HR Analytics: Unlocking the power of data
NEW TRENDS HR analytics involves application of data mining and business analytics techniques to derive insight
For a long time, human resources (HR) was considered a one-dimensional part of the organization with limited value proposition. However, in present times HR is on the brink of a datadriven transformation, helped by advancements in technology that has made integration with the process much more feasible. HR analytics, also called talent analytics, is the application of considerable data mining and business analytics techniques to human resources data to derive insights that can help to make relevant decisions about how to improve the processes.
But, like all things new, HR analytics come with its own set of challenges. The 49th Hindustan Times Shine HR Conclave, Bengaluru Edition, “HR Analytics: Unlocking the Power of Data”, focused on understanding these challenges as well as trying to answer some of them.
Anil Rawat, CEO and Director of Management Academy for Digital Economy India in his opening note spoke about the importance of data and understanding how to leverage it to gain maximum insights.
Arun Bharadwaj, Mental Coach, Subject Matter Expert of Made in India also shared the opening note where he talked about the happiness of an employee in the success of HR analytics.
C. Mahalingam Mali, HR Advisor and Executive Coach and the moderator of the event set the tone for the conclave by talking about the emergence of HR as a relevant process that occurred in three phases: limited integration with technology, strategic outsourcing and the value creation phase. He explained each of these phases in brief and then asked each of the panelists about how their organizations began their analytics journey.
Manoj Kumar, Head of HR Analytics, Global Businesses & COE HSBC said: “HSBC started off with one small change which was very operational in nature but it was the starting point. Today the place that we are in after six years is that we are into predictive modeling, thanks to analytics, which is making it easier for us to predict who could be our future leaders, what kind of learning and development initiatives to take.”
Amitava Saha, Senior VP, Head, Biocon, joined the conversation by talking about the role of analytics in the Healthcare/ Lifesciences industry, “The Healthcare industry is highly analytical in nature, and healthcare without analytics is not possible. Although Biocon has started off with analytics way back in various forms, it was only in the last three years that we have used analytics in various forms in HR to connect to the business in terms of the employee lifecycle.”
Srinath Gururajarao, CHRO & Vice President, Nexval Group, highlighted the challenges that led to his organization adopting HR analytics: “Our HR system used to have many components, disparate modules for HRMS, biometrics etc. All of this data was not being leveraged into a pool that could drive insights. So, we acted accordingly using the power of analytics, to help empower our employees and created an environment where they were experiencing real-time analytics. This has improved productivity, utilization, and employee engagement. HR analytics is moving from the structural hierarchy to more of a networked environment.”
Girish Menon, VP HR for Swiggy, added that analytics, in general, has been integral to the success of his organization. “From basic reporting to advanced reporting to predictive analysis we have covered it all in the past 3 years”, he commented on the technology transformation of the company. “There is something called data-democratization and HR as a ‘nasty neighbour’ that have to be synchronized in the future for HR analytics to succeed in any organization.”
The moderator then asked Manoj Kumar to explain how analytics is different and not just a metric and measurement for the employees. To this, he answered, “Analytics is neither about metrics nor about measurement, it is about what business problem you are trying to solve. In the end it does not matter whether you are using predictive modeling or prescriptive modeling. They are only looking at if you are solving a business problem which is going to give them an evidence-based insight or not.”
On the purpose of HR analytics and whether it was to demonstrate value creation from HR, to mitigate risks relating to HR like in the case of attrition control, or a higher purpose, Menon added that, “the human element will add to the importance of success for analytics. Tech and touch need to come together in that respect. For example, we started looking at the Life Time Value (LTV) of a consumer and used analytics to judge attrition rate for delivery channels and how that could lead to the improvement of hiring channels. We also looked at methods such as AB testing, where predictive analytics was used to ascertain the attrition point for certain delivery bikers. This insight was then used to reverse the attrition.”
The moderator then raised concerns that certain HR pockets have about the extent of data storage required to carry out analysis. To this, Kumar added, “Data is meaningless if it doesn’t provide insights from the huge volume of data.”
The discussion then ended with a question and answer round with the audience and panelists.
Ajitesh Basani, Executive Director of Acharya Bangalore B- School gave the closing note. He quoted Thomas Friedman, who predicted that 47.3% of all job existing today would be gone by 2050. “Analytics may help solve the question as to which jobs will remain or which jobs will be created. The idea is to simplify effective decision-making processes across the organizations.”