The triple crises of 2020 – the global COVID-19 pandemic , racial inequality and financial uncertainty – changed the activities and priorities of people analytics and the human resources function forever . They also presented new opportunities for delivering value to the business , workforce and society on a vast scale .
In the past year , globally , people analytics functions were required to provide insights to C-suite executives in rapid response to these important topics on an almost daily basis . This created new levels of urgency and accuracy of people data for day-to-day operational decisions and longer-term strategic workforce planning .
Our book , Excellence in People Analytics , refers to this period as ‘ the age of value ’ – a pivotal five years between 2020 and 2025 characterised by rapid acceleration of activities and the deepening of HR ’ s partnership with the business . With the spotlight on human resources , the age of value is the time to solve critical challenges and deliver real value using a data-driven approach .
From our research with more than 100 companies over the past three years , firms that can capitalise on the age of value address the most pressing business issues and value through the prism of trust , inclusion , equality and purpose .
Developing trust between stakeholder groups
Partnering with the business in a time of crisis has revealed the benefits of a strong working relationship between HR and commercial functions , so developing trust between stakeholder groups , especially executives and leaders , is a significant priority for people analytics teams .
Practically , this involves mapping stakeholders to know whom to approach in HR , business leadership and other functions across the organisation ( and in what order ). Conversations with these individuals help HR understand the business and stakeholders ’ priorities , opportunities , concerns and challenges , leading to discussions around how to achieve business goals by using a scientific approach to understanding the workforce .
Many successful teams also establish an internal brand for ‘ people analytics ’. In Trimble Inc ., for example , the team has gone so far as to create a logo and mission statement , making people analytics work transparent and accessible to the organisation ’ s entire workforce . The team uses its logo to ‘ sign its name ’ to people data insights wherever they are presented , taking responsibility and engendering credibility and trust at every turn .
With the spotlight on HR , this new ‘ age of value ’ is the time to solve critical challenges and deliver real value using a datadriven approach
Drive inclusion and equality in the workplace
The increasing number of regulations requiring companies to publicly report on workforce composition and gender pay in the last few years has coincided with an expectation from employees and the broader population on companies to address equality that goes beyond reporting and compliance .
Technology enables human resources to seize opportunities for more inclusion in the work environment . Within HR , successful people analytics teams know that gathering data through surveys only tells part of the story ; new analytics technology has emerged in the past few years that enables larger and more complex data to be gathered and analysed . An example of this is organisational network analysis ( ONA ), which helps HR visualise the flow of communication and collaboration between individuals and teams , and the strength of people ’ s connections within teams .
One company recently used ONA to understand why top-performing women were leaving the organisation . The analysis revealed that many women struggled to form relationships with senior stakeholders , leaning instead on peers and other networks formed in less senior roles . This resulted in a skew towards male promotions and more senior women choosing to leave the company as they were either not promoted or without the supportive networks needed to succeed at that level . These insights were shared around the company , and actions were implemented to address the problem , such as introducing opportunities for top-performing women to build connections with senior staff . The number of more senior women being promoted and remaining employed at the company quickly improved .
Greater purpose to a ‘ higher calling ’
The societal drive for equality has been significantly heightened by political activism and movements that bring to the forefront the issues of sexual harassment , bullying , racial injustice and sustainability . Consequently , people analytics functions are increasingly becoming involved in global societal topics .
At Microsoft , for example , a daily pulse survey of qualitative and quantitative questions allows the HR Business Insights team to survey a representative sample of employees across the globe in a non-invasive and valuable way , building an understanding of the organisation ’ s sentiment . As described in Excellence in People Analytics , the team upped its ante from ‘ pulsing ’ 1,500 randomly sampled employees in March 2020 to 2,500 from April 2020 . Pulses included open-ended questions on subjects ranging from COVID-19 to Black Lives Matter . Anonymous aggregated results were presented to senior leaders to drive action that kept pace with what mattered most to its workforce . Microsoft was recently ranked as the leading company on the Fortune 500 for diversity and inclusion , showing that the tech firm doesn ’ t only listen to and analyse what employees are saying – it acts too .
These topics present a very important future for people analytics and the entire human resources profession , supporting a more data-driven culture that will see HR professionals thrive within their companies .
David Green and Jonathan Ferrar are directors of data-driven HR consultancy Insight222 and globally recognised speakers on people analytics and data-driven HR . Their book , Excellence in People Analytics ( Kogan Page ), is available worldwide from July 2021 .