Before the #hrwins briefing process, the most exciting thing I had seen in the world of HR Analytics were tools that created pretty looking dashboards out of data integrated from disparate systems. Useful, yes. But, for the most part these systems still require a Business Analyst in HR, or dedicated on rent from IT, in order to make the tool useful. Then there are the complexities of interpreting the correlations between data captured in the Talent Management Lifecycle and data related to core business performance.
Just having a highly functional dashboard, on any operating system, doesn’t get HR or the line manager to the crux of the business problem.
If some of the HR Tech vendors I’ve met that are working on Analytics have their way, HR will become the provider of the kind of analytics that predict future performance and analyze results with an incredible amount of intuition drawing on data from across the enterprise.
What’s the real difference?
Example – Having a pretty interface to see Turnover Rates by location in one slick pie chart, while looking at an amazingly beautiful stack-graph of performance data doesn’t get me closer to real business issues or actions I need to take this month or quarter. Having a system that tells me I should be concerned over possible upcoming turnover in specific positions and in what locations, based on my HR Performance data and the historical trends in my sales figures – and tells me with a picture I don’t need an Analyst to interpret? Now *that’s* analytics!
Let’s go one step further. Now what if as you go to call the locations you’re concerned about to get some input from the field, whichever screen you’re looking at (smart phone, tablet, PC, etc.) tells you what the most recent and relevant performance stats are from that region — AND — tells you how best to approach the Director you are calling in order to have the most effective communication and leave them feeling good about what was discussed?
Simply put, the HR Analytics platforms of the future will not just provide access to raw data with good report-writing capabilities. It will be built, and implemented, in a way that gives the business perspective beyond just HR with built-in historical insight. These are systems that the entire enterprise will use because they help everyone get work done.
Another interesting facet of this #hrwins trend is the fact that these systems aren’t just for the large enterprise any more. They are relevant for large mid-market organizations (~2,000 employees) and scalable upward.
Don’t get too attached to your dashboards.