Data For Good: Using HR metrics for true business advantage

HR data is plentiful and potentially game-changing so how best to use it? Lindsay Gallard, Chief People Officer at Six Degrees gives his insight.

The HR tools at our disposal give us an enormous range of metrics, detail and dashboards to work with. So, with such a great emphasis placed on measuring the performance of HR processes and staff members, it should feel like a dream come true. But access to all the data these tools produce has created a few unexpected challenges — the greatest of which is information overload. 

If you’re like me, you probably find there isn’t enough time in the day to look at every relevant data point. So, how do you sift through employee performance and engagement data, L&D resources, or a hundred other factors to focus on the information that will genuinely impact business performance? And how do you use that knowledge to deliver on HR and broader business goals?

A good starting point is to ask yourself if there’s a disconnect between how the core HR leadership team and the C-suite view performance metrics. If we’re being honest, most of us already know the answer to that one. And it’s more than a gut feeling: A growing body of evidence suggests most C-suite leaders want HR to deliver increasingly against metrics that contribute to commercial objectives. For example, one study found that nearly 70% of executives would like their HR team to have a better understanding of business goals.

Trying to align these requirements with all the HR metrics we have access to means we’re bound to encounter problems with how they’re perceived, communicated and used. Thankfully, the same study suggests C-suite leaders see an important role for HR in the future and the majority would genuinely like a better understanding of what their HR team does. It seems there’s real potential for dialogue and learning on both sides — and that, together, we should be able to address any disconnects.

A change of focus?

For my part, it makes sense at the outset to think about how you use HR metrics, and which ones can give organisational leaders the insights they’re seeking. They’re familiar with data that measures performance through a financial lens — usually calculated as a return on investment. However, if we want to change attitudes and unleash our people’s potential, we need to change company culture and attitude — helping the C-Suite see its employees in a different light.

To do this, we need to promote people as assets rather than resources. Persuading stakeholders that it’s time to reevaluate how we view our people isn’t always easy, but metrics can play an important role. In fact, they’re our most powerful way of persuading C-Suite leaders to step away from more traditional performance assessment methods.

Should I learn new skills or find a specialist to help me? 

Delivering the required insight will be a real struggle unless you’re confident that your data is accurate, complete, reliable, relevant and timely — so data quality is a core issue. Then there’s the question of data analytics, visualisation and presentation. Gaps in these important capabilities can diminish the value of your metrics in the eyes of C-Suite leaders. You could have access to incredible amounts of transformational data, but if you can’t communicate it effectively, it won’t be of much use.

Ideally, HR teams should be able to combine data from multiple sources with strong analytical skills and interactive tools. I’m not suggesting that every HR professional needs to be a Power BI or Excel superuser. Third parties or people within the company with a keener interest in numbers can build the necessary dashboards. But we are far from where we could be as a profession — and we need to address the issue. Ironically, HR teams are so willing to help colleagues with learning and training, but we often forget to book courses for ourselves and upskill when needed. Physicians and healing, eh?

There’s no right or wrong approach, but HR teams at the start of their journey to better visualise and present data might particularly benefit from third-party help and support — at least in the short term. The important thing to remember is that whichever route you take, the impact of bridging the gap between data, insight and action can be profound. So, we need to spend time getting it right and, if necessary, finding resources to help us.

Measure for measure

With these capabilities in place, HR teams are much better positioned to step back, look beyond the numbers and determine what actually matters. The results can be amazing—like staring at one of those autostereograms, learning how to refocus your vision and finally seeing the 3D image like everyone else in the room. When you finally see it, you really see it!

For example, time to hire is an important and informative metric. But it should also be understood in the context of who is in what role and whether this relationship meets company objectives. Similarly, performance rating distribution data is even more potent if the organisation also understands how top performers are targeted, incentivised and managed. Visualising diversity in the context of issues such as hiring, L&D access, pay and promotion, or exit factors is a million miles away from presenting workforce diversity as a basic headline number.

Nuanced insights like these can be incredibly powerful. When you look at employee engagement and happiness, for example, who is happy, what factors contribute to their feelings, and how can this be replicated for others? Also, while many organisations try to measure and understand why employees leave, isn’t it just as important to understand why others stay?

At the end of the day, each organisation should use HR metrics to advance its unique business goals. But bridging the gap often depends on an ability to reflect on your skills as an HR professional. Be honest with yourself: Are you speaking the right language and thinking beyond traditional HR? That’s a crucial question because, ultimately, you’ll have to develop new skills if you want to make that business impact. Or you’ll need a clearer idea of what you’re missing so someone can support you.

Once armed with clean data and strong analytical and communication skills, you can find enhanced and innovative ways to demonstrate that people really are an organisation’s greatest asset — and that, ultimately, is our core objective as HR professionals.