The 10 Essentials to Generating Actionable Workforce Insight

I'm often asked by business and HR leaders, as well as people/workforce analytics and planning professionals, "What does it take to create truly meaningful workforce insight on an ongoing basis?" While there are many clichéd responses to such a question -- "Start small...", "Get some quick wins...", "It's a journey..." -- there's much more to it. There's a reality that must be appreciated; a complexity that must be addressed. 

Now, I'm all for simplification, particularly when it comes to analytics, as the ultimate story and prospective actions need to be feasible. They need to be clearly understood and actionable, often to a broad audience (e.g., executive leadership team). That said, when it comes to the underlying processes that need to be in place to generate and communicate such insight, there are several non-negotiables. These are essential, as without them any analytics effort will fail over time. With them, an analytics efforts can deliver on the value proposition that's long been promised. As I often say, "It's not about boiling the ocean. It's just about launching a boat that won't sink." Build a process that's water-tight. Here's how:

The 10 Essentials to Generating Actionable Workforce Insight

1. Executive Involvement

Leaders, both inside and outside of HR, not only need to sponsor people analytics and planning efforts, they need to be involved in them. They are the principal customers, the decision-makers. As such, they need to clearly state their needs, own the projects and priorities, as well as take action on the in­sights produced.

2. Dedicated Professionals

It’s not fair to ask a report writer, HRIT professional, or HR business partner to “tell the story” from a certain dataset. Trained researchers and data scientists do this, and analysis and problem-solving needs to be their focus. An­alytics is not a part-time job. It’s a full-time job requiring specialized skills. In larger organizations a team is often required, sometimes augmented by external partners. In small to mid-sized organizations consultants or outsource providers might be the place to start.

3. Governance

A lot of analytics can be done, yet priorities need to be set. These priorities are documented in the project agenda, and it must be explored and decided upon by a multi-disciplinary committee representing the whole candidate and employee life-cycles as well as key stakeholder groups. Only then can process and technology decisions produce relevant data that, in turn, produce appropriate and actionable insight. Exec­utives own the process. Analysts facilitate it.

4. Project Agenda

Not all internal customers and analytical proj­ects should be weighted equally, as not all insight will be as easy to produce or have the same impact. Some projects will be more time-consuming, while others might not produce actionable insight given available data. Listing projects clarifies what’ll be done as well as what could be done with addi­tional resources. This is essential to consciously creating appropriate solutions, whether they be event-based research projects (e.g., for a Board meeting) or the building of data-based applications that deliver ongoing value.

5. Analytical Diversity

Most business questions have an array of an­alytical techniques that can be employed to an­swer them. Choices have to be made, and skilled analysts and data scientists understand the menu of statis­tical and technological options. It’s not about the one, most popular approach. It's about selecting the most appropriate approach given the business question, available data, available technologies, available skills, and available time.

6. Measurement/Data Strategy

What happens when executives want a question answered and the available data simply isn't appropriate? Too many don't acknowledge this up front. They jump into analytics and try to make magic with data that are simply ill-suited to answer the given business question. The more appropriate approach requires this be called out and addressed, addressed by finding and/or creating appropriate data; and dong this requires a people analytics leader to get in front of the Data-to-Change Process and help the organization decide on the best process improvement, technology, and measurement/data strategy.

7. Systems Strategy

To collect appropriate data requires appropriate technologies. Talent technologies are most often selected to improve processes, not generate actionable workforce insight. Use fore­sight and make it an “and” – improve processes and collect appropriate data. Only then will people analytics initiatives -- research, data visualization, and product development efforts -- be set up for success. People analytics leaders need to be involved in HRIT strategy development and decision-making.

8. Analytical Tools

Even with appropriate data and technologies, spe­cific analytical tools are required to do certain types of analyses and/or build certain types of products/applications. From data staging, visualiza­tion, statistical analysis, modeling, scenario planning, data mining, natural language processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, etc., appropriate tools need to be consciously selected, implemented, and maintained. In the end, in all likelihood, this will be an ecosystem of solutions. Not just one.

9. Ample Budget

Insights into individuals, groups, and organizations is not free. They rarely come with process-based technologies. Rather, they most often come through a concerted effort of people, processes, technologies, and governance. It’s takes time and money. It’s an in­vestment, for sure, yet one that can reap massive returns financially, culturally, and humanisticly. What is "ample" will depend largely on the needs and desires of internal customers, namely executives, HR, business unit leaders, and employees themselves.

10. Unwavering Commitment

Analysts, processes, technologies, and data improve over time, as do leaders’ abilities to prioritize and take action. It takes time. It takes a long-term view. It’s not a quick fix. It requires the willingness and capacity to learn. Everyone involved must understand this and com­mit to the improvement journey.

For more details on the 10 Essentials and to download the PDF, please click here