Posted on December 8th, 2019

By Cubie Davis King, PhD.

Simply stated. People analytics is people-related data (i.e., employee data) being used to inform and improve numerous types of HR, management, and business decisions. These decisions help those operating within the organization’s human system perform better. The kinds of data a particular organization focuses on depends on their industry and specific business issues.

Sophisticated companies now realize the need to pinpoint why people join their organization in the first place, who is likely to succeed, and who will make the best leaders. They also need to know who is likely to leave and when as part of their talent retention strategies.

Today, people analytics brings together HR and business data from different parts of the business to assist organizations with everything from selecting high-performing job applicants, analyzing engagement and culture, pinpointing what is needed to deliver high-quality customer service, identifying leadership development candidates, and creating high-value career paths, all the way to analyzing flight risk for the company’s top talent. all crucial data points given today’s competitive work environment.

Leader organizations are quietly but aggressively investing in analytics offerings, hiring people analytics staff, building people analytics teams to clean up their data, and developing people management models that are transforming their businesses.

Driven by competitive pressures, Deloitte’s research now confirms that fully 77 percent of all organizations believe people analytics is important, as multi-year workforce planning has moved to the top of the agenda for executive teams around the world.

How about your organization? Are you seizing the opportunity to use people data (from interviews, productivity reports, performance reviews, sales reports, internal surveys, and a host of other sources that you are already collecting) to make better management decisions?

Get a clue from tech companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Spreaker, LinkedIn, and many others that use data in positive ways to inspire better employee performance.

2019 Cubie Davis King All rights are reserved internationally. Written permission by the author is needed to use this material in any form.