Don’t Miss Out on This Must Have HR Skill

Have you looked at some HR vacancies lately?

I did. And I was surprised to see “data-driven mindset”, “basic data-literacy” and analytical skills pop up in so many of them.

The truth is that we’ve come to a point where data-savviness is a basic requirement in all areas of HR. For better or worse.

And this is why:

According to McKinsey, “HR continues to struggle to deliver effective talent practices that drive true value”. They found that most HR Professionals lack the capability to effectively advise managers on talent decisions.

How so?
Managers are used to making decisions based on numbers. Yet few HR professionals are trained to look at people from a data perspective. In order to influence their decision-making, you will need to bring numbers to support your advice.

I know that many HR professionals are worried that this focus on data will eliminate the human side from HR and will take a job that’s primarily about people skills cold and ruthless.

But what they fail to see is the amazing opportunity data gives them:

• to improve employee experience,
• to increase performance and productivity,
• to boost workforce wellbeing,
• and to create streamlined processes that are easy to use by employees.

HR analytics is not about reducing people to numbers. It’s about supplementing your people skills with data to support people-related decision-making and ultimately drive better outcomes for both the organization and the people in it!

Speaking to professionals in the field, I got to realize two things:

1. How to start using data in your daily job is not immediately obvious;
2. When thinking of using data you might expect to need more advanced analysis skills.

Let me put your mind at ease: You don’t have to be a data scientist to use data.

Related: What is HR Analytics

To give you an example:

Let’s say you’re discussing employee turnover or absenteeism issues with a manager. Using data in this context simply means having the numbers ready to illustrate the significance of the issue on hand.

Just show the manager how their churn and absenteeism rates compare to those of other teams and she will recognize the problem. What’s more, she’ll be receptive to your proposed solutions.

It really can be as simple as that.

This type of information is readily available within most organizations. And even without any technical background, you can start leveraging it.

All you need is to develop basic data-literacy skills so that you will know how to look at data, draw the appropriate conclusions, and use it in your advice towards decision-makers.

Related: HR Analytics for HR Professionals course

Finally, to illustrate that analytics is useful for HR, I’d like to share with you what our alumni experienced:

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“I learned about how analytics can help us add value to the business and grow to the next level in my role as HR. I fully recommend studying it. The course is easy to follow, and provides realistic examples of how analytics can be implemented to overcome the challenges that we can find in our day to day work.” Adeline P.

“I would like to thank the AIHR Team for the professional and useful course on analytics. This is of great benefit and a real gain to any HR professional. It helps us to better understand the core of HR Analytical tools, its methodology, and its possible applications. It was easy to understand how it links to the Company strategy and how to apply it. The course is easy to understand, logically created and professionally explained.” Sandy G.

By the way, the course they are referring to is our Basic Data-Literacy for HR course. When you’re ready to develop basic data literacy yourself, check it out here.