The Top 6 Transformative Benefits of HR Analytics in 2023

In 2023, human resources analytics will become more vital than ever for elevating HR‘s strategic impact. Advanced analytics applied to people data enables data-driven workforce planning, talent management, and enhanced employee experiences.

Specifically, HR analytics delivers the following 6 compelling benefits:

1. Improved quality and ROI of recruiting and hiring
2. Increased retention by predicting and preventing turnover
3. More objective, accurate performance management
4. Uncovering insights into productivity, motivation and company culture
5. Data-informed strategies for developing people and shaping behavior
6. Tracking HR KPIs over time to quantify impact of programs

Across industries, forward-looking HR departments are realizing the massive potential of harnessing people data and applying the latest analytics techniques. As interest in HR analytics skyrockets globally (see chart below), the most progressive organizations are acting now to build their analytics capabilities. They understandanalytics provides a competitive advantage in managing talent.

Let‘s explore the 6 main benefits of HR analytics and AI in more detail:

1. Improved Recruiting and Hiring

Hiring better people is the most impactful investment HR can make. Advanced analytics improves candidate targeting, screening, and selection to increase quality of hire.

For example, text analysis of resumes/profiles helps surface potential candidates that match high performer profiles. Algorithms can score incoming applicants against key attributes of your top talent.

Predictive modeling analyzes relevant employee data to determine which candidates are statistically more likely to succeed and align with your culture.

Pro Tip: Be careful not to replicate biases with algorithms inherited from biased historical decisions or data. Ensure diverse slates and evaluate candidates based on skills, not demographics.

Leveraging past recruiting data also allows you to optimize sourcing channels and targeting. See which sources provide better candidates historically and focus spending there. Analyze conversion rates across your hiring funnel to reduce drop-off.

With analytics, you can scientifically improve quality of hire by 12-20% and boost hiring ROI by up to 150%.

2. Increased Retention

High turnover cripples team productivity and performance. HR analytics allows you to uncover risk factors and patterns for turnover unique to your company.

Look at past examples of voluntary churn. Which departments and managers have higher rates? What profiles of employees tend to leave and why? When are the times they are most likely to quit?

Advanced machine learning techniques can even predict the risk of future churn for each employee. HR can then develop targeted retention strategies for high-risk segments.

You can also aggregate exit interview insights at scale to understand drivers of attrition company-wide. Address root causes with management training or improved employee experiences.

Overall, analytics provides the insights to slice employee populations and approach retention with personalization. You can predict churn before it happens and take proactive action. Leading companies have achieved over 50% reduction in voluntary turnover.

3. Objective Performance Management

No more subjective twice-a-year performance reviews based on recency bias and ‘gut feel‘. People analytics enables continuous, data-driven evaluation and feedback.

For example, call center reps can have customer satisfaction scores tracked in real-time. Salespeople may have their pipeline monitored weekly. Engineers can have code quality measured through automated testing.

This frequent performance data removes bias by managers and provides objective insights into employee effectiveness. It supports more evidence-based goal setting and development planning.

According to Josh Bersin of Deloitte, the use of regular pulse surveys and performance benchmarks increased productivity by over 20% in companies that adopted them.

4. Understanding Productivity and Motivation

A key promise of people analytics is discovering what truly drives productivity, performance, and motivation across your workforce.

For example, data may show your sales team generates 120% more revenue when working flex weekday hours instead of 9-5. Engineers could have 30% higher output when permitted unlimited PTO. Call center staff may close 7% more cases when taking public transit vs driving.

These powerful insights inform policies on remote work flexibility, vacation time, transportation benefits, office perks and more. You can tailor environments to optimize human performance.

5. Measuring Company Culture

Understanding your unique company culture is crucial to nurturing it. While culture is notoriously hard to measure, HR analytics provides tools to quantify key aspects.

For example, natural language processing of internal communications can detect patterns in relationships, sentiment, and norms. Social network analysis shows which teams collaborate frequently. Pulse surveys measure employee sentiment.

Cultural insights help identify gaps between intended and actual culture so you can address issues. You can also segment populations and personalize development to employees that don‘t fit your culture.

Key Consideration: These techniques require analyzing sensitive communications or survey data. Ensure transparency and consent, and keep individual data anonymous.

6. Tracking HR Metrics Over Time

People analytics allows accurately measuring and benchmarking key HR KPIs over time. For example:

• Recruiting metrics: Cost per hire, source of candidates, time to fill roles, offer acceptance rate, retention after 1 year
• Learning metrics: Training hours per employee, satisfaction, knowledge retention
• Performance: Productivity by department, sales pipeline growth, sentiment and engagement scores
• Diversity: Representation by level, compensation equity across groups

Tracking these HR metrics provides tangible ROI measurement for your programs. Compare across periods to pinpoint what works. Diagnose when KPIs drop below target and take corrective actions.

Proving the value of investments into your people demonstrates HR‘s strategic impact on the business.

Putting People Analytics into Practice

Now that you‘ve seen the transformative potential of HR analytics, how can you put these practices into place in your organization? Here are some tips:

• Start small with pilots focused on pressing pain points like hiring or retention. Learn what works before scaling.
• Seek a technology solution tailored to people analytics but vet vendors carefully. Ensure sophisticated analytics capabilities.
• Build in-house analytics expertise through training programs, data science certifications, and potentially dedicated HR data science roles.
• Develop ethical guidelines for use of sensitive employee data. Prioritize privacy, transparency and consent.
• Partner with experienced HR analytics consultants to accelerate capabilities while building competency.
• Evangelize the power of data-driven decisions to HR and leadership. Demonstrate early successes.
• Expand from descriptive analytics into predictive modeling and prescriptive insights over time.
• Stay on the cutting edge of techniques like natural language processing, recommendation engines, sentiment analysis and more.

Adopting analytics will elevate HR from reactive operations to data-informed strategic advisors. Is your HR team ready to make the leap? The future of people analytics looks brighter than ever in 2023.