Preparing to increase headcount at a large organization is like comparing the cost of bread at different supermarkets: At your regular neighborhood store, a loaf might cost $2.28, but at a high-end store, a loaf might cost $3.98. In a…
Data, Metrics, & Analytics Archives
Why Analytics Should Come Before Anything Else
Peter Navin, the SVP employee experience at Grand Rounds Inc., has an interesting stance on analytics. Typically, HR has all its core functions in place before it tentatively tacks on an analytics team. Peter, took an unusual approach, he always…
If You Haven’t Invested in Analytics, Start Now. Here’s How
People analytics is currently having a moment in the HR space. Fueled by the growth of data science, more and more companies and organizations are trying to drive greater insight into their people and talent, and more and more vendors…
HR Get Ready: Artificial Intelligence Is Changing the Way We Work
As the world of work is rapidly changing amongst digital disruption, HR must keep pace. By 2020, the World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be here, with robotics, artificial intelligence and automation making some roles…
The Dark Secret of Analytics that Shouldn’t Be a Secret
CEOs get excited about HR analytics because they hope it will reveal something magical. They’ve all seen Moneyball and figure that if HR gets a data scientist some shocking insights will emerge. The fact that shocking insights emerge only rarely…
In Analytics, the Questions Come First
Note: Don’t miss the resources listed at the end of this article. ∼∼∼∼ Last June, I had the pleasure of delivering two mega sessions on people analytics at the annual SHRM 2018 conference in Chicago. Being invited to speak at…
HR 101: 5 Ways Small Employers Can Streamline Their Hiring
There’s no time like the present to reevaluate your recruiting processes and strategies to improve efficiencies and save you time. With the summer recruiting doldrums soon coming to end, now is an especially good time to review what is working…
Analytics Can Play a Key Role In Career Planning Conversations
Careers used to progress linearly. You’d start at the bottom and climb up the rungs of a clearly defined ladder until you retired, but the world of work has changed so much. Many organizations don’t have defined career tracks anymore,…
Data Has a Powerful Role In Promoting C-Level Collaboration
“What can you do to increase collaboration between HR and other leaders?” That question was asked of Peter Navin, SVP of employee experience at Grand Rounds. His answer, which took me aback, was “analytics.” I always position analytics as a…
How to Choose and Visualize the Right KPIs
From hiring to payroll, human resources departments have a lot to manage, and the volume of data they track and report is always growing. That’s why HR teams need the right process to understand and reach their goals. Without key…
What’s Your Real Pay? Hint: You’re Actually Losing Ground
The Q2 2018 PayScale Index showed wages declined 0.9% in comparison to Q1 2018. The PayScale Real Wage Index, which measure wage growth in relation to inflation, dropped 1.8% over the last quarter – the biggest decline in seven years….
The 3 Dimensions of a Job: Style, Pace, Risk
I’ve spent over 25 years in human capital management and I’ve gotten 10 certifications in the space. Through the use and study of various assessments and workforce analytics, I can tell you that every job at any company contains some…
On Becoming A Scientific HR Function – Learning From Amazon And Google
Did you know that “becoming scientific” is a strategic goal that is shared by the HR functions of two of the top three most valuable firms in the world? Yes, Amazon’s goal is to “Become the most scientific HR organization…
How Predictive Analytics Can Make Talent Development More Effective
“Controlled chaos” sounds like an oxymoron. Yet to anyone who works in talent management or talent acquisition, controlled chaos describes daily life. There are too many things to do, too many needs to address, and too much happening at once…
Tech Vendors Can Do a Better Job Predicting Who’s a Flight Risk Than You
Many companies like the idea of using predictive analytics to assess flight risk (the probability that an employee will quit). The problem is that most organizations don’t have the skills to do this kind of analysis, and even where they…
The Surprising Way AI Is Making Engagement More Human
Artificial intelligence and human resources may seem like strange allies at first glance. Artificial intelligence (AI) calls to mind words such as “cold,” “robotic,” and “automated,” while human resources (HR) is, for all intents and purposes, focused on people and…
Are You Overlooking the HR Research That’s Already Out There?
Most of the useful data crunching in HR occurred long before the term analytics graced the booths of every darned vendor in the trade shows. That work was done by trained scientists in universities and subject to peer review. It…
Data Journalism for HR: A Beginner’s Guide
For the average person, data without a narrative is like a trip into the wilderness without a compass: overwhelming and disorienting. But when the facts are tied together by a good story, an otherwise intimidating journey turns into an enriching experience….
In the Rush to Big Data, Don’t Ignore the Legal Risks
Dear Littler: We are revamping our online job application. I asked our HR director if we should eliminate the question asking about an applicant’s hobbies. Not only does she think we should keep the question, but she says we need to…
You’ve Got Data. Here’s How to Use It to Have an Impact
The need to be data-driven in business is commonly accepted. Planning and making decisions based on hard truths over conjecture is the day-to-day norm for sales, marketing, product development and customer success functions the world over. Yet, somehow, HR still…