Big Data Solves HR Problems in 4 Key Areas

Simple to Futuristic: How to Use People Analytics to Make your Company Better 

From recruiting the right employees to maximizing engagement and productivity, HR analytics can help companies galvanize their most important asset — their employees. HR executives can use everything from simple math to savvy artificial intelligence tools to do this well. 

The Simple: Using Basic Math to Drive Business Decisions

“The road to analytics success isn’t always paved with data scientists,” writes David Creelman for the Society of Human Resource Management’s blog. 

In fact, he offers four steps for using statistics to drive business decisions: 

• We need to be clear about what question we are trying to answer. 
• We need to gather the best available evidence — which, even if it not good, will be better than no evidence. 
• We need to assess the quality of the evidence so we can make an informed judgment. 
• Often, basic math is all we need to inform our judgment.

It’s also important for those in HR to recognize problems that call for more-sophisticated solutions. 

The Middle of the Road: Improving the Way Companies Collect and Use Employee Data

Google is a model for this, writes Steffen Maier for Entrepreneur. 

“At Google, surveys aren’t just about checking the pulse of the workplace, they’re about constantly striving to improve it,” he writes. The company “uses feedback to optimize different aspects of its people processes and align them with its unique work culture. As a result, the company reports an average participation rate of 90 percent.” 

It works well because Google combines quantitative data and survey results with quantitative research. 

“Google’s process provides HR insights into employee engagement. It also creates trust between employer and employee,” Maier writes. “Googlers feel a sense of equality because they directly shape how their company is run.” 

The High Tech: Unleashing Artificial Intelligence

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 3.5 million people—or 2.3 percent of the total workforce—left their jobs voluntarily in November of 2019. This rate of attrition can be quite costly.

Stepping into that opportunity are companies that focus on creating algorithms that predict what kinds of employees will be the most successful and stay the longest. 

These algorithms are bringing dramatic changes to traditional hiring practices and job requirements, and they’re constantly learning about what defines employee success in different roles.

Whether you’re starting with the simple or are ready to take on the higher-order use cases, data can be your friend to help solve some of your biggest workplace challenges.