In an age where companies are fighting tooth & nail to attract and retain employees just as much as they are competing for consumers, a strong understanding of people is non-negotiable. With such a massive talent pool, with diverse sensibilities, qualifications and experiences, how can an organisation possibly understand their current & potential employee base better?

A mammoth task, this may seem daunting at first, and it’s certainly a complex endeavour, but that is where people analytics steps in to save the day. No matter how far we move on from the pandemic, we will continue to feel its undeniable impact, now embedded in our collective DNA. In addition to this, the rising social unrest across the world and the Great Resignation that has left a significant void in the global workforce – there is no better time than now to turn to data. According to a McKinsey report in 2019, even before the pandemic began, 70% of surveyed company professionals felt that people analytics was the need of the hour. With everything that has changed in just a span of 2-3 years, analytics must become a critical business pillar. 

However, data is nothing without the insights we glean from it. And to reach the usable insights from reams of data is a process in itself, one that requires dedicated teams of data scientists to make sense of all the information at hand. That is not all. Organisations can also benefit from deploying developers to build business intelligence platforms for in-house use. This will ensure that it is not just the analysis that is seamless, but also the data sourcing itself. 

These routes are not feasible for all organisations. Smaller companies, entrepreneurial endeavours non-tech entities that will need to employ external expertise – these are just some examples of businesses that may struggle to join the people analytics race. But there are simpler solutions as well. Driving employee surveys on easily accessible platforms and running results through pre-designed business intelligence tools can provide robust reports with customisable insights as per the company’s requirements and pain-points. For a smaller employee-base, even group discussions with a moderator taking notes, or one-on-one sessions to understand people concerns can work wonders in gaining first-hand insights.

But what exactly can people analytics do for organisations?

Make sense of the clutter

In a sea of voices, sentiments and opinions, two things happen which can be detrimental to culture building. One is that it becomes difficult to find patterns in behaviour and sensibilities, thereby making it doubly challenging to understand employees as a whole. The second aspect is that certain voices stand out while others get drowned out. For instance, asking for opinions in an open townhall is vastly different from rolling out a company-wide anonymous survey to gather authentic, honest answers. People analytics doesn’t just add method to madness; it also ensures that the collective employee voice is heard without bias or hesitation.

Create a culture of action

The thing about valuable insight is that it has the potential to force action. Without data analysis and insight mining, there is no push to take action. Good data and valuable insights ensure that problems are identified, brought into the light and then addressed to the best ability of the organisation.

Reduce bias

If data is sourced and mined the right way, by eliminating the human bias that AI tends to learn, then it can a great unifier. Analytics tools ideally should have no favourites nor should they possess unconscious & conscious biases. While AI-led talent acquisition has gone wrong several times by favouring certain demographics over others, people analytics has the potential to be perfected. If not a complete removal, it can, at the least, enable significant nullification of human bias. 

Simplify complexities

Patterns, commonalities, deviations – there is so much structure to be gained from data. Without people analytics, these aspects could go completely unnoticed, thereby preventing organisations from homing in on the real problems their employees face. The larger the organisation, the more important these factors become, simply because it is exponentially more difficult to spot such occurrences in large datasets without robust analytical tools.   

Meet goals & objectives

Business analytics is a great way to assess how far teams are from fulfilling organisational goals. Deloitte has a pertinent example of how they used extensive people analytics to identify their progress in the DE&I sphere. With the results, they put in place new goals, set specific timelines, and reflected on the milestones they had reached thus far. Through this study, they were also able to understand the opportunities that lay ahead, thereby defining their commitments for the years to come. All of this and more culminated in the 2022 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Transparency Report that is a solid representation of how powerful data analytics can be.

Foresee the future

While predictive analytics requires an extremely high degree of data science proficiency, it is a fast-growing field, and one that is used across industries. Predictions in the sphere of people analytics can help organisations foresee certain challenges coming their way, although they may not always be able to prejudge the full magnitude. For instance, extensive attrition analysis could help identify that certain phases of the financial year are more critical for retention. Identified patterns can even indicate age groups or hierarchical levels that witness the highest churn. Even learning and development initiatives can be built with an analysis of which subject areas create the most significant impact on individual growth and consequent business success. The possibilities are infinite if predictive analytics is carried out by experienced experts in conjunction with business strategists. 

Ultimately, the crucial point to remember is that talk is easy. Execution isn’t. Once we have the results regarding employee sentiments, diversity ratios, wellbeing levels, engagement quotients and so much more, the work really begins.When this is set in motion, information gradually translates to action and real on-ground change. To stay competitive and in tune with employee needs, we must reach the step of execution. Retaining employees, engaging them, listening to them, empowering them, and also attracting new talent – people analytics and its consequent impact help to instil a sense of security in employees, making them feel heard, valued, and therefore more likely to stay. 

For this to happen, it is beneficial to build a team that is at the intersection of business strategy and technical know-how. This team can help leaders identify problem statements, and then assist the data science team in deriving analytics questions from these challenges. Similarly, with their strong business understanding, this team can also interpret data-led insights from a strategic and business goal-oriented lens. This sort of a go-between team is the key to gaining actionable takeaways from data. They are the ones who will ensure that nothing is lost in translation from data to business decisions and predictions. 

The labour market is volatile, talent seems to be in perpetual short supply, and the workforce has higher expectations of employers than ever before. Much like consumer understanding depends so heavily on data analytics, it is time for people analytics to become a core pillar of organisational set-ups – complete with substantial investment in tech talent and HR tech tools.