7 Incredible Insights You Can Learn from People Analytics

It's said that every business is now a data-driven business, and this applies as much to the HR department as any other. With the amount of information available to companies increasing all the time and powerful Big Data analytics solutions easier to procure and use, there's no reason for firms not to take advantage of these offerings.

People analytics is all about gaining a better understanding of your workforce so you can adjust your operations, from hiring and firing to workforce planning.

However, many organizations still aren't making the most of this. While 43% of businesses used people analytics in 2019 - up from just 8% three years earlier - 44% of firms still place no focus on this area, despite the benefits it can offer.

These analytics can help with a wide variety of common HR issues. For instance, they reduce the organization’s reliance on gut feelings and hunches and eliminate many of the subconscious biases that may impact their thinking, giving HR professionals clear, accurate data they can use to improve their decision-making.

Here are seven key areas in which these insights can be used to boost performance.

1. Improve your hiring processes

How do you make decisions when it comes to hiring? For many organizations, it's still largely to do with qualifications and how well applicants perform in the interview, but this doesn't always tell you how they'll fit into your culture. Indeed, two-thirds of hirers admit to misjudging candidates at least once.

However, analytics can help in numerous ways, from eliminating human bias to using predictive assessments to gauge their likely performance and engagement with the company culture, based on metrics you've already gathered from your existing workforce.

2. Boost employee retention

Attracting the best talent is only half the battle for HR professionals - keeping them is another vitally important area, and HR analytics can help greatly in this regard. For instance, machine learning can be used to analyze churn and identify personnel most at risk of leaving, allowing HR managers to focus their efforts more closely.

This can be achieved by looking at metrics such as productivity, satisfaction surveys, retention rates per manager and even how other people respond to events such as internal promotions.

3. Optimize your training processes

Determining the effectiveness of training programs has long been a challenge for many businesses, but with people analytics you can get much more accurate insight into which techniques work and which don't. Machine learning tools can look closely at how employee behaviors change following training courses and compare the performances of those who underwent different programs.

It can also identify where you can tailor training approaches to different people, for instance by highlighting which employees will benefit from classroom learning and who will be better served by practical, on-the-job training.

4. Improve the benefits you offer

Employee benefits programs are often one of the biggest HR expenses, after payroll, and when done correctly, can offer a great return on investment by keeping employees engaged and motivated.

Being able to use analytics to study metrics such as utilization rates helps to build a better understanding of which offerings are most welcomed by employees. If some of your more costly initiatives are only being used by a small percentage of the workforce, this can indicate where you can cut back costs and help identify where these investments may be better spent.

5. Enhance employee satisfaction

Better benefits is just one way in which people analytics can be used to improve morale and overall employee job satisfaction. Running analytics alongside frequent employee surveys allows businesses to quickly spot any practices or trends that are having a positive impact, as well as any key stressors that can be tackled head-on before they become a major issue.

6. Improve productivity

Similarly to employee satisfaction, people analytics can give great insight into any disruptions that will negatively affect productivity and offer recommendations on areas to focus on. For example, it can help businesses better understand what incentives and motivations will work best for their employees, so they can tailor their offerings more individually.

It can also help identify issues such as process bottlenecks or departments that are understaffed. This allows you to step in and ease the pressure before issues such as employee burnout and stress begin to have an impact on productivity.

7. Spot red flags

Aside from issues such as burnout and churn, people analytics can also be used to deliver insight into many potential red flags such as employee misconduct or individuals who are having a negative impact on their team. For example, it can be used to spot any patterns of complaints about issues such as workplace bullying or sexual harassment, or identify any instances of bias or discrimination - deliberate or otherwise - that can impact employees.