There are few in the organization then that are as well placed to reach out to their employees and provide a helping hand in these trying times than the CHRO . However, this does not mean that our journey to normality has always been plain sailing and there is still more that we need to do. As Kelly Steven-Waiss, CHRO of Here Technologies suggests, “as a key advisor to the CEO, the CHRO must not only be able to understand the external threats and drivers but translate those into strategies to mitigate risk and leverage opportunities.”

Whether the modern business world likes it, or not, Covid-19 is here to stay and for the modern Chief Human Resources Officer the crisis is still very much alive. As we approach the end of 2021, we must continue to consider the efforts necessary to negate the impact that the virus has on our business in the day-to-day. What then, should we prioritize when building for the future?

The Power of Prediction: Leveraging People Data to Enhance Your HR Department

Skills, Culture, Retention, Recruitment and Recognition – these are the five areas of focus for the modern CHRO, but they are as nothing if these executives do not first build off of a base of actionable information and insight. Data and analytics have always been the tools by which human resources measure their success and now, more than ever, executives must use them to enhance their systems.

Data and Analytics

HR teams are sitting on a powerful resource, but few are fully utilizing it. What we must realize is that data is vital to business continuity in the day-to-day. Regardless of the format, we should constantly look to draw patterns and insights from the data to improve business and internal processes, and conventionally speaking, this is best achieved through technology and analytics expertise.

Technologies

Driven by widespread adoption of cloud services within HR, companies and senior leaders are investing heavily in the data capture technologies that will help them to make a difference. The programs, platforms and tools that leverage data to improve workforce planning, talent management and operational improvement were nice-to-haves before the pandemic, now they’re essential.

According to PWC’s 2020 HR Technology Survey, out of 600 HR leaders 72% would have core HR applications in the cloud in 2020. The purpose? Aside from increasing efficiency and productivity, these tools have been instituted to help codify and qualify huge datasets into actionable workplace insights. It’s a vital process, and one that is being felt keenly by those currently unable to do so. In the same study from PWC for example, fewer than 39% said that they had dashboards that could provide enterprise-level insight on employees that could then be used to enhance workplace processes.

Furthermore, we’ve seen a marked increase in the number of HR professionals looking to onboard innovative HR software which both generates and records Big Data for executives to utilize in pursuit of the enhancement of their HR divisions. In particular, we’re seeing greater utilization of AI, ML & RPA tech to trawl expansive datasets. As Michael Cohen, Chief Product Officer at Achievers put it, “Artificial Intelligence is one of the ways we can connect an entire employee population and understand what they need.”

People Analytics

Once you have the technology in place to read and assess your data, you can begin to use that data to draw conclusions on customers, processes and perhaps most importantly, your people. Human Resources author and expert Jonathan Ferrar describes people analytics as, “the discovery, interpretation and communication of meaningful patterns in workforce related data to inform decision making and improve performance”.

Implementation is easier said than done though, during 2017 for example, Forbes discovered that 69% of the companies that they studied as part of their ‘High-Impact People Analytics’ study were trying to integrate their data to build a people analytics database. In the intervening years, this will have skyrocketed and particularly now, we can’t afford not to identify and build on the secrets that previously sat unnoticed in excel spreadsheets.

In line with this, McKinsey recently discovered that companies with an effective people analytics resource, were able to realize an 80% increase in the efficiency of the recruiting process, a 25% rise in business productivity and a 50% decrease in attrition rates. It’s not enough to bury your head in the sand on data anymore. Your staff need more support than they’ve ever received, and the secrets to providing this could well be revealed with an effective approach to people analytics.

Continue the debate at the HR Insight Summit, a GDS Summit, where we bring together senior Human Resources executives who are actively seeking to share, learn, engage, and find the best technology solutions.

GDS Group hosts experts to help experts. We strive to provide an atmosphere for our attendees that enables them to confidently lead their companies through major transformation projects. For information on upcoming events, view our view our Digital Summits. To remain current on our activities, visit GDS Group on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter.