People Analytics: We Aren’t in the Curiosity Business

More than 40 organizations, including Honeywell, Pitney Bowes, Macy’s, Ford, Toyota Financial Services, and HSBC, are participating in i4cp’s new six-part People Analytics Series.  

The objective of this six-part series is to strengthen and advance core competencies in workforce analytics across all four of i4cp’s exclusive member Exchanges; practitioner working groups focused on performance management and engagement, executive and leadership development, strategic workforce planning, and workforce analytics. If you missed part one of the six-part series you can catch up; click here for the recording.

The kickoff meeting was an overview of the state of workforce analytics, featuring Patti Phillips, Chair of i4cp’s People Analytics Board and president & CEO of the ROI Institute, Kevin Martin, Chief Research Officer at i4cp, and members of i4cp’s newly formed People Analytics Board (which includes Intel, Nationwide Insurance, Lincoln Financial, Cardinal Health, and Monsanto). The focus of the July meetings for each Exchange is Data Governance.

Here are a few key takeaways from the initial meetings in the series:

• Lots of energy centered on actionable insights such as identifying gaps in anticipated technical skills needed in the next 1-3 years vs. current supply, knowing who (among your total workforce) possesses the qualities/capabilities most common among your organization’s top talent, determining quality of hire, and understanding the drivers behind the metrics—not just the metrics themselves.
• To gain those key insights will require strong and consistent data governance. However, most organizations either do not have a governance model or are in the process of establishing one.
• The foremost practitioners in field of analytics (like those on the People Analytics Board) are declining project requests because, as Alexis Fink of Intel put it, “We aren’t in the curiosity business.” Rather, they are focusing on projects with very clearly defined business needs/objectives
• Demonstrating the technical acumen behind the data as well as establishing strong alignment for the application / need of people analytics is central to building trust in analytics. The establishment of cross-business data councils is, according to i4cp research, a next practice in workforce analytics (a practice not yet in wide use, but one that is highly correlated to market performance).  These councils should focus on the following: Track and coordinate analytics projects, develop and deploy decision making models, measure results, and develop security guidelines around inclusion of and access to the data to be used.

In August, each of the four Exchange groups will meet separately to discuss the role of workforce analytics in establishing HR’s efficiency metrics. Make sure to join i4cp and your peers in these upcoming Exchange meetings:

• July 20, 2017 – Executive & Leadership Development Exchange
• July 26, 2017 - Performance Management & Engagement Exchange
• August 2, 2017 – Workforce Analytics Exchange
• August 10, 2017 – Strategic Workforce Planning Exchange

Contact your i4cp account manager to ensure your ability to participate in the People Analytics Series and feel free to reach out to me with any comments or questions about the series: michael.sprague@i4cp.com