The best HR & People Analytics articles of September 2024
September has been a phenomenal month. Indeed, in the ten years I’ve been writing the Data Driven HR Monthly, I can’t recall a month when there has been so much insightful content to choose from. I believe this is indicative of the journey HR is on from its traditional role as a support function to becoming a true strategic partner to the CEO and the board. As Janine Vos, Managing Board Member and CHRO at Rabobank, highlighted this past week at the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat, people analytics has an important role to play in elevating the HR function and enabling it to successfully navigate this transition:
People Analytics helps give the chief human resources officer credibility (with the executive team and board).
This edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly is sponsored by our friends at Worklytics
A New Way to Approach Manager Effectiveness
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The Changing Role of the People Analytics Executive
My personal highlight of September was the 7th annual Insight222 Global Executive Retreat, which took place from September 24 to 26 at the Duin en Kruidberg for member companies of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®. I’ll share more about the Retreat in a separate blog in a few days time, but for now I'll highlight this year’s theme: The Changing Role of the People Analytics Executive, and the stellar cast of inspirational speakers:
Janine Vos discussed the strategic influence of the CHRO and the close partnership she has at Rabobank with the people data and innovation team led by Marc Jansen.
Prasad Setty shared insights from his 14 years leading people analytics at Google as well as painting a vision of the future of people analytics in the age of generative AI.
Kevin Friesen, Neora Myrow PhD, and Nancy Duarte delivered an interactive workshop on influencing through data storytelling.
Erin Meyer ended proceedings with a tour de force masterclass on leading across cultures I global organisations.
The Retreat is one of the services included as part of the Insight222 People Analytics Program. If you are a people analytics leader and would like to find out more, you can contact the team here.
Attendees at the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat 2024, Duin en Kruidberg, Amsterdam
September and October World Tour
As well as the Retreat, I’m speaking at and attending a number of events in October. This week, I’m in New York, moderating a panel on Workestration at the New York Strategic HR Analytics Meetup (Sept 30), and chairing People Analytics World (Oct 2 and 3). The next stop after that will be Paris, where I’ll once again have the privilege of hosting the main stage at UNLEASH World (Oct 16 and 17) - thanks to Marc Coleman and the team. Then it’s back to the US for the North America Peer Meeting for member companies of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®, which will be hosted by Phil Willburn and his team at Workday in Pleasanton (Oct 22 and 23). I hope to see some of you at one of these events. Thanks too to Marcus Downing for hosting me at the recent Mercer event in London where I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA (see here), and Jennifer Neumann for inviting me to speak at Workday Rising in Las Vegas (see here), where it was great to meet up with the likes of Priyanka Mehrotra, Richard Rosenow, and Cory Edmonds.
Speaking onstage at Workday Rising, Las Vegas, 2024
Register for an Insight222 webinar on October 10: Building the People Analytics Operating Model
Join me and the Insight222 team on October 10 when we’ll be hosting a webinar on the recently published research on. You can register for the webinar here.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for September 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 August’s compendium.
If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is published every Tuesday – subscribe here.
HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ANDY JASSY - Message from CEO Andy Jassy: Strengthening our culture and teams | JOSE MARIA BARRERO, NICHOLAS BLOOM, SHELBY BUCKMAN, AND STEVEN J. DAVIS - The Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes – September 2024 | ANNIE DEAN – Lessons Learned: 1,000 Days of Distributed at Atlassian
This special on hybrid work was inspired by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s announcement that Amazon is going back to five days in the office: “to further strengthen our culture and teams.” This comes hot on the heels of KPMG’s CEO Outlook Survey, which finds that CEOs are hardening their stance on returning to pre-pandemic ways of working, with 83 percent expecting a full return to the office within the next three years. Forensic analysis by Bruce Daisley (here), Phil Kirschner(here) and Nick Bloom (here) examines Amazon’s move and the validity of KPMG’s claim. This confirms that (1) Amazon is an outlier. (2) The findings by KPMG contradict the WFH Research that Nick is publishing every month, which shows working from home has remained flat since early 2023 and has stabilised at around 25% (see FIG 1). As Bloom suggest “shock sells,” which explains the extent of the media coverage about Amazon and the KPMG survey. To balance things out, I recommend reading about Dropbox’s Virtual First model (which chief people officer, Melanie Rosenwasser explains has “led to clear benefits, including higher employee engagement and retention.”). I also recommend reading a new report authored by Annie Dean summarising the findings from the first 1,000 days of Atlassian’s Team Anywhere approach to distributed work. As Rabobank’s CHRO Janine Vos urged in her session at Insight222’s Global Executive Retreat this week, the role of HR and People Analytics teams is to provide data that steers executive decision making around hybrid and return to office. It would be interesting to learn what data (if any) was used to inform Amazon’s decision to return to the office five days a week.
FIG 1: WFH is stable at c35% of days (Source: WFH Research)
BCG HENDERSON INSTITUTE - GenAI Doesn’t Just Increase Productivity. It Expands Capabilities
The ability to rapidly take on new types of work with GenAI - particularly tasks that traditionally require niche skills that are harder to find, such as data science - can be a game-changer for individuals and companies alike.
The BCG Henderson Institute follow-up their first landmark study on GAI in the workplace (see: How People Can Create - and Destroy - Value with Generative AI). The sophomore experiment tests how workers can use GenAI to complete tasks that are beyond their current capabilities. The findings from the study are illuminating: (1) Participants were able to instantly expand their aptitude for new data-science tasks, even when they had no prior experience in coding or statistics. (2) Those with moderate coding experience performed better on all three tasks, even when coding was not involved. This suggests that an engineering mindset - which coding helps develop - could be a key success factor for workers adapting to GenAI tools. The article also provides guidance on: When and how to pair humans with GenAI (see FIG 2), as well as visualising and detailing the workforce change-management implications (see FIG 3). (Authors: Daniel Sack, Lisa Krayer, PhD, Emma Wiles, Mohamed Abbadi, Urvi A., Ryan Kennedy, Cristián Arnolds, and François Candelon).
FIG 2: When and How to Pair Humans and GenAI (Source: BCG Henderson Institute)
FIG 3: Workforce and Change-Management Implications (Source: BCG Henderson Institute)
GARTNER - Hype Cycle for the Future of Work, 2024
Only 14% of organizations have reached the level of maturity where they are able to empower workers to embrace new ways of working.
Gartner’s inaugural Hype Cycle for the Future of Work (see FIG 4) highlights the core technologies set to transform how work is done by augmenting and enhancing human capabilities with intelligent technology. Five standouts from the analysis are: (1) Workers want a more personalised experience, and are building it for themselves. (2) CEOs are captivated by AI and are investing in new strategies. (3) Low digital workplace maturity is a barrier to improving worker productivity and time to competency. (4) Data Storytelling and Generative AI (already!) have entered the Trough of Disillusionment. (5) Hybrid Work and Self-Service Analytics are on the Slope of Enlightenment. The article also contains some illuminating analysis on a number of the ‘on the rise’ innovations including Exoskeletons (Tori Paulman), Cyberpsychology (Cynthia P.), Digital Twin of the Employee (Helen Poitevin) and Workforce Nudgetech (Rania Stewart). Thanks to Phil Kirschner for alerting me to this work in his excellent LinkedIn post on the study, which linked to an insightful article Phil co-authored with Natasha Ouslis, PhD and Dr. Julia Sperling-Magro on applying behavioural science and nudging to the workplace.
FIG 4: Hype Cycle for the Future of Work, 2024 (Source: Gartner)
NICKY DRIES, JOOST LUYCKX, AND PHILIP ROGIERS - What 570 Experts Predict the Future of Work Will Look Like
While it’s impossible to know exactly what the future of work will look like, it doesn’t stop (lots of!) people from having opinions. In their study, Nicky Dries, Joost Luyckx, and Philip Rogiers from KU Leuven, asked 570 experts to rank the likelihood of predictions made by technologists, economists and journalists. They landed on the sequence of events laid out in FIG 5, which get increasingly concerning and dystopian by the decade. Not one for the faint hearted!
FIG 5: A timeline of future of work predictions (Source: Dries et al)
MCKINSEY - Charting a path to the data- and AI-driven enterprise of 2030
Generative AI has increased the focus on data, putting pressure on companies to make substantive shifts to build a truly data-based organization.
These are the opening words to a recent article by McKinsey’s Dr. Asin Tavakoli, Holger Harreis, Kayvaun Rowshankish, and Michael Bogobowicz, which provides guidance on seven essential priorities for leaders to focus on to realise the data-driven enterprise of 2030. They argue that the key enabler to realising the potential of GenAI is data: “Without access to good and relevant data, this new world of possibilities and value will remain out of reach.” Three of the seven priorities outlined are (1) Data Leadership (“Companies need to find leaders skilled in governance and compliance, engineering and architecture, and business value"). (2) Talent (see FIG 6), and (3) Digital Trust.
FIG 6: New skills to manage GenAI will likely lead to both expanded and new data roles (Source: McKinsey)
PwC - 2024 Workforce Radar Report Executive Summary | Full Paper
The workforce of today won’t become the workforce of tomorrow unless businesses act right now.
But how? That’s the exam question that PwC’s inaugural Workforce Radar study attempts to answer across an insightful and thought-provoking report of 48 pages. The research identifies five workforce signals (see FIG 7) that business leaders and chief people officers can use to deliver enterprise-wide transformation. (1) Taking both a talent magnet and talent factory approach (e.g. levers such as meaningful work, skill-building, and culture). (2) Devising a location strategy that appreciates over time. (3) The intelligent enterprise – through HR harnessing and taking the lead on GenAI (see FIG 8). (4) Empowering transformation with a workforce balance sheet. (5) Investing in building transformative leadership. Kudos to the authors: Anthony Abbatiello, Julia Lamm, Reid Carpenter, Craig O'Donnell, and Christopher Hannegan.
FIG 7: Five Workforce Radar Signals (Source: PwC)
FIG 8: Emerging areas for Leading Digital HR Leaders to lean-in (Source: PwC)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
NAOMI VERGHESE, JONATHAN FERRAR, AND JORDAN PETTMAN - Building the People Analytics Ecosystem: Operating Model v2.0 ARTICLE | FULL REPORT
In the August edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I highlighted the new Insight222 study on the evolution of the people analytics operating model. This month I’d like to highlight one specific aspect of the report about the role of the people analytics leader. The research, which was conducted by my colleagues, Naomi Verghese, Jonathan Ferrar and Jordan Pettman, found that three profiles of people analytics leader are emerging (see FIG 9): (1) Data and Analytics Specialist Leader (focused on a scope for data and analytics research, insights and analytical product development and deployment). (2) Analytics-led Strategy Leader (encompassing a broad set of analytics responsibilities: consulting, research, employee listening, product development, reporting, data governance, workforce planning and AI). (3) Portfolio Analytics Leader (responsibility for people analytics and one or more other closely associated topic, such as people strategy, HR technology, HR operations, skills management, or employee experience). Read the report for more detail on each of the profiles together with examples of each leader persona Featuring Anthony Ferreras, Aashish Sharma, and Alexis Saussinan.
FIG 9: Responsibilities of the three people analytics leader personas, aligned to the People Analytics Ecosystem (Source: Insight222)
COLE NAPPER, JIN YAN, AND BEN ZWEIG - What is happening to people analytics? A 15- year trend (Part 1)
How has people analytics employment changed in the last 15 years, and specifically how has the environment changed in the last two years? That was the question that Cole Napper along with Jin Yan and Ben Zweig sought to answer after being inspired by Alexis Fink to analyse these topics. The study identified a number of interesting – and perhaps counterintuitive – findings. These include: (1) People analytics positions in the US have actually declined in the last two years – the data suggests more than 1,000 people have left the field during this time (see FIG 10). (2) 83% of people leaving the field move to roles outside people analytics but mostly in HR. (3) People analytics positions are sensitive to changes in interest rates and money supply.
FIG 10: People analytics positions have been decreasing in the last two years (Source: Revelio Labs)
PIETRO MAZZOLENI - People Data Excellence: Driving Quality through Empowerment, Standardization, and Automation
Ensuring high-quality (people) data is crucial for building leaders' trust in data-driven talent decisions and reducing the need for manual reconciliation. Moreover, maintaining top-tier data quality is essential for the successful implementation of AI and GenAI technologies.
In the latest edition of his excellent People Data Platform newsletter, Pietro Mazzoleni breaks down the three ingredients IBM brought together to build Workforce 360, IBM’s internal people data platform, and deliver people data excellence: (1) Empowerment (“Putting Data & Knowledge in the Hands of Users”). (2) Standardisation (“Establishing a Unified Approach for data and processes”). (3) Automation (“Enhancing Efficiency Through Technology”).
FIG 11: Source – Pietro Mazzoleni
HENRIK HÅKANSSON - People Analytics: Generative AI | AMIT MOHINDRA – Definitions of People Analytics | KEITH MCNULTY - The Three Most Common Statistical Tests You Should Deeply Understand | LAURA HILGERS - How to Measure Quality of Hire, According to 4 Experts | JILL BARTH - How people analytics transformed this org’s HR from old-school to inspirational
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. Five are highlighted in this month’s edition. (1) Henrik Håkansson highlights a common predicament for people analytics leaders – stakeholder requests to implement GenAI. He offers sage advice on the ideal response: “GenAI is a solution. So naturally I ask: What is the problem? What is the value? Why would GenAI be better than what we are doing today? Are we trying to save money and cut costs, or actually do things better or faster?” (2) Amit Mohindra assembles a handy list of definitions of people analytics. (3) As Keith McNulty explains, hypothesis testing is one of the most fundamental elements of inferential statistics. In his article, Keith uses an example to show three common hypothesis tests (Welch’s t-test, Correlation test, and Chi-square test of difference in proportion) and how they work under the hood, as well as showing how to run them in R and Python and to understand the results. (4) Laura Hilgers’ article on the elusive quality of hire metric is a must-read for people analytics and talent acquisition professionals. It features guidance from four experts in the field: Hung Lee, Tim Sackett, SPHR, SCP (see FIG 12 for Tim’s equation to measure quality of hire), Stacey A. Gordon, MBA, and Jennifer McClure. (5) Finally, Sonia Boyle, CHRL - chief people officer at Gore Mutual, explains to Jill Barth HR Tech Editor how people analytics has been at the centre of the company’s HR transformation.
FIG 12: How to measure Quality of Hire (Source: Tim Sackett)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
DAVE ULRICH - Realizing Talent Advantage: Evidence and Implications from the Organization Guidance System
In 2020, Dave Ulrich and his colleagues at The RBL Group, developed the Organization Guidance System (OGS), which was designed to align desired stakeholder outcomes across four human capital pathways: talent, organisation, leadership and human resources. Five years on, in a new series of articles, Dave provides an update on the key findings to date. In this article, Dave focuses on the talent pathway, highlighting ten talent investments that deliver stakeholder value, and then presents analysis from 187 companies on the relative impact of these investments across five stakeholder outcomes (see FIG 13). The article then describes how individual companies can use the OGS to guide investment in the areas that will provide them with the greatest return.
FIG 13: Heatmap of impact of ten talent initiatives on five stakeholder outcomes (Source: Dave Ulrich)
JILL GOLDSTEIN, CHRIS HAVRILLA, CHACKO THOMAS, AND CATHY FILLARE - Reimagine human potential in the gen AI era: Revolutionizing work to boost business value
With their unique perspective and understanding of organizational culture, workforce needs, skills development, and change management, HR leaders are well-positioned to take a leadership role in their organization’s future of work strategy.
A new study by the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oracle, highlights the top concerns facing executives around the future of work, including the need for a skills-focused foundation and a well-defined strategy. The big takeaway for HR leaders is that while executives acknowledge that HR contributes to their organisation’s future of work strategy, not enough of them are in the driver’s seat. Only one in five executives say HR owns the future of work strategy in their organisation today. The report provides guidance to HR leaders on possible actions: (1) Build a future-ready culture that encourages experimentation. (2) Give your workforce a voice in the future of work strategy. (3) Drive technology transformation and champion AI use case adoption. The report also highlights critical workforce skills that will increase in demand by 2026 (see FIG 14). (Authors: Jill Goldstein, Chris Havrilla, Chacko Thomas, and Cathy Fillare).
FIG 14: Critical workforce capabilities—increases from today to 2026 (Source: IBM Institute of Business Value)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
MCKINSEY - The gen AI skills revolution: Rethinking your talent strategy
Developing the software talent companies need to grow means thinking in terms of skills rather than roles to navigate this period of uncertainty around talent.
According to McKinsey research, nearly 70 percent of top economic performers, versus just half of their peers, use their own software to differentiate themselves from their competitors. GenAI offers an opportunity to multiply this value. In the article, Alharith Hussin, Anna Wiesinger, Charlotte Relyea, Martin Harrysson, Suman Thareja, Prakhar Dixit and Thao Dürschlag, provide guidance on: (1) The new skills software teams will require. (2) How their evolution will alter roles and risks. (3) How companies can orient their talent management practices toward developing skills for greater flexibility and responsiveness. This includes grounding strategic workforce planning in business needs and skills.
The talent transformation starts with HR leaders developing a strategic workforce plan that’s built around skills.
FIG 15: Generative AI affects every phase of the software development life cycle (Source: McKinsey)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
VOLKER JACOBS – Squaring the Circle: Why the old promise of P&O transformation –more for less – can finally be fulfilled
With effective, generative AI, P&O transformations can deliver a better, friction-free work experience for managers and employees. With a friction-free experience for managers and employees, we enable higher productivity and engagement levels. And it goes without saying that with AI taking on P&O tasks we can reduce cost of the function: More for less. Squaring the circle. Three ingredients: Data, AI, and EX.
In his thoughtful paper, Volker Jacobs, CEO at employee experience experts TI PEOPLE, highlights how HR transformations have historically undelivered their promise of more business value at lower cost. Instead, Volker argues, with the capabilities offered through AI and digitisation allied to rising expectations for better work experiences, the scene is now set to realise the dream of ‘more for less’. The catalyst? A shift from transformation focus on process to data as one of three ingredients to square the circle: Data, AI and Employee Experience leading to the business outcomes including improved productivity, better customer experience, and lower cost (see FIG 16).
FIG 16: Shifting HR transformation focus from process to data (Source: Volker Jacobs, TI People)
MALISSA CLARK - A Workaholic’s Guide to Reclaiming Your Life
In the latest edition of the Harvard Business Review, the Big Idea Series focuses on an increasingly important topic: Overcoming Overwork and Workaholism. Workaholism is defined in the lead article, by Malissa Clark, as: “Workaholism is when work dominates your thoughts and your activities, to the detriment of other aspects of your life, including but not limited to your relationships and your health.” Does that sound uncomfortably familiar? If so, like me you’ll probably welcome the six coping strategies Malissa outlines in her article: (1) Redefining “urgent”. (2) Reinventing the to-do list (see FIG 17). (3) Learning to say “no” and delegate. (4) Fixing the workaholic clock. (5) Controlling rumination. (6) Embracing rest and recovery.
Through mechanisms such as redefining what is and is not urgent, fixing the workaholic clock, and embracing rest and recovery, workaholics can unlearn toxic behaviors and reclaim their time and lives.
FIG 17: The Eisenhower Matrix (Source: Marissa Clark, Harvard Business Review)
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND LEARNING
PER HUGANDER AND AMY EDMONDSON - Skills Training Links Psychological Safety to Revenue Growth
Organizational performance can be improved by viewing psychological safety as a trainable skill that individuals develop with practice.
Hugander Per and Amy Edmondson present a case study from Nordic bank SEB where training for executives on psychological safety and perspective taking was identified as the catalyst that enabled the investment bank to achieve revenues 25% above yearly targets in a strategically important market segment. The article provides four recommendations for leaders who want to make progress on strategic challenges and improve financial results by leveraging psychological safety and perspective-taking: (1) Focus on two levels in parallel: individuals and teams. (2) Expand leadership responsibility. (3) Keep strategy and performance front and centre. (4) Link skills to short-term gains to counteract perceived costs. For more on psychological safety, tune in to Amy’s conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How Learning to Fail Can Help People and Organisations to Thrive.
ANDREW WHITE, ADAM CANWELL, AND MICHAEL SMETS - Is Your Organizational Transformation Veering Off Course?
Leaders who achieve successful transformations create and maintain an environment where people can experiment, learn, and take ownership of their work — and ultimately feel good about their effort
According to a study by Andrew White, Adam Canwell and Michael Smets, 96% of all organisational transformations face significant challenges that can derail the whole program. Their research identified that changes in a team’s emotional energy (“the collective mood, vibe, and intensity of emotions within a group”) can signal when a transformation is in danger (see FIG 18). They then reveal the three-step process successful leaders use to navigate a turning point – increasing transformation performance by 12 times from 6 to 72 per cent: (1) They look for shifts in the team’s emotional energy (e.g. lack of clarity on how to proceed, ineffective collaboration, decreased engagement). (2) They dig into the underlying issue at play – by involving the whole team to decide the course of action. (3) They get to action — quickly (e.g. by creating team alignment, adjusting organisational priorities, and investing in the skills and mindset required for the transformed company).
FIG 18: How emotional energy can signal a transformational turning point (Source: White et al)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
LORI NISHIURA MACKENZIE, SARAH A. SOULE, SHELLEY J CORRELL, AND MELISSA C. THOMAS HUNT - How DEI Can Survive This Era of Backlash
When they’re given adequate support — like protected time, advancement opportunities, leadership development, and compensation for their DEI work — ERG leaders can act as a strategic conduit between employees and organizational leaders.
Despite recent backlash against and cuts to organisational DEI initiatives, researchers from the Stanford VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab - Lori Nishiura Mackenzie, Sarah Soule, Shelley J. Correll, and Melissa C. Thomas-Hunt - argue in their Harvard Business Review article that DEI isn’t dead in the U.S. Instead, they say it’s experiencing a period of what social movement scholars call “closed doors,” where the obvious route for change is no longer easily accessible. They recently convened a gathering of 14 chief diversity officers (CDOs) to unpack what’s happening in their world. In the article, they highlight the striking similarities between current DEI strategies and the tactics used by feminist movement builders during times of closed doors — and present four strategies for continuing the important work of DEI while it’s under attack: (1) Sustain networks of people engaged in DEI work. (2) Preserve the collective memory. (3) Reframe and rename the work for survival. (4) Nurture the collective identity within the DEI community.
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 September that I recommend readers delve into:
JASON CORSELLO AND THOMAS OTTER | ACADIAN VENTURES - 2024 Future of Work 100 - An excellent resource compiled by Jason Corsello and Thomas Otter of Acadian Ventures counting down the top 100 venture-backed companies building businesses that make work better, fairer, more meaningful, and ultimately more productive. Together, the Future of Work 100 has raised a cumulative $29.5 billion with a total market valuation over $140.3 billion.
FIG 19: Source – Acadian Ventures
PHIL WILLBURN - Global Workforce Report: Top Talent Is Hard to Find, Harder to Keep – Phil Willburn, head of people analytics at Workday summarises the key findings of the recently released Workday Global Workforce Report: Restoring Trust Before Your Top People Leave covering hiring, turnover of top performers, meaningful work, and internal mobility. Phil also highlights the key actions for business leaders: (1) Rebuild trust through transparency. (2) Make work meaningful. (3) Personalise your employee experience efforts based on tenure. (4) Embrace AI strategically. An absolute must-read.
FIG 20: Current use of AI and ML for recruiting (Source: Workday)
CATHERINE COPPINGER - Manager Facetime: Why It's Useful and How to Measure It – The latest in a series of insightful articles by Catherine Coppinger of Worklytics analyses the importance of manager facetime and provides guidance on how to use the insights identified to improve team effectiveness.
FIG 21 – Source: Worklytics
BEN COWAN - You Don’t Need to Abandon Jobs to Become a Skills-Based Organization – Ben Cowan of Degreed explains that while jobs aren’t likely to disappear this shouldn’t hinder efforts by companies to adopt skills-based talent practices: “The reality is that moving away from jobs is not something most organizations are likely to do in the near term and it does not need to hold you back from adopting other skills-based practices.”
FRANCISCO MARIN - Towards a Network-First Future of Work – Francisco Marin of Cognitive Talent Solutions provides an insightful breakdown of the differences between Hierarchy-First and Network-First approaches across then organisational concepts (see FIG 22): “While hierarchies have long been the norm, favoring clear lines of authority and collaborative control, the network-first model prioritizes collaborative freedom, decentralization, and the strength of informal relationships.”
FIG 22: Hierarchy-First vs. Network-First Approach (Source: Francisco Marin)
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):
JEREMY SHAPIRO AND CHRIS SHULTZ - HR, Workforce Automation, and GenAI at Merck – Jeremy Shapiro and Chris Shultz join Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson on RedThread Research’s Workplace Stories podcast to share how (and why) Merck is embracing AI to streamline HR processes, support innovation, and maintain ethical considerations.
COURTNEY MCMAHON – People Analytics at Colgate-Palmolive – Courtney McMahon joins Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on the Directionally Correct podcast to discuss how to get a smaller people analytics function to punch above its weight, and how Colgate-Palmolive is using One Model to scale people analytics to HRBPs and the business.
KEITH MCNULTY – Applying Mathematical Principles to People Analytics Part 1 | Part 2 – In a two-part episode, Keith McNulty joins hosts Matthew Lampe, PsyD, Natasha Ouslis, PhD, and Bilal Alperen Ergun on the ScienceForWork podcast to discuss how mathematical principles can be applied to organizational data and people analytics.
JEFFREY PFEFFER - How Modern Work is Creating a Health Crisis - Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor of organizational behaviour at Stanford University and author of Dying for a Paycheck, joins Lars Schmidt on Redefining Work to discuss employee well-being and explore the harmful effects of workplace stress and poor working conditions on employee health.
SUE CANTRELL AND TRAVIS DION - Beyond productivity: Rethinking performance metrics – In an episode of Deloitte’s Capital H podcast, host David Mallon, talks to Susan Cantrell, and Travis Dion about moving beyond traditional employee productivity metrics —followed by a roundtable discussion featuring David, Sue, Julie Duda, and Diane Sinti.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
LASZLO BOCK - Former Google exec talks about what makes a strong CHRO candidate
In an interview with Human Resource Executive, Laszlo Bock, former Head of HR at Google and a arch proponent of people analytics, provides guidance on what makes a strong chief people officer. He emphasises the need for HR executives to develop their understanding of business beyond a simple familiarity with their company’s products and services: “It’s not that (CHRO candidates) don’t understand that we make widgets. It’s that they don’t understand why we’re willing to pay $1.3 billion to buy a company but not $1.4 billion.” For aspiring chief people officers, I’d also recommend investigating the Berkeley Transformative CHRO Leadership Program, where Bock is co-faculty director.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
RAVIN JESUTHASAN AND TANUJ KAPILASHRAMI – The Skills-Powered Organization: The Journey to the Next-Generation Enterprise
Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA and Tanuj Kapilashrami provide a step-by-step guide to designing, implementing and activating the skills-powered organisation. They outline why and how jobs are giving way to skills as the currency of work and why this pivot requires us to rethink everything we know about work. The inspiring cases presented in the book discuss how leading companies are reinventing themselves to be skills-based organisations and how this is helping them to transform value for customers, communities, and stakeholders.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
MARGRIET BENTVELZEN, CORINE BOON, AND DEANNE N. DEN HARTOG - A person centered approach to individual people analytics adoption – In their paper, Margriet Bentvelzen, Corine Boon, Deanne Den Hartog study people analytics adoption through the lens of the implementation of people analytics technology. They identify four profiles related to differences in user satisfaction and the frequency and versatility of PA technology use. They demonstrate that performance benefits, social influence, required effort, and facilitating conditions jointly affect the use of PA technology, but that the latter two might be the most influential factors. FIG 23 demonstrates the four user profiles identified in the paper: the skeptic diplomats, the optimistic strugglers, the optimists, and the enthusiasts. Thanks to Dirk Jonker for highlighting this insightful contribution to the field.
FIG 23: Source – Bentvelze, Boon and Den Hartog (2024)
FROM MY DESK
September saw the return of the Digital HR Leaders podcast after its summer sojourn with the first four episodes of Series 41, kindly sponsored by our friends at Visier Inc.. Thanks to Adedamola Adeleke and the team.
LYNDA GRATTON AND DIANE GHERSON - The Key Role of HR In Successfully Integrating a Blended Workforce – Lynda Gratton and Diane Gherson join me to discuss the impact of a blended workforce on organisational structures, the evolving role of managers, and the opportunities and challenges for HR.
ANGELA LE MATHON - How GSK is Using Data, Analytics and AI to Drive its HR Transformation - Angela LE MATHON, Vice President of People Data and Analytics at GSK, joins me to explore how GSK is utilising data-driven strategies and AI integration to future-proof their HR initiatives.
KEITH BIGELOW - HR’s Strategic Role in Managing the AI-driven Talent Restructure – Keith Bigelow, Chief Product Officer at Visier, joins me to explore the critical role HR plays in leading digital transformation—and how AI is changing the game.
TANUJ KAPILASHRAMI AND RAVIN JESUTHASAN - How to Build the Skills-Powered Organisation – Tanuj Kapilashrami and Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA join me to share insights from their book, The Skills-Powered Organisation: The Journey to the Next-Generation Enterprise (see Book of the Month). Tanuj also shares insights from the skills journey at Standard Chartered, including how the bank quantified a saving of $60,000 per person by upskilling and reskilling employees to redeploy talent from sunset jobs to sunrise jobs.
Skills [are] becoming the currency of work and work flowing not to jobs, but to skills... If done well, it has the massive power to unlock untapped productivity potential within the company.
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
Srikant Chellappa and the team at Engagedly Inc for including me in their 8th annual list of the 2024 Top 100 HR Influencers
Hallie Bregman, PhD for her wonderfully generous post following our meeting at the Boston People Analytics MeetUp organised by Ramesh Karpagavinayagam – Hallie, it was wonderful to meet you too.
Paul Daley for referencing the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Diane Gherson and Lynda Gratton in his post on how HR strategy needs to support the independent / blended / contingent workforce of the future
Similarly thanks to Olimpiusz Papiez for his post sharing his takeaways from the podcast episode with Diane and Lynda
Thanks also to Jaqueline Oliveira-Cella for her post, are you ready for the shift, which was also inspired by the podcast episode with Diane and Lynda
Piyush Mathur for providing his takeaways on insight without outcome is overhead in relation to his speaking sessions at the Peer Meetings in New York and Vevey for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
Esther Abraas for including my article, The role of Organisational Network Analysis in People Analytics, in her excellent list of ONA resources.
Wayne Tarken for his post on How AI can Help HR, which was informed by the digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Nickle Lamoreaux on how AI is transforming HR at IBM.
Thomas Kohler for including the podcast episode with Keith Bigelow in his weekly round-up of future of work resources.
The Talent Games for including me in their list of HR Leaders redefining the Future of Workin recognition of HR Professionals Day.
Finally, a huge thank you to the following people who shared the August edition of Data Driven HR Monthly and other content in the last few weeks. It's much appreciated: Craig Forman Zornitza Iankova, SPHR Brandon Merritt Johnson Hrvoje Bulat Rebecca Hone Michael Arena Emma Mercer (Assoc CIPD, MLPI) Dr. Max Muge Bakkaloglu Priyanka Mehrotra Kerry Ghize Deviprasad Panda Richard Stein Stela Lupushor David Balls (FCIPD) Emily Ricci Danielle Farrell Dan George Patrick Coolen Catriona Lindsay Katrina A. Stevens, CHRE Kouros Behzad Kathleen Kruse Martha Curioni Adam McKinnon, PhD. Greg Newman Dr Philip Gibbs Sally Smith Hanadi El Sayyed David van Lochem Amardeep Singh, MBA Rick Rome Ken Oehler Vaibhav Deshmukh María Victoria Sáinz Roshaunda Green, MBA, CDSP, Phenom Certified Recruiter Aysun Öz Serena H. Huang, Ph.D. Nelson Spencer Tristan Hack Penny Newman Vivek Ojha Aravind Warrier Francisca Solano Beneitez Kalifa Oliver, Ph.D. Stephanie Murphy, Ph.D. John Healy Greg Pryor Lewis Garrad Jose Luis Chavez Vasquez Audrey Burke-McCarthy, MBA, Adv Dip Coaching, MII Grad Aurélie Crégut Max Blumberg (JA) ?? Vanessa Monsequeira Shujaat Ahmad Jeff Wellstead Jackson Roatch Maria Alice Jovinski Rafael Uribe Truong Hong Ha (Mr Niem Tin) Dan Weiss David Hodges Toby Culshaw David McLean Dr. Peter Schulz-Rittich Timo Tischer Stephanie Denino Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN ?️ (née Schouten) Gianni Giacomelli Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR Placid Jover Andrews Cobbinah, MLPI, ACIHRM Emily Killham Al Adamsen Tim Frazier Tim Peffers Julie Asselin Chandresh Natu Anabel Fall Ralf Buechsenschuss Anna A. Tavis, PhD Marcela Niemeyer Meta McKinney, MLIS Aritra Majumdar Gustavo Araujo Vijaya Das Kirsten Edwards Graham Tollit Joy Kolb Remco van Es Ahmed Salah ?? Sebastian Knepper Melissa Beasley Bo Vialle-Derksen Malgorzata Langlois Abhilash Bodanapu Isabel Naidoo Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi Nirit Peled-Muntz Ron Ben Oz Littal Shemer Haim (ליטל שמר חיים) Joseph Frank, PhD CCP GWCCM Bob Pulver Jaejin Lee Kristhy Bartels Geetanjali Gamel Chris Hare Alicia Roach Caitie Jacobson John Gunawan Doug Shagam Davey Nickels Paul Davies Tatu Westling Mia Norgren Nick Lynn Alexandra Nawrat Gal Mozes, PhD Dave Millner Prachi Agasti Jacob Nielsen Matt Elk Chris Long Kimberly Rose Ilse Venter Søren Kold Irada Sadykhova Dave Fineman Agnes Garaba Sebastián Mestre Victoria Holdsworth Elpida Ormanidou Megan Buttita, MLIS Danielle Bushen Robert Bolton Stephen Hickey Dolapo (Dolly) Oyenuga Higor Gomes Irene Wong Ludek Stehlik, Ph.D. Sonia Mooney Mariami Lolashvili Joonghak Lee Raja Sengupta Swechha Mohapatra (IHRP-SP, SHRM-SCP, CIPD) Alfonso Bustos, Ph.D. Marcela Mury Olivier Bougarel Martijn Wiertz Veronika Birkheim
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 30 - New York Strategic HR Analytics MeetUp - Workestration: Working across human, digital and physical workplace dimensi (New York)
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.
CHRO
2024年09月29日
CHRO
David Green：The best HR & People Analytics articles of June 2024
David Green整理了最近的HR和PA的文章，其实最近也不仅仅是这方面的内容了，推荐大家可以了解看看，文章谈到了一些内容可以简单了解下：
Justin Taylor, Keith Sonderling, Guru Sethupathy的演讲
总结: 讨论了人员分析生态系统的最新进展和未来趋势。
Insight222研究报告《构建人员分析生态系统：运营模式v2.0》预览
总结: 探讨了如何构建和优化人员分析的运营模式。
TechWolf完成4275万美元B轮融资
总结: 该融资将进一步推动其在AI和人员分析领域的发展。
Mercer和MIT发布的《技能策略指南》
总结: 解释了为什么技能应成为重新思考工作的首要任务，以及如何在AI时代克服挑战。
关于混合工作模式对员工保留和生产力的影响研究
总结: 混合工作提高了员工满意度并减少了离职率。
组织网络分析（ONA）的应用
总结: ONA能够揭示传统组织图中缺失的协作和决策影响，有助于优化工作场所策略。
Insight222的网络研讨会《HR和人员分析中的AI应用》
总结: 探讨了AI在HR和人员分析中的应用及其影响。
McKinsey关于生成式AI的研究
总结: 生成式AI的采用激增，为组织带来了可衡量的业务价值。
Mark Mortensen和Amy Edmondson关于重新定义办公室返工对话的文章
总结: 提供了领导者如何通过重新定义对话来平衡面临面的工作和灵活工作的策略。
Rashleen Kaur Arora关于制定平衡组织和员工需求的返工策略的文章
总结: 提供了如何通过证据和员工反馈制定有效的返工策略的案例。
Pietro Mazzoleni关于HR中生成式AI的应用
总结: 讨论了根据数据成熟度做出明智选择的重要性。
Greg Newman关于AI聊天机器人的员工旅程
总结: 阐述了如何通过使用员工旅程语言来最大化数字工人的价值。
Martijn Wiertz关于生成式AI重新定义工作设计的文章
总结: 提出了一个愿景，即生成式AI帮助我们重新定义工作设计，创造更多时间用于重要任务。
Max Blumberg关于AI时代的人员分析职业的文章
总结: 探讨了在AI时代保持相关性的技能需求及其透明性。
Scott Latham和Beth Humberd关于自动化对工作的四种影响的文章
总结: 讨论了基于价值类型和交付方式的工作响应自动化的四种方式。
Deloitte团队关于组织网络分析（ONA）的文章
总结: 讨论了ONA在测量员工绩效和优化工作场所策略中的应用。
Dave Hodges关于基于研究的HR决策的文章
总结: 强调了基于证据的HR决策的重要性。
Henrik Håkansson关于人员分析中的“错失恐惧症”的文章
总结: 将“错失恐惧症”概念应用于人员分析领域。
Amit Mohindra关于“72法则”的文章
总结: 提供了一个解释增长率的关键参数的简单方法。
Louise Baird关于机器学习及其在人员分析中的应用
总结: 解释了监督学习和非监督学习在人员分析中的应用。
Martha Curioni关于将可解释的AI引入HR流程的文章
总结: 提供了在招聘、预测离职和评估晋升准备度等HR流程中应用可解释AI的例子。
Nick Jesteadt和Erin Fleming关于人员分析领域前沿问题的文章
总结: 强调了生产力、技能和产品化等人员分析中的常见主题。
Christopher Rosett关于人员分析立方体的文章
总结: 介绍了人员分析立方体的概念及其应用。
Willis Jensen关于寻找人员分析工作的文章
总结: 分享了关于如何成功过渡到新角色的见解和策略。
Gregory Vial, Julien Crowe和Patrick Mesana关于高级分析中的数据隐私风险管理的文章
总结: 介绍了五种数据隐私保护方法及其对数据可用性的影响。
Cathy O’Neil, Jake Appel和Sam Tyner-Monroe关于算法风险审计的文章
总结: 提供了帮助组织评估其AI工具和算法的简单框架。
Öykü Işık, Amit Joshi和Lazaros Goutas关于生成式AI风险管理的文章
总结: 提供了管理四种生成式AI风险的蓝图。
Josh Bersin关于首席人力官（CHRO）角色演变的文章
总结: 强调了CHRO在C-suite中的重要性及其角色的多学科性。
Jeanne Meister关于未来HR工作角色的文章
总结: 介绍了未来十年HR领域的十三个新兴工作角色。
Naomi Verghese关于HR技能提升的文章
总结: 分享了HR专业人员在数据咨询和沟通方面所需的关键技能。
MIT和Mercer关于技能驱动型组织的报告
总结: 探讨了在AI时代，技能驱动型组织的重要性及其益处。
Business Roundtable关于基于技能的内部流动白皮书
总结: 提供了推动技能验证和连接人员与机会的战略。
Microsoft关于混合工作环境中新员工入职的研究
总结: 强调了角色职责、反馈和资源对新员工成功的重要性。
Dave Ulrich关于绩效管理的文章
总结: 提出了一个四步流程来改善绩效管理系统。
Erin Meyer关于构建有效企业文化的文章
总结: 提供了六条指导原则，帮助管理者应对文化建设的挑战。
Rob Cross和Katheryn Brekken关于团队网络效应的研究
总结: 发现80%的团队未能达到其生产力潜力，并提供了提高团队绩效的六种策略。
Shujaat Ahmad关于AI对生产力和繁荣的影响的文章
总结: 提倡从生产力优先转向繁荣优先的AI模型，以促进公平和可持续发展。
BCG关于女性技术领导者在生成式AI中的领先地位的研究
总结: 发现高级女性技术领导者在生成式AI的采用方面领先于男性同行。
Richard Rosenow关于人员分析新兴趋势的文章
总结: 分享了人员分析领域的六大新兴趋势。
Alicia Roach关于战略性劳动力规划的文章
总结: 讨论了战略性劳动力规划在业务成功中的重要性。
Annie Dean关于团队状态的报告
总结: 发现使用AI的团队在协作方面表现更好。
Shay David关于HR技术从自动化到增强的演变的文章
总结: 解释了HR技术如何增强人类能力和丰富员工体验。
I’m putting the finishing touches to June’s Data Driven HR Monthly in the airport lounge at Minneapolis-St Paul after a successful peer meeting for more than 50 North American members of the Insight222 People Analytics Program. The two-day peer meeting featured speakers including: Justin Taylor Keith Sonderling Guru Sethupathy and a collaboration between Bennet Voorhees and Eunice Ok. We also previewed the soon-to-be-published 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 June included:
We also ran a peer meeting for European members of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which was hosted by Nestlé and featured sessions run by Nataliya Filonenko Michael Cox Alex Browne Thomas Tchako Nowe Piyush Mathur Jack Liu and Martin Janhuba.
We delivered an Insight222 webinar on AI in HR and People Analytics, which featured Andrew Elston Justin Shemeley and Jasdeep Kareer, PhD (née Bhambra). Watch the recording here.
In the HR Tech space, TechWolf announced a new $42.75m round of Series B funding. Congrats to Andreas De Neve ? Mikaël Wornoo? Jeroen Van Hautte ? and the team.
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 Mercer
Strategic Shift: Skills-Powered Organizations in the Age of AI
Forty-four percent of workers’ skills will be disrupted by technology in the next five years.*
To thrive through this disruption, businesses must adapt their operating models to perpetually reinvent themselves as demand for skills ebbs and flows with greater velocity and volatility.
The next-generation organization will be at the forefront of this strategic shift toward making skills the currency of work, cultivating a culture of talent sharing, automating work to take mundane tasks off employees’ hands, augmenting human creativity with AI, and reshaping the entire talent life cycle.
Find out how to make the shift to a skills-powered organization
The new Skills Strategy Guide from Mercer and MIT SMR Connections explores:
Why skills should be a top priority in rethinking work in the age of AI
The obstacles that stand in the way
Practical steps to overcome challenges and reap the rewards
Learnings from Standard Chartered Bank’s skills journey
How to build a skills-powered approach to work
Read the Strategy Guide
*Source: The World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs report
To sponsor an edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, and share your brand with close to 130,000 Data Driven HR Monthly subscribers, send an email to dgreen@zandel.org.
Heartfelt thanks to Richard Rosenow
It’s ten years since I published the first edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly (which featured pioneers like Luk Smeyers Andrew Marritt Ian OKeefe Jonathan Ferrar and Greta Roberts). Unbeknown to me, Richard Rosenow organised a wonderful surprise – see here. It’s such a kind gesture - thank you Richard and the One Model team for creating this and the 100 people - friends, colleagues, clients, and peers - many of whom have inspired me in my journey in the wonderful world of people analytics. Thank you too to my colleagues at Insight222 - and everyone who has contributed to the Data Driven HR Monthly over the last decade.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for June 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 May’s compendium (see Thank You section at the end of this issue).
If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is published every Tuesday – subscribe here.
HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
MCKINSEY - The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value
If 2023 was the year the world discovered generative AI, 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology.
New research from McKinsey highlights that adoption of AI – and GenAI – has surged in the last 12 months, that organisations are reporting measurable benefits, that there is increased mitigation of the risk of inaccuracy, and that there are a small group of high-performers leading the way. From a HR perspective, the study finds: (1) 12% of respondents are regularly using GenAI in HR. (2) Organisations most often see meaningful cost reductions from GenAI use in HR (see FIG 1). (3) HR functions are most often able to put their GenAI capabilities to use within one to four months. (4) Talent is one of six areas of best practice where high-performers are leading with GenAI (see FIG 2). (Authors: Alex Singla Alexander Sukharevsky Lareina Yee and Michael Chui with Bryce Hall)
FIG 1: Organizations most often see meaningful cost reductions from generative AI use in HR and revenue increases in supply chain management (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 2: Organizations seeing the largest returns from generative AI are more likely than others to follow a range of best practices (Source: McKinsey)
MARK MORTENSEN AND AMY EDMONDSON - Leaders Need to Reframe the Return-to-Office Conversation
Framing refers to how an issue is presented; it’s the meaning layered onto an issue or situation that shapes how people think about its objective facts. More precisely, it’s about re-framing: deliberately replacing taken-for-granted cognitive frames with more helpful ones.
Mark Mortensen and Amy Edmondson discuss the concept of ‘framing’ and its role for leaders in engaging in dialogue with employees about the balance between in-person and flexible working. They offer a three-step process to communicate flexible work policies: (1) Acknowledge the bind and be patient. (2) Focus on mutual value, not just organisational benefits. (3) Approach the process as data-driven, co-created, iterative learning. For more on this topic, listen to Mark in conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Foster Collaboration Within Hybrid Working Teams.
RASHLEEN ARORA - Design a Return-to-Office Strategy That Balances Organizational and Employee Needs
It’s becoming increasingly evident that rigid return-to-office (RTO) mandates can backfire by antagonising employees and impacting retention. Rashleen Kaur Arora presents Gartner research that outlines how HR leaders can craft a RTO strategy that balances organisational objectives with employee buy-in. The article includes a powerful case study on how Scotiabank implemented an evidence-based hybrid RTO model (see FIG 3).
FIG 3: Scotiabank’s role aligned hybrid personas (Source: Gartner)
PIETRO MAZZOLENI - Generative AI in HR: making smart choices depending on your data maturity | GREG NEWMAN - What's the employee journey of an AI chatbot? | MARTIJN WIERTZ - How will we use GenAI to redefine our Work Design: Creating Great Places to Be | MAX BLUMBERG - Saving your People Analytics Career in the Face of AI | SCOTT LATHAM AND BETH HUMBERD - Four Ways Jobs Will Respond to Automation
Organizations which provide an environment where the needs of the workforce are aligned with the outlines of the future will have the competitive advantage.
June saw a plethora of insightful reads about the impact of AI on HR and people analytics, so I’ve gathered five together here along with a prescient piece from 2018 on the professions most susceptible to automation. (1) Pietro Mazzoleni examines the importance of data maturity when it comes to the successful adoption of GenAI solutions in HR. (2) Greg Newman outlines why using the language of the employee journey will help your organisation maximise the value you gain from digital workers. (3) Martijn Wiertz presents a compelling vision where GenAI helps redefine our work design, creating time we can utilise for doing the work, care and training we need as a community – from great places to work to great places to be (see FIG 4). (4) Max Blumberg (JA) ?? explores how people analytics roles may evolve in the age of AI, the skills needed to remain relevant, and the importance of transparency in these issues within the people analytics community. (5) Finally, and thanks to Hung Lee for featuring it in a recent edition of Recruiting Brainfood, let’s revisit an article by Scott Latham and Beth Humberd that outlines four ways in which jobs will respond to automation based on two factors: the type of value provided and how it’s delivered (see FIG 5).
FIG 4: Source – Martijn Wiertz
FIG 5: Which Professions Are Most Vulnerable to Automation? (Source: Latham and Humberd)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
MAYA BODAN, DON MILLER, SUE CANTRELL, GARY PARILLIS, AND CARISSA KILGOUR - Harnessing organization network analysis (ONA): Measure workforce performance and optimize strategies
ONA reveals insights absent in traditional organizational charts—such as how people collaborate, who influences decision-making and/or operates in silos, and sentiments surrounding trust and influence.
A helpful primer on how to use Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) from the Deloitte team of Maya Bodan Don Miller Susan Cantrell Gary Parilis and Carissa Kilgour. Their article discusses the myriad of use cases ONA can be used for, including to: (1) Measure workforce performance, (2) Understand individual workforce performance, and (3) Optimise workplace strategies.
FIG 6: ONA can help uncover collaboration within an organisation (Source: Deloitte)
DAVE HODGES - Facts Over Fads: HR Decisions Grounded in Research |HENRIK HÅKANSSON - People Analytics: The fear of missing out | AMIT MOHINDRA - The "Rule of 72": A Gentle Reminder | LOUISE BAIRD - Machine Learning and its Applications in People Analytics | MARTHA CURIONI - Building Explainable AI Into HR Processes | NICK JESTEADT AND ERIN FLEMING - People Analytics Frontiers aka Why are We Asking the Same Questions Again? | CHRISTOPHER ROSETT - The People Analytics Cube
If you’re not practising evidence-based HR, what type of HR are you practising?
In recent editions of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I’ve featured a collection of articles by people analytics leaders. These act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Seven are highlighted here. (1) David Hodges takes inspiration from Rob Briner’s research to make the case for evidence-based HR. As Dave asks: “If you’re not practising evidence-based HR, what type of HR are you practising?” (see FIG 7). (2) Henrik Håkansson applies the popular concept of “fear of missing out” to people analytics in his astute article. (3) Amit Mohindra provides a handy explanation of the ‘Rule of 72”, which can be used to extract a key parameter from a growth rate. (4) Louise Baird breaks down the two different types of machine learning – supervised and unsupervised – and how it can be applied to people analytics. (5) Martha Curioni provides examples of building explainable AI into a range of HR processes including: hiring, predicting attrition, and assessing promotion readiness. (6) Based on their survey of people analytics practitioners, Nick Jesteadt and Erin Fleming highlight three common yet seemingly elusive themes in the field: productivity, skills and productisation. (7) Christopher Rosett breaks down the People Analytics Cube (see FIG 8) in his LinkedIn post with a nod to Alexis Fink.
FIG 7: What is being used in HR instead of evidence? (Source: Evidence Based HR: A New Paradigm by Rob Briner, Corporate Research Forum)
FIG 8: People Analytics Cube (Source: Christopher Rosett)
WILLIS JENSEN - Finding a People Analytics Job
One of the features of the people analytics field is that it is pretty fluid with many that work within it moving roles in the last 12-18 months – as evidenced by the invaluable People Analytics Job Board that Richard Rosenow oversees. In his article, Willis Jensen shares insights from his recent transition to a new role including: (1) Being very clear about what you want in your next job. (2) Don’t write an AI-generated cover letter. (3) Use a resume tool to help you tailor your resume for each job. (4) Do not use a shotgun approach of applying for hundreds of jobs. (5) Use LinkedIn as a job-hunting tool. For more on people analytics careers, listen to Serena H. Huang, Ph.D. in discussion with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Enhance Your Career in People Analytics.
ETHICS AND PRIVACY SPECIAL
GREGORY VIAL, JULIEN CROWE, AND PATRICK MESANA - Managing Data Privacy Risk in Advanced Analytics | CATHY O’NEIL, JAKE APPEL AND SAM TYNER-MONROE - Auditing Algorithmic Risk | ÖYKÜ ISIK, AMIT JOSHI, AND LAZAROS GOUTAS - 4 Types of Gen AI Risk and How to Mitigate Them
Three articles covering ethics, risk and privacy with regards to advanced analytics and AI, which should be invaluable to people analytics professionals and HR technologists alike. (1) Gregory Vial Julien Crowe and Patrick Mesana present five approaches to measuring data privacy and how each approach impacts on data usability (see FIG 9) before discussing mitigation strategies. (2) Cathy O’Neil Jacob Appel and Sam Tyner-Monroe, Ph.D. lay out a set of simple frameworks (see example in FIG 10) designed to help organisations evaluate that their AI tools and algorithms are fair and working as intended. (3) Öykü Işık Amit Joshi and Lazaros Goutas outline a blueprint for managing four types of generative AI risk (see FIG 11).
FIG 9: Five Approaches to Preserving Data Privacy (Source: Vial, Crowe and Mesana)
FIG 10: A Simplified Ethical Matrix (Source: O’Neil, Appel, and Tyner-Monroe)
FIG 11: Four types of AI risk (Source: Isik, Joshi, and Goutas)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
JOSH BERSIN - The Ever Expanding Role Of The Chief HR Officer (CHRO)
The CHRO must transform the HR team, moving from the “service delivery” model to an HR team of consultants, problem-solvers, and analysts.
Josh Bersin lays out a compelling case for the CHRO being the most important role of all in the c-suite now. He highlights factors such as the abundance of people challenges, labour shortages, organisation redesign, and globalisation. Josh also introduces his initial findings from a study of 47,000 CHROs: (1) There is a major increase in the C-level importance of the CHRO. (2) The CHRO job is multi-disciplinary, and more difficult than it looks. (3) The CHRO role is expanding. (4) Strong CHROs are now transforming the HR function. (5) The HR function is not developing itself - 80% of high-performing CHROs are external hires.
FIG 12: The two roles of the CHRO (Source: Josh Bersin)
JEANNE MEISTER – 13 HR jobs of the future
In HR, this is our Promethean moment as we navigate a complex future, one with limitless possibilities in how we work, where we work, who we work with and what we expect in our workplace.
Based on her conversations with HR leaders, Jeanne C M. presents 13 HR jobs of the future, which will emerge between now and 2030 (see FIG 13). Jeanne then explains how each of these roles “embody five core workplace themes enabling leaders to embrace reinvention as a strategy where humans and machines collaborate to deliver in which to the organization.” The five themes are: (1) Building GenAI literacy, (2) Working from anywhere, (3) Building human-machine partnerships, (4) Driving innovation and wellbeing in the workplace, (5) Creating a personalised employee experience.
FIG 13: 13 HR Jobs of the Future (Source: Jeanne Meister)
NAOMI VERGHESE - Investing in the Right Approach to Upskilling HR
When the CHRO and HRLT role-model the use of people data and analytics in their day-to-day job, then other HR professionals also use people data and analytics in their work.
Naomi Verghese shares the key findings from research she led at Insight222 to identify the key skills HR professionals need to consult and communicate effectively with data. The study, Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale, identified five essential skills for HR professionals: (1) Consulting, (2) Influencing Stakeholders, (3) Data Interpretation, (4) Building Recommendations from Insights, (5) Storytelling. The study also identified the importance of role-modelling by the CHRO and HR leadership team with regards to data literacy (see FIG 14, and above quote).
FIG 14: (Source: Insight222, Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
MIT SMR CONNECTIONS AND MERCER - Strategic Shift: Skills-Powered Organizations in the Age of AI
By making skills the backbone of their talent practices, organizations can better allocate people to projects, help employees explore different career paths, and gain the flexibility to allocate their capital more effectively as their needs change.
In their collaborative study, MIT and Mercer break down why skills should be a priority in rethinking work and people management in the age of AI. The report highlights the benefits for employees and employers of a skills-based approach (see FIG 15), provides practical guidance on how to overcome challenges, and provides powerful learnings from Standard Chartered’s skills journey. Features contributions from experts including Peter Cappelli Tanuj Kapilashrami Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA Brad Bell Joseph Fuller Tom Kochan and Audrey Mickahail.
FIG 15: Benefits of a skills-powered approach (Source: MIT and Mercer)
LINKEDIN LIVE: Skills-Powered Organizations in the Age of AI | JULY 24, 2024
Register to join Tanuj Kapilashrami, Ravin Jesuthasan and David Green for a LinkedIn Live discussion on Skills-Powered Organizations in the Age of AI on July 24 at 10.00am EST.
BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE - Skills-Based Internal Mobility Playbook Summary | White Paper
Skills are five times more predictive of a person’s future performance than their education
An excellent playbook compiled by the Business Roundtable on skills-based internal mobility, which is organised into five chapters covering critical areas such as stakeholder engagement, skills assessment and validation (see FIG 16), how to connect people with opportunities, how to measure success, and enabling technologies. Features examples from a myriad of companies including: Walmart, Chevron, Workday and Vistra. Thanks to Brian Heger for highlighting this resource in his excellent weekly Talent Edge newsletter.
FIG 16: Skill validation characteristics (Source: Business Roundtable)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
DAWN KLINGHOFFER, KAREN KOCHER, AND NATALIE LUNA - Onboarding New Employees in a Hybrid Workplace
New hires who are provided with clarity about their role responsibilities, feedback on how they are doing, and resources to help them answer questions are three to four times more likely to contribute to their team’s success during the first 90 days.
Now we are in the era of hybrid work, what’s the ideal way to onboard new employees today? That was one question that the people analytics team at Microsoft sought to answer in a recent study, along with: How can we ensure that new hires thrive while also supporting flexibility? The findings confirmed that onboarding to a new role, team, or company is a key moment for building connections with the new manager and team and doing so a few days in person provides unique benefits. But just requiring newcomers to be onsite full time doesn’t guarantee success. In their article, Dawn Klinghoffer Karen Kocher and Natalie Luna explain and provide examples of how onboarding that truly helps new employees thrive in the modern workplace is less about face time and more about intention, structure, and resources. For example, the study found that the top factors that make the most difference in onboarding new employees are clarity about role responsibilities, feedback on how they are doing, and resources to help them answer questions. New hires who are successfully set up with these three elements are three to four times more likely to contribute to their team’s success during the first 90 days. For more on Microsoft’s approach to employee thriving, which they define as: being energized and empowered to do meaningful work, listen to Dawn in conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How Microsoft Created A Thriving Workforce By Going Beyond Employee Engagement.
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND LEARNING
DAVE ULRICH - Reflections on Performance Management: How to Make Meaningful Progress
In May’s Data Driven HR Monthly, I featured a McKinsey article on a performance management system that puts people first. In his recent article, Dave Ulrich cites a number of sources highlighting that pretty much all stakeholders (including employees, executives and HR leaders) are unhappy with their performance management systems. Ulrich lays out a four-step process for performance management (see FIG 17) comprising: (1) Clarifying expectations with meaningful goals. (2) Measuring and tracking performance. (3) Allocating financial and non-financial rewards. (4) Having positive coaching conversations. Dave then highlights the recently launched Manifesto for Flourishing at Work, a collaboration of practitioners, consultants, and academics to reinvent performance management. He highlights three critical topics from the manifesto:
First, align performance and purpose by making sure that performance encourages progress towards a company’s purpose that includes all stakeholders. Second, manage the complex system of performance by focusing both on individuals within the system and also the system itself. Third, ensure that leaders are secure enough in themselves to use their power to empower others and to allow employees to contribute to their own improvement.
FIG 17: Performance management process – four steps (Source: Dave Ulrich)
ERIN MEYER - Build a Corporate Culture That Works
If you hire people whose personalities don’t align with your culture, no matter what else you get right, you are unlikely to get the desired behaviors.
Ever since Peter Drucker’s infamous assertion that “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” it has been widely acknowledged that managing corporate culture is the key to business success. Yet the link between ‘values’ and ‘behaviours’ is often stark. As INSEAD professor Erin Meyer asks in her latest Harvard Business Review article: “If culture eats strategy for breakfast, how should you be cooking it?” Erin blends in examples from the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Airbnb, Pixar and others and presents six guidelines to help managers who are confronting the challenges of culture building: (1) Build Your Culture Based on Real-World Dilemmas. (2) Move Your Culture from Abstraction to Action. (3) Paint Your Culture in Full Colour. (4) Hire the Right People, and They Will Build the Right Culture. (5) Make Sure that Culture Drives Strategy. (6) Don’t Be a Purist. An absolute must-read. At Insight222, we’re delighted that Erin Meyer will be speaking at our Global Executive Retreat in Amsterdam in September. The Retreat is exclusively for member companies of the Insight222 People Analytics Program. Click on this link to find out more.
ROB CROSS AND KATHERYN BREKKEN | I4CP - The Team Network Effect™: How Precision Collaboration Unleashes Productivity
A new study of 1,400 organisations on team effectiveness, led by Rob Cross and Katheryn Brekken, Ph.D. for The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), finds that 80% of teams fall short of reaching their full productivity potential due to corporate dysfunction. The study identifies six snares that stifle team performance (see FIG 18), and provides powerful examples including from Roche, which found that efforts to increase geographic and cross-functional collaboration across teams in 89 countries reaped a direct revenue impact of $500 million in less than two years.
FIG 18: How companies rank against the six dysfunctions that stifle team performance (Source: i4CP)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
SHUJAAT AHMAD - From Productivity to Prosperity: The AI Shift Leaders Must Embrace
The jobs most at risk from AI automation are jobs occupied by women and minority racial groups. In his compelling essay, Shujaat Ahmad argues that this calls for a shift from the current focus on a productivity-only AI model (with an emphasises on cutting costs at the expense of worker well-being and creativity) to a prosperity-first AI model, championing AI's potential to improve human life, promote fairness, and ensure sustainable progress alongside economic growth. Shujaat then breaks down the differences between the two models in four scenarios: software development, product management, go-to market, and recruitment (see FIG 19), as well as outlining three steps for leaders seeking to build a prosperity-first AI strategy: (1) Adopt a Prosperity-First True North and Accountability Measures for AI Adoption. (2) Put Employees in the Pilot Seat. (3) Commit to Responsible AI Development; Integrate AI Ethically and Inclusively.
FIG 19: Productivity Only vs. Prosperity First AI – Recruitment (Source: Shujaat Ahmad)
BCG - Women Leaders in Tech Are Paving the Way in GenAI
A recent BCG study finds that that senior women in technical functions are ahead of their male peers in adopting GenAI—but junior women are lagging behind (see FIG 20). The study identifies three key attributes that correlate with gender disparities in GenAI adoption: (1) Awareness of GenAI’s criticality to job success. (2) Confidence in GenAI skills. (3) Risk tolerance for using GenAI prior to having a company policy. The authors (Maria Barisano Neveen Awad Adriana Dahik Julie Bedard Uche M. Gunjan Mundhra and Katherine Lou) conclude that if the number of senior and junior women with GenAI skills increases, then it’s likely that women’s representation in tech leadership will grow, and call for highly targeted upskilling programs, leadership advocacy and change management.
FIG 20: Women leaders in tech are ahead in GenAI adoption (Source: BCG)
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 June that I recommend readers delve into:
RICHARD ROSENOW - 6 Emerging People Analytics Trends for a People-Focused Future – Richard Rosenow of One Model shares his observations on shifts in the people analytics field including related to regulation, team structure and focus, and the people data supply chain (see FIG 21). Definitely worth a read.
FIG 21: The People Data Supply Chain (Source: One Model)
ALICIA ROACH - Want Better Business Planning? Budgeting? Recruiting? Read This! – Alicia Roach of eQ8 provides a treatise on the rising importance of strategic workforce planning: “SWP is a business planning and forecasting process that just happens to be grounded in people.”
FIG 22: Source – eQ8
ANNIE DEAN – State of Teams 2024 – Annie Dean presents Atlassian’s newly published report on the State of Teams, which has a plethora of insights including that teams and leaders who use AI are better at collaborating.
FIG 23: Team that use AI on a regular basis (Source: Atlassian)
SHAY DAVID - From Automation To Augmentation: The Evolution Of HR Tech – Shay David of retrain.ai explains how leveraging HR technology to enhance human capabilities and enrich the employee experience is transforming the workplace.
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):
REID HOFFMAN - Gen AI: A cognitive industrial revolution - In this episode of At the Edge, Reid Hoffman speaks with McKinsey’s Lareina Yee about the generative AI revolution and how it can teach users to understand and harness its power.
PATRICK COOLEN – The Evolution of People Analytics – In a fascinating episode of the Talent Intelligence Collective podcast, Patrick Coolen joins hosts Toby Culshaw Alan Walker and Alison Ettridge to discuss all things people analytics and the factors that drive success.
MARCO BURELLI – Shaking Up Silos – Marco Burelli joins the HR Visionaries podcast to walk through the HR transformation journey at TomTom including breaking down old silos to create a more unified and dynamic team structure.
JOSH BERSIN - A New, Transformed Role For The HR Business Partner – Josh Bersinoutlines some of his latest research in relation to the new and transformed role of the HR Business Partner, which as Josh says has become pivotal to a company’s successful people strategy.
SHUBA GOPAL - Computational Biology Helps People Analytics with Small Samples & More – In another must-listen episode of the Directionally Correct podcast, Shuba Gopal joins hosts Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD to discuss how techniques gleaned from computational biology can help in people analytics.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
PRASAD SETTY – Tech It Up a Notch: GenAI for HR Leaders
In his keynote at the i4CP Next Practices Now Conference, Prasad Setty, formerly Head of People Analytics at Google, breaks down the opportunities and challenges of GenAI in organisations and posits a path forward for HR leaders to champion humanity in the workplace. At Insight222, we’re delighted that Prasad will be speaking at our Global Executive Retreat in Amsterdam in September. The Retreat is exclusively for member companies of the Insight222 People Analytics Program. Click on this link to find out more.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
SHARNA WIBLEN - Rethinking Talent Decisions: A Tale of Complexity, Technology and Subjectivity
In ReThinking Talent Decisions, Sharna Wiblen, presents an uncomfortable truth: Talent decisions are always subjective. Drawing on examples from business, sports, movies and everyday interactions, Sharna emphasises the importance of understanding complexity and encourages deliberate, intentional, and informed decisions and conversations around talent. For a teaser from the book, read my expert interview with Sharna: Rethinking Talent Decisions and Navigating Subjectivity in HR.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
NICHOLAS BLOOM, RUOBING HAN, AND JAMES LIANG - Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance
There are a lot of opinions about the impact of hybrid work and some executives argue that it damages productivity, innovation and career development. But what does the data say? In their study, Nick Bloom Ruobing Han and James Liang find that hybrid working improved job satisfaction and reduced quit rates by one-third. The reduction in quit rates was significant for non-managers, female employees and those with long commutes (see FIG 24). For more from on this topic, listen to Nick Bloom in conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: Unmasking Common Myths Around Remote Work.
FIG 24: WFH cut attrition by 33% overall, and had a particularly strong effect for non-managers, women and those with longer commutes (Source: Bloom et al)
FROM MY DESK
June saw the final three episodes of series 39 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, which was kindly sponsored by our friends at Crunchr. Thank you to Ralf Bovers and Dirk Jonker for your partnership and support. Also included are two articles inspired by series 38 and 39 of the podcast respectively.
DIRK JONKER – Driving Business Transformation with Advanced People Analytics - Dirk Jonker, one of the most knowledgeable and passionate leaders in the people analytics field, joins me to discuss how people analytics is enabling HR to play a more active role in business transformation and strategy.
ARMAND SOHET - Painting the Future of HR with AI, Analytics and Curiosity - Armand Sohet, Chief Sustainability, HR, and Communications Officer, joins me to discuss how a data-driven approach to HR has led to substantial cost savings and efficiency gains at AkzoNobel.
ERIN GERBEC – How Cardinal Health Transformed Their People Analytics Function – Erin Gerbec, Ph.D. shares insights from her three-year journey of transforming the people analytics operating model at Cardinal Health, and how they shifted from a build to a buy strategy for its people analytics platform.
DAVID GREEN - Revolutionising Workplace Experience through Employee Insights and Analytics – In this article for myHRfuture, I look at how people analytics and AI is reshaping the employee experience through the eyes of recent guests on the Digital HR Leaders podcast including Loren I. Shuster Nickle LaMoreaux and Craig Starbuck, PhD.
DAVID GREEN - How can HR leaders use people analytics to uncover and address inclusivity gaps? – A round up of series 39 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, with insights from Daisy Auger-Domínguez (she/her/ella), Kate Bravery, and Ilya Bonic as well as Dirk, Armand, and Erin.
PETER SCHULZ-RITTICH AND DAVID GREEN – D as in Data Analytics – In June, I also had the pleasure of joining Dr. Peter Schulz-Rittich Caroline Amalie Allard and Christina May on ISS’s A People and Culture Podcast to discuss the power of people analytics within HR, where we are today – and where we are going.
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.
THANK YOU
Thomas Kohler for including the May edition of Data Driven HR Monthly in his round-up of resources for HR professionals
Amit Mohindra (here), Oliver Kasper (here) and Michelle Deneau (here) for sharing details on the Insight222 People Analytics Trends survey for 2024
Neeru Monga (here), Agostina Verni (here), and Tristan Hack (here) for sharing takeaways from the recent Insight222 webinar on Transforming HR and People Analytics with AI.
Sharon Saldanha for sharing her key learnings on the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Kate Bravery and Ilya Bonic on the importance of skills and trust
Similarly, Olimpiusz Papiez also highlighted the relationship between trust and employee engagement, productivity and retention, which Ilya, Kate and I discussed in the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode: Navigating the Future of Work: AI, Skills, and Trust in the Modern Workforce.
Marcela Niemeyer for recommending and sharing her key learnings on the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Nickle Lamoreaux on How IBM uses AI to transform HR.
Harisenin.com for including me in their list of 12 people to follow for HR professionals on LinkedIn.
Aurélie Crégut for sharing her key takeaways (here) from the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Dirk Jonker: Driving Business Transformation with Advanced People Analytics
Alicia Roach for posting about the fifth anniversary of the Digital HR Leaders podcast (see here), which included her episode, How Strategic Workforce Planning Contributes to Business Success, ranking in the top 10 most listened to episodes!
Sonali Kumar for sharing her learnings on the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Piyush Mehta, How to Create Personalised Employee Experiences.
Thank you to everyone that contributed to the amazing video celebrating ten years of the Data Driven HR monthly: Sue, Jeremy. Eden, Kalifa, Lexy, Greg, Adam, Dawn, Chris, John, Jonathon, Kris, Greg, Paul, Anna, Cole, Shannon, Al, Toby, Thomas, Dirk, Antony, Alan, Michael, Ian, Chris, Craig, Andrew, Alexis, Patrick, Sanja, Dan, Mark, Ben, Sukumaran, Stela, David, Christopher, Daisy, Serena, Tony, Chad, Pietro, Kathi, Casey, Gabe, Lydia, Mark, Allen, Nicole, Nicholas, Stephanie, Andrew, Ramesh, Hallie, Dave, Roxanne, Matt, Max, Stacia, Travis, Jordan, Kelly, Ethan, Bethany, Rob, Anthony, Meg, Shawn, RJ, Jordan, Justin, Tanmay, Jon, Christine, Nick, Madhura, Brian, Raja, Henrik, Ben, Ben, Prasad, Maja, Stacey, Courtney, Buddy, Kristin, Shujaat, Gary, Alicia, Fabian, Philipp, Irene, Nick, Ryan Hammond, Amit Mohindra Gregor Teusch and of course Richard Rosenow.
Finally, a huge thank you to the following selection of people who shared the May edition of Data Driven HR Monthly. It's much appreciated: Viktoriia Kriukova (Вікторія Крюкова) Juan Antonio Vega Davina Erasmus Dan Riley Danielle Farrell, MA Ugur Zel (Prof. / ACC) Veronika Birkheim Chris Louie Jaqueline Oliveira-Cella Ganchimeg Gantulga EDLIGO Talent Analytics and Learning Analytics Ken Oehler Nick Lynn Sohil Varshney Jackson Roatch Graham Tollit RADICL Adam Tombor (Wojciechowski) Reshma Mawji Jeremy Carpenter, M.S., MPA Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR Bilal Laouah Catriona Lindsay Ayomide Ebietomiye Irada Sadykhova Caroline Arora Lawson Iduku German Arciniegas Brandon Merritt Johnson Jim de Vries Dave Millner Aravind Warrier Terrance Edwards David Simmonds FCIPD Stefano Di Lauro Francesca Caroleo, SHRM-SCP, ICF-ACC Emmanuel Dominick Chris Long Cedric Borzee Maria Alice Jovinski Aurélien GOZET Aizhan Tursunbayeva, PhD, GRP Susan Knolla Markus Graf Matt Elk Robert Newry Anil Saxena Fresia Jackson Conor Gilligan Alexandra Nawrat Hanadi El Sayyed Kannu Priya Arora Patrick Svensson Phil Inskip Jennifer Moore John Gunawan Ann-Marie Clayton Johnson Roshaunda Green, MBA, CDSP, Phenom Certified Recruiter Rebecca Thielen Shilpa Shah Tom Morehead PCC,MBA,SPHR David Balls (FCIPD) Meghan M. Biro Sebastian Kolberg Olivier Bougarel Catherine Coppinger Aimee Wilkinson Andrew Bamber Matt Higgs MBA FCIPD Chandresh Natu David Duewel Nicola Wood Andrew Pitts Kerrian Soong Andrés García Ayala Sanja Licina, Ph.D. Jeremy Shapiro Chris Lovato Tatu Westling Ken Clar Brandon Roberts David van Lochem Placid Jover Ohad Geron Carly Fordham Tobias W. Goers ツ Dave Fineman Laura Thurston Higor Gomes Kirandeep Chakrabarti Stephen Hickey Liz Mackay Lina Makneviciute David McLean
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:
June 25-26 - Insight222 North American Peer Meeting (Minneapolis, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
July 24 - LinkedIn Live - Skills-powered organizations in the Age of AI, with Ravin Jesuthasan and Tanuj Kapilashrami
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.
3 Non-Obvious Ways to Advance Your HR CareerLet us take a look at 3 non-obvious ways to advance your HR career with William Taylor. (a VP at Workforce.com with 7 years of experience helping major companies develop better workforce management and HR practices)
Summary
Work in human resources on a small team at a small company. – More
Focus on strategy by automating administrative work. – More
Understand how HR impacts your company’s bottom line. – More
When it comes to most HR career advice, the conversation is often dominated by talks of SHRM vs. HRCI accreditation, postgraduate study opportunities, or job hopping to get ahead.
While these are all legitimate pathways to career growth, you’re probably already aware of them. They also lean further towards how to get a pay raise rather than how to become better at HR. So here are three ways you may not have thought about that can boost your HR expertise and advance your career.
1. Do HR at a smaller company
Running HR at a small company gives you the ability to take more ownership, see how every part of HR operates, and take part in more strategic initiatives.
This is often discouraged because many processes aren’t built out at smaller companies, but this is precisely why it’s a great opportunity. You get to be the one that builds out HR from the ground up.
What constitutes a small company is hard to define, but an excellent place to start is somewhere smaller than where you currently are. Other good rules of thumb are fewer than five people in the HR department or less than 1,000 total employees.
2. Give yourself time to work on strategic HR
Probably the biggest complaint about career advancement is that there isn’t time to work on strategic HR initiatives because HR is bogged down in busy work. This is a fair assessment. Some of the biggest culprits are collecting onboarding documentation, updating employee details, and fielding payroll queries.
Don’t accept this reactive approach to HR.
Get rid of the paper onboarding, let staff add their own availability and PTO, and allow them to access payroll details like their direct deposit information and electronic pay stubs.
By automating these processes, HR is no longer the middleman between front-line staff and an outdated HRIS. Instead, HR actually has time to pursue valuable strategic initiatives like employee retention and talent development.
3. Understand the commercials of your company
For most people, advancing their careers often involves promotions to more senior positions. While your technical HR skills help you on this journey, a firm understanding of how your company operates financially becomes probably the most essential tool in your toolbox as you develop seniority.
The most crucial part for HR is understanding budgets. Both overall and team budgets, as well as HR budget metrics, like labor spend, cost of employee turnover, etc. This will help you justify the value of HR initiatives and show their impact on the bottom line.
Secondly, you need to understand the business you’re in. Learn who your customers are, how your service or product solves their problems, and what role each team plays in that process. Doing so will help you make better decisions in HR, but it will also help to make other teams respect you.
Both of these are essential if you ever want to become a CHRO.
Next steps
You’re probably not going to be able to do everything listed. Moving to a smaller company is a big step, but eliminating busy work to free up time for strategic HR and understanding your company’s commercials are two steps you can begin immediately.
Schedule, engage, and pay your staff in one system with Workforce.com.
SOURCE Workforce
Sana Raises Additional $28M Led by NEA to Build the Universal AI Platform for the EnterpriseSana, a company focused on building a universal AI platform for the enterprise, has secured an additional $28 million in funding, with NEA (New Enterprise Associates) leading the investment round. This infusion of funding will undoubtedly help Sana advance its mission of creating an AI platform that caters specifically to the needs of businesses.
The Swedish-born Sana scaleup becomes one of Europe’s most highly-funded AI companies with $62M in total Series B funding
May 31,2023 Sana, the leading AI-powered learning and knowledge platform, announced today it’s landed another $28m in an opportunistic investment round led by NEA. Workday Ventures also joined the round. With a combined total of $62m in Series B funding, the Swedish-born scaleup is now one of the most highly-funded AI companies.
Sana's mission is to augment human intelligence through artificial intelligence. To that end, the company has built a category-defining product that blends the best of enterprise search, a learning management system, meeting tools, and a knowledge management system into one single platform.
Underpinning this suite of tools is Sana AI, the company's latest release. Sana AI is an omnipresent assistant that can do everything from search across all your company's apps and take actions in response to natural language commands to generating real-time summaries of live meetings and creating entire learning courses from scratch, and writing SQL to query your data. In other words, it's like ChatGPT for your company's knowledge.
By augmenting an organization's ability to capture, organize, and access knowledge at every step through AI, Sana enables any team to move faster and be more productive—from sales and customer support teams to product specialists and software engineers.
"At Sana, we believe every organization's mission depends on the collective intelligence of its employees. That intelligence depends on knowledge, yet most institutional knowledge today is scattered across multiple tools, trapped in people's minds, and lost in verbal conversations. AI is the key to solving this problem at scale. By unlocking knowledge for every employee across any organization, we unlock global progress," said Joel Hellermark, founder and CEO of Sana. "We're thrilled to have the support from NEA and strategic investors like Workday Ventures on this mission."
Sana wasn’t looking for funding when NEA made its proactive offer. The scaleup had a healthy runway having closed a $34m Series B round led by Menlo Ventures last December. One of the reasons for the additional investor interest is commercial performance: Sana has grown its business 3x year over year.
NEA will be represented on Sana's board by CEO Scott Sandell and Managing Director Philip Chopin. Since joining NEA in 1996, Sandell has played a critical role in many industry-transforming businesses, including Robinhood, Salesforce, Tableau Software, and Workday.
"Sana's past track record and current trajectory are exceptional. Thanks to top talent, bold vision, and rare organizational alignment, we believe they've already built a world-class learning and knowledge platform. But what excites us most is where Sana is going next: indexing every form of an organization's functional data through LLMs to become the de-facto AI platform for the enterprise. The use cases for this type of product are endless," said Scott Sandell, CEO at NEA.
In addition to Sana's commercial growth and ambitious team, NEA was impressed by the level of customer advocacy. The platform is used by an impressive client roster of market-leading companies like Merck, Kry/Livi, and Svea Solar—all of whom praise Sana's superior user experience and product velocity.
"Since day one, we've been amazed at Sana's pace of innovation and commitment to addressing customer feedback. The platform is more than a tool—it's become Svea Solar’s home for learning and knowledge. We see the latest iteration of Sana AI as a productivity game-changer, " said Hanna Manberg, CHRO at Svea Solar.
With the additional funding, Sana will continue expanding its product development and commercial teams across Stockholm, London, and New York offices. Sana's headquarters will remain in Stockholm, where founder and CEO Joel Hellermark founded the company aged 19, six years after teaching himself to code in C.
"Joel is an exceptional founder. This Series B extension is a testament to his technical and commercial prowess and visionary leadership. As we enter the new age of artificial intelligence, we believe the Sana team is well positioned to become one of the world's most successful and impactful AI companies," said Philip Chopin, Managing Director at NEA UK.
About Sana
Sana is an AI-powered learning platform that empowers organizations to find, share, and harness the knowledge they need to achieve their missions. Backed by some of the world's leading investors, operators, and founders, Sana has raised more than $85m to date. The company's headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in London and New York. For more information, head to www.sanalabs.com.
About NEA
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. Founded in 1977, NEA has over $25 billion in assets under management, as of March 31, 2023 and invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of investing includes more than 270 portfolio company IPOs and more than 450 mergers and acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.nea.com.
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