that teams with high engagement levels are 21% more profitable. So, delving into data not only enhances employee well-being but also contributes significantly to employee engagement.

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15. Simplify company structure

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Through workforce analytics, HR teams can reshape and simplify company structures. By analyzing staff data, they uncover inefficiencies and pinpoint areas for consolidation. This approach can lead to a more streamlined, efficient organization. For instance, companies employing analytics-driven restructuring often see significant productivity boosts. It's about using insights to build a leaner, more cohesive framework that aligns perfectly with business objectives and employee capabilities.

FAQs

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1. What are the stages of workplace analytics?

• Data collection: Gathering relevant employee and workplace data.
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• Data analysis: Examining the data to identify patterns and insights.
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• Strategy development: Creating plans based on the analysis to improve workplace efficiency and employee engagement.
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• Implementation: Putting the strategies into action.
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• Monitoring: Regularly checking the effectiveness of implemented strategies.
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• Adjustment: Making necessary changes based on feedback and ongoing analysis.

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2. What are the benefits of workforce analysis?

• Enhanced hiring: It sharpens recruitment strategies, ensuring a better fit for job roles.
  
  
• Performance insights: Provides a deeper understanding of employee productivity and areas for improvement.
  
  
• Retention strategies: Helps in crafting policies that boost employee satisfaction and reduce turnover.
  
  
• Strategic workforce planning: Assists in aligning staff skills and numbers with business goals.
  
  
• Identifying leaders: Pinpoints potential leaders for succession planning.
  
  
• Informed decision making: Leads to data-driven choices for overall organizational improvement.

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3. What are the key metrics HR professionals should focus on?

• Employee turnover rate: Understanding why employees leave can help improve retention strategies.
  
  
• Absence rate: High absenteeism can indicate underlying issues like poor job satisfaction or workplace culture.
  
  
• Performance metrics: Regularly assessing employee performance helps identify areas for development and training needs.
  
  
• Employee engagement levels: Measuring engagement can show how connected employees feel to their work and the company.
  
  
• Cost per hire: Knowing the cost of hiring new employees assists in budgeting and evaluating the recruitment process's efficiency.
  
  
• Time to fill: This measures how long it takes to fill open positions, reflecting on the effectiveness of the recruitment strategy.
  
  
• Diversity and inclusion metrics: Monitoring diversity helps in creating a more inclusive and representative workplace.
  
  
• Training and development investment: This indicates how much is being invested in employees’ growth and skill enhancement.

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4. Are there any challenges in implementing workforce analytics?

• Data Collection and Integration: Gathering and combining data from various sources can be complex.
  
  
• Data quality and accuracy: Ensuring the reliability of the data collected is crucial.
  
  
• Data privacy concerns: Addressing privacy issues related to employee data is a significant challenge.
  
  
• Analytical tools and expertise: Acquiring the right tools and skills for effective data analysis is essential.
  
  
• Translating data into action: Converting insights from data into practical HR strategies requires both analytical and HR know-how.
  
  
• Balancing analysis with HR expertise: Effectively blending data analysis with human resource management skills is key.

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