People analytics
- September 7, 2023
- Reading time : 12 Mins
Executive Summary: From data collection to analysis and visualization, this blog delves into the core components of people analytics. The blog discovers how it drives strategic decision-making, enhances employee satisfaction, and fosters a data-driven decision-making culture. Harnessing the power of people analytics can lead to significant growth and success for businesses. Unleash the power of data to optimize your organization’s success.
People Analytics: a crystal ball that tells you everything you need to know about your employees. Well, maybe not everything, but close enough.
People Analytics is the art and science of using data to understand and optimize the human side of business. It’s like having a team of psychologists armed with spreadsheets, ready to uncover the secrets behind employee productivity, engagement, and performance—all in a simple software.
People analytics is crucial in companies, because it acknowledges that employees are more than mere data in a spreadsheet. Each data point holds a unique story waiting to be uncovered, and data scientists play a vital role in finding and constructing these narratives. However, the story doesn’t end there. HR professionals step in to help shape and enhance the character of each employee’s story. By leveraging people analytics, HR can gain valuable insights into employee behaviors, preferences, and needs. This enables them to create tailored strategies, improve employee experiences, foster a positive work environment, and drive overall organizational success. Together, data scientists and HR professionals bring the stories behind the data to life, transforming numbers into meaningful and impactful actions.
So wave goodbye to those outdated hunches, and welcome the era of data-driven HR decisions. With People Analytics on your side, you can navigate the complex world of employee training with confidence
People forget nearly 90% of what they have learnt within just 7 days, unless the concepts are reinforced. That’s why employees swamped with documents, presentations, and classroom sessions are not likely to learn much.
However, time constraints make it difficult to reinforce vast concepts.
What can you do instead? Arm your employees with one concept at a time. Studies show the human attention span is only 8.25 seconds, so keep your training concise.
RapL is your software for that.
What is people analytics?
People analytics is the collection and application of talent data to improve critical talent and business outcomes. People analytics enables HR leaders to develop data-driven insights. This informs talent decisions, improves workforce processes, and promotes positive employee experience (Gartner). |
Surveys indicate leaders lack confidence in dealing with common business and people-related matters. However, 70% of executives believe improved access to ‘people data’ enabled them to make more effective and prompt decisions. Armed with accurate people data, leaders can navigate HR challenges with more information. There is greater assurance and increased efficiency. People analytics is a transformative tool that empowers them to steer their organizations towards success.
At the heart of any business are its people. Employees create products, deliver services, satisfy customers, and tackle intricate challenges. With the power of people analytics, you gain access to the information you need to make data-driven decisions. These decisions directly influence the most critical aspects of your organization: your people and your bottom line (Furr).
L&D managers play a crucial role in effectively utilizing people analytics. They need to look at various data points to enhance employee development and growth. Firstly, L&D managers should analyze training data, including metrics such as training completion rates, skill gaps, and learning outcomes. This information helps identify areas where employees may require additional training or support, enabling L&D managers to tailor programs to meet specific needs.
Employee engagement and satisfaction data are also essential for L&D managers. By examining metrics like employee feedback, survey responses, and turnover rates, L&D managers can gauge the effectiveness of training programs and overall job satisfaction. This allows them to make necessary adjustments, create a positive work environment, and improve employee retention.
Furthermore, L&D managers can benefit from analyzing data related to career progression and succession planning. Metrics such as employee performance, promotions, and internal mobility provide insights into high-potential employees and development opportunities. L&D managers can identify and nurture talent, fostering a culture of continuous learning and development within the organization.
People analytics empowers managers and leaders to make informed choices. This is important, as these decisions directly impact the organization’s health and prosperity. People analytics is like a compass that points managers and leaders in the right direction. It helps navigate the complex landscape of business by leveraging the power of data.
Core components of people analytics
People analytics comprises three essential components. Gathering data from various sources, followed by analysis and interpretation of it. It is also imperative to uphold ethics when managing employee data. This ensures informed and responsible decision-making.
Data collection and sources
- HR systems: HR systems are a treasure trove of employee data! This is where companies store essential info, like employee demographics, performance, and even that time someone won the office chili cook-off. Popular HR systems include Workday, Oracle, and SAP. Leveraging employee data enables organizations to derive insights into employee behavior, engagement, and productivity. Integrated with advanced analytics, HR systems facilitate informed decision-making. This helps them enhance workforce strategies. They can create a more efficient, engaged, and thriving work environment.
- Performance reviews: Performance reviews are more than the annual ritual of nervous sweating, and conversations that sometimes get awkward. They can also serve as a valuable source of data for people analytics. These reviews provide insights into employee performance, strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. They’re like a buffet of information for data-hungry HR leaders. They help you understand the big picture, so you can make data-driven decisions to boost employee productivity, morale, and performance.
RapL uses certain performance metrics that play a pivotal role in enabling faster growth and upskilling within the workforce:- Internal performance metrics, such as activation rates, usage rates, and completion rates, provide managers with real-time insights into the effectiveness of microlearning activities. These metrics empower them to make data-driven decisions on a day-to-day basis. For instance, if activation rates are low, managers can identify areas that need improvement and adjust content or delivery methods accordingly. Similarly, usage and completion rates help gauge employee engagement and pinpoint individuals who may require additional support or personalized learning paths.
- Output performance metrics, including knowledge growth, knowledge gap filling, and knowledge gaining speed, offer decision-makers a broader perspective on the overall impact of training initiatives. These metrics help understand how well the workforce is acquiring and applying new knowledge. Decision-makers can allocate resources more effectively, identify trends in skill development, and make strategic decisions to align learning objectives with business goals.
- Surveys and feedback: These are like the secret agents of people analytics. They gather intel to help organizations better understand their workforce and make informed decisions. These can be a satisfaction survey, an engagement survey, or a simple feedback form. They offer valuable insights into employee sentiments, opinions, and experiences. This qualitative input can be analyzed along with quantitative data to get nuanced insights into engagement levels and organizational climate.
- RapL offers a survey and feedback feature that allows companies to gain deeper insights into their employees. By collecting feedback and opinions, companies can understand employee preferences, needs, and areas for improvement. This valuable information enables companies to make informed decisions, enhance employee experiences, and foster a positive work culture.
- RapL offers a survey and feedback feature that allows companies to gain deeper insights into their employees. By collecting feedback and opinions, companies can understand employee preferences, needs, and areas for improvement. This valuable information enables companies to make informed decisions, enhance employee experiences, and foster a positive work culture.
- Recruitment and onboarding: Like Batman and Robin, recruitment and onboarding swoop in to provide valuable data for people analytics. From resumes and interviews to onboarding feedback, these processes provide crucial data on candidate profiles, skills, and cultural fit. Analyzing this data enables organizations to optimize recruitment channels. They can enhance the onboarding process and improve early-stage employee engagement.
- A leading construction company faced onboarding challenges that led to delayed productivity and reduced engagement. RapL’s solution provided the company with analytics and reporting capabilities to track new hires’ progress, engagement levels, and feedback. These insights helped the company identify areas of improvement and optimize the onboarding program’s effectiveness. The construction company experienced enhanced employee engagement, improved knowledge retention and application, streamlined onboarding process, centralized access to information, and reduced onboarding duration. This accelerated time-to-productivity and improved cost savings.
Data analysis and interpretation
- Descriptive analytics: Descriptive analytics is like a friendly tour guide for people analytics. It takes you on a journey through the vast landscape of data, highlighting the key landmarks and interesting features. It condenses data, revealing patterns like turnover rates, absenteeism, and demographics. With descriptive analytics, HR can answer many key questions. These can be the number of hires in the past year, role-specific averages, departures, and absenteeism. By summarizing and organizing data, descriptive analytics helps HR leaders understand the current state of their workforce. With clear and concise insights, descriptive analytics paves the way for informed decision-making and strategic planning.
- RapL reports are a powerful tool for L&D managers. They offer a comprehensive view of workforce progress, knowledge gaps, and upskilling opportunities. The diverse array of reports, from User ID Status to Content Engagement, empowers L&D managers to monitor every facet of learning. L&D managers can track user invitations, activations, and assigned topics, ensuring seamless onboarding and engagement. The reports provide insights into user mastery levels, pinpoint knowledge gaps and facilitate targeted interventions. Comparing current performance with baselines allows for data-driven decision-making and improvement strategies. The reports also enable long-term progress tracking, fostering continuous growth. The credit report ranks user participation. Quiz and test response reports offer detailed performance insights. Survey and feedback reports help tailor content to audience needs, enhancing engagement.
- RapL reports are a powerful tool for L&D managers. They offer a comprehensive view of workforce progress, knowledge gaps, and upskilling opportunities. The diverse array of reports, from User ID Status to Content Engagement, empowers L&D managers to monitor every facet of learning. L&D managers can track user invitations, activations, and assigned topics, ensuring seamless onboarding and engagement. The reports provide insights into user mastery levels, pinpoint knowledge gaps and facilitate targeted interventions. Comparing current performance with baselines allows for data-driven decision-making and improvement strategies. The reports also enable long-term progress tracking, fostering continuous growth. The credit report ranks user participation. Quiz and test response reports offer detailed performance insights. Survey and feedback reports help tailor content to audience needs, enhancing engagement.
- Predictive analytics: Predictive analytics employs statistical algorithms, extrapolation, and machine learning. It examines past data, foresees prospective results, and comprehends workforce trends. This includes recognizing patterns in employee data and using that insight to make predictions about future workforce behavior. Like a fortune teller, predictive analytics helps HR anticipate things like who might leave the company, or where more training is needed. With these insights, HR can develop strategies to tackle issues before they escalate. Planning promotions also becomes a cakewalk with predictive analytics. HR can make savvy decisions and proactively plan for the future, based on solid data and predictions. This puts the business ahead of the game and sets the stage for growth and success.
- Prescriptive analytics: Prescriptive analytics takes people analytics to a whole new level. It goes beyond simply predicting outcomes. It offers actionable insights and recommendations. Prescriptive analytics uses powerful algorithms and advanced modeling techniques. This helps HR professionals make informed decisions that optimize employee performance, boost productivity, and drive organizational success. It’s like having a personal data-driven advisor, guiding you towards excellence!
- For example: gap analysis is a powerful tool that helps companies identify discrepancies between their current state and desired goals. By analyzing these gaps, companies can gain a clear understanding of areas that need improvement. This analysis can also be used to make intuitive predictions about future outcomes, allowing companies to proactively address challenges and take strategic actions to bridge the gap and achieve their objectives.
Ethical considerations in handling employee data
- Data privacy: Safeguarding sensitive information is paramount to building trust and maintaining the integrity of the HR process. Implementing robust security measures, ensuring data encryption, and obtaining consent from employees are vital steps in protecting their privacy. Remember, respecting data privacy isn’t just a legal obligation. It’s a way to nurture a culture of respect and transparency within the organization.
- At RapL, we prioritize customer data privacy and security. Through our robust security measures, including ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications, we ensure that your employees’ data is protected, confidential, and handled with the utmost care and responsibility. ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard for information security management systems. SOC 2 is a framework that evaluates the security, availability, processing, integrity, and confidentiality of data.
- At RapL, we prioritize customer data privacy and security. Through our robust security measures, including ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certifications, we ensure that your employees’ data is protected, confidential, and handled with the utmost care and responsibility. ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard for information security management systems. SOC 2 is a framework that evaluates the security, availability, processing, integrity, and confidentiality of data.
- Consent and transparency: Obtaining clear and informed consent from employees is crucial to ensure their privacy rights are respected. Additionally, being transparent about the data collected, how it will be used, and who will have access to it fosters trust and promotes a healthy data-driven culture.
- Mitigating bias and discrimination: It’s essential to ensure that the data used for analysis is free from any biases or discriminatory factors. Employing rigorous data cleansing techniques and diversifying the data sources is key for this. Regularly reviewing and updating algorithms can also help minimize the risk of biased outcomes.
Benefits of people analytics
People analytics can significantly improve workforce and performance by providing valuable insights and data-driven strategies. Here are a few ways people analytics can make a positive impact:
- Talent acquisition and retention: People analytics analyzes data on employee performance, engagement, and satisfaction. This can help identify the traits, skills, and experiences that lead to success in specific roles. This information can be used to refine recruitment strategies and attract top talent. Additionally, it can help identify factors that contribute to employee turnover. This allows organizations to implement targeted retention strategies. People analytics saves you the guesswork and ensures you attract and retain top-notch talent.
- Performance management: With people analytics, you can bid farewell to fuzzy evaluations. People analytics identifies performance trends and patterns. With this, organizations can provide targeted coaching, training, and development opportunities. People analytics provides objective and real-time data on employee performance. This allows managers to have more meaningful, informed conversations and improve employee performance.
- Employee engagement and satisfaction: People analytics measures employee engagement levels. It also identifies the factors that contribute to it. By analyzing data on factors like recognition, work-life balance, and growth opportunities, organizations can create initiatives that boost engagement. This can lead to happier and more productive employees.
- Succession planning and career development: People analytics provides data on employee skills, performance, and career aspirations. With this, organizations can provide targeted development opportunities. This ensures a pipeline of talent for future leadership roles. People analytics also helps identify skill gaps and development opportunities for individuals or teams. With personalized insights, organizations can provide targeted training that enhances skills and maximizes performance. No more one-size-fits-all training programs!
- Diversity and inclusion: People analytics can help organizations measure and track diversity and inclusion metrics. These include gender, ethnicity, and representation in leadership positions. By identifying areas of underrepresentation and potential biases, organizations can implement strategies to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce. This can lead to improved innovation, collaboration, and performance.
People Analytics leverages data to understand and optimize various aspects of human resources. These can be employee performance, engagement, recruitment, and retention. By harnessing the power of data analytics and technology, organizations can unlock valuable information about their workforce. This can drive strategic decision-making and improve overall business performance. RapL is an award-winning provider of training and people analytics solutions. To know more about how we can assist you, contact us at hello@getrapl.com.
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Dear reader, thanks for being with us all the way till the end. We suggest 2 things from here
1. Speak to us if you want a microlearning strategy deep-dive: Microlearning is extremely effective, if approached sensibly. Microlearning is the answer to today’s shortening attention spans and we know how to make learning successful via microlearning. Drop your context here and we shall partner with you for the rest.
2. Lap up more content: We have written some intense literature on how microlearning is the superglue between people and successful business operations. Access all of it here.
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