Human Resource (HR) Analytics strike the balance between leading and lagging indicators as they enhance more traditional metrics.  Tying these analytics with financial analysis takes human capital management to the next level by empowering business leaders with the workforce information required to attract, develop, and retain the best people. 

The three critical categories of HR Analytics that make up Talent Management: 1. Recruiting, 2. Development, and 3. Separation will be the focus of this post. While Talent Management is an ongoing activity for HR professionals in an organization, its importance to sustainable change management strategy is critical and often overlooked.

1. Recruiting:

By monitoring workforce analytics to ensure that they coordinate with recruitment and retention objectives, employers can minimize the drivers of employee turnover while maximizing those of talent and performance.

When financial service organizations embark on projects involving metrics and analytics, they are often inundated by the wealth of possibilities.  A framework for success can be established to help overcome this problem, by first addressing scope in the context of improving content and then improving display. Listed below are several general points which are worth considering in the process:

1. All software packages have their inherent strengths and weaknesses.  It is always best to design project features and functions within the extent of the delivered functionality.  While most things are possible in IT, they may not all be practical.  Most software tools offer a rich library of options from which to choose. 

Numerous businesses, both traditional and e-commerce, have come to the realization that effective segmentation is critical and necessitates a new customer model.  This realization stems from the fact that individuals often exhibit different purchase and use patterns, which in turn affect profitability.  These businesses believe tailoring strategies and tactics to these segments will separate businesses that succeed from those which merely maintain.

 “If it cannot be measured, it cannot be managed” -Old Business Maxim

The proliferation of information access has added a new level of complexity to one of the constants of business operations, the nexus of measurement and management.  The primary quandary is no longer how to access critical data but rather what data to select as guideposts.

When I was a young parent, I probably got a little irritated when I would say something to my children that prompted them to ask “why”, to which I would give a clarifying response, which produced another “why” and so on, and so on and so on.  All I could hear at the time was ”why-why-why-why-why”.  What I did not recognize then was that my children were simply acute at seeking clarity of my “requirements.”  Only later in life did I realize that I often employ that same technique in analyzing a business problem, designing metrics or developing something to suite a particular client deliverable – I was, and am, a First Class “Why-ner”.

“Why” with a capital “W”.

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