How to Upskill HR and Build a Data Driven Culture
Our annual Insight222 study on People Analytics Trends has revealed that while most CHROs are convinced of the need of a more data-driven culture for HR, only 42% of organisations believe their HRBPs are developing data literacy skills.
Not only do HRBPs need to develop their data literacy skills to help achieve the Chief HR/People Officer’s strategic goals, they also need to adopt the right mindset to foster a data-driven culture. By acting as key change agents for the entire HR function and by modelling a data-driven culture, HRBPs can influence decision-making processes in their organisation and fully unlock the value of people analytics for the business.
Throughout this article, we explore three guiding principles for successfully building greater data literacy skills in HR as well as share how Insight222 can support you and your organisation to succeed in the digital age:
Key upskilling principle one: from Content to Context
Key upskilling principle two: from Training to Performance
Key upskilling principle three: from Output to Impact
How can Insight222 help you upskill your HR function in 2022?
To ensure that reskilling and upskilling is more than just a pure semantic adjustment in the ‘bubble of corporate learning’, we as learning professionals need to firstly, rethink our approach and secondly, question what we are trying to achieve. We summarise this change of paradigm in three key principles:
1. From Content to Context
In less than two decades the modern workplace – and the world in general – has slid rapidly and relentlessly into information abundance and content overload.
By 2025, it's estimated that 463 exabytes of data will be created each day globally – that's the equivalent of 212,765,957 DVDs per day.
A pre-condition to any knowledge transfer and skill acquisition process is to catch learners’ attention first. With employees overwhelmed by content (among other things…), learning professionals need to get much closer to ‘where employees are at’. We need to start from that ‘daily job’ situation and understand better the real concerns of these employees before even thinking of any instructional design. In design thinking terms, this means spending more time in the ‘problem zone’, before rushing into any solution – especially if the first answer that comes to mind is to ‘create more content’.
Persona-based design can certainly help in making this shift from content to context. Moving away from the traditional job-based competency model toward a task-based skills framework is another way to move in that direction.
2. From Training to Performance
Once the context is understood and we have a clearer view on the ‘jobs-to-be-done’, we need to think ‘what does good look like?’. In other words, what are the desired performance outcomes to be achieved or improved with a specific upskilling program. What’s the performance gap? Which core capabilities (knowledge, skills, mindset) do we need to develop?
We can also ask ourselves about the ‘what happens if we don’t do this?’. In his workflow learning design methodology , Bob Mosher’s advice is to ask this key question: ‘what happens if I fail in my job?’. What’s the level of impact, on a scale from 1 to 10? Does it simply create an opportunity to do better next time? Are we at risk of losing clients or talents? Does my CEO risk a prison sentence?
Designing a successful upskilling programme should start with the end goal in mind; and performance consulting will help us address most questions from the start.
This approach will also help us find ways to reconcile individual needs with business imperatives. Firstly, this will strengthen our business case to get the right level of support and executive sponsorship. And secondly, this will allow us to include these performance related conversations into our main narrative when we communicate with learners and continuously clarify the ‘what’s in it for me’.
3. From Output to Impact
Measuring the impact of an upskilling programme starts with defining the key metrics we want to focus on. These metrics can be broken down in 3 main categories:
Efficiency – are we creating enough engagement with our adoption tactics and change strategies?
Effectiveness – is the learning experience leading to actual knowledge transfer and skills acquisition?
Alignment – are we aligned with business/people strategies, and do we create the expected impact?
To measure efficiency we look at indicators showing how people engage with their digital learning environment: Do they login - when? Do they come back - how often? Do they like and share? What’s their ‘digital body language’?
We also observe online behaviours during synchronous interventions – what’s the ‘presence’ – in terms of participation and energy levels. Are participants in the right mindset to share and learn from each other – and learn from their failures? Have we provided the right level of trust and the appropriate level of fun to make it a memorable experience?
To measure effectiveness, we encourage learners to self-assess their skill level at the start. We also encourage them to set their own objectives and provide the tools to monitor their own progression as individuals and as a team. At this point the role of the line manager is key – and developmental coaching can certainly amplify learning effectiveness. From a learning design perspective, research in neuroscience provides us with an arsenal of models and tips to ‘make learning stick’, for example the retrieval practice, as powerful instructional mechanisms. Professor Philipp Dochy in his HILL (High Impact Learning that Lasts) model speaks of ‘Assessment as Learning’. In that regard, end of course surveys will also need to be crafted in a way that doesn’t only focus on satisfaction or knowledge checks, but also on reflection – as the saying goes: we don’t learn from experience, but from reflection on experience.
To measure alignment, we need to make sure our upskilling intervention is on the organisational radar, with strong support from the relevant executive sponsors. This requires strong stakeholder management from the start, between L&D, HR and People Analytics teams. They need to agree on a coherent narrative and define metrics that are directly linked to business priorities. This is also why our upskilling programs are not limited to functional skills when it comes to HR capabilities, but they focus on business acumen and storytelling too, with ‘framing the business questions’ and ‘building the right hypotheses’ as key skills to develop a data-driven culture in HR.
How Insight222 can help you upskill in 2022
To make organisations better by placing people analytics at the centre of business and upskilling the HR function is the ‘raison d’être’ of Insight222, that will celebrate its 5th anniversary this year.
In 2022 we are also extending our offer with ‘Insight222 Learning’, focusing on helping organisations to upskill HR . The aims of Insight222 Learning are to:
Help HRBP’s become the main drivers of HR transformation
towards a more data-driven culture.Build future HR capabilities - at scale and speed - to equip
HR professionals with the skills they need to thrive in the hybrid workplace and leverage investment in HR Tech.Go beyond ‘foundational awareness’ with the possibility to practice and apply skills in context, to become more data-driven, experience-led and business focused.
Our B2B offer includes three types of products and services:
myHRfuture Academy: An online learning academy for HR professionals from all horizons to upskill – at scale and at speed – to build a data-driven culture for HR. With 40+ on-demand HR training courses and 800+ expertly curated resources focused on supporting learners become more data driven, business focused and experience led, this solution offers a unique combination of self-directed learning experiences with an outcome-based approach. Our research-based 9-skills framework, with a robust HR skills assessment and recognised certifications will make sure every HR professionals can stay on track and press PLAY on their Career®.
myHRfuture Academy+: Beyond the unique offer of the myHRfuture academy, myHRfuture Academy+ suits larger HR teams and ensures a seamless experience in the larger learning ecosystem of your organisation. User SSO and integrated data-transfer allow easy access and centralised reporting. Our persona-based design strengthens a context-first approach and makes the learning experience even more personalised for each HR team member.
myHRfuture PLAY: With this programmatic approach we embark HRBP’s on a collective journey to build advanced capabilities and adopt a data-driven mindset. Our focus is on action-based learning with dedicated bootcamps to apply skills in business context – and with some fun! All our programs are facilitated by our own team of HR experts at Insight222. This is a complete hybrid learning experience that matches the reality of the modern workplace.
To discover more about our upskilling solutions, click here and get in touch.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cédric Borzée is a Learning Director at Insight222 where he leads the HR upskilling activities to build a data-driven culture in HR. Prior to joining Insight222, Cédric was a Senior Learning Strategist at Wiley/CrossKnowledge where he specialised in EdTech as a driver for business transformation and people performance. For the last 20 years, he has also hold various roles as HR Business Partner and HR Communications expert for the AXA Group and Hays Plc. Cédric has completed an Executive MBA at ESSEC Business School and an International Masterclass in L&D Leadership at Nyenrode/IE Business School.
Upskill your HR Team today!
We help organisations reinvent learning. Our learning programs support your HR Business Partners to build the skills they need to effectively use analytics in HR to have data driven conversations with the business that drive actionable outcomes. The Data Driven HR Fundamentals certification is a collection of 6 on-demand, video based training courses that can be completed within a 12 month period, at their own pace. This certification program is designed to support your team build their skills in analytical thinking, data analytics and storytelling. By completing this learning program your HR team will learn how to better interpret HR data and be confident in having data driven conversations with the business, that drive actionable outcomes.