It is now universally acknowledged that the first and primary competitive advantage that a company can boast constitutes its human resources. Before technology, spaces, services and products and even the customers, employees are the real capital of any company. It is for this reason that – especially in recent years – the focus on HR management has increased considerably, so as to find and retain the best and most talented individuals, as well as increase productivity. This is where HR Analytics comes into play. So, what does it involve?
What exactly is HR Analytics?
Of course, when we talk about the management of human resources, we don’t think of a particularly analytical activity. On the contrary, of all the various company departments, the HR office – in the majority of cases – is the department that stands out precisely for its less mathematical, less scientific and more human approach. From a certain perspective, it is indeed right that this is the case, and it can even be said that this – for the most part – must remain the approach. To improve the management of human resources, retain employees and attract new promising talents with less effort, it is however also necessary to regularly rely on the mathematical analysis of the data held concerning personnel. This is precisely what HR Analytics tools allow us to do. Also called People Analytics – with a slightly different nuance in meaning – HR Analytics is a process that allows you to collect, analyse, organise and interpret all data relating to human resources, so as to be able to have all the necessary information to implement more efficient management processes in order to reach the company’s pre-established objectives more quickly. To further understand the role of HR Analytics, it can of course be useful to look at a few examples of use.
People Analytics: some examples of use
Using HR Analytics tools means giving meaning to data that in itself, separate and raw, tells us very little or nothing at all. Yet all companies have – or should have – questions to be answered, such as understanding how many weeks it takes on average to hire a new employee, which training activities actually lead to increased productivity and how many employees are most likely to decide to leave the company in the next 12 or 24 months, and so on. In fact, all companies already possess the data to answer these and many other crucial questions in their management systems. However, only with HR Analytics software is it possible to give real meaning to these raw data, compare them and find the solutions sought. Just think, for example, of what can be done with people analytics tools in terms of recruitment: with a quick analysis of the data relating to personnel, it is possible to identify the skills to be focused on in the selection process, especially in relation to transversal skills. With a complete and meticulous HR Analytics process, it is also possible to tangibly reduce the turnover rate, identifying the real reasons that lead employees to leave the company. And again, with personnel management software capable of analysing the data in depth, there comes the possibility of evaluating the actual work of individual managers in the management of their respective teams, carrying out a more precise re-distribution of skills throughout the company, and so on.
