The best HR & People Analytics articles of October 2024
Never forget what the ‘H’ in HR stands for...
This was the unanimous advice of the CEO panel, skilfully moderated by Charles-Henri Besseyre des Horts, at the recent Unleash World show in Paris, where I had the privilege of being emcee of the Main Stage. One of the main themes that emerged from the show (see my key learnings from Unleash) is that HR continues to make significant progress in its journey from support function to strategic partner. To complete this transition, HR must embrace data (as opening keynote Peter Hinssen put it: “You can’t connect the dots, if you don’t collect the dots”). Moreover, as I said in my opening words:
HR can’t lead the charge on AI, skills and new ways of working, if it doesn’t upskill itself.
This edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly is sponsored by our friends at Visier
Pay Equity: A Critical Workforce Challenge You Can No Longer Ignore.
According to a recent study by The Josh Bersin Company on pay equity, as it stands today, the gender pay gap won't close until 2048. Even worse: progress in some areas is slowing with less than 5% of companies excelling in pay equity despite it having 13 times the impact on employee experience compared to pay levels. Read the report.
The report, “The Surprising Truth about Gender Pay Equity”., examines:
The current state of gender pay equity
Barriers companies face in addressing pay
The projected timeline for closing the gender pay gap
Examples of companies implementing strategies to achieve pay equity
It’s time to face the challenge head-on, embed pay equity into everyday practices, and have informed conversations about compensation.
Get the report.
Visier gives you a Workforce AI Edge: the set of AI-powered capabilities every leader needs to confidently navigate an exponentially more challenging business environment.
October road report
October was a busy month. It started in New York, where I moderated a panel on Workestration at the NY Strategic HR Analytics Meetup Group before co-chairing the first People Analytics World to take place in the US. The next stop was Paris, for the aforementioned UNLEASH World, which had over 7,000 attendees. Finally, it was back to the US for a Peer Meeting for North American members of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®, which was hosted by Phil Wilburn and his team at Workday.
For more on People Analytics World, I recommend reading takeaways from Craig Starbuck, PhD (here), Al Adamsen (here), Christopher Cerasoli (here), Lore Muraina, PMP, PMI-ACP, CPP (here), Lydia Wu (here), and Melissa Arronte (here). Thanks to Barry Swales for entrusting me to co-chair with Michael M. Moon, PhD.
For more on Unleash, read my key learnings, as well as checking out the Unleash site for articles by Alexandra Nawrat, John Brazier and Lucy Buchholz. A huge thank you to Marc Coleman, Paige Richmond, Zoltán Kőváry and the whole Unleash team – it was a joy to work with you all again.
A huge thank you too to Phil Willburn and the Workday team for hosting the Insight222 Peer Meeting at Pleasanton, as well as the speakers at the Peer Meeting: Shannon Vallina, Kanwal Safdar, Dr. Sebastian Projahn, Ashley Goldsmith, Rex Blodgett, Kun Gu, Victoria Holland, Greta Stahl, Kinnari Desai, Sven Linsmaier
Finally, thanks as well to Stela Lupushor for inviting me to chair the panel on Workestration, Anna A. Tavis, PhD for hosting us at NYU, and Annie Dean, Brydie Lear and Chris Butler for making it such a rich conversation.
Attendees at the Insight222 Peer Meeting for members of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, hosted by Workday, October 22-23, 2024
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Enjoy reading the collection of resources for October and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on September’s compendium.
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HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ERIC ANICICH AND DART LINDSLEY - Reimagining Work as a Product
If companies listen to employees the way they do customers, they can increase retention and engagement.
In their Harvard Business Review article, Eric Anicich and Dart Lindsley challenge the traditional approaches to employee experience by painting a vision where work is viewed as a product employers offer to employees. Drawing on Clayton Christensen’s the jobs to be done theory, they suggest that employees ‘hire’ their jobs to fulfil specific needs, much as customers choose products. This perspective shifts the focus from maximising productivity to something akin to customer satisfaction. The authors share examples from a myriad of companies including Asana, Eli Lilly, Shopify and Dropbox, explain how companies can better balance company needs with employee satisfaction (see FIG 1), and discuss the merits of splitting the manager role in two (see also ‘Managers Can’t Do It All’ by Lynda Gratton and Diane Gherson). Finally, the article examines four challenges of implementing the model: (1) Changing HR (“Work-as-a-product requires a new HR mindset”). (2) Balancing employee preferences and organisational needs. (3) Maintaining flexibility and fairness. (4) Aligning incentives.
FIG 1: Balancing company needs with employee satisfaction (Source: Anicich and Lindsley)
NICHOLAS BLOOM, JAMES LIANG, AND RUOBING HAN - One Company A/B Tested Hybrid Work. Here’s What They Found
With Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently announcing that Amazon is going back to five days in the office: “to further strengthen our culture and teams”, this article by Nick Bloom, James Liang, and Ruobing Han based on A/B testing at Trip.com into different work modes makes for very interesting reading. The experiment involved 1600 employees being split into two groups. The first group worked five days a week in the office, with the second working three days in the office and two days a week at home. Over a two-year period, the experiment found no differences between the two groups in productivity, performance, promotion, learning or innovation. However, the study found that the hybrid group experienced higher satisfaction and lower attrition rates compared with their colleagues who worked exclusively from the office (see FIG 2). This reduction in turnover saved millions of dollars in recruiting and training costs, thereby increasing profits for the company. As the article explains, organisations can learn several valuable lessons from this study to implement a successful hybrid work model: (1) Establishing rigorous performance management systems, (2) Coordinating team or company-level hybrid schedules, (3) Securing support from firm leadership, and (4) A/B test their own management practices to find what works best for them.
Our results showed that under a hybrid-work policy, Trip.com was able to generate millions of dollars of profits by reducing expensive attrition without any impact on performance, innovation, or productivity.
FIG 2: Source: Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance
MICHAEL ARENA AND PHILIP ARKCOLL - The collaboration mandate: Does returning to the office improve innovation?
What we need isn’t an office mandate—it’s a “collaboration mandate.” Shifting our focus from where we work to how we work could unlock the innovation we’re seeking.
In all the hullabaloo of return to office mandates, there’s still too much focus on where employees work rather than how they collaborate. As Michael Arena and Philip Arkcoll write in their excellent article, dragging employees back into the office won’t magically spark innovation. Instead of an office mandate, they advocate for a “collaboration mandate”. The article explains how innovation is generated through three critical phases of collaboration: (1) Discovery (“the generation of new ideas and insights, often benefiting from the intentional bridging of connections and in-person interactions”), (2) Development (“transforming those ideas into viable solutions, where the focused team interactions of experimentation and rapid iteration are essential. It also requires an environment with minimal distraction for focused concentration.” – see FIG 3) and (3) Scaling (“the process of implementing solutions across the organization, which requires more deliberate interactions with key influencers to ensure widespread adoption and buy-in.”). The article examines the impact of remote and in-person on each stage, and provides guidance on practices to improve collaboration in each. For more, I recommend listening to Michael on a recent episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast with me: What the Impact of Distributed Work on Organisational Networks Tells Us About the Future of Talent Management.
FIG 3: High levels of focus, such as 4.4 hours daily versus a low focus level of 2.7 hours, significantly drive productivity in development (Source: Worklytics)
https://youtu.be/-giwBOuYwio
BCG - Five Must-Haves for Effective AI Upskilling
Embedding AI in daily tasks at all levels creates a network effect: the more people use and understand it, the more the entire organization gains in knowledge, innovation, and efficiency.
Upskilling its workforce on AI helps a company maximise its investments in the technology and equips it with a competitive edge. In a new study by BCG, Hean-Ho Loh, Vinciane Beauchene, Vladimir Lukic, and Rajiv Shenoy provide guidance on five actions to help achieve this: (1) Assess needs and measure outcomes (the article recommends using the Kirkpatrick method). (2) Prepare workers for change - individually, at the team level, and organisation-wide. (3) Introduce appropriate incentives to unlock employees’ willingness to learn (e.g. nudges). (4) Position the C-suite at the forefront of adoption and training initiatives. (5) Use AI tools and the network effect to upskill people on AI (see FIG 4).
FIG 4: AI learning and support tools fall into four categories (Source: BCG)
KAI HAHN | INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE LEADERS ALLIANCE - AI & The Future of Work
Within People Analytics’ transformation into a strategic business partner the advance of AI is shaping up as an accelerator if used to drive business outcomes
Kai Hahn presents the results of a comprehensive study by the Intelligent Enterprise Leaders Alliance on the state of AI adoption in HR and people analytics. The report features a stellar list of contributors including: Arianna Huffington, Dave Ulrich, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Amit Mohindra, Nicole Lettich, Kalifa Oliver, Ph.D. and Alim A. Dhanji. Key findings include: (1) Talent Acquisition is at the forefront of embracing AI tools with 70% currently piloting/leveraging AI, followed by People Analytics and L&D with 65%. (2) Priorities for People Analytics in the next 6-12 months with AI are first and foremost automating HR operations. (3) The biggest barrier to adoption is resistance to change, ahead of skills gaps, challenges with data quality and security, privacy and trust, and ethical concerns and bias.
FIG 5: Where organisations are leveraging AI in HR (Source: IELA)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
JAAP VELDKAMP - Positioning People Analytics into the HR Service Model: A Path to Sustainable Impact
Embedding People Analytics within the HR Service Model is essential for creating a lasting and meaningful impact.
In his thoughtful article, Jaap Veldkamp, Global Head of People Analytics and Organisational Effectiveness at ABN AMRO, provides guidance on how people analytics should be positioned within the broader HR service model. Jaap provides a simplified view of the HR operating model (see FIG 6), which has three components: (1) Identifying needs. (2) Prioritising needs. (3) Executing and evaluating strategies. He then describes how the key capabilities of ABN AMRO’s people analytics function (Dashboarding and reporting, Employee listening, Data science and research, Organisational effectiveness, and Consulting) flow through the HR service model. As Jaap highlights: “the overall aim is to ensure that the capabilities of the People Analytics team are part of every step in the HR Service Model.”
FIG 6: Simplified HR Service Model (Source: Jaap Veldkamp)
RICHARD ROSENOW - From Data to Strategy: The New Role of Workforce Systems Leaders in Transforming HR
Without a Workforce Systems Leader, these decisions fall to the CHRO, pulling them into day-to-day inter-functional debates when they should focus on the strategic vision
In Insight222’s recent study, Building the People Analytics Ecosystem, we identified three types of people analytics leader that are emerging as the people analytics operating model continues to evolve. One of these – the Portfolio Analytics leader – has similarities to a trend identified by Richard Rosenow in his new white paper for One Model. The findings are based on more than 40 HR teams hiring a Workforce Systems Leader combining people strategy, operations, technology, data and analytics (see FIG 7). In the paper, Richard covers: (1) Key challenges in people analytics – how the role of people analytics often extends far beyond their original role description. (2) Mastering the People Data Supply Chain – highlighting the essential steps to building a robust people analytics function. (3) The emergence of Workforce Systems Leaders. Read a preview in Richard’s LinkedIn post and download the full paper here.
FIG 7: The role of a Workforce Systems Leader (Source: One Model)
SCOTT ROGERS - People Analytics & HRBPs - Navigating the art of imperfect collaboration | ALDAR NIKOLAEV - People Analytics Recipes: Advancing Employee Turnover Story P.1 | RALF BUECHSENSCHUSS - Becoming a data-driven (HR) organization - Leveraging generative AI to democratize data and insights | PETER MEYLER – How much time do People Analytics teams spend on reporting vs. analytics? | PATRICK COOLEN – The Four Faces of People Analytics | YUYAN SUN - 5 Ways to Use AI in People Analytics Everyday
In each edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I feature a collection of articles by current and recent people analytics leaders. These are intended to act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Six are highlighted in this month’s edition. (1) Having worked in both domains, Scott Rogers is well-qualified to explore the dynamics of the HRBP-People Analytics relationship. He presents a framework identifying the key focus areas for people analytics leaders (e.g. championing HR operational excellence) and HRBPs (e.g. engaging with and advocating for people analytics). (2) Aldar Nikolaev provides a practical guide on how to analyse and visualise employee turnover and conduct scenario planning (see FIG 8). (3) Ralf Buechsenschuss offers a practical guide – including videos – to showcase what is already possible when embedding generative AI into the flow of work in the context of people analytics. (4) Peter Meyler presents the findings of his survey, which finds that 48% of people analytics teams spend at least 75% of their time on data and reporting. (5) Patrick Coolen documents the four faces of people analytics practices: the strategist (see FIG 9), the gatekeeper, the specialist, and the designer. (6) Yuyan Sun breaks down five ways to use AI everyday in people analytics:
Don't just use AI as a tool. Use it as a thought partner.
FIG 8: Measuring employee turnover (Source: Aldar Nikolaev)
FIG 9: The Four Faces of People Analytics: The Strategist (Source: Patrick Coolen)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
MARC EFFRON - It’s (Still) the Mortar not the Bricks
Some CHROs are not willing to drive significant change in reducing headcount, upgrading the capabilities of their team or holding their HRLT accountable to “wire” the business properly.
Marc Effron and his team at The Talent Strategy Group cut through the hyperbole to analyse the state of the HR operating model, critique what the consulting firms (EY, Deloitte, Gartner, Mercer and McKinsey) propose and where they fit with the Ulrich Model, and offer guidance on how to structure, upskill and wire your HR operating mode for success. Highlights include Effron’s views that: (1) Dave Ulrich’s model is the reference standard for good HR operating models. (2) That despite statements to the contrary by the consulting firms advocating why the HR operations model needs to change, the world of work remains largely the same. (3) HRBP’s should be fewer in number, stronger in capabilities and deployed against major business units and/or geographies. (4) The future HR service centre will perform a far larger percentage of overall HR work and do at least 80% of this through technology. (5) Companies should create an ‘HR Wiring Team’ to assess where the HR wiring is either not fully developed or isn’t being followed. Effron defines wiring as “Wiring means the agreement among HR team members about how vital processes will flow – the steps, the accountabilities, the technology, etc.” A compulsory read for any chief people officer considering whether to revamp their HR operating model.
FIG 10: People Value Chain (Source: EY)
SHARI CHERNACK AND JONATHAN GORDIN | MERCER - 2024 Voice of the CHRO: Maximizing HR effectiveness in a changing landscape Article | Full Report
While much of the focus and headlines of Mercer’s 2024 Voice of the CHRO report, authored by Shari Chernack and Jonathan Gordin, is understandably on the challenges and opportunities associated with AI (see FIG 11), what really stands out for me is the section on maximising HR’s influence with the C-suite and board. The results demonstrate that HR is increasingly a strategic partner: 56% of CHROs meet with the board every week, 51% report higher levels of C-suite engagement than previous years, and 71% report high alignment on HR and people priorities. Data is increasingly key, with 76% of CHROs believing that using data to showcase HR’s impact on business performance will help drive further engagement with the C-suite and board. The report highlights six key actions for CHROs: (1) Accelerate AI for HR readiness. (2) Drive AI adoption across the enterprise. (3) Strengthen C-suite relationships and alignment. (4) Understand and plan to bolster key skills. (5) Don’t sleep on employee experience. (6) Build your HR team for the future.
Build your HR team for the future. Reshape and develop your team to reflect the cross pressures of increasingly complex demands on HR, including an anticipated need for greater technology and analytical expertise on the team, and the lean HR team size in most organizations.
FIG 11: AI’s anticipated impact (Source: Mercer)
MARK WHITTLE, LIANA PASSANTINO AND MAGGIE SCHROEDER-O’NEAL | GARTNER - Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2025
Leader and manager development remains the No. 1 priority in 2025 for HR leaders for the third consecutive year, according to Gartner, with organisational culture, strategic workforce planning, change management and HR technology rounding off the top five (see FIG 12). The report (authors: Mark Whittle, Liana Passantino, PhD, and Maggie Schroeder-O’Neal) provides detailed analysis on each of the top five priorities, defining the problem statement and imperative for each along with a case study. My eyes were drawn to the section on Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) and the rather stark finding that only 15% of organisations currently practice SWP. Guidance is provided on expanding the scope and complexity of SWP through small phases and a powerful case study is provided on Merck (kudos Ruben Groen Alexis Saussinan) (see FIG 13):
Instead of striving for perfection and getting stuck gathering every piece of information available, Merck’s SWP team reduces the complexity of SWP by narrowing their team’s focus to solving a problem, enabling them to take action and drive impact.
FIG 12: Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2025 (Source: Gartner)
FIG 13: How Merck prioritizes SWP needs by relevance and actionability (Source: Gartner)
ROB BRINER | CORPORATE RESEARCH FORUM - Driving Organisational Performance: HR’s Critical Role
HR functions can and should do more to contribute to organisational performance. But, in order to do this, they need to be able to identify for themselves and in their context what specifically they need to do to help the business meet its strategic objectives.
The purpose of this excellent new report, authored by Rob Briner for the Corporate Research Forum (CRF), is to provide a framework for HR functions to more effectively drive performance – within their own organisational context. There’s lots to unpack in the report, but highlights include: (1) The evaluation of six ways of thinking about how HR impacts organisational performance (see FIG 14). (2) Key questions HR should be able to answer about the business, its strategic objectives, and how HR can help achieve these objectives. (3) Guidance on joining the causal dots between HR practices and strategic objectives. (4) A self-assessment for HR leaders to assess how well their own function contributes to organisational performance. (5) An eight-step process model of how HR can drive organisational performance. For more from Rob Briner, I recommend listening to his conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: What is Evidence Based HR and Why is it Important?
FIG 14: Perspectives of how HR contributes to organisational performance and likely value (Source: CRF, Rob Briner)
PwC - Saratoga Annual Benchmarking Report 2024
As the introduction to this report highlights, PwC Saratoga has over 30,000 benchmarks for 1000+ metrics covering a wide variety of HR and workforce topics. This annual report includes benchmarks for 400 organisations across 20 industries including those related to employee attrition, talent attraction, and diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as benchmarks relating to HR and people analytics FTE ratios (see FIG 15 for FTE ratios for business partners and people analytics). Similar to the annual People Analytics Trends study we publish at Insight222, Saratoga finds that people analytics is showing rapid growth in many industries including technology, financial services and manufacturing/engineering.
There is an increasing focus on people analytics as organizations invest deeper into digital capabilities and as the importance of data is elevated across industries.
FIG 15: HR Business Partners and People Analytics FTE ratios 2022 and 2023 (Source: PwC Saratoga)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
JAEJIN LEE - Skill-based Transformation: “Don't Start with Skills, Start with Work!”
Jaejin Lee takes an incredibly thoughtful deep-dive on the shift towards a skills-based organisation. He analyses a number of factors driving this shift including why the consensus is shifting towards skills, the technology changes driving the movement, and the need to start with the work while viewing the transformation through an employee-centric lens. Jaejin also shares two examples from his consulting work of skills-based network analysis (see FIG 16 for example that clusters the company’s employees' skills based on their similar attributes). Finally, Jaejin shares resources from experts including John Boudreau, Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, and Tanuj Kapilashrami, and rounds proceedings off by providing a checklist for companies to conduct a self-diagnosis with regards to skills (see FIG 17). A tour de force.
FIG 16: Using network analysis to group skills with similar attributes into categories (Source: Jaejin Lee.
FIG 17: Skills-based organisational diagnostic self-checklist (Source; Jaejin Lee)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
ETHAN BURRIS, BENJAMIN THOMAS, KETAKI SODHI, AND DAWN KLINGHOFFER - Turn Employee Feedback into Action
Ultimately, success (in employee listening) lies in empowering leaders to translate insights into concrete actions, effectively communicating progress, and fostering a continual feedback loop that values and respects the diverse voices within the organization.
"To manage the employee experience, leaders must deeply understand employees’ perceptions, feelings, and desires and respond thoughtfully. This is particularly crucial when immense resources are invested in gathering employee feedback through pulse surveys, town halls, and data scraping from internal communications. But leaders are often overwhelmed by the data and struggle to translate it into actionable insights." In their Harvard Business Review article, Ethan Burris, Benjamin Thomas, Ph. D, SHRM-CP, Ketaki Sodhi, PhD, and Dawn Klinghoffer, share insights from interviews with more than two dozen companies to outline seven challenges and demonstrate how leading places to work have built an integrated process for assembling and understanding employee input and translating it into action. The seven challenges are: (1) Making sense of all that data. (2) Making sure employees feel heard. (3) Identifying the actual underlying problems. (4) Protecting employee privacy. (5) Navigating conflicting views. (6) Not burying bad news. (7) Providing meaningful follow-up.
STEPHANIE DENINO - Moving Beyond Work as a Black Box: Uncovering & Addressing the Hidden Friction
Work is more than just a black box of outputs—it’s a complex system with hidden friction that we often overlook. In her thoughtful article, Stephanie Denino, Managing Director at TI PEOPLE, examines the consequences of treating work like a black box. She breaks down the core components that make up work: “(1) a worker that is (2) trying to do something (key activities or moments of their work experience), in which (3) they interact with things like technology, people, and processes” (see FIG 18). Stephanie identifies that by capturing data on how work unfolds from the worker’s perspective, leaders can better identify and reduce work friction, ensuring productivity gains and enhancing employee satisfaction. The article presents strategies to move beyond surface-level metrics and focus on the intricate moments of work that truly drive business outcomes.
FIG 18: Work can be broken down into three components (Source: Stephanie Denino)
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND LEARNING
MCKINSEY - Going all in: Why employee ‘will’ can make or break transformations
For a company undergoing transformation, cultivating employee “will” to change the way it operates is critical for success.
Writing for McKinsey, Dominic Skerritt, John Parsons, Mary Lass Stewart, Matthew Schrimper, and Nicolette Rainone, Ph.D. highlight the people element of successful transformations. They set out a three step-process (see FIG 19): Elevate, empower, energize to cultivate employees’ will to drive transformation. (1) Elevate a strong core of employees across all levels to lead the transformation. (2) Empower a broad coalition of change leaders to embody new ways of thinking and working. (3) Energize all employees to transform.
FIG 19: Organisations can galvanise a workforce’s will to transform with three actions (Source: McKinsey)
CONSTANCE NOONAN HADLEY AND SARAH L. WRIGHT – We’re Still Lonely at Work
In recent years, the huge impact that work loneliness is having on healthcare costs, absenteeism, and turnover has received widespread attention. Despite growing awareness, the problem remains, with one in five employees worldwide feeling lonely at work. In their article for Harvard Business Review, Connie Noonan Hadley and Sarah Wright debunk myths about work loneliness, such as the belief that in-person work or team assignments can solve the issue. They provide guidance on seven actions companies can take to put loneliness on the agenda: (1) Measure loneliness (see FIG 20); (2) Design slack into the workflow; (3) Create a culture of connections; (4) Build socialising into the rhythm of work; (5) Keep social activities simple; (6) Maximise each work mode for connection; (7) Actively recruit participants.
FIG 20: A tool for measuring work loneliness (Source: Constance Noonan Hadley and Sarah L. Wright)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
McKINSEY AND LEANIN.ORG – Women in the Workplace: The 10th Anniversary Report
Organizational change is a marathon, not a sprint, and making meaningful strides for women requires both hope and resilience. When leaders create a compelling vision of what’s possible, workplaces are better equipped to drive and sustain progress.
Despite progress over the past decade, parity for all women in the workspace is almost 50 years away according to the 10th Women in the Workplace report by McKinsey and Leanin.Org. At the current trajectory, it will take 22 years for white women to achieve leadership parity—and more than twice as long for women of colour (see FIG 21). As ever, the report is an absorbing read with part 4, A Data-Driven Approach to Solutions, being required reading for people analytics professionals. In terms of implementing consistent processes, the report recommends four key building blocks: (1) making sure employees understand why a new practice is important; (2) teaching employees the skills they need to do their part; (3) putting mechanisms in place to support the practice; and (4) ensuring leaders role model the right behaviours. Finally, the report also provides guidance on tackling three areas that are especially important for advancing women and fostering inclusion: (1) De-biasing hiring and promotion (see FIG 22); (2) Inspiring and equipping employees to curb bias and practice allyship; and (3) Unlocking the power of managers to influence careers and team culture. Kudos to the authors: Alexis Krivkovich, Emily Field, Lareina Yee, and Megan McConnell, with Hannah Smith.
FIG 21: It will take nearly 50 years to achieve gender parity for all women (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 22: Research based tips for making hiring and performance reviews fairer (Source: McKinsey)
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from October that I recommend readers delve into:
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED, LISA K. SIMON, TOBY CULSHAW, AND REMY GLAISNER - Stuck in Neutral: Why Employees are Staying Put – Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD, Lisa K. Simon, Toby Culshaw, and Remy Glaisner highlight Revelio Labs data finding that employee attrition rates are at their lowest in a decade. They explore the reasons for this and outline the conditions that would return attrition rates to their long-term average e.g. an increase in demand (15% increase in job postings), combined with 10% higher salaries and a tighter labour market (job postings taking 10% longer to fill).
FIG 23: The decline in attrition in 2024 is unexplained by common factors (Source: Revelio Labs)
DIDIER ELZINGA AND AMY LAVOIE - Research: The Long-Term Costs of Layoffs – Didier Elzinga and Amy Lavoie share the findings of a study by Culture Amp to understand the impact of company layoffs on employee engagement. These include: (1) After layoffs, companies see a significant drop in employee experience in many key areas. (2) High employee engagement prior to layoffs won’t protect you from the negative impact of doing layoffs. (3) Recovery takes time (see FIG 24).
FIG 24: Change in favourability from pre-layoff (Source: Culture Amp)
FRANCISCO MARIN - The Power of Collaborative Freedom: Aligning Interests, Collaborators, and Schedules – Francisco Marin of Cognitive Talent Solutions explains how collaborative freedom, which he sees as the underlying principle of a network-first future of work, discusses how the key facets of collaborative freedom – from increased autonomy and cross-functional cooperation to enhanced transparency - contribute to creating a more effective, agile, and rewarding work environment, “where employees are motivated not just by individual success but by the shared goals and achievements of the organization.”
VISIER - Visier's Top 50 HR Leaders To Watch in 2025 – It’s a nice move (and a clever marketing one!) by Visier Inc. to highlight a group of their data-driven innovator clients. It’s certainly good to see the likes of Adam McKinnon, PhD., Angela LE MATHON, Jeremy Shapiro, Katherine Ward, Doug Shagam, Poonam Sirigidi, Julien Legret, Annalyn Jacob, Ph.D., Erik Otteson, Shannon Rutledge, Kai Wehmeyer, Jill Larsen, Ian Bailie, Alan Susi, and Scott Judd get some well-deserved recognition.
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected six gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
MARK PRICE AND BRUCE DAISLEY - Can happy workers improve your company results? – Mark Price, former CEO at Waitrose, joins Bruce Daisley on the consistently excellent Eat Sleep Work Repeat to discuss the business benefits of investing in happy employees. The episode features a powerful example of how after acquiring Somerfield, and focusing on motivating the inherited workforce, Mark was able to reduce employee turnover from 75% to 17% within months.
ETHAN BERNSTEIN AND MICHAEL HORN - The Real Reasons Employees Quit — and How to Retain Them – Ethan Bernstein and Michael Horn join Alison Beard on HBR IdeaCast to share their research on employee turnover, which points to a host of push and pull forces that cause workers to jump ship, and also outlines better retention strategies.
NICK LYNN - “Small Changes Can Add Up To Something Big” – Culture, Change Management and the Employee Experience – Nick Lynn joins Mike Petrusky on the Workplace Innovator podcast to discuss the current world of the workplace and how leaders can build a culture of trust and higher engagement
BRYAN HANCOCK AND EMILY FIELD - Will generative AI hurt middle managers—or help them? – In an episode of The McKinsey Podcast, together with host Lucia Rahilly, Emily Field and Bryan Hancock revisit their book, Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work, one year on to share how middle managers can use gen AI to support their teams more effectively—and update their image while they’re at it.
KELLY MONAHAN - What trends will have the most impact on the future of work? – Kelly Monahan, Ph.D. joins host JP Elliott, PhD on The Future of Work Podcast to discuss the key trends that are impacting the future of work including why she believes that the skills-based organisation movement is stuck in the theory phase and the challenges it faces in implementation.
GREG PRYOR - Why Social Network Perspective Matters – Greg Pryor joins Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson on Workplace Stories to share how social capital—our connections and relationships—drives business outcomes, sparks innovation, and boosts career growth. Listen to Greg, and then tune in to his sparring partner, Michael Arena, on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: What the Impact of Distributed Work on Organisational Networks Tells Us About the Future of Talent Management.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
NICKLE LAMOREAUX - How IBM Uses AI to Transform HR
In celebration of IBM's CHRO Nickle LaMoreaux recently being recognised as HR Executive of the Year, this month's Video of the Month features Nickle in discussion with me earlier this year on the Digital HR Leaders podcast where she shares how IBM is pioneering the use of AI in HR, and how this is revolutionising its approach to talent management, employee engagement, and predictive analytics.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
YUVAL NOAH HARARI - Nexus
While I was on my travels at People Analytics World in New York and then Unleash World in Paris, at least ten people I respect told me that I simply had to read Nexus, the new book by Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari. So, I ordered it in time to take with me to the US the week after Unleash – and they were right. It’s brilliant. It’s basically the story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world. With the opportunity – and threat of AI – this is a book everyone in our field should read. Rory Stewart describes Nexus as: “Bold, original, erudite, provocative and entrancing,” and I couldn’t agree more.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
ALEXIS FINK AND COLE NAPPER - The World of HR Is Changing Rapidly: I-O Psychology Can Help – In their new paper for Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), Alexis Fink and Cole Napper, people analytics leaders at Meta and FedEx respectively, break down the role of the industrial-organisational (IO) psychologist, and how they are helping organisations to manage the transformation being driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and evolving cultural landscapes. Insight222 ’s research on Leading Companies in People Analytics, identified I/O psychology as one of three key skills these companies are focused on hiring, developing and retaining to drive success (along with data scientists, and consultants), so this paper is an important read for chief people officers looking to advance their people analytics function.
FROM MY DESK
October saw the final episode of Series 41 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by Visier Inc. (thanks Adedamola Adeleke), and the first three episodes of Series 42, sponsored by Workday (thanks Sophie Barnes and Jennifer Neumann) as well as a number of articles penned by yours truly.
Key Learnings from Unleash World 2024 – My key learnings from the main stage at the recent Unleash World show in Paris - together with the slides I used to kick off the event.
Key Learnings from Insight222 Global Executive Retreat 2024 Insights: Shaping the Future of People Analytics – My key learnings from the recent 7th Annual Insight222 Global Executive Retreat, which features learnings from speakers including: Janine Vos , Prasad Setty, and Erin Meyer.
How can workforce analytics enhance HR decision-making and drive business success? – A round-up of Series 41 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, with insights from episodes featuring: Diane Gherson, Lynda Gratton, Angela LE MATHON, Keith Bigelow, Tanuj Kapilashrami and Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA.
Three ways to Upskill HR in Data Literacy – The team at Workday shared a summary of insights from my recent speech at Rising on how to improve the data literacy of HR professionals.
SHARON TAYLOR AND JACO VAN VUUREN - Digitising HR for 55,000 Employees: Lessons from Standard Bank – Sharon Taylor, Chief People and Culture Officer, and Jaco Van Vuuren, Chief Operating Officer for Human Capital, join me to share the HR transformation journey at Standard Bank.
MICHAEL FRACCARO - How Mastercard is Using AI to Drive Employee Success and Leadership Growth – Michael Fraccaro , Chief People Officer at Mastercard, shares how the company is using AI across HR, building a skills-based organisation, and how their Culture Health Index helps shape discussion and decisions with the Board.
MICHAEL ARENA - What the Impact of Distributed Work on Organisational Networks Tells Us About the Future of Talent Management – Michael Arena joins me to discuss what the latest research on network analysis teaches us about hybrid working, team sizes, and the importance of social capital.
JASON SCHECKNER - How Talent Orchestration Connects AI Investments to Real Business Results – Jason Scheckner of HiredScore by Workday joins me to discuss how talent orchestration is the key to unlocking AI’s full potential and transforming HR operations into a strategic powerhouse.
LOOKING FOR A NEW ROLE IN PEOPLE ANALYTICS OR HR TECH?
I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers close to 500 roles – and has now been developed into a LinkedIn newsletter too.
THANK YOU
Nick Broughton for including me in his list of remote work leaders to follow.
Thomas Kohler for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Michael Fraccaro in his HR Resources of the Week.
Thinkers360 for including me in their Top Voices EMEA 2024.
Elaine Parr for sharing the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Nickle LaMoreaux on how IBM is pioneering the use of AI in HR.
Olimpiusz Papiez for his thoughtful learnings about the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Jason Scheckner.
Sven Hultin for publishing his analysis of Insight222's recent research on the People Analytics Operating Model: Democratizing workforce insight in a relevant context fuels adaption towards future relevance.
Stela Lupushor for inviting me to moderate a panel at the recent New York Strategic HR Analytics MeetUp on Workestration and Neeru Monga (here), Tony Ashton (here), Ekta Lall Mittal (here), Anna A. Tavis, PhD (here) and Olivia Li (here) for their LinkedIn posts sharing some of the key learnings and pictures from the event.
Finally, a huge thank you to the following people who either shared the September edition of Data Driven HR Monthly and/or posted about my sessions at Unleash, People Analytics World, and Workday Rising. It's much appreciated: Craig Forman, Zornitza Iankova, SPHR, Brandon Merritt Johnson, Hrvoje Bulat, Rebecca Hone, Emma Mercer (Assoc CIPD, MLPI), Dr. Max Muge Bakkaloglu, Kerron Ramganesh, Kristina Schoemmel, Perri Ma, Justin Shemeley, Kelly Satterfield, Luis Maria Cravino, Zina Al Taie, MBA, Joachim Rotzinger, Tobias W. Goers ツ, Anna Gullstrand, Ian Bailie, John Guy, Ouarda Guergour, Markus Graf, Sydney Dolanch, Noam Mordechay, Dorothy Dalton, Victoria Holdsworth, Nima Sherpa Green, ✅ Sarah E. Danzl Nirit Cohen ?, Andrew Pitts, Pierre Dejonghe, Jane Bech, MA-OP, CODP, Shannon Peterson, Nicole Davis, Davina Erasmus, Blaine Ames, David Balls (FCIPD), Dan George, Amardeep Singh, MBA, Yotam Ainom, Roshaunda Green, MBA, CDSP, Phenom Certified Recruiter, Henrik Håkansson, Kouros Behzad, Marijana Brasiello, MHRM, Catriona Lindsay, Adam Tombor (Wojciechowski), María Esther Sánchez, Silvia Schleiffer-Gouveia, Rajarshee Mukherjee, Volker Jacobs, Laszlo Bock, Daniel Farrell, Kevin Legel, Aravind Warrier, Lewis Garrad, Francisca Solano Beneitez, Jose Luis Chavez Vasquez, Dr. Jeeta Sarkar, Jorge Arevalo, Andreea Lungulescu, Maria Alice Jovinski, Philip Arkcoll, Corine Boon, Pietro Mazzoleni, Dave Millner, Bob Pulver, Wayne Tarken, David McLean, Swechha Mohapatra (IHRP-SP, SHRM-SCP, CIPD), Aurélie Crégut, David van Lochem, Vivek Ojha, Hanadi El Sayyed, Phil Kirschner, David Hodges, Jean-Francois Riand, Malgorzata Langlois, Shujaat Ahmad, Graham Tollit, Sebastian Kolberg, Phil Inskip, Sebastian Knepper, Caitie Jacobson, Asaf Jackoby, Melissa Hopper Fritz, Stephanie Murphy, Ph.D. Paul Daley, Stephen Hickey, Sarajit Poddar, Søren Kold, Jacob Nielsen, Dolapo (Dolly) Oyenuga, Manisha Singh, Monalisa Routray, Courtney McMahon, Irada Sadykhova, Geetanjali Gamel, Dave Fineman, Megan Buttita, MLIS, Mariana Hebborn PhD, Rob Kok, Keran Dhillon, Alex Browne, Chris Long, Pedro Pereira, Gal Mozes, PhD, Aritra Majumdar, Mia Norgren, Matthew Fleisher, PhD, Matt Elk, Christina Bui, Agnes Garaba, Laurent Reich, Jeff Wellstead, Danielle Bushen, Nick Hudgell, Jordan Hartley, John Gunawan, Casey G. Brower, PMP, Serena H. Huang, Ph.D., Bo Vialle-Derksen, Trish Uhl, PMP ??, Ken Clar, Isabel Naidoo, Mariami Lolashvili, Sophia Huang, Ed.D., Philippa Penfold, Sonia Mooney, Ian Grant FCIPD, Dr. Peter Schulz-Rittich, Irene Wong, Tim Peffers, Marcela Mury, Andrés García Ayala, Giovanna Constant, John Golden, Ph.D. Tanguy Dulac
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Green ?? is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 100 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value was published in the summer of 2021.
MEET ME AT THESE EVENTS
I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work, and data driven HR at a number of upcoming events in 2024 and early 2025:
November 19-20 - Insight222 European Peer Meeting (hosted by Merck in Darmstadt, Germany) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
December 5 - Visier Outsmart Local - Building Your People Data Strategy, London
December 10-12 - Workday Rising EMEA, Amsterdam
February 26-27 - People Analytics World, Zürich
April 29-30 - People Analytics World, London
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
主要作者和贡献者：
David Green - Insight222的管理合伙人，专注于HR数据分析和未来工作趋势。
Eric Anicich 和 Dart Lindsley - 探讨“将工作视为产品”的方法。
Nicholas Bloom, James Liang, Ruobing Han - 基于Trip.com的混合办公A/B测试研究。
Michael Arena 和 Philip Arkcoll - 关于协作的重要性，倡导“协作要求”而非“办公要求”。
Hean-Ho Loh, Vinciane Beauchene, Vladimir Lukic, Rajiv Shenoy - 来自波士顿咨询公司（BCG），探讨AI技能提升的关键因素。
Kai Hahn - 智能企业领袖联盟的报告撰写者，探讨AI在HR中的应用。
Jaap Veldkamp - ABN AMRO的全球HR数据分析负责人。
Richard Rosenow - Insight222的一份研究报告撰写者，讨论HR系统的演变。
Scott Rogers, Aldar Nikolaev, Ralf Buechsenschuss, Peter Meyler, Patrick Coolen, Yuyan Sun - 各自讨论了HR数据分析在不同领域的应用。
Marc Effron - The Talent Strategy Group创始人，专注于HR运营模式。
Shari Chernack 和 Jonathan Gordin - Mercer的CHRO报告作者，探讨HR的战略角色。
Mark Whittle, Liana Passantino, Maggie Schroeder-O’Neal - 来自Gartner，讨论2025年HR的五大优先事项。
Rob Briner - Corporate Research Forum的作者，提供了HR推动组织绩效的框架。
Jaejin Lee - 探讨技能导向的组织转型。
Ethan Burris, Benjamin Thomas, Ketaki Sodhi, Dawn Klinghoffer - 在Harvard Business Review中讨论如何将员工反馈转化为行动。
Stephanie Denino - TI People的总监，讨论工作中隐藏摩擦的影响。
Dominic Skerritt, John Parsons, Mary Lass Stewart, Matthew Schrimper, Nicolette Rainone - McKinsey作者，探讨组织变革中的员工意愿。
Constance Noonan Hadley 和 Sarah L. Wright - 研究工作中的孤独感。
Alexis Krivkovich, Emily Field, Lareina Yee, Megan McConnell, Hannah Smith - 来自McKinsey和LeanIn.Org的性别平等报告的作者。
Loujaina Abdelwahed, Lisa K. Simon, Toby Culshaw, Remy Glaisner - Revelio Labs的数据分析师，研究员工流动率。
Didier Elzinga 和 Amy Lavoie - Culture Amp的研究人员，探讨裁员的长期影响。
Francisco Marin - Cognitive Talent Solutions的代表，关于协作自由的重要性。
Adam McKinnon, Angela LE MATHON, Jeremy Shapiro, Katherine Ward, Doug Shagam, Poonam Sirigidi, Julien Legret, Annalyn Jacob, Erik Otteson, Shannon Rutledge, Kai Wehmeyer, Jill Larsen, Ian Bailie, Alan Susi, Scott Judd - Visier公司列出的2025年HR领导者。
Mark Price 和 Bruce Daisley - 在Eat Sleep Work Repeat上探讨员工幸福感的影响。
Ethan Bernstein 和 Michael Horn - HBR IdeaCast上的嘉宾，讨论员工流失的原因。
Nick Lynn - Workplace Innovator的嘉宾，讨论文化和员工体验。
Bryan Hancock 和 Emily Field - 在McKinsey Podcast上讨论生成式AI对中层管理的影响。
Kelly Monahan - The Future of Work Podcast的嘉宾，讨论未来工作的关键趋势。
Greg Pryor - Workplace Stories的嘉宾，讨论社交资本的影响。
Nickle LaMoreaux - IBM的CHRO，讨论AI在HR中的应用（视频）。
Yuval Noah Harari - 其新书《Nexus》被推荐阅读，探讨信息网络对世界的影响。
Alexis Fink 和 Cole Napper - I-O心理学家，探讨心理学在HR转型中的作用。
Organizational Culture
2024年11月03日
Organizational Culture
Happy Easter!祝大家复活节快乐！
Happy Easter to all our dear friends at NACSHR! As we step into this beautiful season of renewal and hope, accompanied by the delightful presence of chocolate bunnies and colorful eggs, we're sending a heartfelt bouquet of wishes your way. May this Easter not only fill your homes with laughter and warmth but also ignite your professional spaces with innovative ideas and vibrant growth. Let's allow the rejuvenating spirit of Easter to inspire us to hatch groundbreaking strategies and nurture our aspirations.
This Easter, let's cherish the incredible power of connection and the beauty of our community. It's the perfect occasion to strengthen our bonds and celebrate the diverse tapestry of talents and perspectives that each of us contributes. To all our HR friends, let's take this moment to deepen our dedication to creating workplaces where every individual feels valued, supported, and empowered to flourish. Wishing you an Easter that overflows with joy and presents new opportunities to make meaningful impacts.
As we indulge in Easter treats and gather with our loved ones, let us also gaze ahead with hope and anticipation for what the future unfolds. May the essence of Easter inspire us to approach challenges with bravery and embrace opportunities with open arms. Here's to a magnificent Easter, abundant in peace, prosperity, and progress for everyone. May it rejuvenate our spirits and rekindle our enthusiasm for making every workplace a beacon of positivity and growth.
Happy Easter, dear friends at NACSHR! May this season bring everlasting happiness and success to you and your families.
亲爱的NACSHR的朋友们，祝大家复活节快乐！当我们迈入这个充满更新与希望的美好季节，同时享受着巧克力兔和彩蛋带来的乐趣，我们向你们发送最真挚的祝福。愿这个复活节不仅让你们的家充满笑声和温暖，也在你们的职场中点燃创新的思维和活力的增长。让复活节的复兴精神激励我们孵化出创新的策略，培养我们的志向。
在这个复活节，让我们珍视连接的力量和我们社群的美好。这是完美的时刻来加强我们的联系，庆祝我们每个人贡献的多样化才能和视角。对于我们所有HR的朋友们，让这成为一个深化我们致力于创造每个人都感到被重视、支持和有力量成长的工作环境的时刻。祝愿你们的复活节充满欢乐，开启新的机会，让我们做出有意义的影响。
当我们享受复活节的美食并与我们所爱的人聚集时，让我们也满怀希望和期待地看向未来。愿复活节的精神鼓励我们勇敢面对挑战，开放心扉迎接机会。祝大家有一个辉煌的复活节，充满和平、繁荣和进步。愿它重新点燃我们的精神，重新激发我们为让每一个工作场所成为积极成长的灯塔的热情。
亲爱的NACSHR的朋友们，复活节快乐！愿这个季节为你们及你们的家人带来永恒的幸福和成功。
Organizational Culture
2024年03月31日
Organizational Culture
Top 10 HR and People Analytics Themes of 2023
As we near the end of another successful year here at Insight222, we want to reflect on the top themes that have emerged in our content.
From data-driven insights to real-world examples, our team has worked meticulously to deliver informative and persuasive articles that aim to enhance the HR and people analytics function. And we have seen some exciting changes and advancements in the field this year.
So, without further ado, here are the top themes that have taken front stage in our content during 2023.
Psychological Safety in the Workplace
Psychological safety in the workplace has been proven time and time again that without it, a team cannot thrive. In fact, we like to think of it as the epitome of successful teams.
Therefore, it's no surprise that this theme carries over from last year. Some of our most popular blogs discuss measuring psychological safety in the workplace, understanding how organisational culture impacts it and exploring how companies like Microsoft are transforming their organisational culture to prioritise psychological safety and promote a positive work environment.
Behavioural Science in HR
(Source: People Analytics Trends 2021)
The integration of behavioural science into HR and people analytics practices has been gaining traction for the past few years, and this year was no exception. With the changing nature of skills and roles in HR, the need for understanding human behaviour and decision-making has become increasingly important in driving impactful business outcomes.
With this, our article on exploring the role of behavioural science in HR and how it can be leveraged to improve employee engagement, performance, and productivity was one of our most popular reads of 2023.
How AI is Changing the HR Landscape
No discussion about the future of work is complete without considering the role of artificial intelligence (AI).
(Source: The Impact of GPT and Generative AI Models on People Analytics (Interview with Andrew Marritt))
AI has been incorporated into HR for some time now. We have been using it to automate routine tasks, streamline recruitment processes and improve HR analytics. However, with the birth of generative AI models like Chat-GPT, it is an understatement to say that AI has revolutionised every aspect of HR. Better yet, it's safe to say that it has and will continue to revolutionise every business function within an organisation.
From utilising AI in people analytics to how it is transforming the HR landscape, our articles on the impact of Chat-GPT and generative AI models and how AI is changing HR analytics have been among the most popular reads of this year. And for good reason - with the potential to improve decision-making, streamline processes, and enhance employee experience, AI is a topic every HR and people analytics professional should pay attention to.
The Impact of Analytics on HR
Our Insight222 research has shown time and time again that organisations that invest in people analytics drive better business outcomes, which is why, this year, we continued to dig deeper into this topic by exploring the New Model for People Analytics.
With the rise of digital transformation and the increasing importance of data in driving strategic business decisions, our articles on using statistics to drive actionable outcomes, why people analytics is so important for HR, and how social capital can be measured have been highly sought-after reads.
Upskilling the HR Function and Building Data Literacy at Scale
Considering the previous points, it's understandable that upskilling the HR function and building data literacy at scale have emerged as key themes this year. To fully leverage the benefits of AI and data analytics, HR professionals must develop a strong understanding of data and how it can be used to drive strategic decision-making.
As such, in July, we released our research, Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale, which outlines the skills and competencies that HR professionals need to succeed in the digital age. It also highlights how HR leaders need to build an effective skill-based workforce planning capability.
(Source: Measuring the ROI of Employee Training and Development)
Interestingly, this research has also sparked discussions on who holds the responsibility for scaling data literacy across HR, which we explore in our article Who Holds the Responsibility for Scaling Data Literacy Across HR?
Measuring the ROI of Employee Development
Building upon the theme of upskilling and data literacy, it's important to also focus on measuring the ROI of employee development. As professionals in the HR sector, we know all too well that investing in employee training and development is crucial for an organisation's long-term success.
But with senior executives increasingly asking (and expecting) HR to demonstrate the value of these investments, our article on measuring the ROI of employee training and development has been one of the most popular reads this year.
Delivering Greater Value for the Business Through People Analytics
At its core, people analytics is about delivering greater value for the business. Our 2022 research, Impacting Business Value: Leading Companies in People Analytics, is a testament to this. Leading Companies (organisations that drive the most business impact through people analytics) have consistently shown better financial performance, higher employee engagement and retention rates, and overall greater success compared to their less data-driven counterparts.
This is why, in 2023, we have seen a surge of interest in articles on delivering greater value for the organisation with people analytics and the growing influence of people analytics in strategic business decisions.
And this trend will only continue as more and more organisations recognise the importance of incorporating data-driven insights into their decision-making processes.
Challenges to Building Data Literacy
If there is one thing we have identified as a common theme this year, it's the challenges of building data literacy within HR. From understanding the technical aspects of data analysis to gaining buy-in from senior leadership, organisations face various hurdles when trying to build a culture of data literacy.
(Source: Insight222 Research: Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale)
However, as we continue to uncover the value that analytics brings to HR and the business as a whole, these challenges will become easier to overcome. And with more resources and tools available to support data literacy efforts within organisations, we are confident that this theme will evolve in 2024.
Evolving the HR Practice
In all, as we wrap up another year, it's clear that people analytics and data-driven HR practices have become even more ingrained in our work. From the importance of psychological safety and behavioural science to the impact of AI, measuring ROI, and delivering greater value to the business - these are just a few key themes that have shaped our content this year.
However, as we move forward, HR professionals must continue developing their data literacy and upskilling themselves to drive the success of their organisations further.
To that end, we look forward to seeing how these themes will evolve and shape the future of HR in the coming years.
Manpreet RandhawaDecember 18, 2023
Organizational Culture
2023年12月22日
Organizational Culture
AIHR:Measuring Employee Experience: A Practical Guide for 2024
Keeping your employees engaged, motivated, and satisfied throughout their journey with your organization is key to business success. Measuring employee experience allows HR professionals to understand how their workforce feels and ensure the team remains fulfilled.
In this article, we’ll explore how to measure employee experience, evaluate the results, and turn them into meaningful action.
Contents
What is employee experience (EX)?
Why measure employee experience?
How to measure employee experience
Best practices for measuring employee experience
FAQ
What is employee experience (EX)?
Employee experience (EX), in its simplest form, is how employees perceive their stay at your organization from when they apply for a job to after they leave.
It encompasses various dimensions – ranging from the physical workspace and technological tools being used to the organizational culture, professional growth opportunities made available, and social interactions they have with colleagues or superiors.
It’s more than just a collection of daily experiences at work; EX profoundly shapes an employee’s perceptions about their employer and impacts their decision to stay or leave.
DIVE DEEPEREmployee Experience vs. Employee Engagement: 4 Differences To Know
Why measure employee experience?
87% of employee experience experts say that a great employee experience helps retain and attract talent. However, only 51% of employees feel that their organization is delivering on the experience they promised.
By measuring employee experience, you can uncover and fix issues and discrepancies to reap the benefits of a satisfied and engaged workforce.
Let’s break down the reasons why you should measure employee experience.
Enhanced productivity and performance
Research shows that superior employee experience (EX) may lead to enhanced productivity.
Employees who feel satisfied, empowered, and valued are more motivated to perform at their highest level. They significantly contribute to organizational goals, which can result in an over 50% increase in revenue.
By focusing on optimizing the employee journey – from end to end – companies can foster a work environment that stimulates both individual and team performance.
LEARN MORE23 Key Employee Experience Statistics You Should Know in 2024
Retaining talent
Monitoring and enhancing EX levels significantly contributes to improving retention rates. Employees who resonate with their company culture and find meaning in their work stay longer in their organizations.
Examining facets like workplace habits or preferences provides employers invaluable insights related to employee experience – which ultimately feeds into long-term staff retention strategies.
Making informed decisions related to HR practices
A robust method of measuring employee experience offers in-depth insights into how employees perceive things such as career development opportunities or even intricate details like office seating arrangements.
This helps HR shape policies and practices strategically and make smarter decisions that maximize the workforce potential while actively minimizing discontentment factors.
Enhanced customer experience
A happier workforce equals happier customers. Companies with great employee experience report 2X as high customer satisfaction levels compared to businesses scoring low on employee experience.
A well-executed EX strategy will aid your organization in delivering higher standards of service, creating a ripple effect that extends far beyond merely measuring employee experience for internal benefit.
Australian Defence Bank collaborated with the employee and customer experience management platform Insync to measure and improve EX and CX.
Investing in their employees has helped them build a motivated workforce and get outstanding business results. Not only are they in the top 10% for employee engagement compared to other financial organizations, but they have also achieved record deposit growth in transaction and savings account balances.
Innovation, growth, and improved organizational performance
As we’ve already alluded to, keeping your finger on the pulse of EX can set the scene for broader innovation and growth within an organization.
Employee experience goes hand in hand with employee engagement, which helps foster an innovative culture and a passionate commitment to ongoing improvement—an infallible recipe to drive the company performance northward.
To sum it up, measuring employee experience isn’t simply good practice, but it can bring numerous strategic benefits that make a profound impact on organizations and their competitive standing in the market.
How to measure employee experience
Employee experience is a multifaceted and intangible concept, which is not easy to quantify at first sight. Successfully measuring it involves defining relevant employee experience metrics and methods of measurement to collect the data.
Let’s take a closer look.
1. Define and track employee experience metrics
Employee experience metrics allow organizations to gain insight into the wellbeing, satisfaction, and productivity of their teams. The following metrics serve as good indicators of the employee experience levels at your organization:
Retention rates
Retention rates signify how many employees remained within the company over a specified period. A high employee retention rate generally implies positive experiences at work, while low rates indicate potential problems or dissatisfactions among staff.
Intent to stay
This metric shows how many employees foresee themselves staying with an organization over a lengthy period. It can provide insights into the workforce’s commitment level and their perception of future opportunities within the company.
Number of employee referrals
The number of referrals from existing staff suggests how highly they rate working within the organization. The higher this figure is, the more positive opinions workers hold about their employee experience, and that’s why they’re willing to recommend you as an employer.
Productivity metrics
Productivity indicators such as performance ratings or meeting project deadlines can reveal a lot about how efficiently an employee works. High productivity levels generally imply a supportive environment that propels the team towards achieving set objectives.
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
The eNPS asks employees on a scale from 0-10 whether they would recommend their place of work to others – typically friends or family members. The data gleaned helps appraise the overall employee experience levels.
Employee Experience Index
The Employee Experience Index score takes into account an array of factors influencing the overall workplace atmosphere, like engagement levels, empowerment feelings, job fulfillment factors, and key performance indicator achievement. It provides a holistic overview of what it might be like working for your organization.
The exact dimensions of the Employee Experience Index depend on how an organization defines it. Two well-known Employee Experience Index systems have been developed by IBM and Forrester.
2. Administer surveys
Once you know what insights you’re hoping to gain, you can start collecting data. Surveys are an indispensable tool for measuring employee experience.
There are a couple of types of surveys that you can utilize.
Employee experience surveys
Employee experience surveys provide an avenue for employees to confidentially share views about their workplace, its leadership practices, and its culture. Organizations typically conduct employee experience surveys annually, bi-annually, or quarterly.
Including both quantitative and qualitative questions in your survey will provide you with comprehensive data on your respondents’ perspectives.
Quantitative questions, usually closed-ended, help gather structured data that you can do a statistical analysis of, revealing patterns and trends in responses.
On the other hand, qualitative questions, typically open-ended, elicit descriptive and narrative responses that dive deeper into the nuances and complexities of participants’ experiences and feelings. These responses shed light on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind the numbers, uncovering the underlying motivations, beliefs, and emotions that drive behaviors and opinions.
By incorporating both types of questions, you can capture the breadth of information and the depth of insights.
Employee experience survey questions examples
Next to the eNPS question “On a scale from 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our organization as a place to work to your friends and family?”, examples of quantitative employee experience survey questions include:
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “Not at all” and 10 being “Extremely”:
How satisfied are you with the opportunities for professional development within the company?
How confident do you feel in your current role and responsibilities?
How supported do you feel by your direct supervisor or manager?
Qualitative questions you can consider covering in your survey are:
In your opinion, what 2-3 changes could be made to improve the overall work environment and culture?
What aspects of our company’s culture do you value the most?
If you could recommend one thing to improve team collaboration, what would it be and why?
Pulse surveys
Pulse surveys are short, frequent surveys designed to quickly capture employee feedback and continuously gauge overall sentiment about their workplace experience.
Focusing on a few key questions, they are less burdensome for employees, leading to higher response rates. These surveys can help organizations zoom in on current events or specific workplace issues that impact employee experience.
However, regularly collecting data can lead to an abundance of information. Organizations must have the capacity and tools to analyze and act on this data to prevent it from becoming overwhelming or underutilized.
It’s crucial to use pulse surveys strategically and in combination with other feedback mechanisms to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the employee experience.
New hire surveys
New hire surveys help you capture insights about one of the most crucial “moments that matter” in an employee’s journey: their onboarding. This initial phase sets the tone for an employee’s tenure with the company, shaping their perceptions, expectations, and overall sentiment toward the organization.
You can glean valuable feedback about the effectiveness of your onboarding processes, the clarity of role expectations, and the cultural immersion experience.
This feedback not only provides a snapshot of the new employees’ experience but also offers actionable insights for organizations to refine their onboarding processes so that they create a positive and lasting first impression.
3. Conduct qualitative interviews
One-on-one dialogues with employees afford a deeper understanding of the intricacies at play regarding the overall employee experience.
By conducting employee interviews, you can complement and enrich your survey data. They provide you with an excellent opportunity to ask open-ended questions and give your employees space to express their opinions and perceptions.
Two common types of interviews to gather qualitative data are stay interviews and exit interviews.
Stay interviews
These discussions aim to find out why employees opt to remain with an organization. HR professionals can then identify the positive aspects of their working experiences that should be reinforced or replicated.
Exit interviews
Exit interviews help you assess why employees leave your organization and how they see their time spent working for you. These discussions allow you to better understand the challenges our employees face at work, providing insights into potential corrective measures.
By adopting these varied approaches blending both quantitative and qualitative employee experience measurement methods, businesses can effectively gauge worker sentiments – thereby improving employee experiences and driving organizational success.
Best practices for measuring employee experience
Measuring employee experience effectively goes beyond defining relevant metrics and conducting surveys and interviews.
To get a comprehensive view of employee experience at your organization and put your findings into action, you need to follow these five best practices.
Setting clear objectives
Begin with a set of distinct objectives that align with your company’s overall business strategy. This is crucial for accurately evaluating the employee experience.
Why exactly do you want to assess employee experience? Are you aiming to increase productivity or retention rates or encourage higher creativity levels across teams?
Your end goals play an indispensable role in determining which part of the employee journey needs focus and what type of feedback you need from the employees.
Conducting research across different employee groups
When you’re measuring employee experience, you need to recognize diversity within your workforce. That helps you accurately capture different facets of the work experiences of diverse groups in your organization.
Make sure to survey or interview employees from diverse backgrounds, different job levels, departments, and lengths of service to understand the unique challenges they might face.
Dell Technologies partnered with an employee experience measurement platform Voxxify to design a hybrid work plan for one of their European offices. Over 60% of employees responded to the survey, providing more than 2,100 individual comments.
The analysis results helped identify four areas of focus. These included updating the handbook for managers and employees for hybrid work considerations, defining the value of coming into the office, supporting employees’ mental wellness, and optimizing facilities and technology to enhance the work environment.
The office now sees occupancy rates of 60% or more on Tuesdays through Thursdays, and the success of the measurement effort has led to plans to repeat it annually.
Overcoming survey fatigue and ensuring participation
It may be tempting to send surveys left and right for comprehensive data collection when measuring employee experience. However, you should really avoid doing so. Survey fatigue can quickly pile up, draining previously enthusiastic participants’ eagerness to provide valuable insights.
To keep engagement high and maximize response rates, make sure your surveys are succinct yet thorough. Carefully plan your survey schedule to not overwhelm your team. For example, you can send out a comprehensive survey quarterly or bi-annually, with a couple of shorter pulse surveys in between.
It also helps to effectively communicate the purpose behind these assessments, so employees see them not as tasks but as avenues towards improving their work lives. You can, for instance, share examples of initiatives you implemented based on employee feedback.
Guaranteeing confidentiality
Nothing squashes honesty quicker than a sense of insecurity surrounding responses’ anonymity, which makes maintaining confidentiality critical to effective employee experience measurement.
If you use external applications for gathering feedback, emphasize their confidentiality features.
You should also invest in fostering an environment where employees feel they can honestly express thoughts and concerns without fear of retribution. Doing so will not only amplify trust but also provide you with more authentic data to work on.
Acting on employee feedback
Once you’ve gathered and analyzed employee feedback, it’s time to take action. Prioritize high-impact initiatives and create a plan for how to implement these.
Employees need to believe that their input sparks real change; otherwise, they might lose engagement in such processes altogether. Recognize employee contributions and communicate plans about future improvements based on their input clearly. Transparency here fosters a sense of responsibility among the staff and improves morale during periods of change.
Ultimately, measuring employee experience is a cyclical process. It starts from setting clear objectives leading up each step to enacting feedback-led changes and then identifying newer areas for improvement continuously.
Key takeaway
Staying on top of your employees’ experiences at work allows companies to detect dissatisfaction early enough and tackle issues before they develop into bigger problems. It’s a great way to improve HR practices and design employee experience that promotes productivity, talent retention rates, and ultimately a better workplace environment.
Relevant employee experience metrics help you quantify the concept and solidify your measurement process. Surveys and qualitative interviews give voice to your employees, offering rich insights into the workers’ perceptions of the workplace.
However, it’s the organization’s responsiveness to feedback that significantly impacts the effectiveness of measuring employee experience. It is key to not just listen but also take action based on employees’ feedback for positive changes.
FAQ
What are the most important employee experience metrics to measure?
When it comes to measuring employee experience, key metrics that organizations use include:
– Retention rates: Your business’s retention rates can reveal much about employees’ willingness to commit long-term to an organization.
– Intent to stay: Beyond just assessing current employee tenure, discerning whether staff members aspire to stay with the company for the foreseeable future is a valuable indicator of how they perceive their journey at your organization.
– Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): This quantifies how likely employees would recommend their workplace to others – a telling sign of overall satisfaction and positive employee experience.
A combination of several employee experience metrics paints a nuanced picture of overall employee experience in any organization.
Are surveys the best way to measure employee experience?
Surveys play an instrumental role in gauging overall employee experience levels—all thanks to their ability for large-scale data collection and sentiment analysis. They also provide insights into potential pain points and highlight areas for improvement according to actual employee sentiments.
However, while valuable, relying solely on surveys can lead to limited insights. Conducting different types of interviews, like stay and exit interviews, helps complement the survey data with deeper insights.
What is the Employee Experience Index?
The Employee Experience Index is a metric that aims to give a comprehensive view of employees’ experience. Essentially, it helps you gauge the overall ‘health’ of organizational culture and environment.
IBM’s Employee Experience Index assesses employee experience on five core dimensions: Belonging, Purpose, Achievement, Happiness, and Vigor.
The Employee Experience Index from Forrester evaluates three elements of EX: Empower, Inspire, and Enable.
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