The best HR & People Analytics articles of May 2024
I’m writing the introduction to the May edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly on a flight to London from Mexico City. Together with Jonathan Ferrar, I was in Mexico to conduct an Insight222 workshop with the HR Leadership Team of one of the world’s largest global consumer goods companies. The workshop was composed of a number of modules including: consulting with data, prioritisation and data governance. It was the culmination of a month of notable milestones both within Insight222 and the external market:
The Digital HR Leaders podcast celebrated its fifth birthday (see here).
The fifth edition of the Insight222 People Analytics Trends study was launched (see below for details).
We also opened registration for an Insight222 webinar on AI in HR and People Analytics, which will take place on June 13 (see below for details).
In the HR Tech space, Crunchr and TechWolf announced a strategic partnership (see here), and Cornerstone OnDemand acquired SkyHive (read analysis from Alexandra Nawrat here).
Welcome to the 2,513 new subscribers to the Data Driven HR Monthly newsletter, who joined in the last month.
This month’s collection features new research from the likes of Microsoft, McKinsey, and the Talent Strategy Group, as well as resources from practitioners in companies including Mastercard, EY, Novartis, IBM, Intuit, Lego, Ericsson, and Marks & Spencer.
This edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly is sponsored by our friends at TechWolf
The Journey to the Skills-Based Organization
Transform your HR strategy with skill-based insights
Advancements in technology and evolving market demands are reshaping the skills landscape, making the transition to skill-based essential for organisations to remain competitive. Yet, despite widespread recognition of its value, research by Deloitte showed that less than 20% of companies have embarked on this transformative journey toward becoming a skill-based organisation (SBO).
Wondering where to start? Our guide, "Getting Started with Skills," is designed for HR leaders on this journey, covering three actionable steps:
Reasons for adopting a skill-based approach.
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Read our latest guide today. Download now
To sponsor an edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, and share your brand with over 125,000 Data Driven HR Monthly subscribers, send an email to dgreen@zandel.org.
Join me for an Insight222 webinar on June 13 to discover how AI is reshaping HR and people analytics
As AI and Generative AI continue to dominate HR conversations, it's essential to explore practical applications, benefits, and challenges. Register to join me for an Insight222 webinar on June 13. In the webinar, Jasdeep Kareer, PhD (née Bhambra) Andrew Elston Justin Shemeley and I will discuss:
Real-world use cases demonstrating AI's impact on HR and People Analytics.
Common challenges encountered during AI adoption and strategies for overcoming them.
The importance of responsible AI practices and ethical considerations in HR.
Register for The Role of AI in HR People Analytics webinar.
Invitation: If you are a people analytics leader, participate in the 5th annual Insight222 People Analytics Trends survey...
The Insight222 People Analytics Trends study is now in its fifth year, and has grown to be the biggest and most important annual study in the field of people analytics. We have now opened the survey for 2024, which is intended to gain insights into: (1) People analytics operating model, roles, and technology. (2) Measuring the value of people analytics. (3) AI in HR.
If you are the people analytics leader at your company and would like to participate in the People Analytics Trends study for 2024, click this link and please complete the survey by Sunday 23 June.
Participate in the Insight222 People Analytics Trends Survey for 2024.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for May 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 April’s compendium (including those in the Comments section).
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
MICROSOFT AND LINKEDIN - AI at Work Is Here. Now Comes the Hard Part
We’ve come to the hard part of any tech disruption: moving past experimentation to business transformation. Just as we saw with the advent of the internet or the PC, business transformation comes with broad adoption. Organizations that apply AI to drive growth, manage costs, and deliver greater value to customers will pull ahead.
Microsoft’s 4th annual Work Trend Index, in partnership with LinkedIn provides a comprehensive view of how AI is not only reshaping work, but the labour market more broadly. Three key findings are described in depth: (1) Employees want AI at work—and they won’t wait for companies to catch up. (2) For employees, AI raises the bar and breaks the career ceiling. (3) The rise of the AI power user—and what they reveal about the future. The report contains a series of powerful insights, visualisations, and analysis – such as the impact of AI skills on hiring (see FIG 1). I also recommend watching Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, CEO of SHRM, talking to Kathleen Hogan and Jared Spataro about the integration of AI in enhancing work at Microsoft, insights on AI adoption strategies, and addressing the balance between AI opportunities and workforce implications.
FIG 1: The New Hiring Imperative: AI Aptitude Takes Centre Stage (Source: Microsoft Work Trends, 2024)
ANSHUL SHEOPURI AND LUCRECIA BORGONOVO - At the inflection of AI and HR: How Mastercard is equipping employees for the AI era
We recognize the best way to build trust is to bring our employees along with us on our AI journey, ensuring they are made aware of and educated about our commitment to responsible and ethical AI — in addition to the benefits that AI can bring to their day-to-day experiences and overall career path.
Anshul Sheopuri and Lucrecia Borgonovo share five areas where Mastercard is using AI to improve the way their employees work, grow and manage their careers: (1) AI as career coach. (2) AI as wellbeing guide. (3) AI as workflow assistant. (4) AI as co-pilot. (5) AI as workforce planning partner. For more insights, particularly with regards to how Mastercard is using AI in Unlocked, its internal talent marketplace, I recommend watching the recording of the CHRO Panel at the recent Gloat Live event in New York, where I moderated a panel featuring Michael Fraccaro, Mastercard’s chief people officer, as well as Tanuj Kapilashrami and Tamla Oates-Forney.
MCKINSEY - A new future of work: The race to deploy AI and raise skills in Europe and beyond
Up to 30 percent of hours worked could be automated by 2030, boosted by gen AI, leading to millions of required occupational transitions
An insightful McKinsey study, which explores labour markets in ten European countries and the United States, in the years to 2030 given factors including labour shortages, productivity challenges, and the inexorable rise of technology. The report identifies four key priorities for companies: (1) Understand the potential: Leaders need to understand the potential of how AI and gen AI can augment and automate work. (2) Plan a strategic workforce shift: Once they understand the potential of automation technologies, leaders need to plan the shift toward readiness for the automation and AI era. (3) Prioritise people development: To ensure that the right talent is on hand, leaders could consider strengthening their capabilities to identify, attract, and recruit future AI and gen AI leaders in a tight market. (4) Pursue the executive-education journey on automation technologies: Leaders also need to undertake their own education journey on automation technologies to maximise their contributions during the coming transformation. (Authors: Eric Hazan, Anu Madgavkar, Michael Chui, Sven Smit, Dana Maor, Gurneet Singh Dandona, and Roland Huyghues Despointes).
FIG 2: Source - McKinsey
JEREMIE BRECHEISEN - What Companies Don’t Know About How Workers Use AI
Managers influence 70% of team engagement and they can ensure that your AI strategy supports the organization’s goals and expectations in terms of innovation, agility, and productivity.
Jeremie K Brecheisen presents Gallup research, which finds that leaders do not fully understand their employees’ use of, and readiness for, AI. The study finds that seven in 10 employees never use AI in their job, with only one in 10 saying they use AI on a weekly basis or more often. Brecheisen offers three recommendations for leaders to find the right balance of control and trust around AI, including measuring how their employees currently use AI, cultivating trust by empowering managers, and adopting a purpose-led AI strategy that is driven by the company’s purpose instead of a rules-heavy strategy that is driven by fear.
FIG 3: Could AI improve how work gets done? (Source: Gallup)
HEIDI GRANT, GINNIE CARLIER, AND FRANK GIAMPIETRO - Using Data to Design Your Hybrid Work Policies | JOSE MARIA BARRERO, NICHOLAS BLOOM, SHELBY BUCKMAN, AND STEVEN J. DAVIS - Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (SWAA) (May 2024)
In their article for Harvard Business Review, Heidi Grant, Ginnie Carlier, and Frank Giampietro outline how EY has taken a data-driven approach to questions around hybrid work. Their data comparing the performance and well-being of hybrid employees with their fully in-person and remote counterparts has yielded often surprising insights. For example, EY found that hybrid employees who spent 40% to 60% of their time in person experienced higher well-being, belonging, skills development, and engagement when compared to fully remote or in-person employees. The article also provides guidance on how enabling teams to co-create and commit to ways of working drives work-life balance and wellbeing. Read alongside the May 2024 update of the WFH Research report by Jose Maria Barrero, Nick Bloom, Shelby Buckman, and Steven J. Davis, which amongst its many highlights, finds that 66% of workers use an office at least once a month (see FIG 4).
FIG 4: Source – wfhresearch.com
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
PIETRO MAZZOLENI - Blueprint for Balance: IBM’s Guide to Managing and Protecting People Data
In another edition of what it proving to be consistently one of the best newsletters of 2024 – People Data Platform – Pietro Mazzoleni shares the three core principles of how IBM manages and protects people data (see FIG 5). He explains how his team effectively secures data, strikes a balance between protection and accessibility, and establishes clear ownership of every piece of data.
FIG 5: Three core principles for managing and protecting people data (Source: Pietro Mazzoleni)
MCKINSEY - Master data management: The key to getting more from your data
Master data management can give organizations a leg up by allowing them to easily organize and access data about customers, suppliers, products, and employees.
An essential read for HR and people analytics professionals looking to bring their people and other organisational data together to drive value for the company, customers and employees. The article by Aziz Shaikh Holger Harreis Jorge Machado and Kayvaun Rowshankish, provides findings from a McKinsey study on how large companies organise, use, and mature their master data management (MDM). It includes examples of how MDM creates value in five ways (e.g. how MDM standardises data across entities to provide a unified view across various systems), common challenges (e.g. poor data quality – see FIG 6), and guidance on how to implement MDM effectively (e.g. establishing a robust data governance model to maintain integrity and reliability of MDM capabilities).
FIG 6: MDM quality issues (Source: McKinsey)
ANNETT ZIPPEL AND PATRICK COOLEN - Finding the right People Analytics Leader for your organization | MARTHA CURIONI - People Analytics for HR: Demystifying People Analytics | SERENA HUANG - Winning Over Gen Z: How AI & Data Can Create the Ideal Workplace | RORY O’GALLAGHER - Bridging Surveys and Conversations with Generative Listening Tools | WILLIS JENSEN - Moving Beyond Correlation to Causation in People Analytics | LOUISE BAIRD - How To Use People Analytics to Improve Manager Effectiveness
In recent editions of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I’ve featured a collection of articles by current and recent people analytics leaders. Six are highlighted here. (1) In an interview with Annett Zippel of KennedyFitch, Patrick Coolen shares insights on the components of a successful people analytics practice, how to get started, and the skills to look for and build in a people analytics leader. (2) Martha Curioni outlines a five-step methodology to undertake a people analytics project, with the first step perhaps being the most important: Define the Problem Statement. (3) Serena H. Huang, Ph.D. provides guidance on how AI and data can help create effective wellbeing and DEI strategies that resonate with Gen Z. (4) Rory O'Gallagher breaks down the what, why, and how of generative employee listening tools, including how they differ from traditional surveys, how to integrate them into your employee listening ecosystem, and how they will evolve. (5) Willis Jensen sets out the challenges of establishing causation in people analytics and provides guidance on how to get past these challenges such as identifying actionable variables (see FIG 7). (6). Louise Baird, Head of People Analytics at Marks & Spencer, offers practical steps on how to drive manager effectiveness through people analytics.
FIG 7: Examples of non-actionable and actionable variables in people analytics (Source: Willis Jensen)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
NORM SMALLWOOD AND DAVE ULRICH - HR Transformation: Common Pitfalls and Tried and True Tips
Not developing the HR professionals to do strategic work is the #1 reason HR Transformation fails
Norm Smallwood, Dave Ulrich and The RBL Group outline four common HR Transformation pitfalls and tips to overcome each: (1) HR transformation is about transforming the entire HR Department to create value for the business. (2) It requires an understanding of the work that creates value for the business and then designing the organisation and building HR leaders and professionals to enable it (see FIG 8). (3) Invest in providing HR professionals with frameworks, tools, and shared language to do strategic work – “For impact on the business, HR must invest in itself.” (4) Capabilities are the link between business strategy and HR actions.
FIG 8: Source – The RBL Group
ZAC UPCHURCH | TALENT STRATEGY GROUP – CHRO Trends 2024: Insights from the Fortune 200 Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief People Officer Changes
Zac Upchurch presents the key findings from the seventh annual edition of The Talent Strategy Group’s CHRO Trends report. Three of the ten trends are: (1) A Decline In CHRO/CPO Appointments - 2023 had the fewest Fortune 200 CHROs/CPOs appointments since the report’s inception, with 22 new CHROs/CPOs appointed in 2023. (2) The Rapid Increase in Internal Succession - 73% of 2023 appointed CHROs/CPOs came to the role via internal succession, a rate not seen since 2017. (3) The HRBP as the CHRO/CPO Stepping Stone - The vast majority of the 2023 CHRO/CPO appointments consisted of individuals that served in a HRBP role prior to their CHRO/CPO appointment.
FIG 9: Internal vs. External CHRO/CPO hires in 2023 (top) and from 2017-2023 (bottom) (Source: Talent Strategy Group)
STORYTELLING WITH DATA SPECIAL
JAY DORIO - How to Empower HR Through Data Literacy | BRENT DYKES - Data Storytelling Arc: Demystifying Narrative Structure In Data Stories | NANCY DUARTE - How to Create Slides That Suit Your Superiors: 11 Tips | GANES KESARI - The Enduring Power of Data Storytelling in the Generative AI Era | COLE NUSSBAUMER KNAFLIC - How HR professionals can Master Storytelling with Data
As Jay Dorio reveals in his article, which is based on Insight222 research on how to build data literacy in HR at scale, storytelling is one of the five core skills HR professionals need to build to improve their data literacy. Four resources I recommend on storytelling are: (1) Brent Dykes analyses alternative narrative models for data storytelling and presents his Data Storytelling Arc (see FIG 10). (2) Nancy Duarte outlines 11 tips for preparing slides for an internal presentation, which includes four things you must have in every exec’s slides: start with an executive summary, have a logical organisation, make it skimmable, and focus on concise insights. (3) Ganes Kesari presents a 2x2 (see FIG 11) to help select the best approach to drive decision-making with data. (4) In a recent episode of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic discusses the transformative power of storytelling in the context of people data and analytics.
FIG 10: Data Storytelling Arc (Source: Brent Dykes)
FIG 11: What kind of decision are you making? Four Situations (Source: Ganes Kesari)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
AMANDA EVANS - Applying People Analytics To Organizational Design
Amanda Jane Evans draws on recent collaborative research by Andrea Derler, Ph.D. of Visier Inc. and Amy C. Lewis, PhD to demonstrate how people analytics can inform actions on team size that drive business performance. The research highlighted that smaller teams—specifically those with six to 10 members—tend to harbour more high performers and have lower resignation rates (see FIG 12). In her article, Amanda explains that people analytics revealed that smaller teams at Partners Group are more likely to be successful in scenarios with direct client contact where high expectations for performance and stakeholder management are set. Amanda also explains how the firm proactively uses people analytics to analyse span of control during business transformation.
FIG 12: Smaller teams have lower resignation rates (Source: Visier)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
MCKINSEY - To defend against disruption, build a thriving workforce
To build a thriving workplace, leaders must reimagine work, the workplace, and the worker.
Generative AI provides organisations – and HR professionals – with the opportunity to reimagine work, the workplace and the worker. In their article, the McKinsey team of Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN (née Schouten), Aaron De Smet, Emily Field, Taylor Lauricella, and Brooke Weddle, break down what a ‘thriving culture’ is (and what it isn’t) and offer five actions companies can adopt to maximise healthy work environments, team effectiveness, and employee well-being so that more workers can reach their peak performance.
FIG 13: Employee segments as a share of an organisation’s workforce (Source: McKinsey)
DAWN KLINGHOFFER - The Key to a Thriving Workforce? A Smart Approach to AI
What we find is that AI is really there to help you take friction and toil out of the system, and to remove the drudgery of work. And when people are able to remove some of that drudgery, we see that they’re more productive, and they thrive more.
Dawn Klinghoffer, Global Head of People Analytics at Microsoft, shares insights from the company’s recent Employee Signals survey. The findings not only highlighted the tangible benefits of thriving, but also identified a key catalyst for fostering it: access to AI. The article then highlights how thriving – and access to AI – has a positive impact on three indicators of high performance: (1) Meaningfulness (incorporating AI into the day correlated to a 20% jump in scores relating to meaningful work). (2) Empowerment. (3) Energy (scores on energy-related questions for those using AI jumped almost 27%). Dawn also shares the ABCs of thriving with AI: Accelerate alignment, Be inclusive, and Cultivate collective growth. This is another example of how Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to employee listening (see FIG 14) – coupled with the sponsorship of the CEO, Satya Nadella, leads to insights that drive positive outcomes for the business and the workforce. For more on Microsoft’s approach to employee thriving, listen to Dawn in conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How Microsoft Created A Thriving Workforce By Going Beyond Employee Engagement.
FIG 14: Microsoft’s Employee Listening Ecosystem (Source: Dawn Klinghoffer)
EMILY PELOSI AND PAIGE MCGLAUFLIN - Intuit’s ‘head of employee listening’ talks about the science of worker feedback—and the art of asking the right questions
In an interview with Fortune, Emily Pelosi, PhD, Head of Employee Listening at Intuit, discusses why her role was created, what it involves, and how she helps Intuit’s leaders harness employee feedback to make better and more informed decisions based on data. Two areas that really resonate, are (1) how Emily partners closely with Intuit’s CEO and chief people officer to shape their bi-annual survey and take action on the results. (2) the importance of asking the right questions.
BENJAMIN LAKER AND STEFANIA MARIANO - The Unexpected Upsides of Letting Employees Define Their Jobs | JACKSON ROATCH - The Work-GPT Paradox, AI and Job Crafting
Job crafting creates an environment of autonomy, encouraging employees to take initiative and innovate.
Three resources about ‘job crafting’, which in the article by Benjamin Laker and Stefania Mariano is described as: “Job crafting is a proactive approach where employees reshape their roles to infuse more meaning and engagement into their work.” Their article describes the three primary components – task crafting, relational crafting, and cognitive crafting – and discusses the benefits, challenges and considerations for implementing job crafting successfully. In the second article, Jackson Roatch explains how using AI more can enable employees to use job crafting to make their jobs 5-10% better. He cites research by Amy Wrzesniewski, as well as the work of Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA and John Boudreau in deconstructing jobs, to provide an example of how AI can shape the role of a data analyst (see FIG 15). Finally, for more on job crafting, I recommend listening to Dan Cable in discussion with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Help People Love What They Do At Work.
FIG 15: Using AI to ‘job craft’ the role of the data analyst (Source: Jackson Roatch)
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND INCLUSION
ALLAN H. CHURCH, JAMES SCRIVANI, AND MARKUS GRAF - Unleashing The Power of Assessments for Leaders and their Organizations
Based on their experience of working with assessment tools in organisations such as PepsiCo and Novartis, Allan Church, Ph.D. Jim S. and Markus Graf present a three-step guide to building an effective, impactful and meaningful assessment system: (1) Focus Assessments on Future Capabilities Needed for Your Organisation. (2) Take a Multi-Trait, Multi-Method Approach to Assessment, aka Use Multiple Lenses. (3) Unlock the Value of Assessment Insights for Leaders, Teams, and the Organisation (see FIG 16).
FIG 16: The Three Levels of Assessment Insights (Source: Church et al)
MCKINSEY - In the spotlight: Performance management that puts people first
Companies that focus on their people’s performance are 4.2 times more likely to outperform their peers, realizing an average 30 percent higher revenue growth and experiencing attrition five percentage points lower.
While effective performance management systems support employees to develop, new research by McKinsey finds that most companies fall short of best practices. In their article, Amaia Noguera Andrea Pedroni Asmus Komm and Simon Gallot Lavallée provide insights on how leading companies approach performance management across four elements - goal setting, performance reviews, ongoing development, and rewards (see FIG 17). The article also digs into five enabling factors: (1) Ensure that performance management systems are agile. (2) Provide regular feedback. (3) Establish an effective fact base. (4) Maintain rating and differentiation. (5) Employ gen AI.
FIG 17: Designing a performance management system (Source: McKinsey)
CATHERINE COPPINGER - Manager Effectiveness: 5 Metrics That Matter More than eSat Scores
Catherine Coppinger presents findings from Worklytics research on manager effectiveness, which highlights the top drivers of low and high manager satisfaction (see FIG 18). The article also recommends metrics for measuring manager effectiveness, which are based on five things top-performing managers tend to do: (1) Provide regular coaching. (2) Define and implement reasonable team norms. (3) Support their team (without micromanaging). (4) Elevate and unblock their team via network connections. (5) Routinely engage with team members in-person. For more insights on this topic, listen to Catherine on a recent episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Use Passive Data to Enhance Manager Effectiveness. I also recommend checking out the deck Philip Arkcoll and Michael Arena presented recently at Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP): The ONA Hype Cycle: Why this Time is Different.
FIG 18: The drivers of lower and higher manager satisfaction (Source: Worklytics)
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field is driven by the vendor community. I’ve picked out a few resources from May that I recommend readers delve into:
ARCTIC SHORES - The pragmatist’s playbook for skills-based hiring – An indispensable guide to skills-based hiring from Robert Newry and the team at Arctic Shores. It features: why companies are shifting from experience to skills-based hiring (see FIG 19) a seven-step framework for skills-based hiring, case studies from Siemens and Molson Coors, and contributions from the likes of Hung Lee, Gemma Aldridge, Joe Sidley, and Yasar Ahmad.
FIG 19: The shift from experience-based to skill-based hiring (Source: Arctic Shores)
ANDY PRZYSTANSKI - Lattice Data Reveals Lower Engagement, Stretched Managers, and More – Andy Przystanski presents findings from analysis of over one million employees on Lattice’s people platform including (1) Engagement is down - between 2022 and 2023, eNPS decreased from an already low 33.33 to 24.8 (see FIG 20). (2) Manager span of control is increasing. (3) Soft skills are in high demand.
FIG 20: Source - Lattice
FRANCISCO MARIN - Embracing Generative AI in Organizational Network Analysis: 8 Key Considerations for Success – Francisco Marin of Cognitive Talent Solutions sets out eight key considerations for successfully incorporating GenAI into organisational network analysis including: (1) Define clear objectives, (2) Ensure data quality, and (3) Prioritise privacy and ethics.
KEN OEHLER - Unlocking the Power of Personality – Ken Oehler presents new research from RADICL, which explores the link between personality traits and areas such as hybrid collaboration, trust, employee experience, and productivity. A fascinating read.
FIG 21: Source - RADICL
FRESIA JACKSON, HEATHER WALKER, AUBREY BLANCHE-SARELLANO - Workplace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 2024 Report – Culture Amp’s Workplace DEI Report is always an insightful read and the 2024 edition is no exception. As Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano writes in the Foreword: “DEI has become both a buzzword and the target of significant backlash.” The report by Fresia Jackson, Heather Rose Walker, PhD and the team provides detail on five key findings including: (1) Perception of DEI in the workplace is falling globally. (2) Intersectionality has a compounding effect. (3) Embedding DEI into existing programs has a bigger impact.
FIG 22: Source – Culture Amp
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected four gems for your aural pleasure:
COLE NAPPER, SCOTT HINES, AND GUESTS – Live from SIOP 2024 – If you only listen to one podcast this month, I highly recommend this episode of the Directionally Correct podcast, recorded live at the recent SIOP 2024 event. Joining hosts Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD, are a stellar list of people analytics practitioners: Anthony Ferreras, Amy Frost Stevenson, PhD, Rob Stilson, Ph.D., Emily Pelosi, PhD, and Kelsie L. Colley, M.S. PhD ABD.
SERGIO EZAMA - Unlocking the Secrets of Netflix's Innovative HR Strategy – Netflix CHRO Sergio Ezama joins Lars Schmidt on the Redefining Work podcast to share a unique approach to compensation that's setting new benchmarks in the HR landscape.
VIDYA KRISHNAN AND PETER SHEPPARD – Why Skills are like Oxygen – Vidya Krishnan and Peter Sheppard join Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson on RedThread Research’s Workplace Stories podcast to share Ericsson’s skills-based approach and why “Skills are like oxygen, invisible but necessary.”
TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC - Why so many bad bosses still rise to the top – Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Bryan Hancock, and Brooke Weddle join host Lucia Rahilly on the McKinsey Talks Talent podcast to discuss why the traits that propel us to the top seem to diverge so widely from those that make us great leaders—as well as how to choose stronger, more successful, and more diverse candidates for leadership roles.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
NEHA UPADHYAYA – Building an Impactful People Analytics Practice
I recently had the privilege of attending the Wharton People Analytics Conference - thanks to Matthew Bidwell, Laura Zarrow, and team. All the sessions from the event can now be viewed including this one featuring Neha Upadhyaya presenting the findings of interviews and surveys of people analytics leaders. The talk presents the initial findings, including the trends they've uncovered, and the pitfalls to avoid in order to build and sustain an impactful people analytics team.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
ANISH LALCHANDANI – The Skills Advantage: A Human-Centered, Sustainable, and Scalable Approach to Reskilling
In the ‘Book of the Month’, Anish Lalchandani breaks down ‘why’ companies should make the paradigm shift towards a skill-centric approach, ‘how’ it contributes to business success, and provides guidance on ‘what’ steps practitioners can take with regards to Agility, Awareness, Application and Alliances in building a comprehensive reskilling strategy. The book is an indispensable guide for HR leaders looking to embrace a successful skills-based approach.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
STEFANO DI LAURO, AIZHAN TURSUNBAYEVA, GILDA ANTONELLI. AND LUIGI MOSCHERA - Disrupting human resource management with people analytics: a study of applications, value, enablers and barriers in Italy
In their paper, Stefano Di Lauro, Aizhan Tursunbayeva, PhD, GRP, Gilda Antonelli, and Luigi Moscheraexplore the adoption and impact of people analytics in Italy. Key findings suggest that people analytics, particularly descriptive, is growing, and that benefits are being enjoyed at both an organisational and employee level.
FIG 23: People Analytics value for organisations in Italy (Source: Di Lauro et al)
FROM MY DESK
May saw four episodes of the Digital HR Leaders podcast - with two each sponsored by our friends at Worklytics and Crunchr. Thank you to Philip Arkcoll and Laura Morris from Worklytics and Ralf Bovers and Dirk Jonker from Crunchr for your partnership and support.
LASSAAD ESSAFI AND DAVID GREEN - How EDLIGO Enhances Organisational Performance with Skills-Based Models - In this Expert Interview, I sit down with Lassaad Essafi, CEO at EDLIGO Talent Analytics and Learning Analytics to explore why a skills-based approach to talent management is not just a strategic imperative but a significant driver of business value and organisational performance, drawing upon recent studies and real-world examples.
LOREN SHUSTER - Lego’s Blueprint for Modern HR: People, Places and Culture - Loren I. Shuster, Chief People Officer at the LEGO Group joins me to discuss Lego’s blueprint for modern HR.
CRAIG STARBUCK – Understanding the Build vs. Buy Dilemma in People Analytics and HR Tech – Craig Starbuck, PhD reflects on his decade long journey in the field and provides insights on aligning people analytics with business priorities, build vs. buy, ONA use cases, partnering with finance, and building data literacy in HR professionals.
DAVID GREEN - How can HR use people analytics to revolutionise the workplace experience? – A round-up of Series 38 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, with insights from Nickle LaMoreaux, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, Catherine Coppinger, Loren I. Shuster and Craig Starbuck, PhD.
DAISY AUGER-DOMINGUEZ - Four Steps Towards Building a More Diverse and Inclusive Company Culture – Daisy Auger-Dominguez (she/her/ella) joins me to share insights from her book, Inclusion Revolution, including her four-step model (Reflect, Vision, Act, Persist) and how these principles can be practically applied to instigate meaningful change.
KATE BRAVERY AND ILYA BONIC - Navigating the Future of Work: AI, Skills, and Trust in the Modern Workforce – Kate Bravery and Ilya Bonic of Mercer, two of the authors – along with Kai Anderson – of Work Different: 10 Truths for Winning in the People Age join me for a discussion on how AI and skills are shaping the future of work, workforce and workplace, and how organisations that prioritise trust and transparency will ultimately win.
DAVID GREEN - Five Ways HR Creates a Thriving Organisational Culture – An article inspired by Series 37 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, where we dug in to the anchors of culture to identify five ways in which HR can support a thriving organisational culture. These include employee listening, continuous learning, and empowering line managers. The article features insights from episodes with Rebecca Thielen, Didier Elzinga, Rob Briner, and Louise Millar / Olivia Edwards.
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 525 roles.
THANK YOU
Amit Mohindra for including me in his post about people analytics and power, and for calling out Jeremy Shapiro’s seminal 2010 Harvard Business Review article, Competing on Talent Analytics, which was co-authored by Tom Davenport and Jeanne Harris.
Paul David and the team at Literal Humans for including me in their list of The Top 43 HR Tech influencers to help promote your product.
Anastasia Mizitova, SHRM-SCP, CPCC for endorsing Excellence in People Analytics.
Sanja Licina, Ph.D. for her post about Excellence in People Analytics.
Olimpiusz Papiez for sharing his key learnings on storytelling in people analytics, inspired by the recent Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic: Mastering Storytelling for HR Transformation.
Christopher Cerasoli for posting about the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Craig Starbuck, and highlighting the need for HR to speak the language of finance.
Helena Turpin for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in her six recommended podcasts for learning.
Charlotte Chandler for also including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in her list of five recommended podcasts for HR professionals.
Similarly, Mirro.io for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in their list of 13 top HR podcasts
Thomas Kohler for including the April edition in his round-up of recommended HR resources.
Julia Reis for also including the Data Driven HR Monthly in her list of resources for HR professionals
Juliette Matharan for including the podcast episode with Louise Millar and Olivia Edwards in her five podcasts of the month
Qandle for including me in their list of Top 25 HR Influencers and Leaders to follow
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.
SEE 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 4-5 - Insight222 European Peer Meeting (hosted by Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
June 25-26 - Insight222 North American Peer Meeting (Minneapolis, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
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 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
data governance
2024年06月03日
data governance
David Green : The best HR & People Analytics articles of April 2024
My highlight for April, and indeed of the year so far, was the People Analytics Worldconference in London. I first chaired the event in 2014, and over the last decade People Analytics World has established itself as the go-to event in Europe for the field.
The 2024 edition was sold out with close to 400 people attending across the two days (4x compared to 2014!). I had the privilege of co-chairing, along with Cole Napper and Michael M. Moon, PhD and also delivering the opening keynote on how leading companies deliver value with people analytics, based on our research at Insight222.
You can find the slides I shared in the keynote below. These include the results of three polls I ran with attendees at People Analytics World on (1) the current state of people analytics in their organisation, (2) the financial impact of people analytics in the last 12 months, and (3) the data literacy of HR professionals. Additionally, you can also access the Insight222 research I shared here.
The conference only ended a few days ago, but already many of the attendees have shared some of their key takeaways and learnings. Do check out the ones from Patrick Coolen (here), Giovanna Constant (here), Sebastian Knepper (here), Mariana Rossi Campos (here), Fatma Hedeya (here), Pietro Mazzoleni (here), Maria Manso Garcia (here), Ekkehard Ernst (here), Marcela Mury (here) and Jaejin Lee (here).
Finally on People Analytics World, congratulations to Barry Swales and the Tucana team for organising such a successful event, thank you to all those who attended the Insight222 dinner, visited the Insight222 stand and who took the time to interact with me over the two days. Lastly, thank you to all of the brilliant speakers and panellists in the Plenary sessions and Strategy track that I moderated: Richard Rosenow Ian Cook Sue Lam Rob Briner Peter Cheese Aizhan Tursunbayeva, PhD, GRP Abigail Gilbert Alexis Saussinan Michael Cox Gemma McNair David Shontz Amit Mohindra Clare Moncrieff Jo Thackray Lucie Vottova Andrew Elston Rob Etheridge Isabel Naidoo James Fenlon and Ekkehard Ernst.
People Analytics World 2024 | London
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for April 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 March’s compendium (including those in the Thank You section below).
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
DIANE GHERSON AND LYNDA GRATTON - Highly Skilled Professionals Want Your Work But Not Your Job
Without question, there has been a huge shift. Many of the individuals we’re looking to attract—in technology, data sciences, machine learning, blockchain, and the internet of things—have a different mindset now. They want more-flexible working arrangements.
This quote from Peter Fasolo, Ph.D. chief human resources officer at Johnson & Johnson, perfectly captures the challenge that Diane Gherson and Lynda Grattonhighlight in their article for Harvard Business Review: more and more workers want to work as freelancers. As the article highlights, Gartner predict that independent workers will make up 35% to 40% of the global workforce by 2025. Moreover, one-third earn more than $150,000 per year, and just over half were providing knowledge services—such as computer programming, marketing, IT, and business consulting. Integrating and managing what this ‘blended workforce’ will be one of the main managerial challenges in the years ahead. Based on their interviews with executives at leading companies that are experimenting with how best to bring freelancers into their organisations, Diane and Lynda set out some guidance and highlight emerging management practices that forward-looking companies are embracing. These include: (1) Helping freelancers understand and embrace company culture. (2) Following rigorous practices to retain institutional knowledge. (3) Adopting a ‘sponsor’ mindset to guide freelancers’ performance. (4) Leveraging digital workflows and building trust to manage changes in project needs.
FIG 1: The Emerging Blended Workforce (Source: Diane Gherson and Lynda Gratton)
LEILA HOTEIT, ANTON STEPANENKO, PAVEL LUKSHA, SAGAR GOEL, AND LEONID GORENBURG - The Next 50 Years of Work
Contrary to popular fears that the future will offer fewer work opportunities for people, most experts anticipate that rewarding work options will be plentiful.
The key finding of a recent BCG study is that workforce experts anticipate that jobs will flourish over the next fifty years, with four boundaries framing the future growth of the economy (see FIG 2). The study, authored by Leila Hoteit Anton Stepanenko Pavel Luksha Sagar Goel and Leonid Gorenburgalso highlights bionic skills (e.g. tech literacy, data-driven decision making, AI-enhanced creativity, and ease with human-machine collaboration) and creativity as the skills that will be in highest demand. But to complement these skills, workers should also cultivate adaptability and the ability to take initiative.
FIG 2: The four boundaries within which the future economy will grow (Source: BCG)
ETHAN MOLLICK - Reinventing the Organization for GenAI and LLMs
Consider this an early eulogy for the traditional organizational structure, which began in 1855 with the first modern organizational chart and thrived, more or less successfully, until the 2020s, when it succumbed to a new technology, the large language model (LLM).
That’s the bold claim by Ethan Mollick in his compulsive article in MIT Sloan Management Review. While he concedes that previous waves of technology have ushered in innovations that have strengthened traditional organisational structures, Mollick makes the case that GenAI and LLMs are different. He then outlines three principles for reorganising work around AI: (1) Identify and enlist your current AI users. (2) Let teams develop their own methods. (3) Build for the not-so-distant future. If you enjoy this article, I recommend subscribing to Mollick’s One Useful Thing blog.
BCG - What GenAI’s Top Performers Do Differently
The top GenAI performers have the biggest lead across five main capabilities: a clear link to business performance, modern technology infrastructure, strong data capabilities, leadership support, and a grounding in responsible AI.
While GenAI is becoming an integral part of business ecosystems, only 10% of companies have mastered scaling GenAI to create value and secure other benefits from this transformative technology (see FIG 3). That’s according to recent research by BCG, which finds that 10% of companies lead in five key areas: (1) a clear link to business performance, (2) modern technology infrastructure, (3) strong data capabilities, (4) leadership support, and (5) a grounding in responsible AI. A helpful read for HR leaders as they think how HR can lead organisational transformation in the age of AI as well as incorporate the technology into HR programs too. (Authors: Amanda Luther Romain de Laubier Nicolas de Bellefonds Tauseef Charanya Suraj Shah Kevin Nnaemeka Ifiora and Patrick Forth)
FIG 3: Three categories of companies in relation to GenAI adoption (Source: BCG)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
PATRICK COOLEN - The 10 golden rules for establishing a people analytics practice
A successful people analytics practice starts with the right people analytics leader
Patrick Coolen’s first iteration of his ’10 golden rules for people analytics’ (one prescient ‘rule’ was to combine strategic workforce planning and analytics) was published in 2014 when he was in the early stages of building the function at ABN Amro. A decade on, Patrick updates his seminal article, with insights from his own career journey, Ph.D research, and the evolution of the field itself. As ever, Patrick is right on the mark with his ten selections including these three: (1) The people analytics leader can make the difference, (2) Create a clear people analytics operating model, and (3) Upskill HR in data-driven decision making.
PIETRO MAZZOLENI - Mastering data governance for effective people data platforms: lessons from what we did at IBM
Data Governance is the process that ensures the availability, usability, integrity, and security of data in enterprise systems
Pietro Mazzoleni shares the three key elements related to ‘governance-by-design’ that together provided the fundamental principles underlying the design and implementation of Workforce360, IBM’s people data platform. In the article, Pietro presents the three elements – trust, transparency and compliance (see FIG 4) – and provides a detailed description of each.
FIG 4: Key governance questions to consider when designing a people data platform (Source: Pietro Mazzoleni)
JASDEEP KAREER - The Importance of Data and Upskilling in Driving Growth
Jasdeep Kareer, PhD (née Bhambra) shares key learnings from the recent Peer Meeting for North American member companies of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which was hosted by Colgate-Palmolive in their global headquarters in New York. The Peer Meeting, which was attended by more than 60 people analytics leaders and practitioners from more than 40 companies was framed on the key findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends study for 2023. In her article, Jas highlights five themes from the Peer Meeting: (1) The importance of data and upskilling in driving growth (with insights from Sally Massey). (2) How strategic partnerships and data governance pave the way for successful People Analytics initiatives (with insights from Courtney McMahon Pavel Nouel and Nayana Pai). (3) How insights-driven decision-making and storytelling can drive impactful outcomes in People Analytics (with insights from Durrell Blake Robinson and Mona Routray). (4) Factors influencing the adoption of people analytics (with insights from Patrick Coolen and Brydie Lear). (5) Influencing senior stakeholders with people analytics (with insights from Piyush Mathur). If you would like to learn more about our People Analytics Program, contact us today.
FIG 5: 8 Characteristics of Leading Companies. (Source: Insight222 People Analytics Trends Report 2023)
BURAK BAKKALOGLU – Deploying GenAI in HR | KEITH MCNULTY – How I Created an AI Version of Myself | KATE GUARINO - How to Turn ChatGPT into Your Personal Consultant: A 5-Step Approach | NATALIA GORMANN - Improving Employee Experience with a Solid Data Strategy | PATRICK GALLAGHER - Is It Time to Stop Measuring Employee Engagement?
In recent editions of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I’ve been featuring a collection of articles by current and recent people analytics leaders. These act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Five are highlighted here. (1) Burak Bakkaloglu dedicates an edition of his If Interested blog to the topic of GenAI including breaking down three layers of GenAI for HR (see FIG 6). (2) Keith McNulty provides a tutorial (including code) on how he built a 'Keith-bot' to answer questions on statistics based on the content of his regression textbook, using a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture. (3) Katie Guarino also provides a practical framework on how to use ChatGPT as your personal consultant and coach on any topic, regardless of your expertise in it. (4) Natalia Gormann discusses challenges for people teams to build partnerships with finance before guidance on how to build an effective data strategy to support employee experience strategies. (5) Patrick Gallagher looks at the case for and against measuring employee engagement, concluding that organisations with mature employee listening and PA functions just don’t need it anymore.
FIG 6: Three layers of GenAI in HR (Source: Burak Bakkaloglu)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
VINCENT BÉRUBÉ, BEN FOGARTY, NEEL GANDHI, RAHUL MATHEW, MARINO MUGYAR-BALDOCCHI, AND CHARLOTTE SEILEROUTLINE - Increasing your return on talent: The moves and metrics that matter
An organization that views its employees as its most important resource can maximize its return on talent by following a holistic strategy—with HR in the driver’s seat.
Drawing on McKinsey research that finds companies that put talent at the centre of their business strategy realise higher total shareholder returns than their competitors, Vincent Bérubé Ben Fogarty Neel Gandhi Rahul Mathew Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi and Charlotte Seiler outline five actions organisations can take to maximise their return on talent. The five actions are: (1) Build a skills-based strategic workforce planning capability. (2) Create a hiring engine that brings in the right talent to fill critical roles. (3) Invest in learning and development. ((4) Establish a stellar performance-oriented culture. (5) Elevate HR’s operating model to become a true talent steward.
FIG 7: Factors that drag down employee and organisational productivity (Source: McKinsey)
PETER CAPPELLI AND RANYA NEHMEH – HR’s New Role
If leaders realized that the true cost of turnover is often a multiple of an employee’s annual salary, they would immediately demand changes.
In their thoughtful article for Harvard Business Review, Peter Cappelli and Ranya Nehmeh set out the case for the HR function to return to its roots as employee advocates. They argue that in a period of low unemployment and labour supply shortages, focusing on cost-cutting and restructuring is counterproductive and the onus should instead be on retention and preventing burnout. To realise this, HR needs to change outdated policies on compensation, training and development, layoffs, vacancies, outsourcing, and restructuring. Cappelli and Nehmeh recommend the first step should be for HR to create dashboards with metrics on the true costs of turnover, absenteeism, reasons for quitting, illness rates, and employee engagement. They contend that: “If leaders realized that the true cost of turnover is often a multiple of an employee’s annual salary, they would immediately demand changes." They also outline guidance on why and how to measure employee stress – particularly with regards to AI and restructuring. The article also provides examples of companies with HR functions that are moving to an employee advocacy approach. These include the likes of Walmart and Neiman Marcus (both on compensation and reward), as well as IBM and Unilever (both internal talent mobility).
DAVE ULRICH - Upgrading HR Professionals: How to Develop HR Professionals so They Rise to Their Opportunity
HR matters. Now more than ever.
In a recent article from his Human Capability Impact LinkedIn newsletter, Dave Ulrich explains why HR functions and professionals are rising in importance, and then lays out a playbook, process and assessment designed to develop HR professionals so they can fulfil expectations and rise to the opportunity (see FIG 8).
FIG 8: Summary and assessment of ways to upgrade HR professionals (Source: Dave Ulrich)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
NICK VAN DER MEULEN, OLGERTA TONA, AND DOROTHY E. LEIDNER – Resolving Workforce Skills Gaps with AI-Powered Insights
As Christina Norris-Watts and Doug Shagam shared with me in an episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, Johnson & Johnson has used AI-driven skills inference as part of their skills transformation (see: How Johnson & Johnson are Scaling Their Skills-Based Approach to Talent). In their paper for MIT, Nick van der Meulen Olgerta Tona and Dorothy Leidner provide an in-depth case study on Johnson & Johnson to demonstrate how skills inference can provide detailed insight into workforce skills gaps and thereby guide employees’ career development and leaders’ strategic workforce planning. The paper includes a detailed description of the three steps of the skills inference process (see FIG 9). The sections in the paper on employee trust, privacy and use cases are particularly instructional for companies looking to emulate this work in their organisations.
FIG 9: The three steps of the skills inference process (Source: MIT Center for Information Systems Research)
JORDAN PETTMAN - Workforce Planning: A Beginner's Guide to Strategic Success
Jordan Pettman, one of my many talented colleagues at Insight222, shares some tips and guidance for practitioners looking to start or accelerate their workforce planning efforts. He highlights the Nine Dimensions for Excellence in Strategic Workforce Planning model we use with clients at Insight222 (see FIG 10), explaining that you need to consider each of the decision points that the model presents in terms of getting the foundations right, ensuring your resources are fit for purpose and that you deliver value out of the cycle for the business and employees. Jordan also shares insights from the likes of Jonas Ottiger and Gergo Safar as part of his guidance on two key elements: workforce planning essentials and building skills-based workforce planning.
FIG 10: Nine Dimensions for Excellence in Stategic Workforce Planning (Source: Insight222)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
EMILY KILLHAM - From Insight to Action: New Data on the State of Employee Listening (Article) | The State of Employee Listening 2024 (Report)
(Leading firms ensure) listening efforts are aimed at the most important business and talent priorities facing their organizations today.
Emily Killham highlights the key findings from Perceptyx’s third annual State of Employee Listening report, which is informed by survey of more than 750 senior HR leaders from global firms with at least 1,000 employees. These include: (1) 78% of firms surveyed conduct some kind of listening event at least once a quarter, compared to 70% in 2023 and 60% in 2022. (2) Nearly 40% of organisations can share listening data with managers within two weeks. (3) When compared with their peers, the most mature listening organisations are 6x more likely to exceed financial targets, 9x more likely to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction, 4x more likely to retain talent, even during times of high attrition, 7x more likely to adapt well to change, and 7x more likely to innovate effectively.
FIG 11: Employee Listening Maturity (Source: Perceptyx)
NICK LYNN - Trust and Distrust: Why and how you may need to tackle both
Building trust is not always sufficient, you may also need to tackle the causes of distrust. The problems are not always the same. They may sometimes require different solutions.
Nick Lynn constructs a wonderful treatise on ‘trust’ and ‘distrust’ in organisations and offers potential solutions to build the former and tackle the latter. Through analysing four models to build trust, Nick identifies some common ingredients including: communication, consistency, integrity, fairness, empathy, and psychological safety. When it comes to tackling distrust, he assembles four elements of organisational health: work, total rewards, people, and purpose into a framework of employee experience leadership (see FIG 12).
FIG 12: Driving employee experience through connection and contribution (Source: Nick Lynn)
STEPHANIE DENINO, TIMO TISCHER, AND DAVID GREEN - Moving Towards Excellence in EX Management
In the January edition of Data-Driven HR Monthly, I highlighted the fascinating report State of EX 2023-24 study, published by The EXchange, Inc, TI PEOPLE and FOUNT Global, Inc. In this article, for myHRfuture, I interview Stephanie Denino and Timo Tischer, two of the contributors to the study. We dig into what constitutes ‘excellence’ in EX management, the barriers and how to overcome them, and the priorities for EX teams in 2024 (see FIG 13). Stephanie and Timo also provide tips for organisations looking to manage EX more deliberately, which includes: (1) Identifying the moments that matter, (2) Measuring and listening continuously to people’s experiences across these moments, and (3) Clarifying responsibilities (who ‘owns’ which journeys, moments and/or touchpoints) to ensure accountability, and improving high importance / low satisfaction moments.
FIG 13: Top five priorities for EX teams in 2024 (Source: State of EX 2023-24 study)
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND INCLUSION
ANNA BINDER - Build Your Culture Like a Product
Anna Binder, Asana's Head of People, shares her step-by-step guide to intentionally building the company culture, which has helped Asana scale from 100 to over 2,000 employees during the last eight years. The article includes tips on building a people strategy from the ground-up, constructing a culture pyramid to supercharge your organisation (see FIG 14), how to bring conscious leadership to the executive suite, and building trust. A highly insightful and practical guide.
FIG 14: The pyramid of company culture (Source: Anna Binder)
ARNAUD CHEVALLIER, FRÉDÉRIC DALSACE, AND JEAN-LOUIS BARSOUX - The Art of Asking Smarter Questions
Advances in AI have caused a seismic shift from a world in which answers were crucial to one in which questions are. The big differentiator is the ability to craft smart prompts.
The ability to ask great questions is a powerful skill for unlocking value – especially in the age of AI. As such, the cover article of the current edition of the Harvard Business Review by Arnaud Chevallier Frédéric Dalsace and Jean-Louis Barsoux of IMD Business School is well worth digging into. The authors provide a typology of five topics of questions to ask during strategic decision making: (1) investigative, (2) speculative, (3) productive, (4) interpretive, and (5) subjective (see FIG 15). The article also includes a self-assessment that enables readers to evaluate the types of questions that are their strong and weak points, and then provides guidance to help you improve. From completing the assessment myself, it seems I need to work on my subjective questioning technique.
FIG 15: What’s your question mix? (Source: Chevallier et al)
CHRISTIAN HAUDE, IVO BLOHM, AND XAVIER LAGARDÈRE - How Lufthansa Shapes Data-Driven Transformation Leaders
Effective data leaders bridge a crucial gap that still exists in too many organizations. These leaders play a key role in transforming organizations that are leveraging data and AI to increase business value.
An excellent example from Lufthansa on how they created a program to educate leaders on data leadership, and how it provided insights on the roles that people play in data-driven change. In their article, Christian Haude Ivo Blohm and Xavier Lagardere outline the challenge the program was designed to solve, the six different roles for data leaders that were defined (see FIG 16), details of the three training modules: Spark, Inspire and Activate, and four key strategies for success.
FIG 16: Data Leadership: Six key roles (Source: Haude et al)
SHARNA WIBLEN AND DAVID GREEN - Rethinking Talent Decisions and Navigating Subjectivity in HR
Accumulating deliberate, intentional, and informed decisions can unleash exponential returns.
In her book, Rethinking Talent Decisions, Sharna Wiblen highlights an uncomfortable truth: Talent decisions are always subjective. As such, I was delighted to explore this in more depth with Sharna in an article for myHRfuture. In the article, Sharna, an Assistant Professor and Senior Lecturer at Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong, unpacks the nuanced role of subjectivity in talent decisions and the symbiotic relationship between technology and human judgment in the workplace. The uncomfortable truth is that decisions about talent are invariably coloured by personal perceptions, and instead of shying away, Sharna argues that we should lean into this discomfort to emerge with more informed and nuanced strategies.
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 April that I recommend readers delve into:
FRANZ GILBERT, MATTHEW SHANNON, AND ERIN SPENCER - 2024 HR tech predictions: Headless platforms place HR tech in the flow of work – The Deloitte Human Capital Forward team of Franz Gilbert Matthew Shannon and Erin Spencer outline the key HR technology trends they believe will drive innovation in the field in 2024 (see FIG 17).
FIG 17: HR technology trends primed to innovate further in 2024 (Source: Deloitte)
JARED SPATARO, KATHLEEN HOGAN, AND CHRIS FERNANDEZ - Our Year with Copilot: What Microsoft Has Learned About AI at Work - Senior leaders at Microsoft, including Jared Spataro Kathleen Hogan and Christopher J. Fernandezshare insights, learnings and guidance from their experience of using Copilot. For example, Hogan reveals:
Our HR service professionals are able to handle employee inquiries more efficiently. So far we are seeing a 26 percent reduction in initial response time thanks to Copilot.
CATHERINE COPPINGER - Manager Effectiveness: It’s Time for a New Playbook – Catherine Coppinger shares Worklytics research on how companies can understand and improve manager effectiveness. Insights include the impact of isolation on ‘quiet quitting’ and how low manager engagement is a big predictor of isolation (see FIG 18). For more, please listen to Catherine’s discussion with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to enhance manager effectiveness.
FIG 18: Source - Worklytics
FRANCISCO MARIN - The Role of AI-Powered Passive Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) in Mitigating Burnout, Absenteeism, and Turnover Risk – Francisco Marin of Cognitive Talent Solutions explains how ONA has emerged as a critical tool in identifying and mitigating the risks of burnout, absenteeism, and turnover.
ANDREW PITTS AND CHAD MITCHELL - Mapping and Understanding the Connections Between SIOP 2024 Conference Presenters – Andrew Pitts and Chad Mitchell provide a practical example of ONA by utilising Polinode to understand and map the connections of the presenters at the recent Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) 2024 conference in Chicago.
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected four gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
ANDREW STRAUSS AND MATT ALDER - Talent Lessons From Elite Sport – I’ll happily admit to some green-eyed envy towards Matt Alder for the coup of getting former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss onto his Recruiting Future podcast to discuss what elite sports can teach business about leadership.
JOHANNES SUNDLO AND LARS SCHMIDT - Practical Use Cases for Generative AI in Human Resources – Johannes Sundlo joins Lars Schmidt on his Redefining Work podcast to dig into use cases for GenAI in HR including in learning and compensation.
MALISSA CLARK AND CURT NICKISCH - Companies Can Win by Reducing Overwork - Malissa Clark, associate professor and head of the Healthy Work Lab at the University of Georgia, joins Curt Nickisch on HBR IdeaCast to explain how companies unwittingly create a workaholic culture, and what they can do to change this.
ALAN COLQUITT, COLE NAPPER AND SCOTT HINES - Is Performance Management Fine, Or Rotten To The Core? – An interesting discussion ensues as Alan Colquitt, Ph.D. joins hosts Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD to discuss the pros and cons of performance management.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
ANNA TAVIS AND WOODY WOODWARD - The Digital Coaching Revolution: How to Support Employee Development with Coaching Tech
According to Anna A. Tavis, PhD, and Dr. Woody Woodward, PhD, PCC: “Digital coaching is transforming employee experience and the future of work as we know it.” In their book, The Digital Coaching Revolution, they provide guidance on how to scale digital coaching in your organisation – whether the C-suite is already on board or not. The book features case studies from the likes of Visa, CVS, and Hilton, and is a recommended resource for HR, EX, and L&D professionals looking to understand and/or roll digital coaching within their companies.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
ROB BRINER – Evidence-Based HR: A New Paradigm
Evidence-based HR (EBHR) is a process which delivers more informed and hence more accurate answers to two fundamental questions: first, which are the most important problems (or opportunities) facing the organisation which are relevant to HR? Second, which solutions (or interventions) are most likely to help?
These are the opening words to a recently published report from the Corporate Research Forum (CRF), authored by Rob Briner, on Evidence-Based HR (EBHR). The report tackles, the why, what, and how of EBHR, explains why it is not the same as people analytics, provides case studies from Thales, Uber and the Financial Conduct Authority, and provides a practical toolkit for practitioners on the EBHR process (see FIG 19). For more, have a listen to Rob speaking to me in a recent episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast: What is evidence-based HR and why is it important?
FIG 19: The Evidence-Based HR Process (Source: Rob Briner, Corporate Research Forum)
FROM MY DESK
April saw three episodes from Series 38 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by our friends at Worklytics - thank you to Philip Arkcoll and Laura Morris, as well as a round-up of series 37:
NICKLE LAMOREAUX - How IBM Uses AI to Transform Their HR Strategies – Nickle LaMoreaux, CHRO at IBM, joins me to share how IBM is harnessing AI to transform HR practices, drive business outcomes, and elevate employee experience. One of the examples Nickle shares is IBM’s digital worker, HiRo, which takes on the manual, repetitive tasks of data gathering during our quarterly promotions process and in 2023 saved IBM managers 50,000 hours.
COLE NUSSBAUMER-KNAFLIC - How HR Professionals can Master Storytelling with Data - Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic joins me for a deeply insightful conversation on the transformative power of storytelling in the context of people data and analytics.
CATHERINE COPPINGER – How to Use Passive Data to Enhance Manager Effectiveness - Catherine Coppinger, Head of Customer Insight at Worklytics joins me to discuss her recent research on manager effectiveness, which includes discussion on the impact of network density, team size, and span of control on team and manager effectiveness.
DAVID GREEN - How can HR help create a thriving organisational culture? - A round-up of series 37 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, with insights from episodes featuring Rebecca Thielen Dorie Clark Didier Elzinga Rob Briner Louise Millar and Olivia Edwards.
LOOKING FOR A NEW ROLE IN PEOPLE ANALYTICS OR HR TECH?
’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 550 roles.
THANK YOU
Reem Janho, JD Michael Griffiths Obed Garcia-Colato Kim Eberbach and the rest of the Deloitte team for inviting me to speak at their Workforce Innovation Forumat the Deloitte University in Texas.
Olimpiusz Papiez for sharing his key learnings on advancing your career in people analytics (with insights from the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Serena H. Huang, Ph.D.), on how to quantify the impact of a thriving company culture (with insights from the episode with Didier Elzinga), and on IBM’s HiRo digital assistant (with inisghts from the episode with Nickle LaMoreaux)
Luis Miguel González Soriano for posting about Excellence in People Analytics.
Juliette Matharan for writing about Excellence in People Analytics, and Arnaud COULON for recommending the book to Juliette.
Ancile Digital for including my quote on how HR can harness AI in its post on the best advice for HR professionals.
Mirro.io for featuring me as one of their top HR thought leaders to follow in 2024.
Employ.com for also featuring me as one of their top 16 HR influencers to follow on LinkedIn.
Ganesh Iyer for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in his list of 25 HR leadership podcasts to subscribe to.
Thomas Otter for endorsing the Digital HR Leaders podcast here.
Kevin Green for recommending series 37 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast.
Thomas Kohler for including the March edition of Data Driven HR in his round-up of recommended HR resources.
Yen Dang for including the Data-Driven HR Monthly in her top 3 newsletters for HR professionals.
Neha Asthana for including me in her group of HR thought leaders and influencers.
Caroline Arora and JooBee Yeow, PhD for recommending me on Mark Shortall’s list of content creators in the people and talent space.
Lars Schmidt for also the Data-Driven HR Monthly (this newsletter!) in his excellent list of HR newsletters to subscribe to.
To the following people who sharing the March edition of Data Driven HR Monthly. It's much appreciated: David Simmonds FCIPD Hafiz Adam Hanafi Reshma Mawji Hakki Ozdenoren Jo Iwasaki Aravind Warrier Katrina A. Stevens, CHRE Muhammad Firdaus Chrechen Jeja Kouros Behzad Arin Buawatthana Abid Hamid Robert Rogowski Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR Anvita Patnaik Paola Valerin Francisca Solano Beneitez Beverly Tarulli, Ph.D. Nicola Vogel Alexander S. Locher Kingsley Taylor Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN (née Schouten) Ralf Buechsenschuss Aysegul Tigli Philipe Ferreira Jane Datta Malgorzata (GOSIA) LANGLOIS Karen Edelman Indre Radzeviciute Hallie Bregman, PhD Adam McKinnon, PhD. Amanda Painter Adam Tombor (Wojciechowski) Chris Lovato Nabil Dewsi Tatu Westling Kristina Schoemmel Janeen Rabinowitz Susan Knolla Dan George Catriona Lindsay Patricia Carmona Ulrich E. Basler Caitie Jacobson Warren Howlett Jackson C. Trent Melissa Hopper Fritz Ankit Saxena, MBA Martha Curioni Anna Nord ?? Amardeep Singh, MBA Irada Sadykhova Christina Bui Higor Gomes Tanya Pastor Danielle Bushen Nicole Lettich Ken Clar Kerrian Soong Laurent Reich Stephen Hickey Olivier Bougarel Jana Glogowski Marcela Mury Tina Peeters, PhD Aimee Wilkinson Ludek Stehlik, Ph.D. Phil Inskip Adam Gibson Daniel Bosman Todd Tauber Violeta Lennon Soojeong Bae Aurélie Crégut.
UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL OF YOUR PEOPLE ANALYTICS FUNCTION THROUGH THE INSIGHT222 PEOPLE ANALYTICS PROGRAM
At Insight222, our mission is to make organisations better by putting people analytics at the centre of business and upskilling the HR profession The Insight222 People Analytics Program® is your gateway to a world of knowledge, networking, and growth. Developed exclusively for people analytics leaders and their teams, the program equips you with the frameworks, guidance, learnings, and connections you need to create greater impact.
As the landscape of people analytics becomes increasingly complex, with data, technology, and ethical considerations at the forefront, our program brings together over one hundred organisations to collectively address these shared challenges.
Insight222 Peer Meetings, like this event in London, are a core component of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®. They allow participants to learn, network and co-create solutions together with the purpose of ultimately growing the business value that people analytics can deliver to their organisations. If you would like to learn more, contact us today.
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.
SEE 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 4-5 - Insight222 European Peer Meeting (hosted by Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
June 25-26 - Insight222 North American Peer Meeting (Minneapolis, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
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 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.
data governance
data governance
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