Read an interesting blog on HR analytics this morning that presented several ideas on moving beyond HR metrics and into analytic investigations of critical workforce problems. One of the central themes is that metrics suggest problems that should be solved today (if possible), whereas analytics identify future opportunities and challenges that organizations can prepare for.
The author, Celine George, notes that “HR Analytics goes beyond reporting to forecasting, predicting, optimizing and providing gainful insights into how to manage the people facet in delivering business goals.”
For me, this sentence offers two interesting perspectives on the value of HR, or workforce, analytics.
The first is that analytics helps to “predict” and “forecast”—that is, suggest what might occur in the coming quarters and years. It loosely correlates to scenario planning, a common tool for business strategists and of increasing importance to HR. Looking to see what alternative futures our business/workforce might face helps to manage the risk of negative outcomes—a war for talent, higher turnover in mission-critical positions, an aging workforce etc.
The second value proposition is more focused on improving the immediate effectiveness and efficiency of the workforce through “optimization”. With hiring freezes and downsizings commonplace, now is the time to study your existing workforce and determine how best to deploy your high performers, strong managers, and rising stars.
HR analytics and, in turn, workforce planning, are increasingly important as tools for data-driven decision-making that improve business performance–today and tomorrow. Want to learn more? Come and join us at the 2009 Workforce Planning Summit. You’ll hear from some of the world’s leading organizations on how they use data to advance the science of talent management—if you’re an HR leader, you can’t afford to miss this event.
Tags: aging workforce, HR Analytics, talentflow analytics, Workforce Analytics, Workforce Planning Summit
It is long past time for business leaders to focus on today’s problems today. Many of our biggest challenges are to be found around the corner in the very near future.
Some of the future challenges are evident now and must be addressed now or we will pay an even bigger price than we are accumulating in this current economic moment.
For instance, our failure to address the challenges faced by an aging workforce and an aging nation will result in our failure to thrive in large part because we have not availed ourselves of the blindingly obvious benefits living longer and working later in life present.
Likewise, there is a very big bill waiting for us all to pay if we ignore the large problem we will soon face in terms of under-funded public-sector pensions.
And….so forth…and so on.
You’re right – analytics and planning are the key to addressing tomorrow’s challenges today while time is still on our side.