The application of people analytics in the workplace has not only redefined the role of HR, but also helped businesses implement meaningful cultural, digital, and value-based transformations. It has made the practice of HR governance simpler, more accurate, and efficient by facilitating robust monitoring, effective implementation, and providing vital feedback on how employees interact and engage with their work. 

Many industry leaders, like Google, use HR analytics to design relevant workplace policies, gauge engagement levels, and predict future trends in the workforce; thus, enabling effective HR governance and agility in their everyday decision-making. However, the average organization is yet to integrate people analytics with core processes and strategies. Alight’s State of HR Transformation Study 2018-19 found that organizations in the APAC region struggle to consolidate employee data, link it with business outcomes, and under-utilize existing analytical tools and resources.

( Participate in Alight’s State of HR Transformation Study 2019-20 to get access to insights on the changing role of HR in a data-driven world)

For people analytics to contribute meaningfully towards the success of the organization, HR leaders and managers should consider the following: 

Linkages between workforce objectives and business outcomes 

Clear linkages between business performance and people's performance must be established using people analytics by leveraging data to optimize business outcomes and solve business problems. The use of analytics to gather comprehensive and reliable feedback can help leaders devise effective people’s policies and make HR governance truly agile. Thus, data-backed HR governance will help monitor progress, demonstrate ROI, and influence decision-making at the highest level by contextualizing the developments in different business verticals. This will enable HR leaders to manage the workforce better, deliver desired business outcomes, and be prepared for the future as well. 

Collaboration with other business leaders 

HR leaders must partner with leaders from different verticals to drive business outcomes regarding fiscal discipline, risk management, and long-term planning to ensure that their participation isn’t restricted to meetings. Backed with actionable employee data, HR leaders can make a case for changing company policies and strategies to improve the efficiency, output, and productivity. These partnerships will replace anecdotal decisions with data-based decisions and enable quick remedial measures in management policies, and pave the way for HR leaders to have equal stakes in the overarching business goals. 

Impact-based accountability 

The measure of accountability needs to be broadened to include the newer roles taken up by HR leaders. Within HR, there needs to be a distinction in identifying the impact that different roles have on the processes and technologies, delivery, leadership and management, and the workforce. To derive actionable insights from data, HR leaders and professionals must learn how to interpret data and make effective human capital decisions based on them. Building accountability on the back of impact is a practical approach to define clearer HR roles and enable a higher degree of collaboration with the HR function as well. 

Continuous tracking and course correction 

In order to derive maximum benefit from people analytics tools and approaches, leaders and managers need to continuously obtain transparent insights from people analytics that not only help HR drive objective governance but allows the organization to learn more about itself. Naturally, the next step is to make the most of these revelations and continually strive to design better policies, processes, and values. Organizations must make an earnest attempt to make the workplace safe, inclusive, welcoming, and motivating for the workforce using analytics-driven HR governance. 

Organizations that realize the immense value of people analytics and try to integrate it with their everyday functioning will naturally have an edge against their peers. Stepping into an unknown future, organizations must attempt to understand their most valuable asset: their workforce. People analytics can help organizations and HR functions successfully transform their human capital strategy and improve their performance, productivity, development, retention, and engagement. The key is to establish strong linkages, enable collaboration, focus on impact, and continuously strive to improve the current paradigm. 

The survey HR Transformation 2019 to 2020 is live. Participating in this survey will help you to take a good look at your current HR strategy and craft a holistic approach towards adaptive HR.