During November, people analytics leaders and practitioners from 18 large, global organisations, many of them household names, met in Copenhagen for the final Insight222 Peer Meeting of 2023.

Insight222 Peer Meetings are different to any other people analytics conference! These events are exclusively for clients of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®. There are no vendors present and no parts of the meeting are recorded. Insight222 create a safe space for deep discussion on 'the story behind the story' – the trade-offs that were made, the pitfalls to avoid, the details left off the page during conference presentations.

Challenging topics in the field of people analytics and workforce planning are explored through interactive speaker sessions, group exercises and workshops.

This enables participants to learn about the approaches other companies are taking towards shared challenges, and then take ideas back to their own teams that they can implement to improve outcomes.

As always with Insight222 Peer Meetings, the intent is that everyone comes away from the event with lasting connections. The agendas always provide plenty of time for networking and discussion with fellow people analytics leaders and practitioners to share challenges and exchange ideas in a safe space.

To deliver these events, Insight222 collaborate with some of the greatest minds in people analytics – and the Peer Meeting in Copenhagen was no exception!

There were open and candid insights shared by Lucie Vottova, Global Employee Insights Lead at ING Group, Alan Susi, Global Head of Organizational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global, Kevin Erikson, Head of Talent Insights and Claude-Alain Descloux, Head of Employee Listening and Analytics at Novartis.

Additionally there were sessions facilitated by our Insight222 team members: Jonathan Ferrar, Jasdeep Kareer, David Green and myself. This article will explore some of the topics on the agenda and the key learnings that emerged.

Influencing and Driving Value with People Analytics

Two of the key findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends Report for 2023 are:

Influence: Developing relationships with C-suite and senior stakeholders is essential to deliver on key business priorities.
Value: Measuring and delivering value, from people analytics efforts, is key for the impact of the function

Influence and Value were the key themes for our Insight222 Peer Meeting in Copenhagen, as well as our recent Peer Meeting in Chicago. Given the importance of these two topics for the field of people analytics, we will continue to focus on these in the upcoming Insight222 Peer Meetings in London and New York in February 2024 and March 2024 respectively.

The Leading Companies Model

The Insight222 People Analytics Trends Report for 2023 outlines the eight characteristics that Leading Companies in people analytics display. Every people analytics function, in any organisation, globally, can learn from these eight characteristics.

Insight222 can now provide specific details and guidance on how companies can transition between different “states” of people analytics. We do not see this as a “maturity model”, which implies that a function can only mature to the next level if it has been through the immediate prior level.

Instead, we identify these states as ABCD Teams. Each of these teams has particular characteristics, and each provides the platform to transition to a more impactful level. This model, the Leading Companies Model (see Figure 2), has eight characteristics across two dimensions.

The Leading Companies Diagnostic

Figure 2: Leading Companies Model, sourced from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends Report 2023

After studying the Leading Companies Model, the question remains for people analytics leaders: “How do I know which ‘state’ my team is in currently, and which actions do I take to deliver more value?” By undertaking the Insight222 Leading Companies Diagnostic, people analytics leaders and chief human resource officers (CHROs) can determine which of the ABCD Teams their team function is currently at, and the steps to take to improve impact.

For an assessment of where your team aligns in the Leading Companies Model, click this link to access the Leading Companies Diagnostic.

The Importance of Partnering with Finance

The Insight222 People Analytics Trends Report for 2023 found that in only 24% of companies, the people analytics team has built relationships with finance executives to calculate the value of scaling people analytics insights and recommendations.

Of the 65 companies who confirmed that the people analytics team has built relationships with finance, 99% report that the people analytics team has delivered measurable outcomes over the last 12 months. Furthermore, over half of these (54%) have delivered outcomes with people analytics work that has improved business performance.

Figure 3: Partnering with finance to drive outcomes, sourced from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends Report 2023

The people analytics leader at one such company is Alan Susi, Global Head of Organisational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global. Alan’s strategic approach is to continually build relationships with his finance colleagues.

Alan explains:

“We bring people data to finance to help them achieve their goals. We all ultimately have the same goals.”

This partnership has enabled Alan to calculate the financial value created by some of the team’s people analytics solutions, including workforce planning models and approaches.

Influencing Senior Stakeholders with People Analytics

The business world is challenging chief executive officers (CEOs) like never before. The CEO and the CHRO need a much deeper understanding of their workforces than ever before – and in an evidence-based fashion. They turn to their people analytics leader for the insights needed to manage these topics.

With access to a vast amount of people data and expertise within the people analytics team in advanced analytical approaches, people analytics leaders have an opportunity to provide insights which can shape C-suite and board responses to some of the most complex people challenges that organisations are facing today.

Indeed, our Insight222 People Analytics Trends Report for 2023 found that of the people analytics leaders in the companies surveyed, 58% have presented to the executive committee (C-suite or ExCo) in the last 12 months. This means that in these companies, the people analytics leader and their team have the ability to influence the senior executive team.

Understanding executives' beliefs and connecting directly with business leaders are imperative steps to raise a people analytics function's impact and ensure the function is strongly aligned with the most critical business priorities.

Figure 4: Three Key Relationships, sourced from Insight222 Consulting

However, relying on second-hand knowledge to know what is required is inefficient – people analytics needs to be ‘in the room’ with senior stakeholders. Successful people analytics teams partner with the CHRO and HR business partners (HRBPs) to engage with the heads of the business directly (see Figure 4).

To optimise people analytics to its full potential, there are three key groups that must collaborate towards a common goal and approach: people analytics, HRBPs and business leaders. Where any of these links are weakened, the impact on the business value delivered can be significant.

Scaling People Analytics Products to Employees

Leading Companies have a strong focus on personalised people analytics products for employees and they democratise insights to executives, managers and employees by scaling these products. Lucie Vottova, Global Employee Insights Lead at ING Group, shared three principles that the people analytics team follow when delivering such products:

Design with purpose
Validate, iterate, refine
Completed product is the beginning

Considering the completed product as the beginning is all about the need to continually drive adoption to ensure that products are embedded into organisational processes and adopted by their intended users. This was a shared focus for all the people analytics teams represented at our Insight222 Peer Meeting in Copenhagen. Together, facilitated by our Insight222 team, the group co-created over 50 inter-connected approaches for driving adoption when delivering people analytics products.

Unlock the Potential of your People Analytics Function with Insight222

At Insight222, our mission is to make organisations better by putting people analytics at the centre of business and upskilling the HR profession The Insight222 People Analytics Program® is your gateway to a world of knowledge, networking, and growth. Developed exclusively for people analytics leaders and their teams, the program equips you with the tools, insights, and connections you need to create greater impact.

As the landscape of people analytics becomes increasingly complex, with data, technology, and ethical considerations at the forefront, our program brings together over one hundred organisations to collectively address these challenges.

Insight222 Peer Meetings, like the event in Copenhagen, are a core component of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®. They allow participants to learn, network and co-create together with the purpose of ultimately growing the business value that people analytics can deliver to their organisations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Naomi Verghese

Naomi is an experienced business professional with over 15 years’ experience, mainly in the financial services industry. She has undertaken roles as a HR business partner, HR chief of staff and as a commercial banker during her time at Barclays Bank. In the last six years Naomi has dedicated her career to people analytics, with particular expertise in consulting with business executives, HR leaders and other stakeholders. Naomi took a career break in the mid 2010s to travel around South America to learn Spanish and immerse herself in the Latin American culture. In her spare time, she loves to watch professional athletics, having once been a junior national athlete herself. She currently lives in the UK.

How to Influence Your Business and Drive Value with People Analytics