People Analytics gives you knowledge and benefits. Increase engagement with data

‍When you know what employees like, what motivates them, what their needs are, it will be easier for you to attract them to the company. And stay in it. Today, People Analytics should be used not only in HR departments. But it is worth starting with them.

Let's define: what is people analytics? It is the practice of collecting and processing the data available in the HR department along with the data available in the organization into knowledge. One that can be used to make decisions to improve the way the company operates.

People Analytics is a relatively new domain for most HR departments. It is based on often unused data, which after processing becomes a source of important insights, answers to important questions and a basis for solutions. People Analytics helps organizations better understand the advantage of their workforce and the organization as such. This information should be presented in easy-to-understand graphs, visualizations, questions and answers, all based on data already available. Using this knowledge, leaders can support their intuition with facts and implement strategic decisions based on data.

How does People Analytics work?

People Analytics tools use the available data from tools that are already in use in the company and process it using algorithms and statistical analysis to graphically present the conclusions with the help of graphs in a clear and practical way.

A good example is the analysis of team retention, which becomes all the more important in times of the employee market. Employees considering a job change are already waiting for companies that promise a better future (and more money). The role of the People Analytics system is to identify in advance undesirable trends, which can lead to the fact that even the best employees will begin to consider changing their place of work.

According to Gallup's research, in Central Europe, only 15% of employees feel engaged at work. As millennials become the dominant generation in the workforce — as many as 3 out of 4 employees will be of this generation or younger by 2025 — HR leaders need to redefine their employee retention strategies. They must adapt them to the expectations of the new generation, taking into account the new needs, aspirations and desires. Simply put, retaining and engaging millennials in work is no longer just about getting the right treatment and providing basic benefits. The future of engagement includes creating career paths, training, and helping employees find meaning in their work. Consequently, People Analytics tools will gradually become a key source of knowledge to make strategic decisions about the future of the team.

Do analytical systems not meet these needs?

The belief that reporting from HR systems is the same as People Analytics is wrong. Many HR tools (such as HCM or ATS) exacerbate this misunderstanding by referring to their internal reports as analytical data, when in reality they are simply reports. These reports, whether they are Excel spreadsheets or graphs that show the data. People Analytics, on the other hand, transforms this data into actionable insights that can inform strategic decisions about your team.

Reports provide insights into the importance of data, while People Analytics provides insight into the significance of that data. The reports show what has happened in the past or is happening now, that is, for example: how many people are employed as of 09/23/2019? People Analytics, on the other hand, gives insight and explains the causes of past events and predicts the likelihood of these events in the future based on data, such as how much has productivity increased through investments in training programs? Who is most likely to leave the company in the next six months? Etc. Etc.

In other words, reporting is a transactional look at data, not an analysis of it. Reports are the “what”, while analyzes are the “why”.

The difference lies in a deeper insight into what is happening inside the organization along with elements of forecasts for the future. People Analytics gives you the foundation for better strategic decisions. Without this, there will be no HR departments of the future, but also companies that will retain employees for longer. Therefore, companies that have NAIS can start implementing a People Analytics policy. When deciding whether to award bonuses or rewards, they can take into account data along with analytics: What do employees spend money on most often? What do the younger ones benefit from and what do the older ones prefer? This knowledge allows you to communicate better with your employees and make better decisions about them.

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