How does Human Resources help a business succeed? Like it or not, success in today’s organizations hinges on creating exceptional employee experiences. That means HR holds the key to achieving this critical objective. In this Hacking HR podcast episode, Enrique Rubio and Richard Rosenow, our VP of People Analytics Strategy, explored how HR data can transform workplaces into more human-centered environments. Yet, many HR professionals grapple with data anxiety for a variety of reasons.
Listen in on their conversation or enjoy our “Cliff’s Notes” to learn how HR and people analytics professionals can overcome these challenges and embrace a data-driven approach to focusing on people.
Enrique: We’ve been investing in conversations about empathy, kindness, compassion, feedback, mental health, wellness—all things that create a human-centered workplace. How can we implement these values in the workplace using data? How do we measure that it’s working well?
Richard: Data has transformed HR’s ability to listen and engage in meaningful conversations at scale. Historically, HR professionals excelled at listening, but data now allows us to listen to larger populations effectively.
For instance, in a company of four thousand employees, it’s impossible for leadership to talk to everyone personally. Data helps us understand and address the needs of employees by identifying patterns and insights that we might miss otherwise. It’s about listening at scale and making informed decisions based on those insights.
Enrique: There’s a sentiment among HR professionals who feel they joined the field to work with people, not to dive into data, math, and technology. How do you address these concerns?
Richard: The good news is that the technical burden on HR is decreasing. With advancements like ChatGPT, HR professionals don’t need to become data engineers. These technologies handle the heavy lifting, allowing HR to focus on strategic and consultative roles. Learning basic data literacy and understanding how to use data effectively is crucial, but the need to learn complex technical skills like SQL is diminishing.
Today, the goal of successful human resource management is to leverage technology to enhance HR’s core strengths in understanding and supporting people.
Enrique: Do you have any examples where data truly delivered value in creating a human-centered workplace? Perhaps looking into absenteeism versus engagement, or something similar?
Richard: One memorable example is from my time as an HRBP for a large retail population experiencing high attrition. We collaborated with a professor researching job embeddedness, a measure of how well employees fit into their roles and communities. By running surveys before and after implementing a targeted program, we were able to decrease attrition significantly. This experience highlighted the power of using data to design effective HR programs and measure their impact, reinforcing the importance of HR success metrics.
Enrique: It can be challenging to know where to start with integrating analytics into HR practices. What would be your first steps?
Richard: Focus on connection and confidence. Start by making connections between HR metrics and business outcomes. Understand how HR activities impact operational results and find ways to measure these connections.
Additionally, build confidence in your data. Reliable data allows HR to make informed decisions and advocate for necessary changes. At OneModel, we help HR leaders build unified data models, providing the confidence needed to understand and drive business success.
Enrique: One common issue is investing time and resources into HR projects without setting up indicators of success. How can HR professionals ensure they have the right indicators?
Richard: It’s crucial to set up indicators of success early on. Engage with analytics teams from other departments, if needed, to establish these indicators. While measuring complex human aspects like well-being can be challenging, finding proxy indicators and triangulating data can provide meaningful insights. For example, asking employees if they have a best friend at work can be a good proxy for workplace happiness, which can be linked to engagement and productivity.
Successful human resource management involves combining data insights with a deep understanding of human behavior, allowing HR professionals to develop programs that enhance employee satisfaction and business performance.
One Model makes this possible by enabling listening at scale and efficiently providing deep data insights never before available. We enable HR teams to turn data into meaningful “stories” that drive action and growth.
Learn how to tell better data stories with One Model.