HR analytics: Unlocking the power of data
NUMBERS GAME The 48th Hindustan Times Shine HR Conclave focussed on how this data, if processed and utilised efficiently can be a game changer for companies
In today’s day and age where complex information is available in a click, data is not only solving marketing & procurement problems but also helping in managing the large pool of Human Resources (HR) , who are indispensable to an enterprise’s growth. The long-term success of an organization depends on its employees and how well HR data is turned into valuable insights for the future course of action.
“Like every other field, technology has led to disruptions in HR by moving core tasks to automation. It has made information available to employees and managers through technological interfaces, and has made processes such as attendance, payroll, and performance measurement simpler for the HR fraternity.” said Dr. Rita Rangnekar, Associate Dean, IBS Business School, Mumbai in her opening note of the 48th Hindustan Times Shine HR Conclave, which took place on Sep 12th in Mumbai.
With the accumulation of large data over the years, Human Resources have become a strategic partner to an enterprise. The 48th Hindustan Times Shine HR Conclave was based on the similar t heme, “HR Analytics: Unlocking the Power of Data”, focusing on how this data, if processed and utilized efficiently can be a game changer.
From hiring the correct personnel to predicting an employee’s efficiency, HR Analytics is an evolving field that can help Human Resources claim a better & measurable ROI. It also provides good insights into all the processes, thus helping take timely decisions.
Mr. Alok Sheopurkar, Executive Vice President & Head HR at HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd and the moderator of the event sets the tone for the panel discussion. He began by talking about Manual Manufacturing as a form of HR Analytics that was used by labour officers and welfare officers in the past years. He described the theme saying that this manual analytics has now transformed into data sets, that is accessible to both employees and organization, and will impact hiring and attrition in future, positively. To keep the audience involved, he asked few questions from the audience and invited all the speakers to give a brief on the theme; beginning with Mr. Prabir Jha, President & Global Chief People Officer at Cipla.
Mr. Prabir Jha highlighted the aspect that both the acceptance and HR Analytics have a lot to do with the leadership culture an institution chooses to become. He added: “The larger role of HR is to find out the influence (of HR) in the organization and its leadership from the board down, and to do what is right for the organization’s survival and growth.”
Reconciling his past and current experience, he stated that we have to make the organizations ready for today’s day and age, and also the future. To an audience’s query, he replied that a valid and reliable data converts into insights, and the way you frame and use those insights is extremely critical. With an end to this, Mr. Alok Sheopurkar then asked Mr. Prahlad Chaudhary, Head HR at JSW Global Business Solutions Ltd, to share his perspective on the same.
Mr. Prahlad Chaudhary began by talking about attrition and different data points such as the number of people an organization is hiring. Exploring the reason behind the attrition and actual pain points are included in the process of analysis. He also shared his experiences and hiring mix strategies from his previous assignments that led to a significant change in his talent acquisition strategy. To this, he added that changing our KRAS into objectives can be helpful for an organization’s growth when applied with HR Analytics.
After Mr. Chaudhary’s inputs, Mr. Biplob Banerjee, Vice president HR & CSR at Jubilant Foodworks Limited expressed his views on the topic. He said that most of the HR professionals are not from science or mathematics background. He also felt that we (HR professionals) have not spent enough time in data and analytics as compared to marketing profes- sionals. Adding to Mr. Sheopurkar’s comment that HR used to handle unions, he added that in the current scenario, “HR professionals need to do three things: attrition, taking care of teams together, and contributing to the business.”
After this Mr. Prashant Srivastava, President Group HR and People Excellence at Reliance ADA Group expressed his thoughts. He began by saying, “Analytics gives us the science which we can put as an engine behind the art (Talent Management) that we are all good at.” He continued by describing his role in a corporate and said: “We do a correlation through our regression analysis between the leadership engagement and business performance.”
He then went on to say that ,“Engagement is a soft art but the combination of analytics and the softer aspects along with their quantification make it very relevant for the business and the people in an organization.”
He concluded by saying that good behaviour of a manager can lead to improving the life of an individual, and creation of significant business benefit, and that’s the power of analytics in HR.
Concluding the panel discussion, Mr. Sheopurkar asked the audience “Not to forget human out of human resources.” He also added what HR people are trying to do with HR Analytics, i.e. to improve the precision of HR processes. Moreover, by utilizing the data collected from previous hiring sessions, future decisions can be improved throughout an organization.
Identifying an employee’s retention rate through analytics can also help magnify an employee’s performance.
The Conclave ended with a closing note by Prashant Karmalkar, Founder and Managing Partner of Circular Angle. “The next frontier to HR Analytics is a seamless integration of HR, Employee and Customer,” Karmalkar said. He went on to say that HR Analytics is basically an influencing choice, i.e. influencing an employee to stay, grow and lead within an organization. He added that transparency in data is necessary so that the credibility of the data is sustained and went on to share a real-life situation in HR in an organization.
To sum up the engaging discussion:data analytics in Human Resources, i.e. HR Analytics can help you understand how hiring and attrition works. Moreover, HR Analytics begins with employee engagement initiatives that can result in employee satisfaction. With Analytics, managing talent and utilizing capabilities efficiently can become much simpler for an organization.