For years, human resource teams have been focused on the “human” aspect of HR. While the human focus still remains essential, HR leaders are turning to data to help build and strengthen teams within their organization.
The era of big data and analytics has been instrumental in revolutionizing a number of sectors. For the human resources industry, in particular, data can be collected and used to predict when employees will leave, where to recruit the most suitable candidates and how to best onboard new hires. In this blog post, we will discuss how data analytics can help companies discover and attract top talent, track employee and company performance, and predict employee growth.
Discover and attract top talent
According to a recent study, there are more jobs available on the market than job seekers, meaning that there is more competition amongst employers to attract top talent. While employers are searching for ways to outwit their competitors, many are forgetting a valuable source of data they already have –– their employees.
One way an organization can source and attract talent is by surveying current employees to see where they first heard about the job or company, where they went to school and what they think about the organization as a whole. Another way to do this is by looking at job applicants’ traffic, where their referrals came from and what school they were associated with. This can provide the human resource team with information that can lay the foundation for predictive analytics. If the majority of your candidates heard about your company on LinkedIn, this could be an indicator you should be focusing your hiring and recruiting efforts on that channel. In addition, if the majority of your employees went to a local university or college, it can indicate your company should be attending job fairs at that school.
Ability to track both individual and company engagement metrics
Data analytics can be used to track both individual employee and organizational performance. With data, organizations can pinpoint exactly where an employee may be struggling and are able to help the employee before it is too late. For company performance, data analytics can have a strong impact on the company’s bottom line. For example, employee turnover can have a direct impact on the success of a company. Data analytics can help pinpoint a specific department whose turnover is significantly higher than the others. Also, if several employees in the same department are struggling or experiencing issues, it may not be the individual employee’s fault. This allows the HR and leadership team to examine that department and make the appropriate changes.
Forecast employee growth
For HR teams, being able to forecast your growth in the upcoming years can be a valuable asset. It can help your business determine and predict resources you may need in the future. For example, if you are a start-up company, data analysis can influence the office space your company chooses –– if you are currently a team of 15 but you have hired 5 new employees in the past month, your current office space may not be big enough by the end of the year. This can also have an impact on your organization’s training and onboarding budget and resources.
The role of a human resource team is changing and as the ability to gather and analyze data continues to grow, so do the opportunities for HR teams to add more value to an organization. HR teams should be using data analytics because it can help discover and attract top talent, track individual and overall company performance and help an organization predict employee growth, which in turn, can help promote a healthier bottom line.
To learn more about technology in HR, check out our blog on AI in Hiring: Biased or Not?
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