One cannot be definitive of the fact that people have always been of utmost importance in achieving a company’s business strategic objectives. This shift of realizing the human resource’s importance happened in the 21st century and it came with a high demand of data to manage this valuable resource; people.
Peter Sondergad of Gartner Research said “Information is the oil of the 21st century and analytics is the combustion engine.” It can be confirmed that turning information into valuable insights for action was a struggle for HR Managers, HR practitioners, among others. Currently, Human Resource departments across the world have evolved and have been strategically positioned at the round table of decision making.
Data and analytics support can improve business’ core competences to become more efficient and effective. With access to the right data and its meaning, HR can make informed and impactful decisions in the face of planned or unplanned situations. For example, a company facing a problem of increasing turn over could address the issue after taking a look at the workforce strength of the organization and demographic cohort. This data will inform the category of people who are resigning and this knowledge may lead to possible reasons why they keep on resigning. Once the reason for generating data has been established, the following points and questions could assist in using the data to make business decisions.
- DATA COLLECTION
This is the needed data from internal stakeholders (staff) or external stakeholders (clients/ customers). What is the best way to generate the data required?
- EVALUATE DATA RELEVANCE & ACCURACY
How accurate is the information that has been gathered? Will it be useful in reaching the desired conclusion for which it was collected?
- GAIN BETTER INSIGHTS
Is your data explanatory? Will you need to get more information from the stakeholders? Can they be easily accessed?
- ASSESS CAPABILITIES
Do you have the needed skills to analyse the data? Will outsourcing data analysis be a better choice for the company? Should you invest in IT infrastructure and data analytics programs?
- DATA VISUALISATION
In what visually appealing ways can we display the data? How best can you tell the story of what the data communicates?
- TURN INSIGHTS INTO ACTIONS
What steps should we take in response to this data? What does the data show that the company needs? What does the data show that the people need? How can we change the negative results collected? What more can we do to improve the positive results of this data?
Data has the power to yield massive positive effects for every organization. Where organisations need to transform, create a thriving environment for people at all levels and drive for business growth, data collection, its management and its effective use can make or mar the entire process.
BY ENOCH ACHEAMPONG, SHRM- CP
SRO PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICER
WORLD VISON GHANA
