This week sees Infohrm hosting its annual Asia-Pacific Conference on the beautiful Gold Coast in Queensland. Topics for discussion include mitigating strategic and operational risks through workforce planning, using HR’s analytical skills to solve business problems, and instituting an enterprise-wide capability for business intelligence capability that goes beyond installing the latest software.
The focus of one stream in particular, and of the post-conference workshop that Infohrm consultant Richard Pound and I are teaching, is how to embed a workforce analytics and planning initiative (one that often begins with ad-hoc responses to questions about the root causes of turnover or the potential for future workforce gaps) as a repeatable business process.
Often overlooked in the rush to get analytical data into the hands of end-users (corporate and line decision-makers) is a clear strategy for how that data is to be managed, processed, distributed, and utilized.
Taking a half-day to sit down and put together a draft plan for how data is to be used for reporting, planning, and analytics will reduce the risk that colleagues view this as yet another “HR initiative” or pose the “So what?” question.
A substantive data rollout plan must contain a number of different elements, from a clear mission statement to communication schedules, evaluation of how data producers and consumers will use the metrics, and identification of opportunities to use data as part of regular meetings.
Obviously, there is a lot more to it than that….which we hope the workshop will illustrate. In the meantime, give some thought to how a rollout plan will ease the integration of a new analytics initiative into your HR and business culture.
Tags: data utilization, rollout planning, Workforce Analytics, Workforce Planning
Hi,
I personally like your post; you have shared good insights and experiences. I wil wait for further discusions on this particular topic. Keep it up.
Mick, good post. Having just implemented a Benefits Database Warehouse, I cannot stress enough the importance of having a proper stakeholder analysis and involving your end users in the process early. Not only will the final product (an implemented workforce analytics strategy) be more relevant to your end users (and possibly address needs that HR may not have been attuned to), but it will also make your business leaders vested stakeholders and champions of the analytics…creating a “pull” for the information generated instead of relying on HR Generalists and Leaders having to push metrics out.
How often does the push for work force analytics come from the business instead of HR? Which would you say is the norm?
Joe,
Thanks for the comment. To address your question, my first reaction was to divide the drivers for analytics into two camps:
1. Implicit Driver: This is where the business either starts to ask more questions about the workforce (in particular, trends and problems) or leaders want more data from all functions not just HR. No-one necessarily says “we need a workforce analytics capability” but the need for analytics slowly rises to the surface.
2. Explicit Driver: This is where HR leads the charge, recognizing the criticality of measuring the impact of investments in the workforce. There is a more conscious effort to budget for, and build, a capability, and analytics is seen as an integral part of the HR function.
The norm? Not sure. I’ve seen examples from both sides. What I am more certain about is that if HR isnt explicit about the need to build a capability, then sooner-or-later the business will start to ask for one. Better to get ahead of the game and take steps to lay a solid foundation for data analysis now.
Happy to be contradicted…please share other ideas.