People analytics: an evidence-based approach in managing employees

Abstract

The Human Resources (HR) analytics provide ample benefits to the organizations, but the employee data privacy remains a big concern for the HR professionals to tackle. In addition, data is now the new goldmine for the Human Resources HR professional. The role of HR has evolved from transactional work to transformational work to provide greater strategic value for organizational effectiveness. More companies are now embedding analytical tools in their HR function as a new fact-based approach in designing relevant strategies to make informed decisions while managing their people more effectively. Understanding people's behaviour is a winning strategy for an organization to survive in the revolving business outlook as employees are the ones who actually translate strategy into action. However, in reality HR is facing several challenges when it comes to data analytics. Data analytics is commonly used in talent management to yield desired employee engagement in terms of retention rate, recruitment, job satisfaction and happiness. This paper explores critical issues related to HR data analytics from various viewpoints. In total, there are five main issues discussed which are conservative approach to data analysis, lack of data governance, reskilling and upskilling, data accuracy and reliability, and management resistance.