Businesses don’t create meaning; the people working for them do.  

As per the research published by the Conference Board along with renowned organisations, CEOs worldwide perceive human capital as a top challenge, and in most cases, it ranks among the top 3 business challenges. 

Earlier, executives only relied on power skills, which meant ultimately risking the well-being and growth of the employees and the organisation. 

But this is changing. 

Organisations are finally recognising that the ability to hire, retain and mobilise top talent is the key to success. Thus, they are turning to their Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for guidance to chart their course forward. This has become more relevant in the ‘new normal’, post-pandemic world where companies are still iterating to find out what works for them.

In the simplest terms, HR departments are now supporting organisations by collecting and applying data-driven insights to improve hiring decisions, enhance employees' work lives and introduce better workforce strategies that connect people to business strategies. 

The change in mindset

Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) Are enjoying the moment. CHROs are key members of the management team. They lead critical elements for a brand's success, such as succession planning, talent management and company culture. But the COVID-19 pandemic has been instrumental in elevating the role of CHROs in organisations. 

The CHRO of the new normal now enjoys the power and influence to drive change in an organisation and make a meaningful impact, especially in areas that may not have been prioritised earlier. 

CHRO analytics  

Analytics is a GPS that navigates the story of HR, their current state, and the roadmap to the future. The maturity of analytics is reshaping HR from being historical, annual, and hindsight-based to becoming predictive, persistent, and foresight-driven. 

After spending years of efforts in consolidating workforce data, CHROs are now shifting and enjoying ready access to a wealth of information. This data is being used to generate reports more efficiently and at a faster pace. But that’s just scratching the surface. 

While analytics is a topic frequently invoked in endless discussions of how to get more value from all this historical data, CHROs are now taking stern measures to unearth the truth of what analytics can really deliver.  

How much impact can be expected? 

How will HRs collaborate with the rest of the executive team? 

With analytics, bigger impacts on the strategic direction of a business can be made, and HRs will finally be not just sitting but driving the agenda at the strategy table.  

Analytics facilitates practitioners and leaders to gain insights on how to use technological tools that help eliminate much of the guesswork and empower to build smart people management.  

These analytic tools are invaluable in enhancing decision-making by providing an objective estimation of the HR situation. By employing data, analytics can demonstrate to leaders the investment required for a new hire to be onboarded and be fully productive. This data can even provide insights into why an enterprise has a high turnover. It can also shed light on which learning & development programmes are effective and which factors influence employees' decisions. Not only that, but a mature analytics practice can also prescribe on current vs future skills and make the internal talent marketplace more real-time and meaningful.

Analytics empowers CHROs to - 

• Drive the vision of the enterprise for success 
• Diagnose workforce issues and their influence on the business 
• Create a smarter workforce driven by fact-based focus and decision-making 
• Keep employees up to date on industry trends 
• Upskill the domain leaders and assist in identifying, analysing and solving workforce issues 
• Translate potential workforce outcomes into compelling business language 
• Establish governance associated with data and ROI 
• Get a trend on current vs future skills vis-à-vis talent readiness
• Predict actionable insights around talent issues

Analytics goes beyond documenting. It signifies more than simply presenting facts. In other words, analytics offers an understanding of what the data represents and how these insights can enable organisations to better the employee experience.   

With analytics, the management can validate hypotheses and avoid assumptions. This ability to dig deeply into turnover data to uncover trends can help discover actionable insights. From tailored learning to educational programmes to corresponding employee skills and strengths to providing insights into common pain points, analytics can aid in building a new era of imperative business. 

CHROs leading with strong footholds 

The CHROs, tasked with managing and leading the company’s employees to success, are now joining forces with analytics. In the new shift in the world of work, this role is required more than ever before for its far-reaching and even ground-breaking impact on businesses and employees alike. With a focus on delivering value to the business, CHROs are identifying patterns around talent in the workforce and linking analytical insights back to the business.  

Analytics is assisting in reimagining the future of CHROs as well as organisations. Marketers, product owners and data analysts are joining hands to explore the benefits of the human–organization connection and strategy. With this shift happening in the labour market, there's a new focus on analytics, and organisations are working towards strengthening their talent practices and project pipelines. 

The ‘organisation’ of organisations is shifting rapidly, with the new technology providing new power structures and supporting changing needs. Analytics and the traditional HR department are evolving along with the employees they serve and pushing the field forward. This next wave of CHROs empowered by analytics will give rise to a new future of workforce analytics.