The best HR & People Analytics articles of October 2024
Never forget what the ‘H’ in HR stands for...
This was the unanimous advice of the CEO panel, skilfully moderated by Charles-Henri Besseyre des Horts, at the recent Unleash World show in Paris, where I had the privilege of being emcee of the Main Stage. One of the main themes that emerged from the show (see my key learnings from Unleash) is that HR continues to make significant progress in its journey from support function to strategic partner. To complete this transition, HR must embrace data (as opening keynote Peter Hinssen put it: “You can’t connect the dots, if you don’t collect the dots”). Moreover, as I said in my opening words:
HR can’t lead the charge on AI, skills and new ways of working, if it doesn’t upskill itself.
This edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly is sponsored by our friends at Visier
Pay Equity: A Critical Workforce Challenge You Can No Longer Ignore.
According to a recent study by The Josh Bersin Company on pay equity, as it stands today, the gender pay gap won't close until 2048. Even worse: progress in some areas is slowing with less than 5% of companies excelling in pay equity despite it having 13 times the impact on employee experience compared to pay levels. Read the report.
The report, “The Surprising Truth about Gender Pay Equity”., examines:
The current state of gender pay equity
Barriers companies face in addressing pay
The projected timeline for closing the gender pay gap
Examples of companies implementing strategies to achieve pay equity
It’s time to face the challenge head-on, embed pay equity into everyday practices, and have informed conversations about compensation.
Get the report.
Visier gives you a Workforce AI Edge: the set of AI-powered capabilities every leader needs to confidently navigate an exponentially more challenging business environment.
October road report
October was a busy month. It started in New York, where I moderated a panel on Workestration at the NY Strategic HR Analytics Meetup Group before co-chairing the first People Analytics World to take place in the US. The next stop was Paris, for the aforementioned UNLEASH World, which had over 7,000 attendees. Finally, it was back to the US for a Peer Meeting for North American members of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®, which was hosted by Phil Wilburn and his team at Workday.
For more on People Analytics World, I recommend reading takeaways from Craig Starbuck, PhD (here), Al Adamsen (here), Christopher Cerasoli (here), Lore Muraina, PMP, PMI-ACP, CPP (here), Lydia Wu (here), and Melissa Arronte (here). Thanks to Barry Swales for entrusting me to co-chair with Michael M. Moon, PhD.
For more on Unleash, read my key learnings, as well as checking out the Unleash site for articles by Alexandra Nawrat, John Brazier and Lucy Buchholz. A huge thank you to Marc Coleman, Paige Richmond, Zoltán Kőváry and the whole Unleash team – it was a joy to work with you all again.
A huge thank you too to Phil Willburn and the Workday team for hosting the Insight222 Peer Meeting at Pleasanton, as well as the speakers at the Peer Meeting: Shannon Vallina, Kanwal Safdar, Dr. Sebastian Projahn, Ashley Goldsmith, Rex Blodgett, Kun Gu, Victoria Holland, Greta Stahl, Kinnari Desai, Sven Linsmaier
Finally, thanks as well to Stela Lupushor for inviting me to chair the panel on Workestration, Anna A. Tavis, PhD for hosting us at NYU, and Annie Dean, Brydie Lear and Chris Butler for making it such a rich conversation.
Attendees at the Insight222 Peer Meeting for members of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, hosted by Workday, October 22-23, 2024
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Enjoy reading the collection of resources for October and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on September’s compendium.
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HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ERIC ANICICH AND DART LINDSLEY - Reimagining Work as a Product
If companies listen to employees the way they do customers, they can increase retention and engagement.
In their Harvard Business Review article, Eric Anicich and Dart Lindsley challenge the traditional approaches to employee experience by painting a vision where work is viewed as a product employers offer to employees. Drawing on Clayton Christensen’s the jobs to be done theory, they suggest that employees ‘hire’ their jobs to fulfil specific needs, much as customers choose products. This perspective shifts the focus from maximising productivity to something akin to customer satisfaction. The authors share examples from a myriad of companies including Asana, Eli Lilly, Shopify and Dropbox, explain how companies can better balance company needs with employee satisfaction (see FIG 1), and discuss the merits of splitting the manager role in two (see also ‘Managers Can’t Do It All’ by Lynda Gratton and Diane Gherson). Finally, the article examines four challenges of implementing the model: (1) Changing HR (“Work-as-a-product requires a new HR mindset”). (2) Balancing employee preferences and organisational needs. (3) Maintaining flexibility and fairness. (4) Aligning incentives.
FIG 1: Balancing company needs with employee satisfaction (Source: Anicich and Lindsley)
NICHOLAS BLOOM, JAMES LIANG, AND RUOBING HAN - One Company A/B Tested Hybrid Work. Here’s What They Found
With Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently announcing that Amazon is going back to five days in the office: “to further strengthen our culture and teams”, this article by Nick Bloom, James Liang, and Ruobing Han based on A/B testing at Trip.com into different work modes makes for very interesting reading. The experiment involved 1600 employees being split into two groups. The first group worked five days a week in the office, with the second working three days in the office and two days a week at home. Over a two-year period, the experiment found no differences between the two groups in productivity, performance, promotion, learning or innovation. However, the study found that the hybrid group experienced higher satisfaction and lower attrition rates compared with their colleagues who worked exclusively from the office (see FIG 2). This reduction in turnover saved millions of dollars in recruiting and training costs, thereby increasing profits for the company. As the article explains, organisations can learn several valuable lessons from this study to implement a successful hybrid work model: (1) Establishing rigorous performance management systems, (2) Coordinating team or company-level hybrid schedules, (3) Securing support from firm leadership, and (4) A/B test their own management practices to find what works best for them.
Our results showed that under a hybrid-work policy, Trip.com was able to generate millions of dollars of profits by reducing expensive attrition without any impact on performance, innovation, or productivity.
FIG 2: Source: Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance
MICHAEL ARENA AND PHILIP ARKCOLL - The collaboration mandate: Does returning to the office improve innovation?
What we need isn’t an office mandate—it’s a “collaboration mandate.” Shifting our focus from where we work to how we work could unlock the innovation we’re seeking.
In all the hullabaloo of return to office mandates, there’s still too much focus on where employees work rather than how they collaborate. As Michael Arena and Philip Arkcoll write in their excellent article, dragging employees back into the office won’t magically spark innovation. Instead of an office mandate, they advocate for a “collaboration mandate”. The article explains how innovation is generated through three critical phases of collaboration: (1) Discovery (“the generation of new ideas and insights, often benefiting from the intentional bridging of connections and in-person interactions”), (2) Development (“transforming those ideas into viable solutions, where the focused team interactions of experimentation and rapid iteration are essential. It also requires an environment with minimal distraction for focused concentration.” – see FIG 3) and (3) Scaling (“the process of implementing solutions across the organization, which requires more deliberate interactions with key influencers to ensure widespread adoption and buy-in.”). The article examines the impact of remote and in-person on each stage, and provides guidance on practices to improve collaboration in each. For more, I recommend listening to Michael on a recent episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast with me: What the Impact of Distributed Work on Organisational Networks Tells Us About the Future of Talent Management.
FIG 3: High levels of focus, such as 4.4 hours daily versus a low focus level of 2.7 hours, significantly drive productivity in development (Source: Worklytics)
https://youtu.be/-giwBOuYwio
BCG - Five Must-Haves for Effective AI Upskilling
Embedding AI in daily tasks at all levels creates a network effect: the more people use and understand it, the more the entire organization gains in knowledge, innovation, and efficiency.
Upskilling its workforce on AI helps a company maximise its investments in the technology and equips it with a competitive edge. In a new study by BCG, Hean-Ho Loh, Vinciane Beauchene, Vladimir Lukic, and Rajiv Shenoy provide guidance on five actions to help achieve this: (1) Assess needs and measure outcomes (the article recommends using the Kirkpatrick method). (2) Prepare workers for change - individually, at the team level, and organisation-wide. (3) Introduce appropriate incentives to unlock employees’ willingness to learn (e.g. nudges). (4) Position the C-suite at the forefront of adoption and training initiatives. (5) Use AI tools and the network effect to upskill people on AI (see FIG 4).
FIG 4: AI learning and support tools fall into four categories (Source: BCG)
KAI HAHN | INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE LEADERS ALLIANCE - AI & The Future of Work
Within People Analytics’ transformation into a strategic business partner the advance of AI is shaping up as an accelerator if used to drive business outcomes
Kai Hahn presents the results of a comprehensive study by the Intelligent Enterprise Leaders Alliance on the state of AI adoption in HR and people analytics. The report features a stellar list of contributors including: Arianna Huffington, Dave Ulrich, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Amit Mohindra, Nicole Lettich, Kalifa Oliver, Ph.D. and Alim A. Dhanji. Key findings include: (1) Talent Acquisition is at the forefront of embracing AI tools with 70% currently piloting/leveraging AI, followed by People Analytics and L&D with 65%. (2) Priorities for People Analytics in the next 6-12 months with AI are first and foremost automating HR operations. (3) The biggest barrier to adoption is resistance to change, ahead of skills gaps, challenges with data quality and security, privacy and trust, and ethical concerns and bias.
FIG 5: Where organisations are leveraging AI in HR (Source: IELA)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
JAAP VELDKAMP - Positioning People Analytics into the HR Service Model: A Path to Sustainable Impact
Embedding People Analytics within the HR Service Model is essential for creating a lasting and meaningful impact.
In his thoughtful article, Jaap Veldkamp, Global Head of People Analytics and Organisational Effectiveness at ABN AMRO, provides guidance on how people analytics should be positioned within the broader HR service model. Jaap provides a simplified view of the HR operating model (see FIG 6), which has three components: (1) Identifying needs. (2) Prioritising needs. (3) Executing and evaluating strategies. He then describes how the key capabilities of ABN AMRO’s people analytics function (Dashboarding and reporting, Employee listening, Data science and research, Organisational effectiveness, and Consulting) flow through the HR service model. As Jaap highlights: “the overall aim is to ensure that the capabilities of the People Analytics team are part of every step in the HR Service Model.”
FIG 6: Simplified HR Service Model (Source: Jaap Veldkamp)
RICHARD ROSENOW - From Data to Strategy: The New Role of Workforce Systems Leaders in Transforming HR
Without a Workforce Systems Leader, these decisions fall to the CHRO, pulling them into day-to-day inter-functional debates when they should focus on the strategic vision
In Insight222’s recent study, Building the People Analytics Ecosystem, we identified three types of people analytics leader that are emerging as the people analytics operating model continues to evolve. One of these – the Portfolio Analytics leader – has similarities to a trend identified by Richard Rosenow in his new white paper for One Model. The findings are based on more than 40 HR teams hiring a Workforce Systems Leader combining people strategy, operations, technology, data and analytics (see FIG 7). In the paper, Richard covers: (1) Key challenges in people analytics – how the role of people analytics often extends far beyond their original role description. (2) Mastering the People Data Supply Chain – highlighting the essential steps to building a robust people analytics function. (3) The emergence of Workforce Systems Leaders. Read a preview in Richard’s LinkedIn post and download the full paper here.
FIG 7: The role of a Workforce Systems Leader (Source: One Model)
SCOTT ROGERS - People Analytics & HRBPs - Navigating the art of imperfect collaboration | ALDAR NIKOLAEV - People Analytics Recipes: Advancing Employee Turnover Story P.1 | RALF BUECHSENSCHUSS - Becoming a data-driven (HR) organization - Leveraging generative AI to democratize data and insights | PETER MEYLER – How much time do People Analytics teams spend on reporting vs. analytics? | PATRICK COOLEN – The Four Faces of People Analytics | YUYAN SUN - 5 Ways to Use AI in People Analytics Everyday
In each edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I feature a collection of articles by current and recent people analytics leaders. These are intended to act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Six are highlighted in this month’s edition. (1) Having worked in both domains, Scott Rogers is well-qualified to explore the dynamics of the HRBP-People Analytics relationship. He presents a framework identifying the key focus areas for people analytics leaders (e.g. championing HR operational excellence) and HRBPs (e.g. engaging with and advocating for people analytics). (2) Aldar Nikolaev provides a practical guide on how to analyse and visualise employee turnover and conduct scenario planning (see FIG 8). (3) Ralf Buechsenschuss offers a practical guide – including videos – to showcase what is already possible when embedding generative AI into the flow of work in the context of people analytics. (4) Peter Meyler presents the findings of his survey, which finds that 48% of people analytics teams spend at least 75% of their time on data and reporting. (5) Patrick Coolen documents the four faces of people analytics practices: the strategist (see FIG 9), the gatekeeper, the specialist, and the designer. (6) Yuyan Sun breaks down five ways to use AI everyday in people analytics:
Don't just use AI as a tool. Use it as a thought partner.
FIG 8: Measuring employee turnover (Source: Aldar Nikolaev)
FIG 9: The Four Faces of People Analytics: The Strategist (Source: Patrick Coolen)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
MARC EFFRON - It’s (Still) the Mortar not the Bricks
Some CHROs are not willing to drive significant change in reducing headcount, upgrading the capabilities of their team or holding their HRLT accountable to “wire” the business properly.
Marc Effron and his team at The Talent Strategy Group cut through the hyperbole to analyse the state of the HR operating model, critique what the consulting firms (EY, Deloitte, Gartner, Mercer and McKinsey) propose and where they fit with the Ulrich Model, and offer guidance on how to structure, upskill and wire your HR operating mode for success. Highlights include Effron’s views that: (1) Dave Ulrich’s model is the reference standard for good HR operating models. (2) That despite statements to the contrary by the consulting firms advocating why the HR operations model needs to change, the world of work remains largely the same. (3) HRBP’s should be fewer in number, stronger in capabilities and deployed against major business units and/or geographies. (4) The future HR service centre will perform a far larger percentage of overall HR work and do at least 80% of this through technology. (5) Companies should create an ‘HR Wiring Team’ to assess where the HR wiring is either not fully developed or isn’t being followed. Effron defines wiring as “Wiring means the agreement among HR team members about how vital processes will flow – the steps, the accountabilities, the technology, etc.” A compulsory read for any chief people officer considering whether to revamp their HR operating model.
FIG 10: People Value Chain (Source: EY)
SHARI CHERNACK AND JONATHAN GORDIN | MERCER - 2024 Voice of the CHRO: Maximizing HR effectiveness in a changing landscape Article | Full Report
While much of the focus and headlines of Mercer’s 2024 Voice of the CHRO report, authored by Shari Chernack and Jonathan Gordin, is understandably on the challenges and opportunities associated with AI (see FIG 11), what really stands out for me is the section on maximising HR’s influence with the C-suite and board. The results demonstrate that HR is increasingly a strategic partner: 56% of CHROs meet with the board every week, 51% report higher levels of C-suite engagement than previous years, and 71% report high alignment on HR and people priorities. Data is increasingly key, with 76% of CHROs believing that using data to showcase HR’s impact on business performance will help drive further engagement with the C-suite and board. The report highlights six key actions for CHROs: (1) Accelerate AI for HR readiness. (2) Drive AI adoption across the enterprise. (3) Strengthen C-suite relationships and alignment. (4) Understand and plan to bolster key skills. (5) Don’t sleep on employee experience. (6) Build your HR team for the future.
Build your HR team for the future. Reshape and develop your team to reflect the cross pressures of increasingly complex demands on HR, including an anticipated need for greater technology and analytical expertise on the team, and the lean HR team size in most organizations.
FIG 11: AI’s anticipated impact (Source: Mercer)
MARK WHITTLE, LIANA PASSANTINO AND MAGGIE SCHROEDER-O’NEAL | GARTNER - Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2025
Leader and manager development remains the No. 1 priority in 2025 for HR leaders for the third consecutive year, according to Gartner, with organisational culture, strategic workforce planning, change management and HR technology rounding off the top five (see FIG 12). The report (authors: Mark Whittle, Liana Passantino, PhD, and Maggie Schroeder-O’Neal) provides detailed analysis on each of the top five priorities, defining the problem statement and imperative for each along with a case study. My eyes were drawn to the section on Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) and the rather stark finding that only 15% of organisations currently practice SWP. Guidance is provided on expanding the scope and complexity of SWP through small phases and a powerful case study is provided on Merck (kudos Ruben Groen Alexis Saussinan) (see FIG 13):
Instead of striving for perfection and getting stuck gathering every piece of information available, Merck’s SWP team reduces the complexity of SWP by narrowing their team’s focus to solving a problem, enabling them to take action and drive impact.
FIG 12: Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2025 (Source: Gartner)
FIG 13: How Merck prioritizes SWP needs by relevance and actionability (Source: Gartner)
ROB BRINER | CORPORATE RESEARCH FORUM - Driving Organisational Performance: HR’s Critical Role
HR functions can and should do more to contribute to organisational performance. But, in order to do this, they need to be able to identify for themselves and in their context what specifically they need to do to help the business meet its strategic objectives.
The purpose of this excellent new report, authored by Rob Briner for the Corporate Research Forum (CRF), is to provide a framework for HR functions to more effectively drive performance – within their own organisational context. There’s lots to unpack in the report, but highlights include: (1) The evaluation of six ways of thinking about how HR impacts organisational performance (see FIG 14). (2) Key questions HR should be able to answer about the business, its strategic objectives, and how HR can help achieve these objectives. (3) Guidance on joining the causal dots between HR practices and strategic objectives. (4) A self-assessment for HR leaders to assess how well their own function contributes to organisational performance. (5) An eight-step process model of how HR can drive organisational performance. For more from Rob Briner, I recommend listening to his conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: What is Evidence Based HR and Why is it Important?
FIG 14: Perspectives of how HR contributes to organisational performance and likely value (Source: CRF, Rob Briner)
PwC - Saratoga Annual Benchmarking Report 2024
As the introduction to this report highlights, PwC Saratoga has over 30,000 benchmarks for 1000+ metrics covering a wide variety of HR and workforce topics. This annual report includes benchmarks for 400 organisations across 20 industries including those related to employee attrition, talent attraction, and diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as benchmarks relating to HR and people analytics FTE ratios (see FIG 15 for FTE ratios for business partners and people analytics). Similar to the annual People Analytics Trends study we publish at Insight222, Saratoga finds that people analytics is showing rapid growth in many industries including technology, financial services and manufacturing/engineering.
There is an increasing focus on people analytics as organizations invest deeper into digital capabilities and as the importance of data is elevated across industries.
FIG 15: HR Business Partners and People Analytics FTE ratios 2022 and 2023 (Source: PwC Saratoga)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
JAEJIN LEE - Skill-based Transformation: “Don't Start with Skills, Start with Work!”
Jaejin Lee takes an incredibly thoughtful deep-dive on the shift towards a skills-based organisation. He analyses a number of factors driving this shift including why the consensus is shifting towards skills, the technology changes driving the movement, and the need to start with the work while viewing the transformation through an employee-centric lens. Jaejin also shares two examples from his consulting work of skills-based network analysis (see FIG 16 for example that clusters the company’s employees' skills based on their similar attributes). Finally, Jaejin shares resources from experts including John Boudreau, Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, and Tanuj Kapilashrami, and rounds proceedings off by providing a checklist for companies to conduct a self-diagnosis with regards to skills (see FIG 17). A tour de force.
FIG 16: Using network analysis to group skills with similar attributes into categories (Source: Jaejin Lee.
FIG 17: Skills-based organisational diagnostic self-checklist (Source; Jaejin Lee)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
ETHAN BURRIS, BENJAMIN THOMAS, KETAKI SODHI, AND DAWN KLINGHOFFER - Turn Employee Feedback into Action
Ultimately, success (in employee listening) lies in empowering leaders to translate insights into concrete actions, effectively communicating progress, and fostering a continual feedback loop that values and respects the diverse voices within the organization.
"To manage the employee experience, leaders must deeply understand employees’ perceptions, feelings, and desires and respond thoughtfully. This is particularly crucial when immense resources are invested in gathering employee feedback through pulse surveys, town halls, and data scraping from internal communications. But leaders are often overwhelmed by the data and struggle to translate it into actionable insights." In their Harvard Business Review article, Ethan Burris, Benjamin Thomas, Ph. D, SHRM-CP, Ketaki Sodhi, PhD, and Dawn Klinghoffer, share insights from interviews with more than two dozen companies to outline seven challenges and demonstrate how leading places to work have built an integrated process for assembling and understanding employee input and translating it into action. The seven challenges are: (1) Making sense of all that data. (2) Making sure employees feel heard. (3) Identifying the actual underlying problems. (4) Protecting employee privacy. (5) Navigating conflicting views. (6) Not burying bad news. (7) Providing meaningful follow-up.
STEPHANIE DENINO - Moving Beyond Work as a Black Box: Uncovering & Addressing the Hidden Friction
Work is more than just a black box of outputs—it’s a complex system with hidden friction that we often overlook. In her thoughtful article, Stephanie Denino, Managing Director at TI PEOPLE, examines the consequences of treating work like a black box. She breaks down the core components that make up work: “(1) a worker that is (2) trying to do something (key activities or moments of their work experience), in which (3) they interact with things like technology, people, and processes” (see FIG 18). Stephanie identifies that by capturing data on how work unfolds from the worker’s perspective, leaders can better identify and reduce work friction, ensuring productivity gains and enhancing employee satisfaction. The article presents strategies to move beyond surface-level metrics and focus on the intricate moments of work that truly drive business outcomes.
FIG 18: Work can be broken down into three components (Source: Stephanie Denino)
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND LEARNING
MCKINSEY - Going all in: Why employee ‘will’ can make or break transformations
For a company undergoing transformation, cultivating employee “will” to change the way it operates is critical for success.
Writing for McKinsey, Dominic Skerritt, John Parsons, Mary Lass Stewart, Matthew Schrimper, and Nicolette Rainone, Ph.D. highlight the people element of successful transformations. They set out a three step-process (see FIG 19): Elevate, empower, energize to cultivate employees’ will to drive transformation. (1) Elevate a strong core of employees across all levels to lead the transformation. (2) Empower a broad coalition of change leaders to embody new ways of thinking and working. (3) Energize all employees to transform.
FIG 19: Organisations can galvanise a workforce’s will to transform with three actions (Source: McKinsey)
CONSTANCE NOONAN HADLEY AND SARAH L. WRIGHT – We’re Still Lonely at Work
In recent years, the huge impact that work loneliness is having on healthcare costs, absenteeism, and turnover has received widespread attention. Despite growing awareness, the problem remains, with one in five employees worldwide feeling lonely at work. In their article for Harvard Business Review, Connie Noonan Hadley and Sarah Wright debunk myths about work loneliness, such as the belief that in-person work or team assignments can solve the issue. They provide guidance on seven actions companies can take to put loneliness on the agenda: (1) Measure loneliness (see FIG 20); (2) Design slack into the workflow; (3) Create a culture of connections; (4) Build socialising into the rhythm of work; (5) Keep social activities simple; (6) Maximise each work mode for connection; (7) Actively recruit participants.
FIG 20: A tool for measuring work loneliness (Source: Constance Noonan Hadley and Sarah L. Wright)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
McKINSEY AND LEANIN.ORG – Women in the Workplace: The 10th Anniversary Report
Organizational change is a marathon, not a sprint, and making meaningful strides for women requires both hope and resilience. When leaders create a compelling vision of what’s possible, workplaces are better equipped to drive and sustain progress.
Despite progress over the past decade, parity for all women in the workspace is almost 50 years away according to the 10th Women in the Workplace report by McKinsey and Leanin.Org. At the current trajectory, it will take 22 years for white women to achieve leadership parity—and more than twice as long for women of colour (see FIG 21). As ever, the report is an absorbing read with part 4, A Data-Driven Approach to Solutions, being required reading for people analytics professionals. In terms of implementing consistent processes, the report recommends four key building blocks: (1) making sure employees understand why a new practice is important; (2) teaching employees the skills they need to do their part; (3) putting mechanisms in place to support the practice; and (4) ensuring leaders role model the right behaviours. Finally, the report also provides guidance on tackling three areas that are especially important for advancing women and fostering inclusion: (1) De-biasing hiring and promotion (see FIG 22); (2) Inspiring and equipping employees to curb bias and practice allyship; and (3) Unlocking the power of managers to influence careers and team culture. Kudos to the authors: Alexis Krivkovich, Emily Field, Lareina Yee, and Megan McConnell, with Hannah Smith.
FIG 21: It will take nearly 50 years to achieve gender parity for all women (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 22: Research based tips for making hiring and performance reviews fairer (Source: McKinsey)
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from October that I recommend readers delve into:
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED, LISA K. SIMON, TOBY CULSHAW, AND REMY GLAISNER - Stuck in Neutral: Why Employees are Staying Put – Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD, Lisa K. Simon, Toby Culshaw, and Remy Glaisner highlight Revelio Labs data finding that employee attrition rates are at their lowest in a decade. They explore the reasons for this and outline the conditions that would return attrition rates to their long-term average e.g. an increase in demand (15% increase in job postings), combined with 10% higher salaries and a tighter labour market (job postings taking 10% longer to fill).
FIG 23: The decline in attrition in 2024 is unexplained by common factors (Source: Revelio Labs)
DIDIER ELZINGA AND AMY LAVOIE - Research: The Long-Term Costs of Layoffs – Didier Elzinga and Amy Lavoie share the findings of a study by Culture Amp to understand the impact of company layoffs on employee engagement. These include: (1) After layoffs, companies see a significant drop in employee experience in many key areas. (2) High employee engagement prior to layoffs won’t protect you from the negative impact of doing layoffs. (3) Recovery takes time (see FIG 24).
FIG 24: Change in favourability from pre-layoff (Source: Culture Amp)
FRANCISCO MARIN - The Power of Collaborative Freedom: Aligning Interests, Collaborators, and Schedules – Francisco Marin of Cognitive Talent Solutions explains how collaborative freedom, which he sees as the underlying principle of a network-first future of work, discusses how the key facets of collaborative freedom – from increased autonomy and cross-functional cooperation to enhanced transparency - contribute to creating a more effective, agile, and rewarding work environment, “where employees are motivated not just by individual success but by the shared goals and achievements of the organization.”
VISIER - Visier's Top 50 HR Leaders To Watch in 2025 – It’s a nice move (and a clever marketing one!) by Visier Inc. to highlight a group of their data-driven innovator clients. It’s certainly good to see the likes of Adam McKinnon, PhD., Angela LE MATHON, Jeremy Shapiro, Katherine Ward, Doug Shagam, Poonam Sirigidi, Julien Legret, Annalyn Jacob, Ph.D., Erik Otteson, Shannon Rutledge, Kai Wehmeyer, Jill Larsen, Ian Bailie, Alan Susi, and Scott Judd get some well-deserved recognition.
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected six gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
MARK PRICE AND BRUCE DAISLEY - Can happy workers improve your company results? – Mark Price, former CEO at Waitrose, joins Bruce Daisley on the consistently excellent Eat Sleep Work Repeat to discuss the business benefits of investing in happy employees. The episode features a powerful example of how after acquiring Somerfield, and focusing on motivating the inherited workforce, Mark was able to reduce employee turnover from 75% to 17% within months.
ETHAN BERNSTEIN AND MICHAEL HORN - The Real Reasons Employees Quit — and How to Retain Them – Ethan Bernstein and Michael Horn join Alison Beard on HBR IdeaCast to share their research on employee turnover, which points to a host of push and pull forces that cause workers to jump ship, and also outlines better retention strategies.
NICK LYNN - “Small Changes Can Add Up To Something Big” – Culture, Change Management and the Employee Experience – Nick Lynn joins Mike Petrusky on the Workplace Innovator podcast to discuss the current world of the workplace and how leaders can build a culture of trust and higher engagement
BRYAN HANCOCK AND EMILY FIELD - Will generative AI hurt middle managers—or help them? – In an episode of The McKinsey Podcast, together with host Lucia Rahilly, Emily Field and Bryan Hancock revisit their book, Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work, one year on to share how middle managers can use gen AI to support their teams more effectively—and update their image while they’re at it.
KELLY MONAHAN - What trends will have the most impact on the future of work? – Kelly Monahan, Ph.D. joins host JP Elliott, PhD on The Future of Work Podcast to discuss the key trends that are impacting the future of work including why she believes that the skills-based organisation movement is stuck in the theory phase and the challenges it faces in implementation.
GREG PRYOR - Why Social Network Perspective Matters – Greg Pryor joins Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson on Workplace Stories to share how social capital—our connections and relationships—drives business outcomes, sparks innovation, and boosts career growth. Listen to Greg, and then tune in to his sparring partner, Michael Arena, on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: What the Impact of Distributed Work on Organisational Networks Tells Us About the Future of Talent Management.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
NICKLE LAMOREAUX - How IBM Uses AI to Transform HR
In celebration of IBM's CHRO Nickle LaMoreaux recently being recognised as HR Executive of the Year, this month's Video of the Month features Nickle in discussion with me earlier this year on the Digital HR Leaders podcast where she shares how IBM is pioneering the use of AI in HR, and how this is revolutionising its approach to talent management, employee engagement, and predictive analytics.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
YUVAL NOAH HARARI - Nexus
While I was on my travels at People Analytics World in New York and then Unleash World in Paris, at least ten people I respect told me that I simply had to read Nexus, the new book by Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari. So, I ordered it in time to take with me to the US the week after Unleash – and they were right. It’s brilliant. It’s basically the story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world. With the opportunity – and threat of AI – this is a book everyone in our field should read. Rory Stewart describes Nexus as: “Bold, original, erudite, provocative and entrancing,” and I couldn’t agree more.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
ALEXIS FINK AND COLE NAPPER - The World of HR Is Changing Rapidly: I-O Psychology Can Help – In their new paper for Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), Alexis Fink and Cole Napper, people analytics leaders at Meta and FedEx respectively, break down the role of the industrial-organisational (IO) psychologist, and how they are helping organisations to manage the transformation being driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and evolving cultural landscapes. Insight222 ’s research on Leading Companies in People Analytics, identified I/O psychology as one of three key skills these companies are focused on hiring, developing and retaining to drive success (along with data scientists, and consultants), so this paper is an important read for chief people officers looking to advance their people analytics function.
FROM MY DESK
October saw the final episode of Series 41 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by Visier Inc. (thanks Adedamola Adeleke), and the first three episodes of Series 42, sponsored by Workday (thanks Sophie Barnes and Jennifer Neumann) as well as a number of articles penned by yours truly.
Key Learnings from Unleash World 2024 – My key learnings from the main stage at the recent Unleash World show in Paris - together with the slides I used to kick off the event.
Key Learnings from Insight222 Global Executive Retreat 2024 Insights: Shaping the Future of People Analytics – My key learnings from the recent 7th Annual Insight222 Global Executive Retreat, which features learnings from speakers including: Janine Vos , Prasad Setty, and Erin Meyer.
How can workforce analytics enhance HR decision-making and drive business success? – A round-up of Series 41 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, with insights from episodes featuring: Diane Gherson, Lynda Gratton, Angela LE MATHON, Keith Bigelow, Tanuj Kapilashrami and Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA.
Three ways to Upskill HR in Data Literacy – The team at Workday shared a summary of insights from my recent speech at Rising on how to improve the data literacy of HR professionals.
SHARON TAYLOR AND JACO VAN VUUREN - Digitising HR for 55,000 Employees: Lessons from Standard Bank – Sharon Taylor, Chief People and Culture Officer, and Jaco Van Vuuren, Chief Operating Officer for Human Capital, join me to share the HR transformation journey at Standard Bank.
MICHAEL FRACCARO - How Mastercard is Using AI to Drive Employee Success and Leadership Growth – Michael Fraccaro , Chief People Officer at Mastercard, shares how the company is using AI across HR, building a skills-based organisation, and how their Culture Health Index helps shape discussion and decisions with the Board.
MICHAEL ARENA - What the Impact of Distributed Work on Organisational Networks Tells Us About the Future of Talent Management – Michael Arena joins me to discuss what the latest research on network analysis teaches us about hybrid working, team sizes, and the importance of social capital.
JASON SCHECKNER - How Talent Orchestration Connects AI Investments to Real Business Results – Jason Scheckner of HiredScore by Workday joins me to discuss how talent orchestration is the key to unlocking AI’s full potential and transforming HR operations into a strategic powerhouse.
LOOKING FOR A NEW ROLE IN PEOPLE ANALYTICS OR HR TECH?
I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers close to 500 roles – and has now been developed into a LinkedIn newsletter too.
THANK YOU
Nick Broughton for including me in his list of remote work leaders to follow.
Thomas Kohler for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Michael Fraccaro in his HR Resources of the Week.
Thinkers360 for including me in their Top Voices EMEA 2024.
Elaine Parr for sharing the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Nickle LaMoreaux on how IBM is pioneering the use of AI in HR.
Olimpiusz Papiez for his thoughtful learnings about the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Jason Scheckner.
Sven Hultin for publishing his analysis of Insight222's recent research on the People Analytics Operating Model: Democratizing workforce insight in a relevant context fuels adaption towards future relevance.
Stela Lupushor for inviting me to moderate a panel at the recent New York Strategic HR Analytics MeetUp on Workestration and Neeru Monga (here), Tony Ashton (here), Ekta Lall Mittal (here), Anna A. Tavis, PhD (here) and Olivia Li (here) for their LinkedIn posts sharing some of the key learnings and pictures from the event.
Finally, a huge thank you to the following people who either shared the September edition of Data Driven HR Monthly and/or posted about my sessions at Unleash, People Analytics World, and Workday Rising. It's much appreciated: Craig Forman, Zornitza Iankova, SPHR, Brandon Merritt Johnson, Hrvoje Bulat, Rebecca Hone, Emma Mercer (Assoc CIPD, MLPI), Dr. Max Muge Bakkaloglu, Kerron Ramganesh, Kristina Schoemmel, Perri Ma, Justin Shemeley, Kelly Satterfield, Luis Maria Cravino, Zina Al Taie, MBA, Joachim Rotzinger, Tobias W. Goers ツ, Anna Gullstrand, Ian Bailie, John Guy, Ouarda Guergour, Markus Graf, Sydney Dolanch, Noam Mordechay, Dorothy Dalton, Victoria Holdsworth, Nima Sherpa Green, ✅ Sarah E. Danzl Nirit Cohen ?, Andrew Pitts, Pierre Dejonghe, Jane Bech, MA-OP, CODP, Shannon Peterson, Nicole Davis, Davina Erasmus, Blaine Ames, David Balls (FCIPD), Dan George, Amardeep Singh, MBA, Yotam Ainom, Roshaunda Green, MBA, CDSP, Phenom Certified Recruiter, Henrik Håkansson, Kouros Behzad, Marijana Brasiello, MHRM, Catriona Lindsay, Adam Tombor (Wojciechowski), María Esther Sánchez, Silvia Schleiffer-Gouveia, Rajarshee Mukherjee, Volker Jacobs, Laszlo Bock, Daniel Farrell, Kevin Legel, Aravind Warrier, Lewis Garrad, Francisca Solano Beneitez, Jose Luis Chavez Vasquez, Dr. Jeeta Sarkar, Jorge Arevalo, Andreea Lungulescu, Maria Alice Jovinski, Philip Arkcoll, Corine Boon, Pietro Mazzoleni, Dave Millner, Bob Pulver, Wayne Tarken, David McLean, Swechha Mohapatra (IHRP-SP, SHRM-SCP, CIPD), Aurélie Crégut, David van Lochem, Vivek Ojha, Hanadi El Sayyed, Phil Kirschner, David Hodges, Jean-Francois Riand, Malgorzata Langlois, Shujaat Ahmad, Graham Tollit, Sebastian Kolberg, Phil Inskip, Sebastian Knepper, Caitie Jacobson, Asaf Jackoby, Melissa Hopper Fritz, Stephanie Murphy, Ph.D. Paul Daley, Stephen Hickey, Sarajit Poddar, Søren Kold, Jacob Nielsen, Dolapo (Dolly) Oyenuga, Manisha Singh, Monalisa Routray, Courtney McMahon, Irada Sadykhova, Geetanjali Gamel, Dave Fineman, Megan Buttita, MLIS, Mariana Hebborn PhD, Rob Kok, Keran Dhillon, Alex Browne, Chris Long, Pedro Pereira, Gal Mozes, PhD, Aritra Majumdar, Mia Norgren, Matthew Fleisher, PhD, Matt Elk, Christina Bui, Agnes Garaba, Laurent Reich, Jeff Wellstead, Danielle Bushen, Nick Hudgell, Jordan Hartley, John Gunawan, Casey G. Brower, PMP, Serena H. Huang, Ph.D., Bo Vialle-Derksen, Trish Uhl, PMP ??, Ken Clar, Isabel Naidoo, Mariami Lolashvili, Sophia Huang, Ed.D., Philippa Penfold, Sonia Mooney, Ian Grant FCIPD, Dr. Peter Schulz-Rittich, Irene Wong, Tim Peffers, Marcela Mury, Andrés García Ayala, Giovanna Constant, John Golden, Ph.D. Tanguy Dulac
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Green ?? is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 100 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value was published in the summer of 2021.
MEET ME AT THESE EVENTS
I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work, and data driven HR at a number of upcoming events in 2024 and early 2025:
November 19-20 - Insight222 European Peer Meeting (hosted by Merck in Darmstadt, Germany) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
December 5 - Visier Outsmart Local - Building Your People Data Strategy, London
December 10-12 - Workday Rising EMEA, Amsterdam
February 26-27 - People Analytics World, Zürich
April 29-30 - People Analytics World, London
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
主要作者和贡献者：
David Green - Insight222的管理合伙人，专注于HR数据分析和未来工作趋势。
Eric Anicich 和 Dart Lindsley - 探讨“将工作视为产品”的方法。
Nicholas Bloom, James Liang, Ruobing Han - 基于Trip.com的混合办公A/B测试研究。
Michael Arena 和 Philip Arkcoll - 关于协作的重要性，倡导“协作要求”而非“办公要求”。
Hean-Ho Loh, Vinciane Beauchene, Vladimir Lukic, Rajiv Shenoy - 来自波士顿咨询公司（BCG），探讨AI技能提升的关键因素。
Kai Hahn - 智能企业领袖联盟的报告撰写者，探讨AI在HR中的应用。
Jaap Veldkamp - ABN AMRO的全球HR数据分析负责人。
Richard Rosenow - Insight222的一份研究报告撰写者，讨论HR系统的演变。
Scott Rogers, Aldar Nikolaev, Ralf Buechsenschuss, Peter Meyler, Patrick Coolen, Yuyan Sun - 各自讨论了HR数据分析在不同领域的应用。
Marc Effron - The Talent Strategy Group创始人，专注于HR运营模式。
Shari Chernack 和 Jonathan Gordin - Mercer的CHRO报告作者，探讨HR的战略角色。
Mark Whittle, Liana Passantino, Maggie Schroeder-O’Neal - 来自Gartner，讨论2025年HR的五大优先事项。
Rob Briner - Corporate Research Forum的作者，提供了HR推动组织绩效的框架。
Jaejin Lee - 探讨技能导向的组织转型。
Ethan Burris, Benjamin Thomas, Ketaki Sodhi, Dawn Klinghoffer - 在Harvard Business Review中讨论如何将员工反馈转化为行动。
Stephanie Denino - TI People的总监，讨论工作中隐藏摩擦的影响。
Dominic Skerritt, John Parsons, Mary Lass Stewart, Matthew Schrimper, Nicolette Rainone - McKinsey作者，探讨组织变革中的员工意愿。
Constance Noonan Hadley 和 Sarah L. Wright - 研究工作中的孤独感。
Alexis Krivkovich, Emily Field, Lareina Yee, Megan McConnell, Hannah Smith - 来自McKinsey和LeanIn.Org的性别平等报告的作者。
Loujaina Abdelwahed, Lisa K. Simon, Toby Culshaw, Remy Glaisner - Revelio Labs的数据分析师，研究员工流动率。
Didier Elzinga 和 Amy Lavoie - Culture Amp的研究人员，探讨裁员的长期影响。
Francisco Marin - Cognitive Talent Solutions的代表，关于协作自由的重要性。
Adam McKinnon, Angela LE MATHON, Jeremy Shapiro, Katherine Ward, Doug Shagam, Poonam Sirigidi, Julien Legret, Annalyn Jacob, Erik Otteson, Shannon Rutledge, Kai Wehmeyer, Jill Larsen, Ian Bailie, Alan Susi, Scott Judd - Visier公司列出的2025年HR领导者。
Mark Price 和 Bruce Daisley - 在Eat Sleep Work Repeat上探讨员工幸福感的影响。
Ethan Bernstein 和 Michael Horn - HBR IdeaCast上的嘉宾，讨论员工流失的原因。
Nick Lynn - Workplace Innovator的嘉宾，讨论文化和员工体验。
Bryan Hancock 和 Emily Field - 在McKinsey Podcast上讨论生成式AI对中层管理的影响。
Kelly Monahan - The Future of Work Podcast的嘉宾，讨论未来工作的关键趋势。
Greg Pryor - Workplace Stories的嘉宾，讨论社交资本的影响。
Nickle LaMoreaux - IBM的CHRO，讨论AI在HR中的应用（视频）。
Yuval Noah Harari - 其新书《Nexus》被推荐阅读，探讨信息网络对世界的影响。
Alexis Fink 和 Cole Napper - I-O心理学家，探讨心理学在HR转型中的作用。
AI
2024年11月03日
AI
Josh Bersin :SuccessFactors Leapfrogs HCM Capabilities: AI, Skills, Talent Intelligence, And More本周，SuccessFactors 宣布了一系列重大更新，巩固其在人力资本管理（HCM）市场的领先地位。这些新功能包括 AI 驱动的工作推荐、文本分析、绩效评估和全球工资单升级等。SuccessFactors 还推出了开放的技能系统，并与 Lightcast、Degreed 等技能供应商合作，提供更全面的职业发展工具。此外，通过整合 WalkMe，SuccessFactors 改善了用户体验，使其在实施和使用方面更具优势。Dan Beck 的领导下，SuccessFactors 持续推动 HR 技术的创新与发展。
有兴趣进一步了解下
This week SuccessFactors announced a vast array of new features, focused on taking the lead in the red hot HCM war against Workday, Oracle, and others. These capabilities fall into four areas, each of which bring SAP into a leading position in many areas of the global HCM market. (Product details here.)
As I learned about the release I noticed the fingerprints of Dan Beck, the company’s new president and chief product officer. Dan has been at SAP for 11 months and has accelerated the company’s technology roadmap and focus on total solutions.
Let me summarize what’s new.
1. More And More AI Capabilities Built-In
First, of course, is AI. Two years ago SAP announced its “Business AI” strategy, which describes how all SAP business applications are integrated and enhanced with AI. (Workday’s similar strategy Illuminate was launched a few months ago.) In the prior release SuccessFactors described 63 AI use-cases; this week they introduced 30 more. And all are integrated into Joule, SAP’s intelligent Agent.
Each “use-case” is essentially an AI application and many are quite complex: automatically developing job descriptions, analyzing performance reviews, setting and aligning goals, developing onboarding, creating growth plans, and evaluating pay inequities. In other words these AI “features” are really automation workflows that each eliminate hours of work for HR professionals. Since each is also integrated into Joule, you can use them through the conversational interface.
While many HR vendors are adding AI features, I find SAP’s particularly robust because they’re integrated into the entire lifecycle of an employee. SAP’s engineering focus really shows here.
Some of the new features include AI-based job recommendations to job seekers (and internal employees), text analysis and editing for performance reviews, and new mobile use-cases for Joule.
2. Upgrades to Global Payroll
The second set of announcements are a significant update to global payroll. SAP currently has the broadest global payroll solution in the market and now has a new UI, a Payroll Command Center, and a sophisticated AI offering called “Explain Pay Slip.” You will effectively be able to ask Joule “why has my pay changed from last month” and it will dig into all the details and explain the differences. This covers 70% or more of the questions employees ask HR service centers, so this feature has an enormous ROI.
Employee Central, the company’s core HR and payroll module, now has a more integrated view of all benefits and more integrations with Joule, making the 52-country payroll system the broadest in the market.
3. Open Skills System and Launch of Career and Talent Development
The third set of announcements will change the HR Tech market: SAP is formerly opening up its Talent Intelligence Hub to accommodate every skills and skillstech vendor. Providers like Lightcast, Korn Ferry, Techwolf (SAP invested in them), and Degreed can now feed the SuccessFactors skills system and SAP is going to build tools to normalize and harmonize skills.
This brings SAP to parity or beyond Workday Skills Cloud: the skills model is integrated into Opportunity Marketplace, Career and Talent Development (the new version of SuccessFactors learning), and SuccessFactors job architecture, team management, performance management, and recruiting.
The new Career and Talent Development offering also introduces AI-assisted career insights, leveraging skills and aspirations to find relevant jobs and career paths. The system lets managers create assignments, find and onboard internal candidates, and then use Work Zone (onboarding and enablement) to start their new internal position. This level of integration goes beyond tools from Gloat or Eightfold or others for internal talent marketplace.
Several years ago SuccessFactors introduced its comprehensive skills strategy and today it’s coming to fruition.
There are several major implications here. First, vendors like Eightfold, Gloat, Phenom, Beamery, and many others will have to decide how they partner or compete with SAP. Last month I met with both Delta Air Lines and Pepsi, both of which are using SuccessFactors Talent Intelligence hub as their new end-to-end platform. Each company told me that they no longer felt the need to use some of these other third party products.
Second, the SuccessFactors skills model is expansive. In addition to harmonizing and helping companies build technical and leadership models, the system itself has its “whole self” module which includes aspirations, styles, motivations, and preferences. Companies that use this can add subtle human needs to the model.
Other vendors have tried this (Cornerstone and Gloat both ask users to express career and personal work preferences) but SAP, with its enormous customer base, has the potential to leverage this across industries. Imagine an employee in IT who aspires to work in HR, for example – the system would find the HR Tech jobs within the company which leverage their architectural or technical skills.
SuccessFactors also includes a mature system for team-based work, which is missing in these other applications. This release adds AI-assisted 360 reviews, performance templates, and integration with Joule (employees and managers can share performance information through the agent.)
4. Integration of WalkMe into SuccessFactors.
The fourth major announcement is the bundling and integration of WalkMe. Given the vast and complex nature of SuccessFactors, there are many places to read documentation and learn how the system works. This forces customers to build large training programs for users. (All HCM platforms have this issue.)
WalkMe, which was acquired this year for $1.5 Billion, is the leading provider of “digital adoption platforms.” It is essentially an advanced AI system that watches a user’s interaction with a system to coach, train, and automate your work. Initially developed to help users learn how to use systems like SAP or Salesforce, WalkMe advanced into a highly intelligent real-time coach, similar to what we now expect out of an AI agent.
While I don’t know how this will be priced, this gives SuccessFactors an “ease of implementation” advantage. WalkMe is an open platform and does support many HCM applications, but now that it’s integrated and bundled into SAP customers will find SuccessFactors much easier to deploy and use.
(Just for your reference, the SuccessFactors and Workday “how to” manuals include nearly 1,000+ pages each.)
Bottom Line: SuccessFactors Leadership Emerges
SAP’s ambitious, long-term engineering approach to human capital management is clear. I’ve been watching SuccessFactors since it was a small independent company in California, now growing to a vast cloud business with 10,000+ customers and more than 150 million end users.
This release demonstrates how patience, engineering excellence, and relentless focus on customers pays off in enterprise software. Under the leadership of Dan Beck, SuccessFactors now offers industry-leading capabilities in most areas of HCM, giving customers an even deeper offering to consider as HR technology rapidly evolves.
AI Agents, The New Workforce We’re Not Quite Ready For (Agentic AI)Josh Bersin 刚刚谈到：AI代理人的兴起标志着工作方式的一次革命。这些AI代理人不仅仅是工具，而是未来的团队成员。从开发培训课程到管理招聘过程，AI代理人的能力正被企业系统广泛利用。科技领袖和投资者对此展现出了极大的兴趣和投资。企业需要为这种变革做好准备，包括安全性和管理实践的更新。
我们一起来看下，英文原文附录链接在最后！
AI智能体，新一代劳动力，我们还没有做好准备
智能体正在到来，智能体正在到来。
如果你关注AI技术市场，你就会知道，最近有很多关于“智能体AI”的讨论。换句话说，我们的AI助手开始拥有更多自主能力。不再只是回答问题和写诗，它们现在可以代表我们“做事情”。
这正是长久以来预测的AI下一个大趋势。埃里克·施密特最近谈到了这一点，微软也在讨论，像Mayfield这样的投资者正在投入资金。而这种演变确实将彻底革新我们的系统。
可以这样想：“大语言模型”是我们过去两年一直在学习的内容，它们现在正逐步转变为“大行动模型”。智能体不仅仅会回答问题，它还会为我们做事情。
消费场景是无穷无尽的：为我预订航班，为我买票，向我的朋友发送电子邮件。但在商业领域，这种转变将颠覆并破坏我们的许多企业系统。它还将改变我们工作的方式、管理的方式以及我们对团队的思考方式。
考虑我们与供应商讨论的两个HR用例。
学习与发展（L&D）AI智能体
想象一下，你指示一个L&D AI智能体“为我们的销售人员创建一个15分钟的课程，以教授他们如何定位我们的新产品”。AI智能体将根据你的输入（课程时长、目标受众等），向主题专家发送电子邮件，视频记录他们的评论和专业知识，整合新产品信息，构建课程，并将其发送给L&D负责人进行验证。作为经理，你可以审查课程，并指示智能体收紧信息或添加更多主题，课程将重新创建，然后你可以说“可以上线了”。智能体随后会将课程发布到学习管理系统（LMS）中，向所有销售人员群发电子邮件，并开始监控学习活动。几小时后，智能体会运行分析，并向经理反馈进展情况。
是的，这在今天完全可能。而且很快就会启动。
再来看第二个例子。
招聘AI智能体
人才招聘负责人收到了大量关于高级软件工程师的职位要求。她指示招聘AI智能体开始搜索。智能体询问招聘人员的地点偏好、职位级别选择、薪资范围和技能要求，然后开始工作。智能体扫描LinkedIn和其他招聘工具，查看ATS中的现有候选人，同时也查看所有内部员工的合格技能。智能体随后优化这份名单，创建一个“面试候选人短名单”，并回到招聘负责人那里征求意见。在就地点和薪资范围达成一致后，智能体返回并向这些候选人发送了一封富有吸引力的电子邮件，并附上一个视频面试门户链接，让他们进行面试。面试被录制下来，AI智能体使用面试智能工具来评估和筛选候选人，询问他们的时间安排，并为他们安排现场面试。在此过程中，AI智能体会查看他们的背景，搜索社交媒体，查看他们的各种联系，并可能查看他们的GitHub等平台和其他凭证，然后为每位候选人创建一个档案。
这些智能体很快就会出现，对我们许多人来说，它们看起来和感觉上会像“员工”一样。我们将不得不对它们进行培训、入职和指导。随着它们在各自的角色中“成熟”并成长，我们将它们连接到更多的系统、更多的人和更多的数据上。
Lattice的首席执行官萨拉·富兰克林大约一个月前实际上提出了这个概念，尽管遭到了反对声音，但我认为她是对的。这些智能体实际上将属于组织结构图的一部分。我们的工作将是管理它们，确保它们的安全，并监督它们的安全性。
还有更多内容即将到来
虽然感觉像科幻小说，但这一切正在发生。而且它不仅将改变我们的HR技术堆栈，还将改变整个企业技术格局，也让我们的HR角色变得更加轻松。
原文来自: https://joshbersin.com/2024/09/agentic-ai-ai-agents-the-new-workforce-were-not-quite-ready-for/
AI
2024年09月06日
AI
Cornerstone Galaxy: Acquisition Of SkyHive Could Pay OffCornerstone在人力资源技术领域长期以来一直是学习管理系统（LMS）的领导者。公司最近推出了Galaxy，这是一个集成了人工智能的全新人才管理平台。这一重大进展是在一系列收购之后实现的，尤其是最近收购了SkyHive，显著增强了公司的数据处理能力。Galaxy平台通过提供全面的技能发展、绩效管理和员工晋升系统，为HR技术空间树立了新标准。
Galaxy区别于市场上其他基于技能的或智能平台，例如Eightfold主要从人才获取开始，而Gloat着眼于人才流动性。Galaxy则从另一个角度出发，即员工发展，这是由Cornerstone在学习与发展（L&D）领域深厚的背景所支撑的。Galaxy系统内置了完整的用户界面，能够推断技能，让员工标记和评估自己的技能，帮助员工找到并完成各种学习形式，管理合规性和认证程序，通过任务、评估或管理辅导提升技能。
通过整合性能管理、发展计划、继任计划，以及招聘过程，Galaxy使公司能够通过绩效管理推动技能发展。在收购SkyHive之前，Cornerstone试图仅使用其LMS信息的数据集来实现这一目标，但这些数据并不足以构建完整的人工智能语料库。通过这次收购，Cornerstone获得了一个完整的劳动力市场数据系统、一个公司中立的职位架构以及大量行业技能，使Galaxy能够与其他主要的人才智能和人才市场供应商直接竞争。
Cornerstone spent the last decade acquiring LMS and talent software companies, all in a goal to build an integrated skills platform. Finally, after years of hard work and integration, the company introduces Galaxy, an advanced offering in the world of AI-powered HR systems.
Before I explain Galaxy, the history is important. Founded in 1999, Cornerstone started as an e-learning platform company (CyberU). The company established a foothold in the emerging LMS market and grew through strong marketing, sales, and product innovation. Since then the company has gone public, reached a $5.2 billion valuation, and was then acquired by a private equity firm (Aug. 2021, three years ago).
The new management team continued to acquire companies (EdCast, SumTotal, Talespin, and most recently SkyHive) and has now stitched these systems together into a unified platform called Galaxy. Galaxy, as I show below, is a skills-powered integrated talent management platform, built around the core of learning management. And this is what makes it unique.
The other talent intelligence or skills-based platforms started elsewhere. Eightfold started in talent acquisition; Gloat started in talent mobility; SeekOut started in recruiting; Beamery started in CRM; and players like Retrain.ai and NeoBrain started in more vertical domains. Each of these companies use large-scale profile data to infer skills, give companies tools to find and match candidates, and eventually to deliver learning.
Cornerstone, with deep background in L&D, is coming at this from another direction: employee development. The Galaxy system, which is built into a complete user interface, infers skills, lets employees tag and assess their skills, helps employees find and complete many forms of learning, manage compliance and certification programs, and advance skills through gigs, assignments, assessments, or management coaching. And since Cornerstone is an integrated talent suite, the system lets companies drive skills through performance management, development planning, succession planning, and also recruiting.
Before the acquisition of SkyHive, Cornerstone was trying to do this with its own data set of LMS information. This data, which includes billions of learning records, was simply not sufficient to build out the entire AI corpus. By acquiring SkyHive, Cornerstone gained an entire labor market system of data, a company-neutral job architecture, and lots of industry skills. This brings Galaxy into direct competition with the other major talent intelligence and talent marketplace vendors.
I have not yet talked with Galaxy customers, but the user experience is integrated and shows the sophistication of thinking under the covers. Remember that Cornerstone acquired Evolv, Clustree, and EdCast before acquiring SkyHive, so the team has been building AI capabilities and use-cases for several years. And now that Cornerstone has a VR platform for learning, more use-cases are coming.
While I don’t know Cornerstone’s revenues, the leadership team assures me that the company is growing and the profitability is high. This means the company has long-term sustainability and despite its many acquisitions, is likely to evolve to “Oracle-like” status. (Oracle has acquired hundreds of companies over the years and now looks at M&A as one of its core strengths).
Here’s the major play in the market. With 7,000+ customers, Cornerstone has many customers shopping for new tools. If Galaxy is as solid as it looked in the demos, some percentage of these buyers could upgrade to Galaxy and avoid the purchase of Gloat, Eightfold, or another LMS. While we cannot be sure where Galaxy will play, for companies that want to deploy a skills architecture across all talent practices, it looks like a solid option.
Cornerstone Vision:
Cornerstone User Experience
Cornerstone Career and Talent Marketplace
Cornerstone Performance Management
Skills in Goal Management
Why Cornerstone Still Matters
Cornerstone has a massive customer base. The users of Cornerstone, Saba, SumTotal, Lumesse, and Halogen include many of the world’s largest companies and thousands of mid-market organizations as well. These organizations have invested billions of dollars into learning infrastructure, content, and user portals to reach employees. If Cornerstone Galaxy delivers on its promise, the company can help many of these organizations avoid buying lots of standalone new tools. And given Cornerstone’s size, the company could become, as I mentioned above, the “Oracle” of the space.
And note, by the way, that a recent survey by HR.com found that the top rated HR tech issue to address is L&D infrastructure, so this issue is on everyone’s mind.
While the market is highly competitive and there are many skills-based tools in the market, Cornerstone’s focus on L&D is unique. None of the other major LMS vendors have the skills infrastructure of Cornerstone today.
If your skills strategy is focused on building skills, Galaxy may be the answer.
More to come as we talk with more Galaxy customers.
Additional Information
AI
2024年09月03日
AI
Agency Law and the Workday Lawsuit
文章讨论了在Workday诉讼中，代理法的相关法律问题。原告声称，Workday的AI筛选工具因种族、年龄和残疾而对他进行了歧视。这起案件提出了HR技术供应商是否可以对歧视性结果直接负责的问题。法律的复杂性包括AI在招聘决策中的角色、代理责任以及对雇主和AI开发者的潜在影响。此案件提醒雇主在实施AI招聘工具时要谨慎，并确保避免法律风险。AI开发者也必须确保其产品无歧视行为，因为该诉讼可能会树立重要的法律先例。
Editor's Note
Agency Law and the Workday Lawsuit
Agency law is so old that it used to be called master and servant law. (That's different from slavery, where human beings were considered the legal property of other humans based on their race, gender, and age, which is partly why we have discrimination laws.)
Today, agency laws refer to principals and agents. All employees are agents of their employer, who is the principal. And employers can have nonemployee agents too when they hire someone to do things on their behalf. Generally, agents owe principals a fiduciary duty to act in the principal's best interest, even when that isn't the agent's best interest.
Agency laws gets tricky fast because you have to figure out who is in charge, what authority was granted, whether the person acting was inside or outside that authority, what duty applies, and who should be held responsible as a matter of fairness and public policy.
Generally, the principal is liable for the acts of the agent, sometimes even when the agent acts outside their authority. And agents acting within their authority are rarely liable for their actions unless it also involves intentional wrongs, like punching someone in the nose.
Enter discrimination, which is generally a creature of statute that may or may not be consistent with general agency law even when the words used are exactly the same.
Discrimination is generally an intentional wrong, but employees are not usually directly liable for discrimination because making employment decisions is part of the way employment works and the employer is always liable for those decisions.
The big exception is harassment because harassment, particularly sexual harassment, is never part of someone's job duties. So in harassment cases, the individual harasser is liable but the employer may not be unless they knew what was going on and didn't do anything about it.
It's confusing and makes your head hurt. And that's just federal discrimination law. Other employment laws, both state and federal, deal with agent liability differently.
Now, let's move to the Workday lawsuit. In that case, the plaintiff is claiming that Workday was an agent of the employer, but not in the sense of someone the employer was directing. They are claiming that Workday has independent liability as an employer too because they were acting like an employer in screening and rejecting applicants for the employer.
But that's kinda the whole point of HR Technology—to save the employer time and resources by doing some of the work. The software doesn't replace the employer's decision making and the employer is going to be liable for any discrimination regardless of whether and how the employer used their software.
If this were a products liability case, the answer would turn on how the product was designed to be used and how the employer used it. But this is an employment law and discrimination case. So, the legal question here is whether a company that makes HR Technology can also be directly liable for discriminatory outcomes when the employer uses that technology.
We don't have an answer to that yet and won't for a while. That's because this case is just at the pleading stage and hasn't been decided based on the evidence. What's happened so far is Workday filed a motion to dismiss based on the allegations in the complaint. Basically, Workday said, "Hey, we're just a software company. We don't make employment decisions; the employer does. It's the employer who is responsible for using our software in a way that doesn't discriminate. So, please let us out of the case. Then the plaintiff and EEOC said it's too soon to decide that. If all of the allegations in the lawsuit are considered true, then the plaintiff has made viable legal claims against Workday.
Those claims are that Workday's screening function acts like the employer in evaluating applications and rejecting or accepting them for the next level of review. This is similar to what third party recruiters and other employment agencies do and those folks are generally liable for those decisions under discrimination law. In addition, Workday could even be an agent of the employer if the employer has directly delegated that screening function to the software.
We're not to the question of whether a software company is really an agent of the employer or is even acting like an employment agency. And even if it is, whether it's the kind of agency that has direct liability or whether it's just the employer who ends up liable. This will all depend on statutory definitions and actual evidence about how the software is designed, how it works, and how the employer used it.
We also aren't at the point where we look at the contracts between the employer and Workday, how liability is allocated, whether there are indemnity clauses, and whether these type of contractual defenses even apply if Workday meets the statutory definition of an employer or agent who can be liable under Title VII.
Causation will also be a big issue because how the employer sets up the software, it's level of supervision of what happens with the software, and what's really going on in the screening process will all be extremely important.
The only thing that's been decided so far is that the plaintiff filed a viable claim against Workday and the lawsuit can proceed. Here are the details of the case and some good general advice for employers using HR Technology in any employment decision making process.
- Heather Bussing
AI Workplace Screener Faces Bias Lawsuit: 5 Lessons for Employers and 5 Lessons for AI Developers
by Anne Yarovoy Khan, John Polson, and Erica Wilson
at Fisher Phillips
A California federal court just allowed a frustrated job applicant to proceed with an employment discrimination lawsuit against an AI-based vendor after more than 100 employers that use the vendor’s screening tools rejected him. The judge’s July 12 decision allows the class action against Workday to continue based on employment decisions made by Workday’s customers on the theory that Workday served as an “agent” for all of the employers that rejected him and that its algorithmic screening tools were biased against his race, age, and disability status. The lawsuit can teach valuable lessons to employers and AI developers alike. What are five things that employers can learn from this case, and what are five things that AI developers need to know?
AI Job Screening Tool Leads to 100+ Rejections
Here is a quick rundown of the allegations contained in the complaint. It’s important to remember that this case is in the very earliest stages of litigation, and Workday has not yet even provided a direct response to the allegations – so take these points with a grain of salt and recognize that they may even be proven false.
Derek Mobley is a Black man over the age of 40 who self-identifies as having anxiety and depression. He has a degree in finance from Morehouse College and extensive experience in various financial, IT help-desk, and customer service positions.
Between 2017 and 2024, Mobley applied to more than 100 jobs with companies that use Workday’s AI-based hiring tools – and says he was rejected every single time. He would see a job posting on a third-party website (like LinkedIn), click on the job link, and be redirected to the Workday platform.
Thousands of companies use Workday’s AI-based applicant screening tools, which include personality and cognitive tests. They then interpret a candidate’s qualifications through advanced algorithmic methods and can automatically reject them or advance them along the hiring process.
Mobley alleges the AI systems reflect illegal biases and rely on biased training data. He notes the fact that his race could be identified because he graduated from a historically Black college, his age could be determined by his graduation year, and his mental disabilities could be revealed through the personality tests.
He filed a federal lawsuit against Workday alleging race discrimination under Title VII and Section 1981, age discrimination under the ADEA, and disability discrimination under the ADA.
But he didn’t file just any type of lawsuit. He filed a class action claim, seeking to represent all applicants like him who weren’t hired because of the alleged discriminatory screening process.
Workday asked the court to dismiss the claim on the basis that it was not the employer making the employment decision regarding Mobley, but after over a year of procedural wrangling, the judge gave the green light for Mobley to continue his lawsuit.
Judge Gives Green Light to Discrimination Claim Against AI Developer
Direct Participation in Hiring Process is Key – The judge’s July 12 order says that Workday could potentially be held liable as an “agent” of the employers who rejected Mobley. The employers allegedly delegated traditional hiring functions – including automatically rejecting certain applicants at the screening stage – to Workday’s AI-based algorithmic decision-making tools. That means that Workday’s AI product directly participated in the hiring process.
Middle-of-the-Night Email is Critical – One of the allegations Mobley raises to support his claim that Workday’s AI decision-making tool automatically rejected him was an application he submitted to a particular company at 12:55 a.m. He received a rejection email less than an hour later at 1:50 a.m., making it appear unlikely that human oversight was involved.
“Disparate Impact” Theory Can Be Advanced – Once the judge decided that Workday could be a proper defendant as an agent, she then allowed Mobley to proceed against Workday on a “disparate impact” theory. That means the company didn’t necessarily intend to screen out Mobley based on race, age, or disability, but that it could have set up selection criteria that had the effect of screening out applicants based on those protected criteria. In fact, in one instance, Mobley was rejected for a job at a company where he was currently working on a contract basis doing very similar work.
Not All Software Developers On the Hook – This decision doesn’t mean that all software vendors and AI developers could qualify as “agents” subject to a lawsuit. Take, for example, a vendor that develops a spreadsheet system that simply helps employers sort through applicants. That vendor shouldn’t be part of any later discrimination lawsuit, the court said, even if the employer later uses that system to purposefully sort the candidates by age and rejects all those over 40 years old.
5 Tips for Employers
This lawsuit could have just easily been filed against any of the 100+ employers that rejected Mobley, and they still may be added as parties or sued in separate actions. That is a stark reminder that employers need to tread carefully when implementing AI hiring solutions through third parties. A few tips:
Vet Your Vendors – Ensure your AI vendors follow ethical guidelines and have measures in place to prevent bias before you deploy the tool. This includes understanding the data they use to train their models and the algorithms they employ. Regular audits and evaluations of the AI systems can help identify and mitigate potential biases – but it all starts with asking the right questions at the outset of the relationship and along the way.
Work with Counsel on Indemnification Language – It’s not uncommon for contracts between business partners to include language shifting the cost of litigation and resulting damages from employer to vendor. But make sure you work with counsel when developing such language in these instances. Public policy doesn’t often allow you to transfer the cost of discriminatory behavior to someone else. You may want to place limits on any such indemnity as well, like certain dollar amounts or several months of accrued damages. And you’ll want to make sure that your agreements contain specific guidance on what type of vendor behavior falls under whatever agreement you reach.
Consider Legal Options – Should you be targeted in a discrimination action, consider whether you can take action beyond indemnification when it comes to your AI vendors. Breach of contract claims, deceptive business practice lawsuits, or other formal legal actions to draw the third party into the litigation could work to shield you from shouldering the full responsibility.
Implement Ongoing Monitoring – Regularly monitor the outcomes of your AI hiring tools. This includes tracking the demographic data of applicants and hires to identify any patterns that may suggest bias or have a potential disparate impact. This proactive approach can help you catch and address issues before they become legal problems.
Add the Human Touch – Consider where you will insert human decision-making at critical spots along your hiring process to prevent AI bias, or the appearance of bias. While an automated process that simply screens check-the-box requirements such as necessary licenses, years of experience, educational degrees, and similar objective criteria is low risk, completely replacing human judgment when it comes to making subjective decisions stands at the peak of riskiness when it comes to the use of AI. And make sure you train your HR staff and managers on the proper use of AI when it comes to making hiring or employment-related decisions.
5 Tips for Vendors
While not a complete surprise given all the talk from regulators and others in government regarding concerns with bias in automated decision making tools, this lawsuit should grab the attention of any developer of AI-based hiring tools. When taken in conjunction with the recent ACLU action against Aon Consulting for its use of AI screening platforms, it seems the time for government expressing concerns has been replaced with action. While plaintiffs’ attorneys and government enforcement officials have typically focused on employers when it comes to alleged algorithmic bias, it was only a matter of time before they turned their attention to the developers of these products. Here are some practical steps AI vendors can take now to deal with the threat.
Commit to Trustworthy AI – Make sure the design and delivery of your AI solutions are both responsible and transparent. This includes reviewing marketing and product materials.
Review Your Work – Engage in a risk-based review process throughout your product’s lifecycle. This will help mitigate any unintended consequences.
Team With Your Lawyers – Work hand-in-hand with counsel to help ensure compliance with best practices and all relevant workplace laws – and not just law prohibiting intentional discrimination, but also those barring the unintentional “disparate impact” claims as we see in the Workday lawsuit.
Develop Bias Detection Mechanisms – Implement robust testing and validation processes to detect and eliminate bias in your AI systems. This includes using diverse training data and regularly updating your algorithms to address any identified biases.
Lean Into Outside Assistance – Meanwhile, collaborate with external auditors or third-party reviewers to ensure impartiality in your bias detection efforts.
原文来自：https://www.salary.com/newsletters/law-review/agency-law-and-the-workday-lawsuit/
David Green: The best HR & People Analytics articles of July 2024这个月的《数据驱动HR月报》由Insight222发布了他们的新研究报告《构建人力分析生态系统：运营模式2.0》。在Insight222庆祝成立七周年之际，团队成员们齐聚一堂，共同回顾过去的成就，规划未来的步骤，并庆祝这一成功。此外，本月的重点还包括我有幸在由Mercer组织的LinkedIn直播中担任主持人，主题是“AI时代的技能驱动组织”，并欢迎在上个月加入的2000多名《数据驱动HR月报》新订阅者。本期由Visier赞助。
在案例研究部分，展示了Experian如何通过Visier将报告时间减少了70%。Experian的数据分析团队曾在Excel和Oracle OBI-EE套件中花费大量时间，限制了战略工作。Visier帮助他们显著提高了效率，使其团队能够专注于发掘劳动力洞察力、赋能数据驱动决策，并建立数据驱动的HR文化。
此外，本期还讨论了SHRM在其DEI（多样性、公平与包容性）计划中移除“公平”一词的决定。这一决定在DEI受到持续攻击、许多知名公司撤回DEI承诺的背景下显得尤为令人震惊。一些评论认为，SHRM此举的动机可能是政治性的，而非其所声明的“通过强调首先包容性，旨在解决DE&I项目的当前不足，减少社会反弹和极化”。
I’m just about to go out on vacation in the South of France for three weeks (hurrah!) and with growing evidence that taking a vacation improves physical and mental wellbeing, I’m looking forward to having time to relax, reflect and recharge. Before I go, I’m looking forward to the release this week of our new Insight222 research study: Building the People Analytics Ecosystem: Operating Model v 2.0 (click on the link to register to receive a copy).
Other highlights in July included:
We marked our seventh anniversary at Insight222 by gathering the team together for a whole week to reflect on our achievements, plan the next steps and celebrate our success.
I had the honour of moderating a LinkedIn Live on Skills-Powered Organisations in the Age of AI, organised by Mercer, with Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA and Tanuj Kapilashrami. You can watch the recording here.
Welcome to the more than 2000 new subscribers to the Data Driven HR Monthly newsletter, who joined in the last month.
This edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly is sponsored by our friends at Visier
CASE STUDY: How Experian Cut Reporting Time by 70%
Struggling with manual reporting? Experian, a data analytics giant, did too. Their people analytics team spent hours in Excel and Oracle OBI-EE suite limiting strategic work. Visier slashed their reporting time by 70%. Read the case study.
Now, their People Analytics team focuses on:
Uncovering workforce insights
Empowering data-driven decisions
Building a data-driven HR culture
Visier empowers our people to leverage data for better decisions
Ready to unlock your people data's power? Read the case study.
Visier Inc.: Make data-driven HR decisions. Easier. Faster. On-Demand. At Scale.
To sponsor an edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, and share your brand with more than 130,000 Data Driven HR Monthly subscribers, send an email to dgreen@zandel.org.
SHRM and the war on DEI
I’m not here to beat up on SHRM, but their flabbergasting decision to drop ‘Equity’ from its approach to ‘Inclusion, Equity and Diversity’ seems to have achieved the notable feat of being universally unpopular. To take this decision at a time when DEI is under sustained attack from politicians and when a growing number of prominent companies are backtracking from previous DEI commitments seems peculiar to say the least. It has led some commentators to conclude that SHRM’s surprise move is politically motivated rather than being driven by their stated objective, which SHRM explained as: “By emphasizing Inclusion-first, we aim to address the current shortcomings of DE&I programs, which have led to societal backlash and increasing polarization.” Whatever SHRM’s motive if, as likely, this decision by such an influential body undermines DEI then it is not only unhelpful but bad for employees, bad for organisations, and bad for society. As Shujaat Ahmad writes in his coruscating analysis:
Equity is one of the most clear, tangible measures for culture change on systemic discrimination. Without it, DEIB is lost in a maze of good intentions and half-baked commitments.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for July and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on June’s compendium.
If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders is published every Tuesday - subscribe here.
NEW: Insight222 research report on the People Analytics Ecosystem
Access the new Insight222 study here: Building the People Analytics Ecosystem: Operating Model v 2.0 - or by clicking on the image below.
HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
JENS BAIER ET AL - How Work Preferences Are Shifting in the Age of GenAI
When it comes to GenAI’s impact on jobs, talent is aware but unafraid. Although only 5% think that GenAI will replace their jobs, 60% anticipate that they will need to reskill significantly. Most say that they will need help to understand what skills to build.
For the first time since its inception a decade ago, BCG’s Decoding Global Talent study finds that job security is ranked by workers as their number one work preference (see FIG 1). Analysis revealed that workers who expressed concern about the impact of GenAI on their jobs were more likely to prioritise job security. They also recognise the importance of learning, with 60% of workers anticipating they will need to reskill significantly. As the study highlights, to attract and retain talent, organisations will need to solve a complex puzzle. They must anticipate the impact of technology on their workforce and offer robust reskilling programs to help employees stay competitive. (Authors: Jens Stefan Baier Orsolya Kovacs-Ondrejkovic Dr. Tobias Zimmermann Pierre Antebi Dr. Susan Gritzka Sacha Knorr Vinciane Beauchene Carmen Márquez Castro Zoë McFarlane Anja Bates Niharika Jajoria Julie Bedard and Ashish Garg).
FIG 1: What workers value most in a job, 2014-2023 (Source: BCG)
NICOLE SCOBLE-WILLIAMS ET AL - Generative AI and the future of work: Boundless Potential
It’s ‘humans with machines’ and not humans or machines that will transcend leading organizations.
An insightful and comprehensive report by the Deloitte AI Institute on the seismic impact of generative AI on the future of work. The report is structured into three chapters each designed to answer a key question. (1) What is generative AI and how is it being used? (2) What is generative AI’s likely impact on jobs? (3) What are the strategies to prepare organisations for change? There are a ton of insights, case studies and frameworks to learn from. Three that resonated especially with me were: (1) The explanation of the difference between work, jobs, tasks and skills (see FIG 2). (2) Guidance for organisations on how to break down jobs in the generative AI era. (3) The five-step framework for adopting a researcher’s mindset for human-generative SI integration: a) hypothesis formation, b) data collection and analysis, c) broad organisational experimentation, d) iterative testing and feedback, and e) strategy refinement. Authors: Nicole Scoble-Williams GAICD Diane Sinti Jodi Baker Calamai Björn Bringmann Laura Shact Greg Vert Tara Murphy and Susan Cantrell)
FIG 2: Work vs Jobs vs Tasks vs Skills (Source: Deloitte)
JUSTIN SHEMELEY, ANDREW ELSTON, AND JASDEEP KAREER - Transforming HR and People Analytics with AI
AI helps us reclaim capacity for more complex workforce strategy questions. It enables us to identify internal mobility opportunities and conduct scenario planning and hypothesis testing.
In their article, Justin Shemeley Andrew Elston and Jasdeep Kareer, PhD (née Bhambra), summarise some of the key takeaways from the recent Insight222 webinar I moderated on how AI is transforming HR and people analytics. The topics covered include: (1) The current landscape of AI in HR. (2) Short- and long-term impacts on the HR operating model. (3) AI’s role in workforce planning and development. (4) Essential Skills for Leveraging AI in HR. (5) How to build a strong foundation for AI adoption. The article also provides the answers to the questions posed by those that attended the webinar. You can access the entire webinar recording here: Transforming HR and People Analytics with AI.
FIG 3: Demystifying AI in HR and People Analytics (Source: Insight222)
RAVIN JESUTHASAN - Achieving the productivity promise of generative AI requires redesigning work
When he coined The Productivity Paradox, Robert Solow outlined two fundamental reasons why new technologies often don’t deliver on their promise. First, early versions of technologies are often flawed and unsuitable for widespread adoption – this applies less to GenAI. In his thoughtful article, Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA tackles Solow’s second reason, which relates to the architecture of work. He outlines that to address this issue, organisations need to undertake systemic work redesign through deconstructing the work, redeploying tasks and creating new ways of working. Ravin cites the six-step framework (see FIG 4) he advanced together with John Boudreau in their book, Reinventing Jobs, and describes the potential productivity gains arising as a result.
FIG 4: Achieving the optimal combinations of humans, automation and AI (Source: Jesuthasan and Boudreau)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
DELOITTE - 2023 High-Impact People Analytics Research
Prioritizing PA customers means understanding their needs—and how those needs align (or don’t) with the function’s capabilities and broader business priorities.
A new report by Eric Lesser Peter DeBellis and Marc Solow based on a 2023 study by Deloitte of more than 400 organisations across 18 countries presents a People Analytics Maturity Model (see FIG 5) and discusses six key findings. These are: (1) People Analytics has become an organisational imperative. (2) Data culture is the single biggest predictor of people analytics performance. (3) Tech investments mean nothing without human capability (and vice versa). (4) Today’s challenges demand more data from more sources. (5) An expanding customer base means new demands on the people analytics function. (6) People data is business data – treat it as such.
FIG 5: High-Impact People Analytics Maturity Model (Source: Deloitte)
CATHERINE COPPINGER - 4 New Ways to Model Work
With the rise of distributed work, managers are being asked to work in a fundamentally different way than they’ve worked before
In her article, Catherine Coppinger of Worklytics, discusses four new ways to model how work gets done – and how it could be done better: (1) Workday Intensity – see FIG 6 - (“We measure intensity as time spent on digital work as a % of overall workday span”). (2) Work-Life Balance. (3) Manager Effectiveness (“With the rise of distributed work, managers are being asked to work in a fundamentally different way than they’ve worked before”). (4) Sales Effectiveness (“With sales stalling, People Analytics teams are increasingly being asked to weigh in on what can be done to reaccelerate revenue growth”). For more insights on the manager effectiveness topic, listen to Catherine on a recent episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Use Passive Data to Enhance Manager Effectiveness.
FIG 6: Workplace Intensity: How do remote and in-office days compare (Source: Worklytics)
PREETHIKA SAINAM, SEIGYOUNG AUH, RICHARD ETTENSON, AND BULENT MENGUC - The High Cost of Misaligned Business and Analytics Goals
It is not only the level of analytics that matters, but also how aligned analytics capabilities are with business goals.
What does success in analytics really mean and how should companies measure it? This was the mission of a study by Preethika Sainam Seigyoung Auh Richard Ettenson PhD and Bulent Menguc. While they found that creating a data-driven culture, adopting advanced analytics capabilities, and employing a well-developed data strategy were all important, the key ingredient is the degree of alignment between business goals and analytics capabilities. Their article presents findings from the study, the differences between misaligned and aligned companies, the cost of misalignment (see FIG 7) and how to measure alignment in seven areas: (1) Culture, (2) Alignment with strategy, (3) Leadership commitment, (4) Operations and structure, (5) Employee empowerment, (6) Proactive market orientation, and (7) Skills and competencies.
FIG 7: The Cost of Misalignment (Source: Sainam et al)
ANDRÉS GARCÍA AYALA - People analytics at the heart of AI’s successful workplace adoption | LEA MIKUS – Five Steps to Kick-Start People Analytics | WILLIS JENSEN - What Makes a Good People Analytics Metric? | RAJA SENGUPTA – 1000 Generative AI Prompts for HR | GUILLAUME LHOTE - The Role of Talent Intelligence in Pharma
In recent editions of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I’ve featured a collection of articles by current and recent people analytics leaders. These act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Five are highlighted here. (1) In his compelling article, Andrés García Ayala, Group Head of People Analytics and Strategic Workforce Planning at Legal & General, discusses five reasons why People Analytics needs to be at the heart of AI’s successful adoption and implementation in the workplace. (2) In a LinkedIn post, Lea Mikus unveils five recommendations to kick-start people analytics in your organisation including getting started by focusing on answering one strategic business question through your people data. (3) In an edition of his excellent Making People Analytics Real Substack, Willis Jensen digs into what makes a ‘good’ and a ‘bad’ people analytics metric (see FIG 8). The secret? Ask yourself: “Can I make a line chart of the metric?” (4) Raja Sengupta provides an invaluable resource for HR and people analytics professionals in a 130 page booklet comprising 1,000 AI prompts for HR across ten HR topics. (5) Guillaume Lhote, Talent Intelligence Lead at Takeda, details the critical role of talent intelligence in the pharmaceutical industry – thanks to Toby Culshaw for highlighting this resource.
FIG 8: Examples of HR metrics (Source: Willis Jensen)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
DAVE ULRICH - Update on HR Business Partner Model Continuing Evolution and Relevance
In the last seven years, HR’s contribution to the business has evolved and is increasing. The HR contribution comes from individual HR professionals who have the competencies to fully engage in business conversations. The HR contribution also comes from HR functions, practices, and analytics increasing stakeholder value.
There’s no one better informed to comment on the evolution of the HR business partner (HRBP) model than Dave Ulrich, given he coined and popularised the model in his seminal 1997 book, Human Resource Champions. In his article, Dave details nine evolutions that are combining to reshape and elevate the future role of the HRBP including these five: (1) People and organisation concerns have evolved to be more central to business success. (2) Talent has evolved to pay increased attention on worktask and meaning (see FIG 9). (3) Leadership has evolved to front-line leaders and emerging competencies. (4) HR delivery has evolved to AI–enabled HR (5) HR analytics has evolved from benchmarking to guidance.
FIG 9: From ‘Workforce’ to ‘Worktask’ (Source: Dave Ulrich)
SERENA HUANG - AI in HR: Missing the Forest for the Trees
By focusing on strategic workforce planning, responsible and ethical AI, and clear ownership for AI adoption, HR can become the strategic AI champion the organization needs.
In her From Data to Action LinkedIn newsletter, Serena H. Huang, Ph.D. bemoans the narrow focus of much of the discussion about AI in HR on automation and cost efficiency. Instead, Serena urges a bolder approach, presenting three ‘big-picture issues’ centred on organisational readiness that HR should focus on: (1) Strategic Workforce Planning (e.g. LinkedIn recently estimates that 55% of jobs will be augmented or disrupted by GenAI – see FIG 10). (2) Responsible and Ethical AI. (3) Clear Ownership: Who is Driving the AI Train? Thanks to Serena for highlighting the recent Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with IBM CHRO Nickle LaMoreaux in her article, where Nickle expanded on IBM’s Responsible AI policy and how this is applied to HR. You can listen to the whole episode here: How IBM Uses AI to Transform its HR Strategies.
FIG 10: GAI’s expected effect on LinkedIn members’ skills globally (Source: LinkedIn Economic Graph Research Institute)
CHIEF ETHERIDGE – 3 Strategies to Position HR for Innovation
Only 28% of HR employees agree that their HR function encourages them to take risks, even if they result in failure. This risk aversion is a major obstacle to innovation.
As the preface for this paper by Chief Etheridge for Gartner states, HR is under pressure to develop innovative solutions for a unique set of organisational challenges such as incorporating new ways of working, establishing digital workplaces, and leveraging artificial intelligence. The paper outlines three strategies HR can implement: (1) Define Innovation’s Value and Benefits to HR. (2) Embed Innovation Networks in HR (see FIG 11 for example from Toyota). (3) Establish Structured Innovation Process for HR (with an example from Fannie Mae).
FIG 11: How Toyota directly infuses HR with expertise and skills (Source: Gartner, adapted from Toyota)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN AND SKILLS
MCKINSEY - Help wanted: Charting the challenge of tight labour markets in advanced economies
Companies and economies will need to boost productivity and find new ways to expand the workforce
A comprehensive study by McKinsey on how labour markets in the G8 countries are among the tightest in two decades and are set to get worse as workforce continue to age. The study is packed full of insights, visualisations and charts and is a must-read for anyone involved in workforce planning, recruiting, talent intelligence and people analytics. Four actions are recommended for companies and policy makers: (1) Focus on skilling and reskilling, including attracting talent from unconventional pools, offering more flexible work, and internal mobility. (2) Encourage foreign-born workers with programs to properly integrate them into the workforce (one to note given the hysteria about immigration in all of the eight countries in the study). (3) Shape retirement policies to encourage people to work beyond standard retirement ages and take steps to attract more women into the workforce. (4) Prioritise investment in AI and automation to unlock productivity. (Authors: Anu Madgavkar Olivia White Sven Smit Chris Bradley Ryan Luby and Michael Neary).
FIG 12: 4 scenarios for GDP growth 2023-30 (Source: McKinsey)
JORGE TAMAYO, LEILA DOUMI, SAGAR GOEL, ORSOLYA KOVÁCS-ONDREJKOVIC, AND RAFFAELLA SADUN - Designing a Successful Reskilling Program
In today’s fast-changing work landscape, the ability to reskill will become increasingly vital to staying competitive.
In this article, written as a follow up to their award-winning “Reskilling in the Age of AI”, Jorge Tamayo Leila Doumi Sagar Goel Orsolya Kovacs-Ondrejkovic and Raffaella Sadunshare the results of a reskilling survey that they conducted with chief human resources officers and business leaders, and discuss six paradigms on reskilling. These are: (1) Reskilling is a strategic imperative. (2) Reskilling is the responsibility of every leader and manager. (3) Reskilling is a change management initiative. (4) Employees want to reskill – if programs are attractive. (5) Reskilling takes a village. (6) To reskill successfully, you need to be able to analyse and measure the benefit of your interventions and investments.
SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS SPECIAL
ALLIE NAWRAT - Standard Chartered: ‘The people agenda is a strong enabler of the performance of the bank’ | ALLAN SCHWEYER, BARBARA LOMBARDO, MATT ROSENBAUM, AND PETER SHEPPARD - The Long but Rewarding Journey to Becoming a Skills-Driven Organization | JOSH BERSIN - TechWolf Accelerates Corporate Skills Tech Market With $43 Million Round | MARC EFFRON - Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? Questions About Becoming a Skills-based Organization | DELOITTE - The skills-based organization: A new operating model for work and the workforce
Following the positive reaction to the MIT/Mercer study, Strategic Shift: Skills-Powered Organizations in the Age of AI, I included in the June edition of Data Driven HR Monthly, as well as the LinkedIn Live I participated in last week with Ravin Jesuthasan and Tanuj Kapilashrami, I thought it helpful to include a ‘special’ in the July edition of Data Driven HR Monthly on skills-based organisations. Six resources are included. (1) Tanuj Kapilashrami, Chief Strategy and Talent Officer at Standard Chartered, sits down with Alexandra Nawrat of UNLEASH to outline how the shift to being a skills-first employer is enabling business outcomes at the bank. (2) The Conference Board provides a compelling case study of Ericsson’s journey to becoming a skills-based organisation, which has seen skills become the language of the employee experience at the company (see FIG 13) – authors: Allan Schweyer Barbara Lombardo Matt Rosenbaum and Peter Sheppard. (3) Josh Bersin takes his cue from the latest round of investment in TechWolf plus the acquisition of SkyHive by Cornerstone by Cornerstone OnDemand to provide an overview of the burgeoning skills technology market as it moves from ‘pioneer stage’ to ‘early maturity’ (see FIG 14). (4) Marc Effron details 17 considerations for companies seeking to embark on the journey to becoming a skills-based organisation. (5) The Deloitte team of Susan Cantrell Michael Griffiths Robin Jones and Julie Hiipakka present their seminal operating model for a skills-based organisation (see FIG 15).
FIG 13: Skills are the language of the employee experience at Ericsson (Source: Ericsson)
FIG 14: Source – Josh Bersin
FIG 15: The skills-based organization: A new model for work and workforce (Source: Deloitte)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
DERRICK P. BRANSBY, MICHAELA J. KERRISSEY, AND AMY C. EDMONDSON - New Hires’ Psychological Safety Erodes Quickly
Psychological safety is not the default in any workplace, and those who need it most — newcomers — are also most vulnerable to losing it.
Research finds that psychological safety is especially important for new hires as it enables them to overcome the challenge of admitting fallibility, tackle a steep learning curve and embrace new perspectives. So, it is concerning that in their new study, Amy Edmondson Derrick Bransby and Michaela Kerrissey identify a fascinating pattern: On average, newcomers joined their organisation with higher psychological safety relative to their more tenured colleagues, then lost it and waited years to reach levels comparable to when they arrived. Nevertheless, the study also found that departments with high psychological safety among colleagues help reduce that decline and facilitate quick recovery for new hires (see FIG 16). The article also discusses why newcomers are vulnerable to losing psychological safety and presents strategies to help preserve their early willingness to speak up.
FIG 16: Contrast between employees in departments with high and low psychological safety (Source: Bransby et al)
CHRISTINA BRADLEY, LINDY GREER, AND JEFFREY SANCHEZ-BURKS - When Your Employee Feels Angry, Sad, or Dejected
Leaders must be able to respond in a supportive manner to the emotions of their employees. That requires them to learn how to handle others’ feelings in different contexts, be more aware of their own behavior, and hone their skills. If they can master those three things, the result will be a healthier, more successful organization.
In their article for Harvard Business Review, three researchers from Michigan’s Ross School of Business provide a roadmap to leaders for providing employees with emotional support. As Christina Bradley Lindy Greer and Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks outline, the right response depends heavily on context, in particular, whether someone (1) is working on a time‑sensitive goal and (2) seems to be coping (see FIG 17).
FIG 17: Figuring out how to respond to an employee’s emotions (Source: Bradley et al)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
MICHAEL ARENA, ANDRAS VICSEK, JOHN GOLDEN, AND SCOTT HINES – Cultivating Culture in a Hybrid Context
Because connections are more fragile in hybrid workplaces, it is increasingly important that managers understand the network dynamics of company culture.
Many companies are concerned about the impact of remote and hybrid work on their culture. In their article, Michael Arena Andras Vicsek John Golden, Ph.D. and Scott Hines, PhD, explore how cultural behaviours form and spread across organisations in three work modes: a physical environment, a remote environment, and a hybrid model. They find that prominent cultural behaviours tend to cluster in discernible patterns in each of these modes. The article discusses ways – and provides examples – on how to restore bridges between teams, harness influencers to facilitate change, engage exemplars to model desired behaviours, and reengage the hearts and minds of employees, to improve collaboration, wellbeing and outcomes. One example in the article describes how a large consumer products company launched a series of in-person events to restore bridging connections between their teams in parallel with a reengagement strategy to rebuild their employees’ sense of owning the company’s purpose. This enabled the company to increase connections by 37 percent and positive energy by 20 percent.
FIG 18: Shift of Positive Energy across Work Modes (Source: Arena et al)
DANIEL STILLMAN - The Four Quadrants of Employee Performance
In his essay, Daniel Stillman distils Shake Shack head honcho Danny Meyer’s Four Quadrants of Employee Performance to help explain how to harness the hiring, retention and development of talent to scale company culture intentionally. The four quadrants (see FIG 19) are: (1) Can and Will (“water these flowers”). (2) Can’t and Will (“coach them”). (3) Can’t and Won’t (“put the candle underneath their rear end”). (4) Can and Won’t (“The hardest one…”). For more from Danny Meyer, I recommend watching him in conversation with Adam Grant at the recent Wharton People Analytics Conference, where they discussed: The Hidden Potential of Frontline Workers.
FIG 19: The Four Quadrants of Employee Performance (Adapted by Daniel Stillman from Danny Meyer)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
ROUVEN KANITZ, MAX REINWALD, KATERINA GONZALEZ, ANNE BURMEISTER, YIFAN SONG, AND MARTIN HOEGL - 4 Ways Employees Respond to DEI Initiatives
In their article for Harvard Business Review, Rouven Kanitz Max Reinwald Katerina Gonzalez Anne Burmeister Yifan Song and Prof. Dr. Martin Hoegl present their research, which finds that employees respond to DEI initiatives in four ways (see FIG 20): excited supporters, calm compliers, torn shapers, and discontented opponents. The article outlines each of the four profiles, and provides guidance to managers on how they can use the typology to segment their employees, effectively understand the range of responses, and tailor specific interventions to address them.
FIG 20: The 4 Ways Employees Respond to DEI Initiatives (Source: Kanitz et al)
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from July that I recommend readers delve into:
RYAN WONG - With AI, HR Faces A Choice: Get Onboard Or Risk Getting Left Behind – Ryan Wong, CEO of Visier Inc., provides a compelling set of reasons why HR needs to embrace AI: (1) It helps source talent, faster. (2) It frees up HR to focus on strategic HR. (3) It unlocks people insights that drive the business.
BEN WIGERT - The Strengths, Weaknesses and Blind Spots of Managers – Ben Wigert, Ph.D, MBA unveils the findings of a Gallup study to compare how managers think they are currently leading their team versus how employees say they are being managed (see FIG 21). Thanks to Hung Lee for highlighting in his Recruiting Brainfood newsletter.
FIG 21: Current State of Management: Employee vs. Manager Perspectives (Source: Gallup)
FRANCISCO MARIN - Unlocking the Power of Centrality Metrics in Organizational Network Analysis – Francisco Marin of Cognitive Talent Solutions breaks down centrality metrics, and how they can be leveraged to make ONA more actionable and impactful.
CULTURE AMP - HR’s complete performance management guide – A hugely comprehensive Culture Amp guide on the what, the why, and the how of performance management. Thanks to Jodie Evans for highlighting.
FIG 22: The building blocks of performance management (Source: Culture Amp)
JOSEPH IFIEGBU - How do you ensure ethical practices in the implementation of People Analytics in your organization? – An insightful post – and meme (see FIG 23) – by Joseph Ifiegbu, CEO at eqtble, on people analytics, trust and ethics.
FIG 23: Source – Joseph Ifiegbu
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
DAVE ULRICH, BOB EICHINGER, AND ALLAN CHURCH – The Science of Talent Management – In an episode of the Future of HR podcast, Dave Ulrich, Bob Eichinger and Allan Church, Ph.D. join host JP Elliott, PhD to discuss the ‘knowing-doing’ gap in talent management, and why skills-based organisations are an incomplete method of talent management.
AARON DE SMET AND BROOKE WEDDLE - Gen AI talent: Your next flight risk - On an episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Aaron De Smet and Brooke Weddle talk to Lucia Rahilly about what workers who regularly use GenAI want most, as well as practical steps leaders can take now to keep them happy and engaged.
KIM SCOTT - Radical Respect in Polarized Times: Strategies for Leaders – Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor joins Lars Schmidt in an episode of Redefining Work to discuss the workplace application of ‘Radical Candor’, and the genesis of her latest work and book – Radical Respect, intended as a precursor to her initial book.
BRADFORD WILLIAMS - How People Analytics Can Transform or Destroy Your Workplace - Bradford Williams, Head of People Analytics at Northwestern Mutual, joins Christopher Rainey on the HR Leaders podcast to explore the pivotal role of managers in shaping culture, the impact of technology on HR, the significance of strong organisational networks, and the role of people analytics in enhancing business outcomes.
RICHARD ROSENOW - People Data Supply Chain, One Model, and The Power of No – Richard Rosenow joins hosts Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on Directionally Correct to discuss the people data supply chain and its impact on people analytics.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
TIM PEFFERS – How to measure productivity
For those of you who haven’t consumed Random Walks in HR, along with Heather Whiteman, Ph.D., Tim Peffers produces the best video blogs in the people analytics field. In this video, Tim builds on his premise that “people analytics will never deliver on its promise without being able to measure individual productivity”, by presenting his proposal to develop a new metric – Productivity Against Replacement (PAR), which as Tim explains is inspired by Bill James’ WAR (Wins Above Replacement) metric.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
MARTIN R. EDWARDS, KIRSTEN EDWARDS, AND DAISUNG JANG – Predictive HR Analytics: Mastering the HR Metric
Having a third edition of a book published is an impressive achievement – and testament to the quality of material. In this third edition of Predictive HR Analytics, Martin Edwards, Kirsten Edwards, and Daisung Jang provide a clear, practical and accessible framework for understanding people data, flourishing with people analytics, and using advanced statistical techniques. Predictive HR Analytics has been adopted by more than 20 universities across the world as a core or recommended text in HR and business analytics courses, and it’s clear to see why.
FROM MY DESK
July saw the first four episodes of series 40 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, which is kindly being sponsored by our friends at HiBob – thanks to Louis Gordon. Additionally, July also saw the publication of a new article in Workday’s Smart CHRO magazine.
PATRICK EVENDEN - How people data empowers today’s CHRO – Writing for Workday’s Smart CHRO magazine, Patrick Evenden draws on my presentation from Workday Rising, where I discussed the need for CHROs to leverage people data and bolster their HR teams’ data literacy. Thanks to Sophie Barnes.
JOHN WINSOR - Addressing the Global Skills Shortage with Open Talent Strategies – John Winsor, co-author of Open Talent and Chairman of Open Assembly, joined me to discuss the three-legged stool ‘Open Talent’ framework: internal talent marketplaces, external talent clouds, and open innovation.
MAUREEN DUNNE - HR Strategies for Embracing Neurodiverse Talent – Maureen N. Dunne, Ph.D., author of The Neurodiveristy Edge, discusses why prioritising a neurodivergent culture is essential amidst the acceleration of digital transformation.
NIRIT PELED-MUNTZ - Evolving Culture & Employee Experience in Fast-Growth Companies – HiBob’s Chief People Officer, Nirit Peled-Muntz, joins me to share HiBob’s remarkable growth journey, explaining how the culture has evolved, how the North Star of world-class employee experience has been maintained, and how the HR team has played a pivotal role in the development of HiBob’s technology platform.
HEIDI MANNA - How to Create a Flexible Work Model That Enhances Inclusion and Employee Experience – Heidi Manna, Chief People Officer at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, joins me to share details about the company’s Flexible Work Model. She discusses why the company shifted to a flexible work model and the improvements seen as a result in hiring, employee experience and inclusion.
We have a pretty strong belief that a flexible work model benefits the business and our ability to serve our patients, and it allows employees to have a better work-life integration experience as well.
LOOKING FOR A NEW ROLE IN PEOPLE ANALYTICS OR HR TECH?
I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers over 500 roles – and has now been developed into a LinkedIn newsletter too
THANK YOU
Olimpiusz Papiez for explaining how we can optimise our organisation's structure for greater efficiency, which was inspired by my conversation with Armand Sohet on the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode: Painting the Future of HR with AI, Analytics and Curiosity.
Huma HR for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in their list of 10 HR Podcasts for the Summer, which also included podcasts hosted by Laurie Ruettimann, Damon Klotz and Lucy Adams.
Thomas Kohler for including the June edition of Data Driven HR Monthly in his round-up of resources for HR professionals.
Alejandra Barbarelli for recommending the June edition of Data Driven HR Monthly, and for her kind words about my content curation.
Judy Albers for summarising some of the highlights from the June edition of Data Driven HR Monthly.
Veronika Birkheim, whose post: “People analytics must be easy to use…” was inspired by the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Dirk Jonker: Driving Business Transformation with Advanced People Analytics
K Nair for including me in his list of 11 Influential HR Leaders, which included others that inspire me including: Laszlo Bock, Adam Grant and Josh Bersin.
Thinkers360 for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in their List of Top Podcasts.
Anastasia Mizitova, SHRM-SCP, CPCC for her post sharing a resource from a special edition of the Insight222 Digital HR Leader newsletter: Essential Summer Reads.
Finally, a huge thank you to the following people who shared the June edition of Data Driven HR Monthly. It's much appreciated: David Balls (FCIPD) Mukesh Jain Amardeep Singh, MBA Phil Inskip Kalifa Oliver, Ph.D. Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN (née Schouten) Sophie Merckelbach Alison Doyle Gord Johnston MA, BHJ, BA, CHRP Asanka Gunasekara (PhD) Jayashree Shivkumar Andrews Cobbinah, MLPI, ACIHRM Henrik Håkansson Irakli Dadiani Jaqueline Oliveira-Cella Tamano Yamanaka Shay David Erin Fleming Louise Baird Bilal Laouah Jeff Wellstead Aravind Warrier Greg Newman Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR Susan Knolla Danielle Farrell, M.A. Alison Ettridge Adam Tombor (Wojciechowski) Roshaunda Green, MBA, CDSP, Phenom Certified Recruiter Karla Chavez Gomez Jay Polaki⚡️ SHRM-SCP/SPHR Dan Riley Emily Killham Rashleen Kaur Arora Kouros Behzad Nick Jesteadt Ken Oehler Juan Ignacio Perez Collado Jose Luis Chavez Vasquez Deviprasad Panda Swechha Mohapatra (IHRP-SP, SHRM-SCP, CIPD) Catriona Lindsay Debbie Harrison Neeru Monga Aurélie Crégut Faiza Tasneem(Associate CIPD) David Hodges Irada Sadykhova Yukiko Hosomi? David McLean Andrii Suslenko Gary Parilis Maria Alice Jovinski Erik Samdahl Tristan Hack Adam McKinnon, PhD. Kerrian Soong Dr. Peter Schulz-Rittich Timo Tischer Martijn Wiertz Shuba Gopal Martha Curioni Tobias W. Goers ツ Galo Lopez Noriega Patrick Coolen Brian Heger Hanadi El Sayyed Marcela Niemeyer Alicia Roach Dawn Klinghoffer Heather Muir Selina Millstam Dave Millner Dan George Nick Lynn Marc Voi Chiuli. (MSc. HRM. Assoc CIPD. MIHRM.) Ankit Saxena, MBA Volker Jacobs David Simmonds FCIPD Amit Mohindra Andrew Pitts Burak Bakkaloglu Malgorzata Langlois Isabel Naidoo David van Lochem Diane Gherson Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi Neha Asthana Irene Wong Jaejin Lee Anna A. Tavis, PhD Doug Shagam Geetanjali Gamel Matt Elk Tina Peeters, PhD Barry Swales Bob Pulver David Duewel Matt Higgs MBA FCIPD Meghan M. Biro Sebastian Knepper Kathleen Kruse Dorothy Dalton Kate Graham Laura Thurston Søren Kold Jacob Nielsen Ralf Buechsenschuss Nicole Hazard Tatu Westling Sue Lam Chris Lovato Joseph Frank, PhD CCP GWCCM Tom Morehead PCC,MBA,SPHR Ian OKeefe Lina Makneviciute RJ Milnor Nicole Lettich Mariana Saintive Sousa Jon Kirchhoff Roberto Amatucci Christopher Rosett Rebecca Thielen Morten Hartvig Berg John Gunawan Soumya Bonantaya MBA MS SWP Ronald Schep Daorong Lin Abhilash Bodanapu Morgan Baldwin Jack Liu Sanja Licina, Ph.D. Piyush Mehta Sebastian Kolberg Jaap Veldkamp Craig Starbuck, PhD Sukumaran Mariappan Felipe Jara Michal Gradshtein Dave Fineman Stephen Hickey Gal Mozes, PhD Agnes Garaba Emily Pelosi, PhD Kelly Satterfield Laurent Reich Brandon Roberts Lewis Garrad Danielle Bushen Nick Hudgell Andrew Kilshaw Higor Gomes Pietro Mazzoleni Marcela Mury Giovanna Constant Mia Norgren Ohad Geron
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Green ?? is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 90 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value was published in the summer of 2021.
MEET ME AT THESE EVENTS
I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work, and data driven HR at a number of upcoming events in 2024:
September 11 - Productivity, Purpose, and Profit: How to thrive in ‘25 (London)
September 16-19 - Workday Rising (Las Vegas)
September 24-26 - Insight222 Global Executive Retreat (Colorado, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
October 2-3 - People Analytics World (New York)
October 16-17 - UNLEASH World (Paris)
October 22-23 - Insight222 North American Peer Meeting (hosted by Workday in Pleasanton, CA) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
November 12-14 - Workday Rising EMEA (London)
November 19-20 - Insight222 European Peer Meeting (hosted by Merck in Darmstadt, Germany) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
AI
2024年08月02日
AI
The Key to a Thriving Workforce? A Smart Approach to AI微软的最新数据强调了人工智能对员工赋权、活力和生产力的积极影响。领导者可以通过关注其员工队伍是否在“繁荣”中来促进良好表现，微软将“繁荣”定义为被赋予权力和充满活力地进行有意义的工作。员工信号调查显示，人工智能的使用能通过减少乏味工作并促进有意义的工作来提高生产力、努力和影响。人工智能工具还与更高的赋权和活力得分相关，表明员工队伍的“繁荣”。成功的关键在于将人工智能与支持性文化相结合，提供必要的培训，并使人工智能项目与公司目标保持一致。
New data reveals how access to AI can help employees feel more empowered and energized, and find more meaning in their work.
what’s the best way for leaders to foster good performance? How can they tell if their efforts are successful or not? Often, companies try to answer these questions by measuring metrics like engagement or financial results. And while those are critical to business success, at Microsoft, we also want to explore whether the workforce is thriving.
“Thriving has become the North Star for how we understand employees,” says Microsoft VP of People Analytics Dawn Klinghoffer, who leverages data to help leaders understand and improve employee’s experience. “We define thriving as being empowered and energized to do meaningful work. Are people excited to come to work every day, excited about the opportunities ahead?”
One of the ways we gauge this at Microsoft is with our Employee Signals survey, a biannual company-wide poll. The recent results not only offered insights into the tangible benefits of thriving, they also uncovered a key catalyst for fostering it: access to AI.
The Benefits of Thriving
We are focused on fostering a culture of thriving because our research suggests that doing so can boost how effective our workforce perceives itself to be. We also found that employees who are thriving are likely to have the highest scores on our indicators of high performance, like productivity, effort, and impact
Additionally, survey results suggest that employees who are thriving are more likely to go above and beyond what is expected of them. They take more pride in their work and they are less apt to look for employment elsewhere.
Recent Employee Signals survey results give us some new insights about what it means to thrive in this new era of work. We discovered that higher scores on what we’ve identified as the most important factors that support thriving—finding meaning in work, feeling empowered, and feeling energized—also translate to a measurable boost in productivity. Furthermore, access to AI seems to correlate with higher scores on each of these pillars.
Meaningfulness: According to our data, employees who find their work meaningful are 59% more likely to say they are productive at work—and 28% more likely to say they put in extra effort. Key to that is minimizing time spent on tasks that don’t feel meaningful. This is where AI comes in: AI assistants can lighten the load by generating rough drafts, sifting through piles of data, or simply acting as a sounding board and brainstorming partner to help people nail down a plan of action. Crucially, incorporating AI into the day correlated to a 20% jump in scores relating to meaningful work.
“What we find is that AI is really there to help you take friction and toil out of the system, and to remove the drudgery of work,” Klinghoffer says. “And when people are able to remove some of that drudgery, we see that they’re more productive, and they thrive more.”
Empowerment: Survey results also point to a future in which AI empowers people in their jobs. People who are empowered do not feel they have resource constraints, and they aren’t overburdened with people telling them how to do their work, Klinghoffer says, “so they have more freedom to do things the way they want and need to get the job done.” Access to AI tools and resources, we found, correlated to 34% higher scores for questions related to empowerment.
Energy: Our employees who say they feel energized are 44% more likely to say they feel proud of their work, and 22% more likely to say they take the initiative to be productive and put discretionary effort into their work. All levels of AI use— learning about it, grasping its value, incorporating it into processes and products, or simply having AI resources—correlated to higher reported energy levels. In fact, scores on energy-related questions for those using AI jumped almost 27%.
These results offer solid evidence that AI can be a catalyst for thriving and high performance. But how a company goes about making AI available will determine whether the company can reap these benefits. If employees are equipped with the right knowledge, tools, training, and resources to leverage AI in their work, they can begin to tap the full potential of an AI companion.
The key to success, Klinghoffer says, is integrating AI in a way that spans culture, learning, and people management. That way, everyone will understand how AI can help them focus on the most meaningful work.
The ABCs of Thriving with AI
Klinghoffer recommends keeping the following blueprint top of mind.
Accelerate alignment: Strengthen connections between employees, the company’s mission, and the transformative potential of AI. Clarify how AI initiatives align with the company’s goals and employees’ roles. Celebrate contributions to AI projects to highlight their impact on the company and customers.
“Employees who felt more connected to the mission and really understood how their work fits into the larger system were also the ones who were really thriving,” says Ketaki Sodhi, Senior HR Data Analyst at Microsoft. “When we looked at Copilot and employee sentiment around AI, these were also the folks who were willing to experiment and find ways to use AI to take some of the drudgery out of the day-to-day.” Smart leaders should seek out those internal champions and offer them support and encouragement.
Be inclusive: Create an environment where all employees feel equipped to engage with AI. This includes providing AI education, training, and resources, as well as fostering a culture of innovation and supporting a safe space for experimentation. Regular check-ins and feedback sessions can help employees express concerns and share ideas related to AI. Once users are encouraged and equipped to explore the possibilities of AI, our research suggests that a time savings of just 11 minutes a day is all it takes for them to start to appreciate its value.
Cultivate collective growth: Create a culture that empowers employees to decide how to do their best work, while investing in moments that matter together. Provide employees with the flexibility to plan their days and create time to meaningfully engage with AI. Encourage them to explore how AI can help them free up time for creative and strategic work. Then highlight use cases and foster collaboration among teams to encourage knowledge sharing.
Collective growth encompasses in-role experiences (how do we create time and space for employees to learn within their role?) and beyond (what comes next for me? Is there a viable career that excites me at this company?). AI can help with both—by eliminating the drudgery that keeps employees from doing more creative work, and by facilitating positive employee movement. “You see a huge boost. People get excited doing something new, growing their skills and experiences, and furthering their career,” Klinghoffer says. “A couple of months ago on my team we had people who were interested in a different role raise their hands, and we facilitated changes for about 20% of my org.”
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