DATA-DRIVEN HR – REALLY?

DATA-DRIVEN HR – REALLY?

‘Data-driven’ is now bolted to every HR-related reference and has become the fashionable mantra. Let’s break it down.

Data held in an HR system is workforce data, not HR data. The only HR data is that relating to HR department people. It’s part of HR’s role to keep that data complete, accurate and up to date. If it’s not all those things it’s worse than useless to everyone.

The data is of primary interest to the various management figures in the organisation and must always be accessible to them, formatted in reports they need, and available via self-service. I despair when I hear of HR people galloping through the corridors to meetings with a pile of paper reports; HR is not a secretarial service.

Decisions on data are almost always taken by management, not HR. The analysis of that data should be within the grasp of a manager, or else what are they there for? HR may be able to give supporting commentary on the data, but that may not always be the case.

Ten years ago, in his article ‘The Geeks have arrived’

(https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/geeks-have-arrived-people-analytics-here-josh-bersin/) Josh Bersin posited a vision of “entering 2015, I believe The Geeks have Arrived. Statisticians, mathematicians, and engineers have entered the people analytics space.” Fortunately, the idea never seemed to catch on.

In any case, the deal is dead. Your in-house AI app will be sifting data 24/7 telling you not only the story but giving sub-text as well. The days of running reports are numbered.

The X Factor in all this is: Is the data going to tell us the whole story? The answer of course is No. Your business model may be working well, your employees beavering away at a profitable rate but over the horizon lurks a pandemic, a crazy dictator or an equally crazy president, all capable of destroying your business at a stroke. This is where you need vision and strategic thinking, and the same bot can be taught to model macro scenarios based on reliable information sources. Until that time and probably beyond you need talented humans.

So, is HR data-driven? No, not really. But if you insist on claiming that you are, just make sure the data is right; but then, that’s another story.

Contact me at d.barnard@bloorresearch to find out more!