The profession of people analytics is growing. In some depth, we have outlined this in the Insight222 People Analytics Trends 2021 research. However, despite this, highly capable HR executives continue to strive to get more value from people analytics.

"How can I be more successful at people analytics?" remains one of the top questions I am asked by chief human resources officers (CHROs). To answer this question, the Nine Dimensions for Excellence in People Analytics model developed by David Green & myself offers many insights.

In the article, I have taken seven key elements from the “Nine Dimensions” model and pose seven questions CHROs can ask themselves to elevate people analytics. 

You can also take our Seven Question Survey to see your current level of excellence in people analytics. Click the button below to take the survey and receive an immediate high-level assessment of your people analytics capability.

And for more information on the seven questions — read on!

1. Do You Have an Ethics Code of Conduct for People Analytics?

This question is routed in that the more open you are about People Analytics, the more your employees and managers will trust you and the more they will engage with you for data. 

As far back as 2017, in a survey that Insight222 undertook on ethics, 81% of people's analytics projects were jeopardised "often or sometimes" by concerns related to ethics and privacy. More recently, in January 2019, an Accenture Strategy article ( Decoding Organisational DNA: Trust, Data and Unlocking Value in the Digital Workplace) found that 92% of employees are open to the collection of workforce data about them, but only if it provides personal benefits. 

Most recently, in the Insight222 People Analytics Trends 2022 research, we noticed that the vast majority (90%) of people analytics leaders believe that transparency in communication about how people data will be used means that those people will be more willing to share it. (See figure 1)

2. Are Your People Analytics Projects Selected and Prioritised Using Proper Governance and Criteria? 

The discussion on this topic is straightforward. Do you have a group of people from across the business who meet regularly and use defined and agreed-on criteria to select and then prioritise the work that People Analytics does? 

People Analytics will usually remain an "HR for HR" function with limited impact if you do not. 

By establishing this "Board of People Analytics" — of which one role is to select and prioritise projects — you will increase awareness of and provide direction for people analytics. You will focus on business (not HR) topics. Figure 2 shows the recommended composition for a "Board of People Analytics" outlined and discussed in more depth in Excellence in People Analytics: How to Use Workforce Data to Create Business Value.

3. Do Your Senior Business Executives Sponsor People Analytics Projects?

This is simple. For the most significant people analytics projects in your organisation — do your business (not HR) executives sponsor each project? 

In other words, do they help define the business problem, clarify the intention, discuss possible outcomes, provide their own time to unblock things when the project gets stuck, provide (or fight to secure) budget, people or data, and help communicate the outcomes and recommendations? And — do they become obsessed with making changes due to work?

“Last month, my project failed after six months. The HR Executive “didn’t like the insights”. Therefore, he ended the project and did not implement any recommendations. I think he felt threatened because the analytics showed the opposite of what he “wanted to do”.”

Like the quote above from a European People Analytics Leader (who rightly didn't want to be named), there is frustration that working with HR Executives can result in wasted effort.

The answer is simple. Get a Business Executive to sponsor all important people analytics works. An example of where this has happened well is in the case study of Swarovski as outlined in Excellence in People Analytics: How to Use Workforce Data to Create Business Value. In this case, the people analytics team accelerated their impact when a senior business executive sponsored the project of attrition and turned it into a retail business "challenge" – how to increase customer sales.

In this study, the conversion rate of customers buying goods in Swarovski stores was predicted to increase statistically by certain people factors (see figure 3). The key here is that with a focus on those five people factors, the conversion rate of customers increases and the revenue across stores increases.

4. Does Your Chief Human Resources Officer Invest in People Analytics?

HR functions often implement multi-million dollar investments in HR technology, thinking they will offer a panacea for all analytics and fix other problems. Unfortunately — people analytics requires more than just spending money on technology.

In summary — the CHRO must lead from the front. They will need tough choices to move investment from other HR areas and invest in People Analytics. OR they must use the analytics projects themselves to create an ROI for the business and then use some of that return on investment to reinvest into People Analytics.

Our research does show that investment in technology is increasing, based on the prediction of people analytics leaders. We also know that the investment in people analytics experts is increasing as the ratio of people analytics practitioners to employees increased from 1:4000 to 1:2900 between 2020 and 2021, as outlined in the Insight222 People Analytics Trends 2021 research (see figure 4).

CHROs who seriously invest in skills, technology AND data will succeed in people analytics. And from our research, it appears this is happening.

5. Does your People Analytics Leader have the skills to "get things done"?

At a people analytics conference back in 2019, the person next to me leaned over and said, "the people analytics leaders that seem happiest are those that are performing interesting experiments on small portions of their organisation". I whispered back — "Yes, but are they having much impact?"

We know from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends Research 2022, that certain companies – "Leading Companies" – outperform other companies in the value that people analytics delivers financially. These "Leading Companies" have people analytics leaders that have specific skills.

• Business Acumen — they understand the business and can influence at the most senior levels. They understand corporate politics and have a high level of organisational acumen.

• Consulting - they can define the correct business problems, define hypotheses, manage complexities and affect change.

• Communication - they can tell stories, engage people and inspire action.

Make sure your People Analytics Leader has these skills. Develop them, help them. Or recruit a new one!

6. Do you measure the ROI of your People Analytics projects?

Ok — so not every people analytics project is about financial return. Yes, some manage risk, some engage employees and managers and yet more focus on the employee experience. 

But let's not get confused. Analytics projects and work showing a clear investment return will get attention. And it will allow you to get more investment (see question 4 above). 

There are numerous examples, such as the one from Nielsen shown in Figure 5. By working with the Finance Team and with the help of getting a clear sponsor (see Question 3 above), Piyush Mathur (then People Analytics Leader) gained traction, helped employees manage their careers better and returned significant value to the business. See The Power of People for more details on this case study or watch this video.

7. Are Your Hr Business Partners Capable of Having Evidence-based Discussions?

This is critical. Suppose your HR Business Partners cannot translate analytics, talk "numbers," and feel comfortable in a fact-based business conversation. In that case, it is going to be hard to make an impact in people analytics. The entire "front office" HR team should have a level of data literacy to utilise analytics as an integral part of their job. 

This does not mean that years of intuition are ignored. Nor does it mean HRBPs have to be statistical wizards! Oh no!

No. What we mean here is this: Does your HR department cultivate a culture of analytics so that HR Business Partners are comfortable talking analytics?

In our People Analytics Trends Research 2022, we have discovered that just less than half (49%) of companies have self-disclosed that they feel that they have a data-driven culture for analytics (see Figure 6). Another insight reveals that 51% of companies are developing data literacy skills for HR Business Partners. While these insights aren't as high as the expectations of chief human resources officers, it gives some encouraging signals for the future of the HR profession.

Summary

To ensure success in People Analytics — focus on seven key questions. You can test your level of excellence in People Analytics by taking this Seven Question Survey. For more information, contact Jonathan Ferrar or any team at Insight222. Our mission is to "Put People Analytics at the Centre of Business and upskill the HR profession", — so if you want help with any of the seven questions above — please call us.

Note: this article was originally produced 0n 23 April 2019. This edition was updated on 1 September 2022, using data and insights from multiple research projects across over 200 global companies in total.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Ferrar is the CEO and co-founder of Insight222. He is a globally recognised business advisor, speaker and author in HR strategy and people analytics. Jonathan has worked in corporate business with extensive executive leadership and board advisory experience for almost 15 years with companies like Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and IBM. He is co-author of Excellence in People Analytics (Kogan Page, July 2021) and The Power of People (Pearson, May 2017). He is a Board Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Jonathan has worked with clients worldwide and lived in both London and New York for substantial periods of his career. Jonathan established Insight222 in 2017 and is a keen tennis fan and landscape photographer.

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