People Analytics:Introducing the Visier Path, a Proven Route to Business ImpactVisier Path是一种策略框架,旨在指导组织通过人员分析的旅程。它汇集了十多年的专业知识和数千个成功部署的精华,为HR和业务领导者提供了一个清晰、易于访问的“地图”。该框架将人员分析活动和HR实践与CHRO的战略优先事项对齐,提供了一个灵活、经过验证的途径,以实现显著的业务影响。通过先锋类比,它强调了从原始数据到可操作见解的演变,确保组织可以根据特定目标和策略定制他们的旅程。推荐阅读这篇文章:
The Visier Path is the framework we use to guide our cuhttps://www.visier.com/path/stomers to solve the people challenges they care about most. It’s a distillation of our deep people analytics expertise spanning thousands of successful deployments over a decade.
Here, VP of People Analytics, Ian Cook, explains what the Visier Path is, how it can help you, and why we’re sharing this “uniquely Visier” concept with the world.
Pioneering in people analytics
Traveling through the Rockies on North America's West Coast is a stunning journey. The land is vast and varied. Driving through high peaks and dense forests, one cannot help but ponder the fates and fortunes of the pioneers who first attempted to travel from east to west.
Their journey, likely slow and difficult, laid the foundation for current-day road journeys. We cruise effortlessly along a smooth, well-engineered, and clearly marked highway. Following the path created by others, we can be certain of a speedy trip to our destination.
People analytics was once a new concept that had to be pioneered. Back in the late 90’s, academic institutions started to pursue the work that we now call people analytics. They saw the promise of studying the “digital records” of employees to look for trends that could benefit the whole organization.
Flash forward to today: people analytics is now a well-established discipline, with commonly accepted approaches and a detailed understanding of how to build a successful practice.
Visier played a pioneering role in making this happen. We were the first purpose-built analytics platform for people data, and we’ve supported thousands of organizations as they founded and scaled their PA teams. As an organization, we’ve gathered a lot of knowledge about how to get from A to B in people analytics. Now, our goal is to smooth and speed the people analytics journey for you.
Introducing the Visier Path
When you choose Visier, you get access to a vast amount of knowledge not available anywhere else. The Visier Path distills the wisdom from over a decade of experience into one straightforward “map” that’s accessible to HR and business leaders alike.
Consider The Visier Path a guide that outlines exactly which people analytics activities and HR business practices are required to achieve a CHRO’s key strategic priorities.
Guiding you toward the right business impact
How, exactly, does the Visier Path help meet a CHRO’s objectives? It’s all about linking data and action.
Too often, people analytics is dressed up in confusing language and seen as either an esoteric internal research project or an IT project focused on wrangling data. We believe people analytics teams should model their work in the same way as FP&A teams support the CFO. That is to say: they must provide ongoing information about the performance and behavior of the workforce so that leaders can make the decisions that will have the right impact.
The Visier Path breaks down the steps needed for an organization to move from raw data to the right analysis, to tangible action that supports a business goal. The quality of that linkage—from data through to impact—is what separates the best people analytics teams from the rest.
Every organization’s journey is different
Every organization has different goals and strategies. That’s why we designed the Visier Path to be completely flexible depending on what’s important to you. While every company will start with the fundamentals (shown in yellow), the rest of your journey along the Path is completely bespoke.
The Visier Path, your proven route to people analytics success. Click to enlarge.
The Visier Path is arranged from left to right in order of increasing level of impact on the business. The Foundational Impact zone is about aligning on a single place where HR leaders, HRBPs, and managers can answer their people questions. The Drive HR Impact zone helps you target specific HR jobs to be done that are likely to be part of the CHRO’s agenda. Finally, the Drive Business Impact zone focuses on org-wide challenges that will directly affect the business’s financial performance.
The proven approach
The Visier Path is the proven, low-risk way to start your people analytics journey. It’s also the clear and effective way to evolve your practice as your capability increases and so does the demand for people analytics within your organization. The path takes the uncertainty out of buying, deploying, and scaling a people analytics solution, and ensures that your investment has measurable business impact.
We hope you find our guide valuable and accessible. If you would like to understand more about The Visier Path, the collective wisdom it embodies, the practices that it supports, or the impact it can have on your business, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we'd love to hear from you.
Data-driven decisions
2024年02月20日
Data-driven decisions
Don’t Be A Copy-Cat: People Analytics as the Antidote to HR Strategy Copy-CatsThis article is written to discuss: why copying the HR practices that everyone else uses doesn’t lead to the positive outcomes you assume it will.
DISCLAIMER: If you like the HR strategy at your organization, you can probably stop reading now… If not, feel free to keep reading.
Context
Childhood wisdom: No one likes a copy-cat.
We all remember being children once. Kids are known to tease each other from time to time. One common reason to be teased when you were a child was being called a “copy-cat”. It didn’t feel good, often because we knew that if we were labeled a copy-cat, it was likely true. We were copying someone else. It felt bereft, unoriginal, and commonplace. We knew we were capable of being more, but we had settled for less. We were better than that. HR strategy can be better than that too.
Fast forward to the present, in HR being a copy-cat is all the rage. A priestly caste of HR influencers, HR tech consultants, FAANG companies, and sometimes even academics determine what is considered ‘en vogue’ as an HR strategy. Then, early adopter HR departments fall in-line; followed by the early majority and late majority after a few HR monkeys get “shot into space” without injury. The laggards may never arrive because they are still trying to move away from using paper files stuffed in filing cabinets, but nonetheless, being a copy-cat all the sudden became cool. Why be original when you could be doing what everyone else is doing? Perhaps, this is why Forrester is forecasting an EX winter coming soon…
In the African savanna, large numbers of herd animals, such as wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles, travel in packs. Why do they do this? Because there is safety in numbers. A zebra with a single imperfection or mark is easily identified and pulled from the pack by predators. Is the same true for HR? Are we safer in a pack? Is there wisdom in being a copy-cat? Would anything different make us stand out and therefore be put in danger? I think not. I think the opposite is true, in fact.
If you do all the same things as your competitors, how can you expect to get different results?
Does this HR strategy sound familiar?
“We’re going to try to hire the best talent, but only pay at the 50th percentile.”
“We’re a performance-driven organization, but we’re going to do performance reviews once a year on a 5-point rating scale, and we’ve got to implement a pay-for-performance incentive structure.”
“Our HR operating model is to use HR Business Partners, Centers of Excellence, and Shared Services.”
“We’re going to copy what Google did 10 years ago, or what GE did in the 80s.”
“We’re going to make data-driven decisions. I know! Let’s create another HR dashboard.”
If your organization wants to be radically better, it’s going to have to try some things that are radically different. Did anyone see Coinbase’s recent blog on Talent Density? I’m not saying I agree with the changes to their HR strategy, but at least they are trying to differentiate their HR strategy to be something different. They are getting into the game, for better or worse.
Source
What To Do, What To Do?
HR strategy should be composed of elements that are as unique to your business as your business strategy is unique to your business. It’s really as simple as that.
HR Strategy is upstream of people analytics. A vanilla, copy-cat HR strategy is going to lead to vanilla, copy-cat people analytics. In my opinion, people analytics doesn’t spend enough of its resources trying to familiarize itself, influence, and control HR strategy. People analytics should speak in the social currency of the organization. We should embed ourselves and influence key decision making, and have a seat at the table by speaking in the language of the business. There is social capital to be had, and the more I learn, the more I realize the necessity of this alternative currency. We should drive strategy.
With generative AI disrupting the value that human capital brings to organizations, who are the organizations that are going to be the innovators of tomorrow? Who are the organizations who will get the message early? Who will treat the need for differentiation with the existential demand that it dictates? Who will survive?
Source
“Best Practices”
I’m tired of the term ‘best practices’. I’m at a point in my career where I bristle when I hear someone say it. Perhaps it's one of the reasons why some people hate HR.
Organizational research is important, but best practices are a road to mediocrity. No one ever got fired for going with IBM, and no one ever got fired for using best practices… Until the whole firm loses to its competition, and everyone gets fired. Read it again, and think about that. It’s a short-term vs long-term thinking dilemma. Obviously, balance the two, but make sure to think with the long-term in mind.
What if instead of copy-catting, you:
A/B tested your HR strategy against those of other firms
Used opposition research to understand your competitors HR strategy better, so you can do something different
Implemented evidence-based practices on commoditized work, but experimented with firm-specific practices in the most strategically-relevant work
Focused on first-principles thinking as to how firm value is derived by its talent
Choose function over fad, when it comes to HR strategy
Rebuild HR strategy like the Oaklands As (and the Houston Astros) tore down and rebuilt their teams based on talent derived from data. Embed data, measurement, accountability, and the “improvement feedback loop” into every single workstream that HR engages. Henry Ford once said “if you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always got.” HR could be convicted of being mediocre. Average is over (or maybe even above average is over?). Differentiation is king. Strategic neglect (i.e., neglecting things that don’t add value) is also a valuable tool. Where do we need to be world class? Where can we be average? Answer those questions, then execute.
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Rebuilding HR Around Data & Measurement
In most HR functions, data is only used to validate, not to guide. No one thinks for themselves. Mimicry and mimesis abound.
People analytics is a competitive advantage for firms who use it properly. People analytics is the future of HR. Proclamations such as this have been made consistently in the past (e.g., HR is over, remote work is the future, there is no need for management, human tasks at work will be automated with AI, etc.), but this one is for real. Firms who are not embedding data into the way they do business, evaluating what they do with data, and projecting the future with data are going to be irrelevant.
In the future, even in the age of generative AI, there is only one currency, and that is truth. Truth can only be derived as data put into practice. Classical test theory states that all measurement is “truth-plus-error”, with error being any deviation between measurement and the truth. Some stakeholders believe that to mean that truth can never be attained because error will always exist. Practically, this is a misinterpretation. Organizations that can manifest the best data with the least error will be the closest to truth, and therein lies the root of competitive advantage via data. People analytics is not inherently useful. Data is not inherently useful. Only accurate data, with analysis and cogent results, derived into a form that facilitates timely and accurate decision making, and that is put into action, is useful. And across the aggregate of thousands, if not millions of small decisions made leads one organization to prevailing over another. May the odds ever be in your favor.
Source
Moving Forward
“Traditional HR” has been on the way out for decades. This article is for HR people who believe in challenging the status quo. Deep down they know there is a better way; a way forward for their organization. To not outsource their originality to others. To not be a copy-cat. Let’s focus on what the pathway forward looks like with a new highest principle – no longer “what is everyone else doing?” – but with data and measurement at the center. This article is for the HR professional who knows that HR can be smarter, faster, and better at their organization, and they are bound to make it happen. Join the movement. Don’t be a copy-cat. Let’s see how high we can fly together.
PS - I’m thinking of writing a book on this topic. If you’re a publisher and you are interested in this topic, or others I’ve written about before, please contact me directly.
Special shout out: Thanks to Brad Harris & Pat Downes for our previous conversations on this topic.
I hope you like this article. If so, I have a few more articles coming out soon. Stay tuned. If you are interested in learning more directly from me, please connect with me on LinkedIn.
Cole’s recent articles
What’s Old is New: The Quest for Excellence in Workforce Planning
A Historian, Demographer, & Data Scientist Walk Into a Bar…
The Phoenix & The Dragon
Why Buy When You Could Rent: SEC’s Push for Human Capital Disclosure
Elephant Hunting: Weighing Human vs. Algorithmic Input to Decision Making
For access to all of Cole’s previous articles, go here.
By: Cole Napper
原文来自:https://directionallycorrectnews.substack.com/p/dont-be-a-copy-cat-people-analytics
Data-driven decisions
2023年11月30日
Data-driven decisions
How to Strategically Plan a Budget for HR in 2024The article discusses strategies for planning an HR budget for 2024, emphasizing the need for advanced HR technology and digital tools to enhance employee experience. It highlights the importance of focusing on talent retention due to high attrition rates in Asia and adapting to changes in the workforce market. The article stresses compliance with labor law changes and the need for a data-driven approach to budgeting. It outlines key budget components, including recruitment, training, salaries, HR technology, and employee well-being, to ensure a comprehensive plan for organizational growth and success.
As companies brace themselves for 2024, many HR teams are busy preparing comprehensive budgets for the coming year. Fortunately, with a host of cutting-edge HR technology and digital tools available, companies can plan a budget with more resources at their fingertips to better plan for the year ahead, significantly enhancing the overall employee experience.
In terms of a direction for 2024, companies are encouraged to channel more efforts towards talent retention, given the high attrition rates across Asia. In an effort to further empower their workforce and improve organisational culture, having the right HR tech is also a crucial consideration.
On that note, let’s look at how to create your 2024 HR budget and what to include in it.
What’s Most Important in Your 2024 Budget Plan
Keeping up with recent advancements for your workforce:
Understand how the talent market in 2023 will differ from 2024’s and plan for your manpower accordingly.
Consider if there has been a new shift towards or an increased use of AI tools to enhance both employee experience and candidate experience. According to analytics and advisory company Gallup, higher employee engagement translates to increased profitability – 23% more, according to their research.
Compare the workforce flexibility levels in your company with that of the overall job market – bearing in mind that there is a greater inclination towards a more flexible workforce, in terms of temporary and contract vs. permanent staffing.
Consider any increase in costs due to inflation, as salary (and potentially benefit) increments will have to be made accordingly.
A greater focus on talent retention:
To be able to maintain a robust and healthy workforce means to prioritise talent retention. With high employee attrition rates and talent retention being a top HR challenge in 2023, a key focus for businesses should be on how to retain their workforce better in 2024.
After conducting a thorough review internally, consider looking into programmes, practices and systems that can improve employee satisfaction, provide stronger employee assistance programmes and support, as well as streamline the overall HR experience for your employees.
Remaining compliant with labour law changes:
Given that 2023 has been a year with many labour law developments across various countries in APAC – such as Malaysia’s massive overhaul of its Employment Act and Singapore’s introduction of the COMPASS framework for Employment Pass applications – it is highly crucial for companies to remain compliant with upcoming labour law changes in all locations, particularly those with a presence in multiple countries.
Compliance can come in the form of adhering to minimum wage hikes, new tax brackets, increased number of leave, and so on – all of which can incur additional costs and would need to be accounted for in the HR budget. Additionally, remaining compliant with labour laws ensures there are minimal legal and financial repercussions, leading to a more prudent budget.
How Do You Prepare an HR Budget?
When you plan a budget for HR, some crucial pointers to have in mind when listing down what to include are:
Building a Strategy for Smart Expansion: Consider your company’s expansion plans for 2024 – if any. Coming up with a solid plan if you want to expand in 2024 is crucial, and you can consider a low-cost and minimal-risk option such as an employer of record. According to an article by Yahoo! Finance, in 2023, the worldwide EOR market reached a value of USD 1890.29 million and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.07% over the forecast period, ultimately reaching USD 3745.43 million by 2030.
For companies with multiple locations, when revising the budget, HR will look at which locations are now more mature and stable compared to last year to allocate the budget more evenly.
Investing in The Right Software and HR Tech: Get acquainted with the latest AI trends in hiring and find out how the right tools can enhance your journey of finding the right people to join your workforce.
Integration Options for Different Business Sizes: Speaking of knowing what works for your company size, if you’re a regional company, you’d likely work with a payroll outsourcing provider to streamline your regional payroll. Revisit your current service to see if its integration capabilities are still suited to your business – depending on if your headcount has been expanded or downsized recently.
A Data-Driven 2024 budget: A budget that is tailored heavily based on data allows for better foresight, less errors and allows you to make better informed decisions for your businesses. A report by McKinsey Global Institute shows that data-driven organisations are likely to be 19 times more profitable, and 6 times more likely to retain those customers. You can use data from previous budgets to get insights on what to do differently this time.
What are the must-haves in your HR budget?
If you’re wondering what a complete 2024 budget should entail, the following list can serve as a general checklist of what to cover:
Recruitment and hiring
Hiring Agency / Job advertisements
Employee assistance programmes
Interviews, screening candidates and background checks
HCM software management
Onboarding procedures
Employee relocations
Recruitment marketing
Talent retention
Outplacement Services (if required)
Visas and work permits
Training and development
Employee Certifications
Trainer/expert/consultant fees
Addressing skills gaps
Learning systems
Salaries and other benefits
Employee salaries
Overtime pay
Payroll system management and maintenance
Insurance & healthcare
Other statutory contributions
Retirement plans
Paid time off
Employee bonuses
HR Technology
HR Information Systems
Payroll Outsourcing Systems and Integration costs
HR Vendor
HR Team Upskilling
HR Certifications
Workshop and Training budgets for HR team
Diversity and Inclusion
Increase in diversity hiring
Implementation of inclusive hiring practices
Employee safety and well-being
Employee health
Security at work
Physical and mental employee well-being
Others
Employee/employer appraisals and surveys
Upkeep of recreational areas in the office
Company trips
Fitness facilities
Safety trainings
Some resources to use when you plan a budget for HR:
Having a wealth of handy information can help you plan a budget more efficiently. If you’re looking for resources on the latest HR developments across idea, here are a few you might want to look at.
Resources
Guide to Hiring in Asia – A compilation of in-depth guides for various countries across Asia on how to compliantly hire employees in each country.
APAC Labour Law Insider – Quarterly updates on HR legislations across 17 locations in Asia.
China Labour Law Updates – Monthly updates on China’s labour laws.
Labour Law and Compliance Workshop Webinars – Complimentary webinars on labour law updates across various locations in Asia.
Templates and Checklists
HR Onboarding Checklist Template
Payroll Request For Payroll Template (RFP) Template
Handover List Template
Layoff Planning Checklist
China Personal Information Protection Law HR Compliance Checklist
Out of Office Message Template
In conclusion, having an HR budget is essential for companies as it provides a structured financial plan to effectively manage and optimise their most valuable asset – their workforce. It ensures that resources are allocated for hiring, training, and retaining employees, ultimately contributing to organisational success and growth.
Looking for a HR provider that can offer you HR outsourcing, advisory and HR tech services? At Links, we look forward to providing you with complete HR solutions to drive your organisation. Contact us today for more information!