The best HR & People Analytics articles of February 2024
I’m writing the introduction to this month’s compendium in New York, ahead of two events this week in the Big Apple.
Firstly, I’m attending Gloat Live (thank you Ruslan Tovbulatov and the Gloat team), where I’ll be hosting a panel of three chief people officers – Michael Fraccaro Tanuj Kapilashrami and Tamla Oates-Forney– as well as sharing Insight222 research on building a data driven culture in HR. Also taking place this week is the Winter Peer Meeting for North American member companies of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which is being hosted by Sally Masseyand Courtney McMahon at Colgate-Palmolive’s headquarters on Park Avenue.
After a weekend back in the UK for my birthday, I’ll be heading back to the US for the Wharton People AnalyticsConference on March 14 and 15. If you’re going to Gloat Live or Wharton PAC, then please do come and say hello. I was also in Switzerland a few days ago for People Analytics WorldZürich (thanks to Barry Swales Ralf Buechsenschuss), and just a fortnight ago, Rob Etheridgeand his team kindly hosted the European Peer Meeting of the Insight222People Analytics Program at HSBC’s headquarters in London – you can read some of takeaways from London here. It’s certainly a busy period of travel - and lots of vapour trail!
Attendees at the Insight222 Q1 European Peer Meeting for members of the People Analytics Program, hosted by HSBC in London
Some of you have written to me to advise that you weren't able to join the recent Insight222 webinar on Turning Insight into Impact with People Analytics. You can find out more by scolling down to the Video of the Month below or access the recording by clicking on the image below.
Looking for a new role in people analytics or HR tech?
Before we get to this month’s collection of resources, I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenowand the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers close to 500 roles.
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Enjoy reading the collection of resources for February 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 January’s compendium (including those in the Comments 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.
2024 HR TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS
DELOITTE – 2024 Global Human Capital Trends: Thriving beyond boundaries – Human performance in a boundaryless world
The opening words of Deloitte’s 2024 Global Human Capital Trends perfectly capture the opportunity and challenge for HR today: “We’re operating in a world where work is no longer defined by jobs, the workplace is no longer a specific place, many workers are no longer traditional employees, and human resources is no longer a siloed function.” The seven trends covered in the report, each with its own chapter, are: (1) Embracing human sustainability, (2) Moving beyond productivity to measure human performance, (3) Balancing privacy with transparency to build trust, (4) Overcoming the imagination deficit, (5) Creating digital playgrounds to explore, experiment and play, (6) Cultivating workplace microcultures, and (7) Making the shift to a boundaryless HR. The report, which has 122 pages, is packed full of thought-provoking insights, visualisations and data – including FIG 1 and FIG 2 below. Kudos to the authors: Susan Cantrell Corrie Commisso Julie Duda Kraig Eaton Jason Flynn John Forsythe Michael Griffiths John Guziak Lauren Kirby David Mallon Mari Marcotte Shannon Poynton Nicole Scoble-Williams GAICD Yves Van Durme and Matteo Zanza.
We’re operating in a world where work is no longer defined by jobs, the workplace is no longer a specific place, many workers are no longer traditional employees, and human resources is no longer a siloed function.
FIG 1: In the era of human performance, business and human outcomes are mutually reinforcing (Source: Deloitte 2024 Global Human Capital Trends)
FIG 2: Source: Deloitte 2024 Global Human Capital Trends
ERNEST NG - What are the most Important things HR will need to focus on in 2024? | ALLISON BAUM GATES - Six predictions for the future of health, wealth, and work in 2024 | LYNDA GRATTON - Predictions for the Workplace of 2025, Revisited
Continuing with the prediction vibe, here are two more thoughtful reflections on what lies ahead and one reflection, 15 years on, from Lynda Gratton on her previous predictions about the future of work. (1) Ernest Ng, PhD, now at HiredScore– who Workdayhas just announced their intent to acquire, highlights a number of predictions for the year ahead combining a focus on efficiency, incorporating AI into the way we work and supporting employees to navigate change. (2) Allison Baum Gates, General Partner at SemperVirens Venture Capital combines the future of health, wealth and work into her predictions including: “AI’s primary impact in 2024 will be accelerating a shift to skills-based organizations.” (3) Lynda Gratton reflects on her Predictions for the Workforce of 2025, which she originally made in 2010 covering what she got right, where she misjudged, and what she learned about experimenting.
It will be wise to expect the unexpected. And when it comes, be prepared to observe closely, pivot quickly, and experiment widely.
HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ALEX CAMP, PHIL KIRSCHNER, LAURA PINEAULT, AND PATRICK SIMON - Hybrid can be healthy for your organization—when done right
Research from McKinsey suggesting that a fully remote organisation can demonstrate a level of organisational health that rivals, if not exceeds, the performance of most traditional companies. In the article, Alexandra Camp Phil Kirschner Laura Pineault and Dr. Patrick Simon highlight six priorities for companies aspiring to sustain a flexible or highly distributed workplace in parallel with top organisational health: (1) Remove ambiguity about working practices. (2) Reset performance expectations. (3) Be transparent. (4) Be purposeful about where people work. (5) Foster trust and a sense of support. (6) Test and learn.
Fully remote organizations can demonstrate a level of health that rivals, if not exceeds, the performance of most traditional companies.
FIG 3: Six priorities to sustain a flexible or highly distributed workplace (Source: McKinsey)
KELLY JONES - Unlocking the Power of Hybrid Work: 5 Guiding Principles from Cisco's 3-Year Study Article | White Paper | Executive Summary
Kelly Jones, Cisco's Chief People Officer, unveils the findings of a three year Future of Work study by Cisco’s People Intelligence Team, which was designed to explore the employee experience prior to the global pandemic, through the pandemic, to office re-opening and beyond. Kelly's article summarises five guiding principles for hybrid work including reimagining the office to create meaningful moments and encouraging leaders to be intentional with their attention. The executive summary also outlines five key findings and recommendations (see FIG 4): (1) People may be choosing to work from home, but in person touchpoints are still essential. (2) Effective collaboration is a balancing act. (3) Flexibility and choice positively influence engagement. (4) Leaders might be struggling the most. (5) Leader attention is the #1 predictor of engagement. Thanks to Roxanne Bisby Davis for highlighting.
Make the office a magnet, not a mandate
FIG 4: Source - Choice is Critical in the Future of Work (Cisco, 2024)
MICHAEL ARENA AND PHIL ARKCOLL - Enabling High-Velocity Teams
As Michael Arena and Philip Arkcoll outline, the significance of teams has never been greater, yet their effectiveness depends on being able to operate with both speed and focus. The article presents the findings of their research as to why focused teams outperform, and then provides five practices designed for teams to imbue more intentional collaboration: (1) Leverage collaboration phases. (2) Focused team structure. (3) Minimise frequent team shifts. (4) Actively manage dependencies and distractions. (5) Formation of integration teams.
With the rapid advancements in technology today, optimal team performance and speed matter disproportionately in ensuring market success.
FIG 5: Internally and externally focused agile teams (Source: Michael Arena and Philip Arkcoll)
GAD LEVANON | SHRM & THE BURNING GLASS INSTITUTE - Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Workforce
The Burning Glass Institute continues to publish fascinatingly insightful reports about the world of work. In their latest report, in collaboration with SHRM, Gad Levanon investigates how GenAI will impact industries, companies, and jobs, and reshape the economy. It reinforces that GenAI will have the greatest impact on high-skilled, professional work, provides indications of how GenAI will impact the economy (see FIG 6) and provides four actions for CHROs to: (1) Evaluate your organisation’s composition, (2) Evaluate the roles within your organisation, (3) Consider your current talent pipeline, and (4) Develop a game plan.
In the coming years, GenAI will both drive massive boosts in productivity and necessitate layoffs. Begin planning ways to leverage GenAI’s productivity benefits and prepare for the disruptions to your workforce through a combination of upskilling investments to give workers the skills to remain relevant and reskilling programs to reposition workers in areas of more stable demand.
FIG 6: Sequence of economic disruptions caused by GenAI (Source: SHRM and The Burning Glass Institute)
FIG 7: Implications of GenAI for HR functions (Source: SHRM and The Burning Glass Institute)
ANA KREACIC, AMY LASATER-WILLE, LUCIA URIBE, RAVIN JESUTHASAN, JOHN ROMEO, AND SIMON LUONG - How Generative AI Is Changing The Future Of Work | TED LIU, CARINA DENG, AND KELLY MONAHAN - How Generative AI Adds Value to the Future of Work
Two studies analysing the impact of GenAI on the world of work. The first by Ana Kreacic Amy Lasater-Wille Lucia Uribe Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA John Romeo and Simon Luong for the Oliver Wyman Forum finds that GenAI could add up to $20 trillion to global GDP by 2030 and save 300 billion work hours a year. It also finds that while 96% of employees believe AI can help them in their current job, 60% are afraid it will eventually automate them out of work. There are numerous other insights and visualisations in the 100 page report including a projection of the likely productivity gains at work from GenAI in the next decade (see FIG 8). The second study, by Ted Liu Carina Deng and Kelly Monahan, Ph.D.for the UpworkResearch Institute, provides a comprehensive analysis of the initial impact of GenAI on the Upwork marketplace for independent talent. It finds that the impacts may already being felt with reductions in demand for work such as writing and translation and a surge in demand for skills associated with GenAI such as data science and analytics.
Generative AI could add up to $20 trillion to global GDP by 2030 and save 300 billion work hours a year.
FIG 8: Phases of generative AI’s impact on productivity at work (Source: Oliver Wyman Forum)
GEORGE WESTERMAN, SAM RANSBOTHAM, AND CHIARA FARRONATO - Find the AI Approach That Fits the Problem You’re Trying to Solve | TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC - 7 Strategies to Get Your Employees On Board with GenAI | ANDY BALDWIN - 3 Ways to Embed DEI Into Your Company’s AI Strategy | MARTHA CURIONI – Why is Explainable AI Important for HR? | BRETT DYKES - Why AI Isn’t Going To Solve All Your Data Culture Problems
There may be a far degree of hype around GenAI, but it does seem to be accelerating the engagement of HR leaders and professionals with AI, and is also leading to an increasing number of thoughtful studies and articles on AI, including these five resources: (1) George Westerman Sam Ransbotham and Chiara Farronatooutline four categories of advanced analytics – GenAI, traditional deep learning, econometrics, and rule-based automation, and offer five questions to ask about AI’s constraints including: What is the cost of being wrong? (2) As Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic observes: “the human factor — people and culture — will drive the adoption of AI, or lack thereof.” Tomas then presents seven strategies to get employees on board including i) focusing on the problem that GenAI can solve, and ii) being proactive about ethical concerns. (3) In his article for Harvard Business Review, Andy Baldwin outlines three ways to incorporate DEI into AI strategy through: i) embedding DEI into the design of your AI systems; ii) incorporating DEI into any AI-related upskilling programs; and iii) using AI as an opportunity to boost DEI. (4) Martha Curioni defines explainable AI and explains why it is critical to HR so it can provide transparency, build trust, mitigate bias and enable data driven decision making. (5) Finally, Brent Dykes cautions that while a recent study found that GenAI had catalysed a dramatic rise in the number of companies that reported they had ‘created a data-driven organization’ (from 23.9 percent in 2023 to 48.1 percent in 2024), AI is not a silver bullet for data culture. He illustrates this (see FIG 9) by referencing a study a European bank did to assess its own data culture, before highlighting two proven ways to build a data culture: executive sponsorship and role-modelling, and talent.
As with any aspect of digital transformation, the effective deployment of generative AI will depend less on technological capability than on human adaptability
FIG 9: Source: Brent Dykes, Analytics Hero
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
MARIËLLE SONNENBERG, FEDERICO BECHINI, SIETSE SCHRÖDER, AND CAITLIN VAN MIL - Our Real-Life Journey with GenAI in Skills and Talent Management (with code!!) | ADAM MCKINNON – Introducing Lex – Australian Employment Law Support AI | ALEC LEVENSON - A killer app with huge upsides and dangerous downsides: Applying AI to People Analytics
Two examples of GenAI in People Analytics in practice – and an article by Alec Levenson on AI in people analytics. (1) the Wolters Kluwer talent analytics team of Mariëlle Sonnenberg, PhD Federico Bechini Sietse Schröder and Caitlin van Mil share a case study of using GenAI to provide the foundation of their work to transition to a skills-based organisation. The article shares learnings from their journey (and the code!) including tips around data security, prompts, and system testing. (2) Adam McKinnon, PhD. presents Lex – an AI chatbot that has been trained on Australian workplace legislation. As Adam explains, Lex has been trained not to make up answers, and it should refuse to answer any question that cannot be answered using the legal documents it has been trained on. (3) Alec Levenson addresses the potential upsides and risks of applying AI to PA before providing a roadmap for ethical and effective application.
A human- and science-based perspective on any People Analytics model’s predictions is always needed, whether AI is applied or not.
PIETRO MAZZOLENI - Unlocking People Data: Lessons from Transforming IBM's Data Platform to Elevate People Analytics - The Why and the What | JON LESTER - Creating the future of human resources
Pietro Mazzoleni presents the first edition of what promises to be an interesting and insightful new LinkedIn newsletter, People Data Platform, which will explore the evolution of IBM's internal people data platform and its role in fostering data democratisation and people analytics. The first instalment covers the what and the why, and also provides an overview of Workforce 360 (W360 – see FIG 10), IBM’s internal people data platform. Pietro explains that the initial focus for W360 was (1) to digitalise People Scorecard, IBM´s main talent dashboard that measures the health of the workforce, and (2) to scale IBM’s advanced AI solutions like Job Recommendation, Attrition Risk Analysis, and Compensation Advisor. I recommend reading Pietro’s article alongside the second article, featuring Jon Lester on how in an initial pilot in IBM Consulting, a digital AI assistant (HiRo) saved 12,000 hours in one quarter, and halved the quarterly promotion process from 10 to 5 weeks.
FIG 10: Benefits of Workforce 360 (Source: IBM, Pietro Mazzoleni)
WILLIS JENSEN - Why Is It So Hard to Get Finance and HR Aligned? | JACKSON ROATCH - The Behavioral Economics of Return to Office | LYDIA WU - The Problem with “I Don’t Disagree” in People Analytics | JARED VALDRON - An FAQ on Generative AI in People Analytics | ANSHUL SHEOPURI - People Operations As A Critical Differentiator For Employee Experience | JUSTIN PURL - The People Analytics Method: Why TikTok's Head of Global People Analytics prioritizes context not control
As has also been the case in recent months, February saw a number of articles from current and recent people analytics leaders. These act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Six are highlighted here. (1) Willis Jensenboils down the traditional disconnect between HR and Finance teams on headcount: “There are some fundamental differences in counting the number of people (headcount) versus counting the amount of worker productivity (FTE) and both are necessary for different goals.” (2) Jackson Roatchanalyses the return to office topic through the lens of behavioural economics. (3) Lydia Wubreaks down why hearing “I don’t disagree” is a problem for people analytics, and in doing so highlights the importance of building trust with key stakeholders. (4) Jared Valdronprovides a set of answers to 18 frequently asked questions about GenAI in people analytics including i)) Is generative AI a good co-pilot for programming? ii) How will generative AI change the People Analytics job market? (5) Anshul Sheopurihighlights five areas where providing a frictionless experience is key to a successful EX program including i) Design with the user in mind and build for scale, and ii) Trusted data enables a solid foundation and responsible AI delivers personalised experiences. (6) Justin Purl Head of Global People Analytics of TikTok, introduces The People Analytics Method (see FIG 11) as a scientific approach for accumulating context that delivers impactful insights and supports HR decision-making
While it can be challenging to measure the financial impact of HR projects, that shouldn’t stop HR from trying to build those business cases.
FIG 11: The People Analytics Method (Source: Justin Purl)
Two key parts of The People Analytics Method are understanding context and engaging employees.
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
J. PUCKETT, VINCIANE BEAUCHENE, PATRICK ERKER, AND ZHDAN SHAKIROV – Is Your Upskilling Program Paying Off
Measuring the Return on Learning Investment is arguably the Holy Grail of upskilling programs, but according to this article by BCG it is in fact possible. In their article, J. Puckett Vinciane Beauchene C. Patrick G. E. and Ƶhdan Shakirovpresent a three-step approach: (1) Identify the desired business impact upfront. (2) Define the metrics for holding the program accountable to that impact and measuring progress. (3) Determine whether the targeted impact has been achieved.
Before embarking on any upskilling program, organizations first need to establish the business impact they will measure after the program is over.
FIG 12: Metrics for assessing the impact of learning programs (Source: BCG)
DAVE ULRICH AND HARRISON JAMES - How to Ensure that Human Capability Investments Deliver Stakeholder Value
As Dave Ulrich and Harrison James explain in their article, organisations typically rely on benchmarking and best practices to evaluate the return from human capital investments. They argue that these methods are often limited and do not provide the specific guidance to impact the business results of individual companies. Their article sets out an alternative: an Organization Guidance System (OGS), which begins by identifying the stakeholder outcomes relevant in your company as a precursor to then determining through providing an opportunity score (see FIG 13) for which human capability initiatives best deliver those outcomes.
FIG 13: Source: Dave Ulrich, The RBL Group
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
MARC EFFRON - Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? Questions About Becoming a Skills-based Organization
As Marc Effron of The Talent Strategy Group highlights in his remarkable must-read article, there have been many claims made by consulting firms and technology providers about the case for shifting to being a skills-based organisation. In the article, Marc examines these claims, asking and answering 17 questions about skills-based organisations. The questions include: (1) If a skills-based approach is needed, why is it needed? (2) What changes will my organisation have to make to become a skill-based organisation? (3) Is there any proof that a skills-based approach delivers results? (4) Will AI and technology solutions better enable companies to track, manage and match skills? (5) How predictively accurate are skills in determining performance? Whatever side of the skills-based organisation debate you are on, I highly recommend reading Marc’s article.
At best, shifting to a skills-based environment can help some people in some situations at a large cost. It is likely best suited to industries where there is financial largess including pharmaceutical, banking, and larger consumer products firms. At worst, it reflects HR’s continued pursuit of novelty with the giddy support of technology and consulting firms that are all-too willing to promote and enable this questionable solution.
SCOTT REIDA - Draft priority role competency needs over time using ChatGPT4 and Tableau
A practical and technical guide from Scott Reida a workforce strategist at AWS, as he demonstrates how to use ChatGPT to drive talent intelligence by identifying current and future developments for key roles within an organisation. Scott visualises the outputs from ChatGPT in Tableau over a time horizon of ten years using the example of competencies for a data scientist.
FIG 14: Source – Scott Reida (access here)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
ALICE DAMONTE, DANIEL MORALES, AND SARAH TOBEY - Employee listening programs and how to keep employees talking | IT SURVEY GROUP - What’s on the Horizon? Three Trends That Will Shape Employee Listening in 2024
Alice Damonte Daniel Morales and Sarah Tobeyfrom McKinsey’s internal people analytics and measurement team share learnings from Pulse, their continuous listening program. This capability has already enabled the team to shape more than 300 different initiatives since it was established three years ago. Their article focuses on two key elements of a successful employee listening program: (1) Making it easy and meaningful for employees to participate, which is enabled by providing transparency through firm-wide readouts, community dialogues, and individualised insights with support. (2) Making it straightforward for leaders to listen and act, which the team enable through ‘care packages’ to help leaders focus their attention on what matters most. For readers that enjoy this, I also recommend the second article, which features EX/HR leaders such as Kristin Saboe, Ph.D. Caitie Jacobson Stephanie Andel, PhD Patrick Gallen, MSOD Madison Beard and Ronald Ivan Dela Cruz forecasting three key trends for employee listening in 2024.
To ensure an employee listening channel is sufficiently well stocked with timely insights, it must be easy and meaningful for employees to participate, and straightforward for leaders to listen and act.
FIG 15: Source: McKinsey
FIG 16: Three key trends shaping employee listening in 2024 (Source: IT Survey Group)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
AMY C. LEWIS, ANDREA DERLER, CUTHBERT CHOW, MANDA WINLAW, AND DANI HAIG – Designing Impactful Teams: Data-backed insights about effective team size
What does team size have to do with designing high-performing teams? That was the exam question, the Visier Inc.team of Andrea Derler, Ph.D. Cuthbert Chow Manda Winlaw and Dani Haigsought to answer in a collaborative study with Amy C. Lewis, PhD Professor of Management at the College of Business at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. Key findings include: (1) Most people work in teams of six to ten. (2) Team size varies by the nature of the work. (3) Smaller teams have more high performers. (4) Smaller teams have lower resignation rates (see FIG 17). The report has some helpful insights for those studying team effectiveness and involved in organisational design work.
FIG 17: Smaller teams have lower resignation rates (Source: Visier)
SPENCER HARRISON AND KRISTIE ROGERS - Building Culture From the Middle Out
The premise of a study by Spencer Harrisonand Kristie Rogersis for a business to harness the power of culture, it needs managers and team leaders to go beyond believing that they are responsible for culture to actively building it. Their research finds that managers that successfully achieve this are able to link the ‘big-C’ culture of their organisation (e.g. the official set of values) with the ‘small-c’ culture that plays out in the narrower and vibrant daily patterns of interaction (see FIG 18). The article highlights four successful strategies: (1) Endorse big-C culture through celebration and preservation of select features. (2) Endorse big-C culture by learning from other managers. (3) Enrich small-c culture through cultural innovations. (4) Enrich small-c culture by empowering employees to innovate.
FIG 18: Endorse and Enrich Your Way to Corporate Culture (Source: Harrison and Rogers)
JOSH BERSIN - How to Actually Execute a 4-Day Workweek | DOUGLAS BROOM - Four-day work week trial in Spain leads to healthier workers, less pollution | BENJAMIN LAKER – How Far-Reaching Could the Four-Day Workweek Become? AVA MARTINEZ – A 3-Day Workweek Could Complicate The Future of Work
Four articles on the four-day week, a concept that seems to be gathering momentum with pilots suggesting that business outcomes can be maintained while employee wellbeing and retention is enhanced. (1) Josh Bersinpresents findings from his study that finds companies need to undertake substantial work redesign to reduce hours while maintaining business outcomes to make the four-day week work. (2) Writing for the World Economic Forum, Douglas Broom shares results from a four-day work week pilot in Valencia, which found that giving workers an extra day off a week actually increases productivity, boosts physical and mental health and reduces CO2 emissions. (3) Benjamin Laker, who has been studying the four-day week for a number of years, outlines the findings from a UK study on the four-day week, which finds that 92% of the 61 companies that participated in the pilot are continuing with the four-day week. Laker also highlights that research conducted before and after the trial revealed that 39% of employees experienced lower stress levels and 71% noticed less burnout while working shorter weeks (see FIG 19). (4) From being one of the CEO outliers on return to the office, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon suggests that AI may precipitate a future of work where the working week is three days – as reported by Ava Martinez for The HR Digest.
FIG 19: Source: The UK’s four-day week pilot (Autonomy)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
SERENA HUANG - DEI Funding Cuts? You Need Data Analytics and AI More Than Ever | BOGDAN YAMKOVENKO AND STEPHEN TAVARES - To Understand Whether Your Company Is Inclusive, Map How Your Employees Interact
With many companies and institutions – particularly in the US – cutting back on their DEI programs, a recent edition of Serena H. Huang, Ph.D. From Data to Action newsletter is well timed. Serena explains how people data and analytics can help reverse this trend and highlights a number of helpful resources. One of the resources Serena highlights is a seminal article by Bogdan Yamkovenko, PhD and Stephen Tavares first published in Harvard Business Review in 2017. It provides a case study of a professional services firm that used organisational network analysis to identify that that women were largely shut out of its decision making, idea sharing, and emotional support networks (see FIG 20). For more from Serena, please tune into her recent conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Enhance Your Career in People Analytics.
FIG 20: 3 ways to look at employee networks at one professional services firm (Source: Heidrick & Struggles)
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 February that I recommend readers delve into:
LOÏC MICHEL | 365TALENTS – Your Absolute How to Guide to Skills Management – A handy guide to skills management from Loïc Michel and the 365Talentsteam featuring guidance and case studies.
ALICIA ROACH - Let's Talk About Lay-Offs – Alicia Roach of eQ8 frames the recent spate of layoffs from companies posting impressive profits in the context of culture and workforce planning (see FIG 21). As Alicia writes: “We can do better. We must do better.”
FIG 21: Scenario modelling and external shocks (Source: Alicia Roach, eQ8)
RICHARD ROSENOW - Embracing Remote Work for Senior People Analytics Roles: A Strategic Imperative – Richard Rosenow of One Model makes a persuasive case for why every organisation looking to lead in People Analytics should consider making their senior roles, if not all of their People Analytics roles, remote eligible. For more on people analytics jobs, check out this analysis of executive and director people analytics roles by Patrick Coolen.
BLEDI TASKA - SkyHive Data Reveals Greater Gender Disparity in the Generative AI Sector Compared to the Tech Industry at Large – Bledi Taska, Ph.D. presents SkyHive data and key findings on the impact of Generative Al on the U.S. job market and economy. His analysis highlights the urgent need for reskilling and upskilling initiatives to mitigate inequality in the workforce. Thanks to Todd Raphael for highlighting.
HAKKI OZDENOREN - Move Over HR, AI Is the New Recruiter! – Hakki Ozdenorenpresents data and analysis from Revelio Labs, which finds that HR job postings mentioning AI are surging ahead of other listings. This underscores the need for HR professionals to reskill in areas like AI and data literacy. Thanks to Ben Zweig for highlighting.
FIG 22: AI related job postings in HR roles are on the rise (Source: Revelio Labs)
MARC RAMOS - Learning & Development is the New Research & Development - How the Learning Function Can be the AI Accelerator Part 1 | Part 2 – Cornerstone OnDemand CLO Marc Steven Ramos presents his two-part series on the L&D function investigating, testing and extending the use of AI within organisations – includes FIG 23 on blending R&D and L&D approaches.
FIG 23: Complementing R&D and L&D approaches (Source: Marc Ramos)
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
HEMERSON PAES, COLE NAPPER, AND SCOTT HINES - Active & Passive ONA Use Cases at Roche – Hemerson Paes joins hosts Cole Napperand Scott Hines, PhDon the Directionally Correct podcast to share his work rolling out active and passive ONA applications at scale at Roche.
BOB SUTTON AND ADAM GRANT - How to become a “friction-fixer” – Leading management thinker and organisational psychologist at Stanford, Bob Sutton, joins Adam Grant on ReThinking to discuss his new book, The Friction Project, on how to diagnose and then fix workplace problems. Unmissable.
JASON CORSELLO AND LAURIE RUETTIMANN - HR Technology 2024 – Jason Corsello from Acadian Ventures joins Laurie Ruettimannon Punk Rock HR to discuss the state of the HR tech market, the potential and concerns of AI, and the importance of future skills.
ANDREW SAIDY AND CHRIS RAINEY - Why a Talent Marketplace is Win-Win for Employees and Organisations - Andrew Saidy joins Christopher Rainey of HR Leaders to discuss his work at Ubisoft, where skills are becoming the currency for hiring, mobility and promotions rather than solely relying on degrees or tenure.
STEPHANIE DENINO, KIRAN MENON, AND DEBKANYA DHAR VYAVAHARKAR - Moving EX from boardroom to office floor - Stephanie Denino of TI PEOPLE speaks to hosts of the EXtra Extra podcast Kiran Menon and Debkanya Dhar Vyavaharkar about the findings of the State of EX report, and applying agile principles towards shipping EX ideas out of the boardroom and onto the office floor.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
NAOMI VERGHESE, ALAN SUSI AND DAVID GREEN | INSIGHT222 - How Leading Companies shift People Analytics from Insight to Impact
Please forgive the mild case of self-indulgence, but the ‘Video of the Month’ is actually a webinar we recently hosted at Insight222based on our People Analytics Trends research, which was informed by a survey of 271 participating companies. In the webinar, Naomi Vergheseand I walked through the findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends research, unveiling the distinctive characteristics of ABCD Teams that propel organisations to new heights. Naomi and I were joined by Alan Susi, VP and Global Head of Organisational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global. Alan shared insights on how the firm successfully elevated their approach to people analytics, turning data into tangible business outcomes. You can access the webinar here – or by clicking the image below.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
JOHN WINSOR AND JIN H. PAIK – Open Talent: Leveraging the Global Workforce to Solve Your Biggest Challenges
In Open Talent, John Winsor and Jin Paik advocate that companies need to shift to a more ‘distributed’ structure that revolves around talent (people) and projects in a networked organisation. In this model, talent is assembled from both inside the organisation (via an internal talent marketplace) and outside (via external talent clouds). The authors reveal how they implemented open talent strategies, and how other companies can adopt these techniques. A thoughtful and insightful read.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
SHELLEY XIN LI, FRANK NAGLE, AND ANER ZHOU - Mapping Organizational-Level Networks Using Individual-Level Connections: Evidence from Online Professional Networks
An interesting paper by Shelley Xin Li, Frank Nagle, and Aner Zhou for the Harvard Business School Strategy Unit, which constructs and describes a comprehensive network for 7,715 publicly traded U.S. firms from 2004 to 2018, using data on over 9 million people with 2 billion connections from the professional social network LinkedIn. The key finding is that while employees do not necessarily make connections for the company’s benefit, the centrality of that company in the employee network positively predicts company value. Thanks to Nicolas BEHBAHANI for highlighting.
FIG 24: Firm-level Network Centrality and Economic Performance for U.S. Public Firms in 2018 (Source: Li, Nagle, and Zhou, 2023)
FROM MY DESK
February saw the final two episodes of Series 36 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by ScreenCloud as well as the first episode of Series 37 sponsored by Culture Amp. Thank you respectively to Luke Farrugia of ScreenCloud and Ellisa Packer and Jodie Evans of Culture Amp.
ERIC SIEGEL - How to Overcome AI Adoption Challenges in HR – Eric Siegel, the author of The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment, explains how to successfully deploy machine learning in organisations while remaining focused on outcomes, ethics, and improving decision making.
BERNARD MARR - Achieving AI & Human Synergy in Data-Driven HR – Bernard Marr, who always has his finger on the pulse when it comes to new technologies, shares insights from his book, Data-Driven HR: How to Use AI, Analytics and Data to Drive Performance, and how AI is already impacting HR, and how it will increasingly do so in the future.
REBECCA THIELEN - Microsoft's Key to Strategic Workforce Planning Success – Rebecca Thielen shares insights from the workforce planning journey at Microsoft, including the role of analytics, close partnership with finance, and the clear focus on the problem statement.
ANGELA LE MATHON, IAN COOK, AND DAVID GREEN - The Strategic Agenda for People Analytics in 2024 – I also hosted a webinar with Angela LE MATHON and Ian Cook, which was organised by Visier Inc. and People Analytics World, to discuss the agenda for people analytics in 2024. Topics discussed included the role of middle management in strategic decision-making, the impact of AI on people analytics, and the practical challenges and strategies for implementing AI and analytics within HR frameworks.
THANK YOU
Finally, this month I’d like to thank:
Matt Manners and the team at Inspiring Workplaces for once again including me on their Top 101 Global Employee Engagement & Experience Influencers 2024, sponsored by Huler.
Jennifer McClurefor including me in her list of recommendations for HR professionals looking to build a Personal Development Library.
Amit Mohindrafor including Excellence in People Analytics as one of the course materials for his people analytics course at Stanford University
Malgorzata (GOSIA) LANGLOIS for posting about the Microsoft case study contributed by Dawn Klinghoffer in Excellence in People Analytics.
Stephen Hickey for including me in his list of go-to resources on people analytics.
Dr. Divya Sainath for posting about our conversation at the recent Indeed Future Talent event in Bangalore.
Thomas Kohler for including the January edition of Data Driven HR Monthly in his list of HR Resources.
Teamflect for including the Digital Hr Leaders podcast at number six in its list of the top 20 HR podcasts.
Ekta Vyas Ph.D for posting about my article, A History of People Analytics in Five Ages.
Andrew Lafontaine for creating a post with highlights from the episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast on How to Overcome AI Adoption Challenges in HR with Eric Siegel.
Wendy Van Ierschot for including me in her post about her book, Scale Ups and Downs.
DOWNLOAD THE LATEST INSIGHT222 PEOPLE ANALYTICS TRENDS RESEARCH
We’ve recently released our fourth annual People Analytics Trends report at Insight222: Investing to Deliver Value: A new Model for People Analytics, which is now available to download via the link – or by clicking on the image below.
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:
March 4-6 - Gloat Live! (New York)
March 14-15 - Wharton People Analytics Conference (Philadelphia)
April 24-25 - People Analytics World (London)
May 7-9 - UNLEASH America (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)
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
People Analytics
2024年03月03日
People Analytics
The best HR & People Analytics articles of January 20242024年对HR专业人士来说是充满挑战和机遇的一年。经济不确定性、地缘政治紧张和技术进步是主要的挑战。文章强调了生产力的重要性,以及来自PwC、麦肯锡和埃森哲的洞察。利物浦经理朱尔根·克洛普的离职案例展示了领导力和文化的重要性。文章还强调了人力资源分析的重要性,提供了来自领先公司的见解。
2024年的HR趋势和预测涵盖了人工智能的影响和向基于技能的组织的转变。工作场所的心理安全、多样性、平等、包容和归属感仍然是重要议题。这篇文章为HR专业人士提供了全面的指导,帮助他们在未来一年中导航复杂性。
2024 is set to be a momentous year. With economic uncertainty, rising geopolitical conflict, and rapid advances in technology, it is also set to be a stormy 12 months for the world, for organisations, and for HR professionals too.
Perhaps this explains the slew of insightful resources in January, which has made compiling this month’s collection as challenging as it has been enjoyable. One of the key focuses has been on ‘productivity’, and I’ve brought together a number of resources on this topic. There are also new studies from the likes of PwC, McKinsey, Glassdoor, Accenture, and Deloitte as well as articles featuring practitioners from companies including Spotify, Microsoft, Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. There’s lots to enjoy and learn from.
Join me for a webinar on February 21 to discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact
Are you an HR or People Analytics Leader seeking to transform your organisation’s People Analytics from mere insights to impactful business outcomes? If so, I invite you to join me for a webinar that Insight222 is hosting on February 21. Naomi Verghese and I will walk through the findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends research, unveiling the distinctive characteristics of ABCD Teams that propel organisations to new heights. Naomi and I will be joined by Alan Susi, VP and Global Head of Organisational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global. Alan will share insights into how S&P Global successfully elevated their approach to people analytics, turning data into tangible business outcomes. You can register for the webinar here – or by clicking the image below.
Jürgen Klopp – a study in leadership, culture, and analytics
As a fervent supporter, I’m still processing the totally unexpected news that Jürgen Klopp will be leaving his post as the manager of Liverpool at the end of the current football season. In his press conference on taking the reins at Anfield in October 2015, Klopp stated his goal was to turn Liverpool from “doubters to believers.” He has done this with some aplomb amassing a haul of seven trophies (to date) including the Champions League in 2019 and then, the following year, the Holy Grail of Liverpool’s first league title in 30 years.
But Klopp is more than a brilliant football manager. He is the epitome of an empathetic leader. His emotional intelligence and natural humility not only endears Klopp to his players, but to supporters too for whom he is adored. The reaction to the news reduced many Liverpool supporters to tears. I’m still hoping – probably forlornly - that like Alex Ferguson in 2002, Klopp will change his mind and stay.
In the likely event that he does depart, I’m sure that multiple studies will be made on Klopp’s time at Anfield, and that his leadership skills, use of data and analytics, and ability to build an inclusive winning culture will be deservedly celebrated. YNWA.
Looking for a new role in people analytics or HR tech?
Before we get to this month’s collection of resources, I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers over 500 roles.
Looking for a people analytics event to attend in 2024?
Richard Rosenow has also been busy compiling a study of People Analytics Conferences to attend in 2024 with the data collected from practitioners themselves. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), People Analytics World and the Wharton People Analytics Conference all come out well as does the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat. Thanks to Richard for putting this together.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for January 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 December’s compendium (including those in the Comments 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.
THE QUEST FOR PRODUCTIVITY
MCKINSEY - 2024 and beyond: Will it be economic stagnation or the advent of productivity-driven abundance? | PwC - 27th Annual Global CEO Survey: Thriving in an age of continuous reinvention | JOSH BERSIN - HR Predictions for 2024: The Global Search For Productivity | ERIK BRYNJOLFSSON - How AI Will Transform Productivity | BEN WABER AND NATHANAEL J. FAST - Is GenAI’s Impact on Productivity Overblown?
When I talk with CHROs and People Analytics Leaders at the companies we work with at Insight222, one of the words I’m hearing most at the moment is ‘productivity’. Continuing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the promise of AI, and challenging talent demographics are all fuelling the demand for productivity from CEOs. Here are five resources that can be filed under the ‘productivity’ umbrella: (1) McKinsey’s Ezra Greenberg, Asutosh Padhi, and Sven Smit present a model for businesses to capture the three-sided productivity opportunity (see FIG 1). (2) Amongst a ton of takeaways, the standout theme from the annual PwC CEO survey is that the vast majority of participating companies are already taking some steps towards reinvention, while CEOs believe that 40% of their work is wasted productivity (see FIG 2). (3) Josh Bersin draws from the PwC survey in his 2024 predictions, where he outlines The Productivity Advantage where “If you can help your company move faster (productivity implies speed, not only profit), you can reinvent faster than your competition.” (4) Stanford professor Erik Brynjolfsson offers leaders an overview of how AI will transform productivity. (5) Finally, Ben Waber and Nathanael Fast’s absorbing essay in Harvard Business Review cautions leaders on leaning into the hype on GAI’s supposed positive impact on productivity too heavily. The authors break down two of the key challenges with LLMs: a) their persistent ability to produce convincing falsities and b) the likely long-term negative effects of using LLMs on employees and internal processes.
FIG 1: The three-side productivity opportunity (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 2: CEOs estimate administrative inefficiency at 40% (Source: PwC)
GERGELY OROSZ AND ABI NODA - Measuring Developer Productivity: Real-World Examples
Continuing the productivity theme, this is an invaluable resource by Gergely Orosz and Abi Noda in The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter. It provides detail on developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Spotify, and Uber (see summary in FIG 3).
FIG 3: Developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies (Source: Pragmatic Engineer)
2024 HR TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS
JASMINE PANAYIDES - Nine Ways to Put HR Trends and Predictions into Practice in 2024
There has been a flood of articles advising what the key HR trends, predictions, and opportunities for 2024 are, but how are HR professionals supposed to make sense of these? In her article for the myHRfuture blog, Jasmine Panayides provides actionable tips on how HR professionals can apply the trends, predictions and opportunities to their work, and their organisations so they can deliver value to the company and the workforce. Jasmine also helpfully summarises the trends/predictions from a variety of sources into one table (see FIG 4), including from: Visier Inc., Gartner, Bernard Marr, UNLEASH, Mercer, and Culture Amp as well as my own 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article.
FIG 4: Analysis of HR Trends and Predictions for 2024 (Source: myHRfuture)
KATARINA BERG - HR Trends for 2024 | GARTNER - 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 | GLASSDOOR – 2024 Workforce Trends | HUNG LEE - Forecasting 2024 in Recruitment Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 | KEVIN WHEELER - What Does 2024 Hold in Store for Us? | STACIA GARR AND DANI JOHNSON – 2024 Mega Trends and how people leaders should respond (Webinar)
The deluge of commentators offering their HR trends and opportunities continued in January. As such, it is a challenge to sort the wheat from the chaff but in addition to those I highlighted in this compendium in December, and in Jasmine’s article above, I recommend diving into the following: (1) Spotify’s chief people officer, Katarina Berg, highlights ten trends with the common theme being each trend is a bridge, connecting the past with the future, and HR professionals are the architects crafting these vital links – including “Staying Human in the Age of AI – The Humanity Bridge”. (2) Gartner’s Jordan Turner and Emily Rose McRae highlight nine future of work trends for the year ahead (see FIG 5). (3) Aaron Terrazas and Daniel Zhao identify eight workforce trends based on Glassdoor’s data on workplace satisfaction, culture, and conversations. (4) Hung Lee is at the cutting edge of recruiting and HR tech, so his four-part series on recruiting in 2024 is definitely worth checking out – two examples include: “Multi-generational replaces neurodiversity as DEIB hot topic” and “Capital Allocation Shifts from Sourcing & Engagement to Assessment & Verification Tech”. (5) Futurist Kevin Wheeler offers seven insights and predictions together with his self-assessed certainty rating including “Generative AI will dominate, and every product will attempt to incorporate AI. 90% certainty” and “More firms will embrace a four-day workweek 50% certainty”. (6) Finally, I strongly recommend viewing the 2024 Mega Trends webinar hosted by Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson for RedThread Research, which breaks down the key macro factors impacting the world of work and how HR can respond.
FIG 5: 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 (Source: Gartner)
GREG NEWMAN - 10 important topics that HR will likely ignore in 2024
Greg Newman takes an alternative, wry and contrarian approach by focusing his list of “predictions” on ten things most HR teams will continue to ignore in 2024. My favourite three are: (1) speaking the language of the business, (2) focusing AI conversations on ethics before technology, and (3) learning that good data is required to realise the dreams of AI and analytics.
By aligning HR language with business terminology, we can more effectively demonstrate the value of our initiatives in a way that resonates with business stakeholders.
GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ELLYN SHOOK AND PAUL DAUGHERTY - Work, workforce, workers: Reinvented in the age of generative AI
A new study from Accenture, co-authored by Ellyn Shook and Paul Daugherty, on how generative AI is impacting work, provides guidance on how leaders can: “Set and guide a vision to reinvent work, reshape the workforce and prepare workers for a generative AI world, while building a resilient culture to navigate continuous waves of change.” The report reveals a trust gap between workers and leaders on key elements related to GAI’s impact on work, the workforce, and workers. The authors also highlight four accelerators for leaders to navigate the journey ahead: (1) Lead and learn in new ways, (2) Reinvent work, (3) Reshape the workforce (see example in FIG 6), and (4) Prepare workers.
FIG 6: Illustrative example of how work and roles can be reallocated in a GAI future (Source: Accenture)
ROGER W. HOERL AND THOMAS C. REDMAN - What Managers Should Ask About AI Models and Data Sets
The decision on whether to deploy AI models within an organisation ultimately lies with business leaders who may not be qualified to identify risks and weaknesses related to AI models and data sets. In their article, Roger Hoerl and Tom Redman provide (1) A framework (see FIG 7) designed to equip leaders with context and based on their concept of the right data. (2) A set of six questions for leaders to ask their AI model developers before and during modelling work and deployment. (3) Guidance for leaders on how to assess AI model developers’ answers to those six questions.
FIG 7: The Right Data Framework (Source: Roger W. Hoerl and Thomas C. Redman)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
STEVE HATFIELD, SUE CANTRELL, AND BRAD KREIT - Beyond the quick fix: How workforce data can drive deeper organizational problem-solving
The premise of this thoughtful article by Steve Hatfield, Susan Cantrell, and Brad Kreit is that without the right context, even simple measurements can undermine efforts to convert people data into value. They then explore several examples – in the workforce, in the workplace, and in the work – where organisations might be limiting their analysis to the surface level and how deeper analysis can reveal systemic issues that lead to opportunities for transformation. Guidance on three actions leaders can take to help ensure they are not missing important context in their data analysis are provided: (1) Bring data from different domains and sources together for analysis. (2) Make sure you’re measuring what you should—not just what you can. (3) Identify potential biases in data collection algorithms.
If organizations want to move beyond quick fixes and use work and workforce data to drive deeper—and often more challenging—problem-solving, it is important that they look at the data in context.
NAOMI VERGHESE - How to Measure the Value of People Analytics
My Insight222 colleague Naomi Verghese digs how to measure the commercial value of people analytics, highlighting a powerful case study from Jaesun HA and LG Electronics. Naomi provides detail on four key areas where people analytics adds value (business performance, workforce experiences, driving an analytics culture and societal benefit) as well as providing data on the characteristics of companies that ARE creating commercial value from people analytics (see FIG 8).
FIG 8: Characteristics of people analytics that disclosed and measured commercial value of people analytics solutions (Source: Insight222 People Analytics Trends, 2023)
ANDRÉS GARCIA AYALA - 5 Change Drivers Impacting People Analytics & How To Thrive In Them | WILLIS JENSEN - Attrition versus Retention: Which Should I Use? | KEITH McNULTY – Regression Modeling in People Analytics: Survival Analysis | LYDIA WU - The Market Sucks and You are Looking for a Job, Now What? | SEBASTIAN SZACHNOWSKI - 16 HR Metrics for IT | ERIN FLEMING AND NICK JESTEADT - People Analytics Perspectives from the Fringe: Current Priorities and a View on Optimized Teams in 2024
January saw a slew of articles from current and recent people analytics leaders, which typically act as a spur and inspiration for the field. Six are highlighted here: (1) Andrés García Ayala highlights some of the key change drivers impacting people analytics and ways to incorporate them into our work. (2) Willis Jensen builds on the recent primer on attrition metrics by Ben Teusch that I highlighted in December’s edition. He explains why we should be using attrition and retention as separate terms that lead to distinct metrics with different objectives (see also FIG 9). (3) Keith McNulty provides another indispensable practical guide for people analysts with a step-by-step tutorial to conducting survival analysis in R. (4) The prolific Lydia Wu turns her attention to providing some handy guidance for those looking for their next people analytics / HR tech role. (5) Sebastian Szachnowski provides a useful breakdown of 16 HR metrics for technology companies. (6) Last but definitely not least, Erin Fleming and Nick Jesteadt provide insights from their survey of fellow people analytics practitioners. Insights include a) 41% of respondents (n=49) operate as a one-person people analytics team, and ii) the main current focus areas of work include employee turnover, cultural engagement, return to office, and restructuring.
FIG 9: When to use Attrition and Retention (Source: Willis Jensen)
MAX BLUMBERG - The Big List of GPTs to Revolutionize Your People Processes | JOHANNES SUNDLO - GenAI for People Analytics
Two articles addressing the opportunity for generative AI in the people space. (1) Max Blumberg (JA) ?? sets out 93 potential ways to upgrade your People Processes with AI and GPTs across four categories – workforce planning and strategy, recruitment, learning and development, and employee wellbeing. (2) Johannes Sundlo provides examples of companies using GAI in their people analytics work to support analyses on engagement data, skills, and tailoring training recommendations.
GPTs are an amazing tool for scenario planning, forecasting future workforce needs, identifying talent gaps, and developing integrated talent strategies.
THE EVOLUTION OF HR AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
DAVE ULRICH, NORM SMALLWOOD, AND JOE GROCHOWSKI - Why and How to Move HR to an Outside-In Approach
When asked the question, “What is the biggest challenge in your job today?” HR professionals will typically provide answers such as: “Build a skills-based organisation” or “Help our employees have a better experience”. As Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Joe Grochowski write, these answers would be far more powerful when a “so that” is applied e.g. “Help employees have a better experience so that customer experience improves.” The article demonstrates that greater value is created with an outside-in approach that starts with the needs of external stakeholders (customers, investors, community) and then figuring out the implications inside the company for meeting those needs. Dave, Norm, and Joe also present their Human Capability Framework and a tool that provides an assessment of an organisation’s outside-in performance (see FIG 10).
FIG 10: Human capability from the outside-in - diagnostic questions (Source: Dave Ulrich et al)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
AMY WEBB - Bringing True Strategic Foresight Back to Business
In her article for Harvard Business Review, Amy Webb defines strategic foresight as “a disciplined and systematic approach to identify where to play, how to win in the future, and how to ensure organizational resiliency in the face of unforeseen disruption.” Her article also advocates for the integration of strategic foresight as a core competency in every organisation, regardless of size. Moreover, Amy provides guidance on how to operationalise strategic foresight by unveiling a ten-step process. Read alongside another article authored by Amy for HBR: How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist, which includes Amy’s Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (see FIG 11).
FIG 11: A Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (Source: Amy Webb)
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM AND PwC - Putting Skills First: Opportunities for Building Efficient and Equitable Labour Markets
As the introduction to this compelling collaboration between the World Economic Forum and PwC begins: “Skills and talent shortages are critical challenges facing societies and economies today. The absence of relevant skills impedes business growth, hinders economic prosperity, and inhibits individuals from realizing their full potential.” The report identifies five specific opportunities for intervention where the gains from skills-first solutions are most likely for employers and workers alike (see ‘Skills-first Framework’ in FIG 12). Additionally, the report also showcases 13 Skills First “Lighthouses”, including IBM, Siemens, Standard Chartered and Sanofi. It concludes by offering key takeaways regarding six success factors in implementing skills-first approaches including (1) Sponsorship from leadership, (2) Alignment with business needs, and (3) Data and evaluation for iteration. (Authors: Genesis Elhussein, Mark Rayner, Aarushi Singhania, Saadia Zahidi, Peter Brown MBE, Miral Mir, and Bhushan Sethi).
A cultural shift to skills-first approaches needs both sponsorship from executives and governance from human-resources professionals
FIG 12: Skills-first Framework (Source: World Economic Forum
PETER SHEPPARD - Learning from our Skills Journey | BEN AUTY - What are the new skills people will need for the future of work? | TANUJ KAPILASHRAMI - How Standard Chartered is Unlocking the Power of Skills in the Workplace
Many of the organisations we work with at Insight222 have embarked on the road to becoming a skills-based organisation. It is not an easy journey, so it is helpful to learn from other companies who are treading this path. Three of these are Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. (1) In his article, Peter Sheppard shares learnings from Ericsson’s skills journey including a) it’s not jobs or skills; it’s skills and jobs, b) it’s a whole organisation activity, c) Less is more with skills, and d) Data drives value. (2) Ben Auty shares insights as to why Lloyds Banking Group is developing a learning culture to build the workforce of the future at the bank, the main skills they are focusing on, and the central role the recently established Reskilling Team is playing. (3) Tanuj Kapilashrami shares how Standard Chartered catalysed their work on skills by identifying adjacencies between ‘sunset’ and ‘sunrise’ roles.
We looked at skills adjacencies between ‘sunset’ jobs and ‘sunrise’ jobs: so, what are the jobs that are going to go away? What are the skills that help employees get reskilled into some of these sunrise jobs? We ran five proofs of concept, we showed some real redeployment opportunities and started making the skills narrative real.
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
JENNIFER E. SIGLER WITH STEPHANIE DENINO - So Many Stakeholders, So Little Time: State of EX 2023-2024
The fifth annual State of EX study authored by Jennifer E. Sigler, PhD on behalf of The EXchange, Inc, TI PEOPLE and FOUNT Global, Inc. is a treasure chest of insights on the fast-evolving practice of employee experience. It highlights the top four priorities for EX as: (1) Redesigning experiences, (2) Getting broader buy-in for EX work across the organisation, (3) Building an EX roadmap for the organisation, and (4) Getting more / better data. One other standout finding from the study suggests that senior leaders are increasingly focused on EX with a majority of respondents (63%) saying their organisation’s senior leaders view EX as equal to or even more important than other corporate priorities. This bodes well for the future of EX. Thanks to Stephanie Denino and Volker Jacobs for highlighting the study.
FIG 13: EX Team Priorities YOY Change (Source: The EXchange, TI People and FOUNT Global, Inc)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
NADJIA YOUSIF, ASHLEY DARTNELL, GRETCHEN MAY, AND ELIZABETH KNARR - Psychological Safety Levels the Playing Field for Employees | PETER CAPPELLI AND LIAT ELDOR - Can Workplaces Have Too Much Psychological Safety?
Two perspectives on psychological safety in the workplace. In the first article, Nadjia Yousif, Ashley Dartnell, Gretchen May, and Elizabeth Knarr present the findings of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) research, which finds how psychological safety benefits inclusion, reduces attrition in diverse groups and effectively acts as an equaliser - enabling diverse and disadvantaged employee groups to achieve the same levels of workplace satisfaction as their more advantaged colleagues. The study also highlights the direct relationship between empathetic leadership and feelings of psychological safety in the workforce, giving leaders a clear directive to be empathetic and thereby engender psychological safety. The second article by Peter Cappelli and Liat Eldor presents research that found that when you move from average to high levels of psychological safety, performance in routine jobs actually declined.
FIG 14: Psychological safety has an outsize impact on retention for diversity groups (Source: BCG)
RASMUS HOUGAARD, JACQUELINE CARTER, AND ROB STEMBRIDGE - The Best Leaders Can’t Be Replaced by AI
While there are some areas where AI is already surpassing or will surpass human capabilities, there are several it cannot replace. Based on their research into employees’ comfort with AI in management, as well as their decades of research on the qualities of effective leadership, Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter, and Robert Stembridge identify the promise (and perils) of AI-enabled management (see FIG 15), as well as the three uniquely human capabilities leaders need to focus on honing, especially as AI begins to figure more in management: (1) awareness, (2) compassion, and (3) wisdom. For more from Rasmus, I recommend listening to his podcast discussion with me: How To Be a More Compassionate Leader.
Leaders who deepen their ability to lead with humanity will win at attracting, retaining, developing, and motivating top talent.
FIG 15: AI versus Human: A matric of leadership activities (Source: Potential Project)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
JULIE COFFMAN, ALEX NOETHER, BIANCA BAX, CASSY REICHERT, AND KRYSTLE JIANG - The Business of Belonging: Why making everyone feel included is smart strategy
Revealing data from a Bain survey of 6,000+ employees across four countries, which finds employees who have seen their companies intentionally invest in inclusion since 2020 are three times more likely to feel fully included than employees who have not seen such investment from their employers. Other findings include (1) Combining diversity and inclusion maximises a company’s capacity (by 4x) to innovate, and (2) Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (see FIG 16). (Authors: Julie Coffman, Alex Noether, Bianca Bax, Cassy Reichert, and Krystle Jiang).
FIG 16: Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (Source: Bain)
SHUJAAT AHMAD - DEIB Is At A Crossroads—It’s Time for Bold Action and Clear Metrics
Given recent developments it’s reasonable to say that Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is at an existential crossroads. As Shujaat Ahmad writes in his excellent article for Round: “Boards, leadership teams, and investors hold the power to set the tone, shape the policies, and allocate the resources to support DEIB initiatives: for DEIB to work effectively, they must shift from well-intentioned wordsmiths to committed drivers that hold the organization accountable for outcomes and positive change.” Shujaat then unveils his blueprint to help leaders assess progress and drive meaningful change, clarifying the ‘why’ before diving into the ‘how’ covering measuring what matters and interventions (see FIG 17). For more from Shujaat, I recommend visiting Belong and Lead.
FIG 17: Source – Shujaat Ahmad
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 January that I recommend readers delve into:
ERNEST NG - If the Pitch is Too Smooth, It Probably Is: Why AI in HR is Difficult – Part 2 of an insightful essay from Ernest Ng, PhD of HiredScore (see also Part 1 on disclosures here) where he cuts through the hype to assess how we should be implementing AI in HR.
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED - A Tale of Two Cultures - In One Company - Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD from Revelio Labs highlights the growing disparity between junior and senior employees (see FIG 18) and identifies the factors causing this malaise. Thanks to Ben Zweig for highlighting.
FIG 18: The growing disparity in sentiment between junior and senior employees (Source: Revelio Labs)
JEREMIE BRECHEISEN - Where Employees Think Companies’ DEIB Efforts Are Failing – Jeremie K Brecheisen presents findings from Gallup that reveals a disconnect between how well employees and HR leaders believe their organisations are doing when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging: 84% of CHROs say their organisations are increasing investment in DEIB, while only 31% of employees say their organisation is committed to improving racial justice or equity in their workplace (see FIG 19). The article then outlines ten needs employees say are not being met and then offers strategies to help organisations address the disconnect.
FIG 19: How employees and HR leaders differ on perceptions of DEIB progress (Source: Gallup)
FRANCISCO MARIN - Navigating the ONA Landscape: Trends and Challenges for 2024 - Another good read from Cognitive Talent Solutions, as Francisco Marin explores the key trends and challenges shaping the ONA space in 2024.
IAN WHITE - The three C’s of effective performance management – Ian White, CEO at ChartHop, presents the three C’s of performance management — continuous, contextual and cultural — designed to help companies understand their employees more holistically.
CHRISTINA JANZER - The surprising connection between after-hours work and decreased productivity – Christina Janzer presents findings from Slack’s Workforce Index, which identifies findings on how to structure the workday to maximise employee productivity, well-being and satisfaction – including the connection between after hours work and decreased productivity.
FIG 20: Source – Slack
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
AMY EDMONDSON AND LAURIE RUETTIMANN – Right Kind of Failure – Amy Edmondson joins Laurie Ruettimann on the brilliantly named Punk Rock HR to explore the essential role of failure in our professional and personal growth.
STACIA GARR, COLE NAPPER, AND SCOTT HINES - People Analytics & HR Tech Research by Industry Analysts – Stacia Sherman Garr, one of the industry’s top analysts, joins Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on the Directionally Correct podcast to discuss the research Stacia and her team at RedThread Research do in the people analytics and HR technology space.
RICHARD ROSENOW, MADDIE GRANT, AND SANJA LICINA - How to Build an Integrated Framework for Workforce Listening – In an episode of the Empowering Workplaces podcast, Richard Rosenow joins hosts Maddie Grant and Sanja Licina, Ph.D. to talk about The Three Channels of Workforce Information: conversations (“what people say”), surveys (“what people say they do”) and systems (“what people do”) as a way to build a comprehensive understanding of your workforce.
McKINSEY - The shape of talent in 2023 and 2024 - In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Bryan Hancock, Brooke Weddle and host Lucia Rahilly highlight the trends that shaped last year’s talent landscape—and those poised to ‘redefine its contours’ yet again in 2024.
MATTHEW BIDWELL AND DAN LONEY – Forecasting 2024 Workplace Trends – Wharton Professor and convenor of the Wharton People Analytics Conference, Matthew Bidwell, joins host of the Wharton Business Daily Dan Loney to look at the year ahead in the workplace.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
CHRIS LOUIE, TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC, TERRI HORTON, AND LINDSEY SHINTANI - Power a dynamic workforce by embracing AI
An enlightening panel discussion from the recent LinkedIn Talent Connect where Chris Louie, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR, and Lindsey Shintani discuss how AI is changing learning and career paths. They provide guidance on how to overcome AI anxiety and empower impactful futures.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
KEVIN WHEELER AND BAS VAN DE HATERD – Talent Acquisition Excellence
An excellent new book published by Kogan Page and authored by Kevin Wheeler and Bas van de Haterd (He/His/Him). It provides an insightful and detailed analysis of how technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning in combination with analytics can improve talent acquisition and recruitment.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
YUYE DING AND MARK (SHUAI) MA - Return-to-Office Mandates
A huge thank you to Nick Bloom for bringing my attention to this paper from Yuye Ding and Mark Ma, which studied the impact of 137 Return to Office mandates on the performance of S&P500 firms from 2020-2023. The key findings, as summarised by Nick, are illuminating: (1) RTO mandates are more likely in firms with poor recent stock performance, and in those with powerful male CEOs. (2) Glassdoor data finds RTO mandates significantly reduce employee ratings for job satisfaction, work-life balance, and senior management. (3) There is no significant impact of RTO mandates on either firm profitability or firm stock-returns.
FIG 21: Distribution of firms’ RTO mandates (Source: Yuye Ding and Mark Ma)
FROM MY DESK
January saw the first three episodes of Series 36 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by our friends at ScreenCloud. Thank you to Luke Farrugia.
DAVID GREEN - The best 60 HR & People Analytics articles of 2023 Part 1 | Part 2 – My tenth annual collection of HR and people analytics resources is spread across two articles and ten themes. Part 1 covers i) the future of work and people strategy, ii) workplace design and strategy, iii) AI and the world of work, iv) people analytics, and v) employee experience, listening and wellbeing. Part 2 covers: vi) the evolution of HR, HR operating models and the CHRO, vii) building a data driven culture in HR, viii) workforce planning, skills, and talent marketplace, ix) leadership and culture, and x) diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
THOMAS RASMUSSEN, DAWN KLINGHOFFER, AND JEREMY SHAPIRO - HR in 2024: The Impact of People Analytics, AI & ML – In a special episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast to kick off 2024, I was joined by Thomas Rasmussen, Dawn Klinghoffer, and Jeremy Shapiro to discuss the outlook for HR and people analytics in the coming 12 months.
SERENA HUANG - How to Enhance Your Career in People Analytics - Serena H. Huang, Ph.D., who has led people analytics functions at companies including GE, PayPal and Kraft Heinz, joins me to discuss the common career paths observed in the people analytics field and how they have evolved over the years.
KAZ HASSAN AND LUKE FARUGGIA - How to Bridge the Gap Between Customer and Employee Experience - What can HR learn from marketing's journey in using data, analytics and technology to understand and personalise the customer experience? How can we leverage these insights in HR to boost our employee experience initiatives? Kaz Hassan and Luke Faruggia join me to discuss these topics and more.
THANK YOU
Finally, this month I’d like to thank:
Recruit CRM for nominating me as ‘The People Analytics Pioneer’ in their list of 50 Recruitment Influencers to Follow in 2024
Likewise, a huge thank you to 365Talents for including me as one of the Top 50 HR Influencers to Follow in 2024
Similarly, thanks to HRCap, Inc. for including me in their list of 10 HR Influencers who Provide Remarkable Insights
The Social Craft (here) and The Talent Games (here) for also including me in their lists of HR and HR Tech leaders to follow.
HRDConnect for quoting me in their article Data Literacy: A must-have for HR professionals in 2024.
Gianni Giacomelli for including the Data Driven HR monthly in his list of seven must-read newsletters.
HR Geckos for including Excellence in People Analytics as a book recommendation in their HR Bytes Newsletter for January 2024.
Sebastian Szachnowski for including Excellence in People Analytics in his list of books to get better at people analytics.
Leapsome for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of its Top 10 HR Podcasts for 2024.
Similarly, Alexandre Darbois for also including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of his 5 HR Podcasts.
Melissa Meredith for using my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article to highlight the importance of the HR-Finance partnership in building a thriving company.
Bill Brown for also highlighting my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article in his Eleven Trends Transforming the Future of Work in 2024.
Mirro.io for including me as a contributor in their list of 15 HR Trends for 2024.
Dhanesh K for including as one of his 10 Top HR Leaders to Follow.
Lanteria HR for recommending me as one of their HR Experts to Follow in 2024.
Semos Cloud for including my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 as part of their round-up of HR insights.
Thomas Kohler for including my Best HR and People Analytics Articles of 2023 in their collection of HR resources to read.
Thinkers360 for including me in their Top Voices EMEA 2023.
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:
Feb 21 - Discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact (Webinar)
Feb 28 - People Analytics World 2024: Exploring the Potential of Analytics and AI in Employee Experience (Zurich)
March 4-6 - Gloat Live! (New York)
March 14-15 - Wharton People Analytics Conference (Philadelphia)
April 24-25 - People Analytics World (London)
May 7-9 - UNLEASH America (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)
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
People Analytics
2024年03月02日
People Analytics
People Analytics:Introducing the Visier Path, a Proven Route to Business ImpactVisier Path是一种策略框架,旨在指导组织通过人员分析的旅程。它汇集了十多年的专业知识和数千个成功部署的精华,为HR和业务领导者提供了一个清晰、易于访问的“地图”。该框架将人员分析活动和HR实践与CHRO的战略优先事项对齐,提供了一个灵活、经过验证的途径,以实现显著的业务影响。通过先锋类比,它强调了从原始数据到可操作见解的演变,确保组织可以根据特定目标和策略定制他们的旅程。推荐阅读这篇文章:
The Visier Path is the framework we use to guide our cuhttps://www.visier.com/path/stomers to solve the people challenges they care about most. It’s a distillation of our deep people analytics expertise spanning thousands of successful deployments over a decade.
Here, VP of People Analytics, Ian Cook, explains what the Visier Path is, how it can help you, and why we’re sharing this “uniquely Visier” concept with the world.
Pioneering in people analytics
Traveling through the Rockies on North America's West Coast is a stunning journey. The land is vast and varied. Driving through high peaks and dense forests, one cannot help but ponder the fates and fortunes of the pioneers who first attempted to travel from east to west.
Their journey, likely slow and difficult, laid the foundation for current-day road journeys. We cruise effortlessly along a smooth, well-engineered, and clearly marked highway. Following the path created by others, we can be certain of a speedy trip to our destination.
People analytics was once a new concept that had to be pioneered. Back in the late 90’s, academic institutions started to pursue the work that we now call people analytics. They saw the promise of studying the “digital records” of employees to look for trends that could benefit the whole organization.
Flash forward to today: people analytics is now a well-established discipline, with commonly accepted approaches and a detailed understanding of how to build a successful practice.
Visier played a pioneering role in making this happen. We were the first purpose-built analytics platform for people data, and we’ve supported thousands of organizations as they founded and scaled their PA teams. As an organization, we’ve gathered a lot of knowledge about how to get from A to B in people analytics. Now, our goal is to smooth and speed the people analytics journey for you.
Introducing the Visier Path
When you choose Visier, you get access to a vast amount of knowledge not available anywhere else. The Visier Path distills the wisdom from over a decade of experience into one straightforward “map” that’s accessible to HR and business leaders alike.
Consider The Visier Path a guide that outlines exactly which people analytics activities and HR business practices are required to achieve a CHRO’s key strategic priorities.
Guiding you toward the right business impact
How, exactly, does the Visier Path help meet a CHRO’s objectives? It’s all about linking data and action.
Too often, people analytics is dressed up in confusing language and seen as either an esoteric internal research project or an IT project focused on wrangling data. We believe people analytics teams should model their work in the same way as FP&A teams support the CFO. That is to say: they must provide ongoing information about the performance and behavior of the workforce so that leaders can make the decisions that will have the right impact.
The Visier Path breaks down the steps needed for an organization to move from raw data to the right analysis, to tangible action that supports a business goal. The quality of that linkage—from data through to impact—is what separates the best people analytics teams from the rest.
Every organization’s journey is different
Every organization has different goals and strategies. That’s why we designed the Visier Path to be completely flexible depending on what’s important to you. While every company will start with the fundamentals (shown in yellow), the rest of your journey along the Path is completely bespoke.
The Visier Path, your proven route to people analytics success. Click to enlarge.
The Visier Path is arranged from left to right in order of increasing level of impact on the business. The Foundational Impact zone is about aligning on a single place where HR leaders, HRBPs, and managers can answer their people questions. The Drive HR Impact zone helps you target specific HR jobs to be done that are likely to be part of the CHRO’s agenda. Finally, the Drive Business Impact zone focuses on org-wide challenges that will directly affect the business’s financial performance.
The proven approach
The Visier Path is the proven, low-risk way to start your people analytics journey. It’s also the clear and effective way to evolve your practice as your capability increases and so does the demand for people analytics within your organization. The path takes the uncertainty out of buying, deploying, and scaling a people analytics solution, and ensures that your investment has measurable business impact.
We hope you find our guide valuable and accessible. If you would like to understand more about The Visier Path, the collective wisdom it embodies, the practices that it supports, or the impact it can have on your business, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we'd love to hear from you.
People Analytics
2024年02月20日
People Analytics
The best HR & People Analytics articles of January 2024
2024 is set to be a momentous year. With economic uncertainty, rising geopolitical conflict, and rapid advances in technology, it is also set to be a stormy 12 months for the world, for organisations, and for HR professionals too.
Perhaps this explains the slew of insightful resources in January, which has made compiling this month’s collection as challenging as it has been enjoyable. One of the key focuses has been on ‘productivity’, and I’ve brought together a number of resources on this topic. There are also new studies from the likes of PwC, McKinsey, Glassdoor, Accenture, and Deloitte as well as articles featuring practitioners from companies including Spotify, Microsoft, Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. There’s lots to enjoy and learn from.
Join me for a webinar on February 21 to discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact
Are you an HR or People Analytics Leader seeking to transform your organisation’s People Analytics from mere insights to impactful business outcomes? If so, I invite you to join me for a webinar that Insight222 is hosting on February 21. Naomi Verghese and I will walk through the findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends research, unveiling the distinctive characteristics of ABCD Teams that propel organisations to new heights. Naomi and I will be joined by Alan Susi, VP and Global Head of Organisational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global. Alan will share insights into how S&P Global successfully elevated their approach to people analytics, turning data into tangible business outcomes. You can register for the webinar here – or by clicking the image below.
Jürgen Klopp – a study in leadership, culture, and analytics
As a fervent supporter, I’m still processing the totally unexpected news that Jürgen Klopp will be leaving his post as the manager of Liverpool at the end of the current football season. In his press conference on taking the reins at Anfield in October 2015, Klopp stated his goal was to turn Liverpool from “doubters to believers.” He has done this with some aplomb amassing a haul of seven trophies (to date) including the Champions League in 2019 and then, the following year, the Holy Grail of Liverpool’s first league title in 30 years.
But Klopp is more than a brilliant football manager. He is the epitome of an empathetic leader. His emotional intelligence and natural humility not only endears Klopp to his players, but to supporters too for whom he is adored. The reaction to the news reduced many Liverpool supporters to tears. I’m still hoping – probably forlornly - that like Alex Ferguson in 2002, Klopp will change his mind and stay.
In the likely event that he does depart, I’m sure that multiple studies will be made on Klopp’s time at Anfield, and that his leadership skills, use of data and analytics, and ability to build an inclusive winning culture will be deservedly celebrated. YNWA.
Looking for a new role in people analytics or HR tech?
Before we get to this month’s collection of resources, I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers over 500 roles.
Looking for a people analytics event to attend in 2024?
Richard Rosenow has also been busy compiling a study of People Analytics Conferences to attend in 2024 with the data collected from practitioners themselves. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), People Analytics World and the Wharton People Analytics Conference all come out well as does the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat. Thanks to Richard for putting this together.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for January 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 December’s compendium (including those in the Comments 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.
THE QUEST FOR PRODUCTIVITY
MCKINSEY - 2024 and beyond: Will it be economic stagnation or the advent of productivity-driven abundance? | PwC - 27th Annual Global CEO Survey: Thriving in an age of continuous reinvention | JOSH BERSIN - HR Predictions for 2024: The Global Search For Productivity | ERIK BRYNJOLFSSON - How AI Will Transform Productivity | BEN WABER AND NATHANAEL J. FAST - Is GenAI’s Impact on Productivity Overblown?
When I talk with CHROs and People Analytics Leaders at the companies we work with at Insight222, one of the words I’m hearing most at the moment is ‘productivity’. Continuing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the promise of AI, and challenging talent demographics are all fuelling the demand for productivity from CEOs. Here are five resources that can be filed under the ‘productivity’ umbrella: (1) McKinsey’s Ezra Greenberg, Asutosh Padhi, and Sven Smit present a model for businesses to capture the three-sided productivity opportunity (see FIG 1). (2) Amongst a ton of takeaways, the standout theme from the annual PwC CEO survey is that the vast majority of participating companies are already taking some steps towards reinvention, while CEOs believe that 40% of their work is wasted productivity (see FIG 2). (3) Josh Bersin draws from the PwC survey in his 2024 predictions, where he outlines The Productivity Advantage where “If you can help your company move faster (productivity implies speed, not only profit), you can reinvent faster than your competition.” (4) Stanford professor Erik Brynjolfsson offers leaders an overview of how AI will transform productivity. (5) Finally, Ben Waber and Nathanael Fast’s absorbing essay in Harvard Business Review cautions leaders on leaning into the hype on GAI’s supposed positive impact on productivity too heavily. The authors break down two of the key challenges with LLMs: a) their persistent ability to produce convincing falsities and b) the likely long-term negative effects of using LLMs on employees and internal processes.
FIG 1: The three-side productivity opportunity (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 2: CEOs estimate administrative inefficiency at 40% (Source: PwC)
GERGELY OROSZ AND ABI NODA - Measuring Developer Productivity: Real-World Examples
Continuing the productivity theme, this is an invaluable resource by Gergely Orosz and Abi Noda in The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter. It provides detail on developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Spotify, and Uber (see summary in FIG 3).
FIG 3: Developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies (Source: Pragmatic Engineer)
2024 HR TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS
JASMINE PANAYIDES - Nine Ways to Put HR Trends and Predictions into Practice in 2024
There has been a flood of articles advising what the key HR trends, predictions, and opportunities for 2024 are, but how are HR professionals supposed to make sense of these? In her article for the myHRfuture blog, Jasmine Panayides provides actionable tips on how HR professionals can apply the trends, predictions and opportunities to their work, and their organisations so they can deliver value to the company and the workforce. Jasmine also helpfully summarises the trends/predictions from a variety of sources into one table (see FIG 4), including from: Visier Inc., Gartner, Bernard Marr, UNLEASH, Mercer, and Culture Amp as well as my own 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article.
FIG 4: Analysis of HR Trends and Predictions for 2024 (Source: myHRfuture)
KATARINA BERG - HR Trends for 2024 | GARTNER - 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 | GLASSDOOR – 2024 Workforce Trends | HUNG LEE - Forecasting 2024 in Recruitment Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 | KEVIN WHEELER - What Does 2024 Hold in Store for Us? | STACIA GARR AND DANI JOHNSON – 2024 Mega Trends and how people leaders should respond (Webinar)
The deluge of commentators offering their HR trends and opportunities continued in January. As such, it is a challenge to sort the wheat from the chaff but in addition to those I highlighted in this compendium in December, and in Jasmine’s article above, I recommend diving into the following: (1) Spotify’s chief people officer, Katarina Berg, highlights ten trends with the common theme being each trend is a bridge, connecting the past with the future, and HR professionals are the architects crafting these vital links – including “Staying Human in the Age of AI – The Humanity Bridge”. (2) Gartner’s Jordan Turner and Emily Rose McRae highlight nine future of work trends for the year ahead (see FIG 5). (3) Aaron Terrazas and Daniel Zhao identify eight workforce trends based on Glassdoor’s data on workplace satisfaction, culture, and conversations. (4) Hung Lee is at the cutting edge of recruiting and HR tech, so his four-part series on recruiting in 2024 is definitely worth checking out – two examples include: “Multi-generational replaces neurodiversity as DEIB hot topic” and “Capital Allocation Shifts from Sourcing & Engagement to Assessment & Verification Tech”. (5) Futurist Kevin Wheeler offers seven insights and predictions together with his self-assessed certainty rating including “Generative AI will dominate, and every product will attempt to incorporate AI. 90% certainty” and “More firms will embrace a four-day workweek 50% certainty”. (6) Finally, I strongly recommend viewing the 2024 Mega Trends webinar hosted by Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson for RedThread Research, which breaks down the key macro factors impacting the world of work and how HR can respond.
FIG 5: 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 (Source: Gartner)
GREG NEWMAN - 10 important topics that HR will likely ignore in 2024
Greg Newman takes an alternative, wry and contrarian approach by focusing his list of “predictions” on ten things most HR teams will continue to ignore in 2024. My favourite three are: (1) speaking the language of the business, (2) focusing AI conversations on ethics before technology, and (3) learning that good data is required to realise the dreams of AI and analytics.
By aligning HR language with business terminology, we can more effectively demonstrate the value of our initiatives in a way that resonates with business stakeholders.
GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ELLYN SHOOK AND PAUL DAUGHERTY - Work, workforce, workers: Reinvented in the age of generative AI
A new study from Accenture, co-authored by Ellyn Shook and Paul Daugherty, on how generative AI is impacting work, provides guidance on how leaders can: “Set and guide a vision to reinvent work, reshape the workforce and prepare workers for a generative AI world, while building a resilient culture to navigate continuous waves of change.” The report reveals a trust gap between workers and leaders on key elements related to GAI’s impact on work, the workforce, and workers. The authors also highlight four accelerators for leaders to navigate the journey ahead: (1) Lead and learn in new ways, (2) Reinvent work, (3) Reshape the workforce (see example in FIG 6), and (4) Prepare workers.
FIG 6: Illustrative example of how work and roles can be reallocated in a GAI future (Source: Accenture)
ROGER W. HOERL AND THOMAS C. REDMAN - What Managers Should Ask About AI Models and Data Sets
The decision on whether to deploy AI models within an organisation ultimately lies with business leaders who may not be qualified to identify risks and weaknesses related to AI models and data sets. In their article, Roger Hoerl and Tom Redman provide (1) A framework (see FIG 7) designed to equip leaders with context and based on their concept of the right data. (2) A set of six questions for leaders to ask their AI model developers before and during modelling work and deployment. (3) Guidance for leaders on how to assess AI model developers’ answers to those six questions.
FIG 7: The Right Data Framework (Source: Roger W. Hoerl and Thomas C. Redman)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
STEVE HATFIELD, SUE CANTRELL, AND BRAD KREIT - Beyond the quick fix: How workforce data can drive deeper organizational problem-solving
The premise of this thoughtful article by Steve Hatfield, Susan Cantrell, and Brad Kreit is that without the right context, even simple measurements can undermine efforts to convert people data into value. They then explore several examples – in the workforce, in the workplace, and in the work – where organisations might be limiting their analysis to the surface level and how deeper analysis can reveal systemic issues that lead to opportunities for transformation. Guidance on three actions leaders can take to help ensure they are not missing important context in their data analysis are provided: (1) Bring data from different domains and sources together for analysis. (2) Make sure you’re measuring what you should—not just what you can. (3) Identify potential biases in data collection algorithms.
If organizations want to move beyond quick fixes and use work and workforce data to drive deeper—and often more challenging—problem-solving, it is important that they look at the data in context.
NAOMI VERGHESE - How to Measure the Value of People Analytics
My Insight222 colleague Naomi Verghese digs how to measure the commercial value of people analytics, highlighting a powerful case study from Jaesun HA and LG Electronics. Naomi provides detail on four key areas where people analytics adds value (business performance, workforce experiences, driving an analytics culture and societal benefit) as well as providing data on the characteristics of companies that ARE creating commercial value from people analytics (see FIG 8).
FIG 8: Characteristics of people analytics that disclosed and measured commercial value of people analytics solutions (Source: Insight222 People Analytics Trends, 2023)
ANDRÉS GARCIA AYALA - 5 Change Drivers Impacting People Analytics & How To Thrive In Them | WILLIS JENSEN - Attrition versus Retention: Which Should I Use? | KEITH McNULTY – Regression Modeling in People Analytics: Survival Analysis | LYDIA WU - The Market Sucks and You are Looking for a Job, Now What? | SEBASTIAN SZACHNOWSKI - 16 HR Metrics for IT | ERIN FLEMING AND NICK JESTEADT - People Analytics Perspectives from the Fringe: Current Priorities and a View on Optimized Teams in 2024
January saw a slew of articles from current and recent people analytics leaders, which typically act as a spur and inspiration for the field. Six are highlighted here: (1) Andrés García Ayala highlights some of the key change drivers impacting people analytics and ways to incorporate them into our work. (2) Willis Jensen builds on the recent primer on attrition metrics by Ben Teusch that I highlighted in December’s edition. He explains why we should be using attrition and retention as separate terms that lead to distinct metrics with different objectives (see also FIG 9). (3) Keith McNulty provides another indispensable practical guide for people analysts with a step-by-step tutorial to conducting survival analysis in R. (4) The prolific Lydia Wu turns her attention to providing some handy guidance for those looking for their next people analytics / HR tech role. (5) Sebastian Szachnowski provides a useful breakdown of 16 HR metrics for technology companies. (6) Last but definitely not least, Erin Fleming and Nick Jesteadt provide insights from their survey of fellow people analytics practitioners. Insights include a) 41% of respondents (n=49) operate as a one-person people analytics team, and ii) the main current focus areas of work include employee turnover, cultural engagement, return to office, and restructuring.
FIG 9: When to use Attrition and Retention (Source: Willis Jensen)
MAX BLUMBERG - The Big List of GPTs to Revolutionize Your People Processes | JOHANNES SUNDLO - GenAI for People Analytics
Two articles addressing the opportunity for generative AI in the people space. (1) Max Blumberg (JA) ?? sets out 93 potential ways to upgrade your People Processes with AI and GPTs across four categories – workforce planning and strategy, recruitment, learning and development, and employee wellbeing. (2) Johannes Sundlo provides examples of companies using GAI in their people analytics work to support analyses on engagement data, skills, and tailoring training recommendations.
GPTs are an amazing tool for scenario planning, forecasting future workforce needs, identifying talent gaps, and developing integrated talent strategies.
THE EVOLUTION OF HR AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
DAVE ULRICH, NORM SMALLWOOD, AND JOE GROCHOWSKI - Why and How to Move HR to an Outside-In Approach
When asked the question, “What is the biggest challenge in your job today?” HR professionals will typically provide answers such as: “Build a skills-based organisation” or “Help our employees have a better experience”. As Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Joe Grochowski write, these answers would be far more powerful when a “so that” is applied e.g. “Help employees have a better experience so that customer experience improves.” The article demonstrates that greater value is created with an outside-in approach that starts with the needs of external stakeholders (customers, investors, community) and then figuring out the implications inside the company for meeting those needs. Dave, Norm, and Joe also present their Human Capability Framework and a tool that provides an assessment of an organisation’s outside-in performance (see FIG 10).
FIG 10: Human capability from the outside-in - diagnostic questions (Source: Dave Ulrich et al)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
AMY WEBB - Bringing True Strategic Foresight Back to Business
In her article for Harvard Business Review, Amy Webb defines strategic foresight as “a disciplined and systematic approach to identify where to play, how to win in the future, and how to ensure organizational resiliency in the face of unforeseen disruption.” Her article also advocates for the integration of strategic foresight as a core competency in every organisation, regardless of size. Moreover, Amy provides guidance on how to operationalise strategic foresight by unveiling a ten-step process. Read alongside another article authored by Amy for HBR: How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist, which includes Amy’s Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (see FIG 11).
FIG 11: A Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (Source: Amy Webb)
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM AND PwC - Putting Skills First: Opportunities for Building Efficient and Equitable Labour Markets
As the introduction to this compelling collaboration between the World Economic Forum and PwC begins: “Skills and talent shortages are critical challenges facing societies and economies today. The absence of relevant skills impedes business growth, hinders economic prosperity, and inhibits individuals from realizing their full potential.” The report identifies five specific opportunities for intervention where the gains from skills-first solutions are most likely for employers and workers alike (see ‘Skills-first Framework’ in FIG 12). Additionally, the report also showcases 13 Skills First “Lighthouses”, including IBM, Siemens, Standard Chartered and Sanofi. It concludes by offering key takeaways regarding six success factors in implementing skills-first approaches including (1) Sponsorship from leadership, (2) Alignment with business needs, and (3) Data and evaluation for iteration. (Authors: Genesis Elhussein, Mark Rayner, Aarushi Singhania, Saadia Zahidi, Peter Brown MBE, Miral Mir, and Bhushan Sethi).
A cultural shift to skills-first approaches needs both sponsorship from executives and governance from human-resources professionals
FIG 12: Skills-first Framework (Source: World Economic Forum
PETER SHEPPARD - Learning from our Skills Journey | BEN AUTY - What are the new skills people will need for the future of work? | TANUJ KAPILASHRAMI - How Standard Chartered is Unlocking the Power of Skills in the Workplace
Many of the organisations we work with at Insight222 have embarked on the road to becoming a skills-based organisation. It is not an easy journey, so it is helpful to learn from other companies who are treading this path. Three of these are Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. (1) In his article, Peter Sheppard shares learnings from Ericsson’s skills journey including a) it’s not jobs or skills; it’s skills and jobs, b) it’s a whole organisation activity, c) Less is more with skills, and d) Data drives value. (2) Ben Auty shares insights as to why Lloyds Banking Group is developing a learning culture to build the workforce of the future at the bank, the main skills they are focusing on, and the central role the recently established Reskilling Team is playing. (3) Tanuj Kapilashrami shares how Standard Chartered catalysed their work on skills by identifying adjacencies between ‘sunset’ and ‘sunrise’ roles.
We looked at skills adjacencies between ‘sunset’ jobs and ‘sunrise’ jobs: so, what are the jobs that are going to go away? What are the skills that help employees get reskilled into some of these sunrise jobs? We ran five proofs of concept, we showed some real redeployment opportunities and started making the skills narrative real.
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
JENNIFER E. SIGLER WITH STEPHANIE DENINO - So Many Stakeholders, So Little Time: State of EX 2023-2024
The fifth annual State of EX study authored by Jennifer E. Sigler, PhD on behalf of The EXchange, Inc, TI PEOPLE and FOUNT Global, Inc. is a treasure chest of insights on the fast-evolving practice of employee experience. It highlights the top four priorities for EX as: (1) Redesigning experiences, (2) Getting broader buy-in for EX work across the organisation, (3) Building an EX roadmap for the organisation, and (4) Getting more / better data. One other standout finding from the study suggests that senior leaders are increasingly focused on EX with a majority of respondents (63%) saying their organisation’s senior leaders view EX as equal to or even more important than other corporate priorities. This bodes well for the future of EX. Thanks to Stephanie Denino and Volker Jacobs for highlighting the study.
FIG 13: EX Team Priorities YOY Change (Source: The EXchange, TI People and FOUNT Global, Inc)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
NADJIA YOUSIF, ASHLEY DARTNELL, GRETCHEN MAY, AND ELIZABETH KNARR - Psychological Safety Levels the Playing Field for Employees | PETER CAPPELLI AND LIAT ELDOR - Can Workplaces Have Too Much Psychological Safety?
Two perspectives on psychological safety in the workplace. In the first article, Nadjia Yousif, Ashley Dartnell, Gretchen May, and Elizabeth Knarr present the findings of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) research, which finds how psychological safety benefits inclusion, reduces attrition in diverse groups and effectively acts as an equaliser - enabling diverse and disadvantaged employee groups to achieve the same levels of workplace satisfaction as their more advantaged colleagues. The study also highlights the direct relationship between empathetic leadership and feelings of psychological safety in the workforce, giving leaders a clear directive to be empathetic and thereby engender psychological safety. The second article by Peter Cappelli and Liat Eldor presents research that found that when you move from average to high levels of psychological safety, performance in routine jobs actually declined.
FIG 14: Psychological safety has an outsize impact on retention for diversity groups (Source: BCG)
RASMUS HOUGAARD, JACQUELINE CARTER, AND ROB STEMBRIDGE - The Best Leaders Can’t Be Replaced by AI
While there are some areas where AI is already surpassing or will surpass human capabilities, there are several it cannot replace. Based on their research into employees’ comfort with AI in management, as well as their decades of research on the qualities of effective leadership, Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter, and Robert Stembridge identify the promise (and perils) of AI-enabled management (see FIG 15), as well as the three uniquely human capabilities leaders need to focus on honing, especially as AI begins to figure more in management: (1) awareness, (2) compassion, and (3) wisdom. For more from Rasmus, I recommend listening to his podcast discussion with me: How To Be a More Compassionate Leader.
Leaders who deepen their ability to lead with humanity will win at attracting, retaining, developing, and motivating top talent.
FIG 15: AI versus Human: A matric of leadership activities (Source: Potential Project)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
JULIE COFFMAN, ALEX NOETHER, BIANCA BAX, CASSY REICHERT, AND KRYSTLE JIANG - The Business of Belonging: Why making everyone feel included is smart strategy
Revealing data from a Bain survey of 6,000+ employees across four countries, which finds employees who have seen their companies intentionally invest in inclusion since 2020 are three times more likely to feel fully included than employees who have not seen such investment from their employers. Other findings include (1) Combining diversity and inclusion maximises a company’s capacity (by 4x) to innovate, and (2) Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (see FIG 16). (Authors: Julie Coffman, Alex Noether, Bianca Bax, Cassy Reichert, and Krystle Jiang).
FIG 16: Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (Source: Bain)
SHUJAAT AHMAD - DEIB Is At A Crossroads—It’s Time for Bold Action and Clear Metrics
Given recent developments it’s reasonable to say that Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is at an existential crossroads. As Shujaat Ahmad writes in his excellent article for Round: “Boards, leadership teams, and investors hold the power to set the tone, shape the policies, and allocate the resources to support DEIB initiatives: for DEIB to work effectively, they must shift from well-intentioned wordsmiths to committed drivers that hold the organization accountable for outcomes and positive change.” Shujaat then unveils his blueprint to help leaders assess progress and drive meaningful change, clarifying the ‘why’ before diving into the ‘how’ covering measuring what matters and interventions (see FIG 17). For more from Shujaat, I recommend visiting Belong and Lead.
FIG 17: Source – Shujaat Ahmad
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 January that I recommend readers delve into:
ERNEST NG - If the Pitch is Too Smooth, It Probably Is: Why AI in HR is Difficult – Part 2 of an insightful essay from Ernest Ng, PhD of HiredScore (see also Part 1 on disclosures here) where he cuts through the hype to assess how we should be implementing AI in HR.
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED - A Tale of Two Cultures - In One Company - Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD from Revelio Labs highlights the growing disparity between junior and senior employees (see FIG 18) and identifies the factors causing this malaise. Thanks to Ben Zweig for highlighting.
FIG 18: The growing disparity in sentiment between junior and senior employees (Source: Revelio Labs)
JEREMIE BRECHEISEN - Where Employees Think Companies’ DEIB Efforts Are Failing – Jeremie K Brecheisen presents findings from Gallup that reveals a disconnect between how well employees and HR leaders believe their organisations are doing when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging: 84% of CHROs say their organisations are increasing investment in DEIB, while only 31% of employees say their organisation is committed to improving racial justice or equity in their workplace (see FIG 19). The article then outlines ten needs employees say are not being met and then offers strategies to help organisations address the disconnect.
FIG 19: How employees and HR leaders differ on perceptions of DEIB progress (Source: Gallup)
FRANCISCO MARIN - Navigating the ONA Landscape: Trends and Challenges for 2024 - Another good read from Cognitive Talent Solutions, as Francisco Marin explores the key trends and challenges shaping the ONA space in 2024.
IAN WHITE - The three C’s of effective performance management – Ian White, CEO at ChartHop, presents the three C’s of performance management — continuous, contextual and cultural — designed to help companies understand their employees more holistically.
CHRISTINA JANZER - The surprising connection between after-hours work and decreased productivity – Christina Janzer presents findings from Slack’s Workforce Index, which identifies findings on how to structure the workday to maximise employee productivity, well-being and satisfaction – including the connection between after hours work and decreased productivity.
FIG 20: Source – Slack
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
AMY EDMONDSON AND LAURIE RUETTIMANN – Right Kind of Failure – Amy Edmondson joins Laurie Ruettimann on the brilliantly named Punk Rock HR to explore the essential role of failure in our professional and personal growth.
STACIA GARR, COLE NAPPER, AND SCOTT HINES - People Analytics & HR Tech Research by Industry Analysts – Stacia Sherman Garr, one of the industry’s top analysts, joins Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on the Directionally Correct podcast to discuss the research Stacia and her team at RedThread Research do in the people analytics and HR technology space.
RICHARD ROSENOW, MADDIE GRANT, AND SANJA LICINA - How to Build an Integrated Framework for Workforce Listening – In an episode of the Empowering Workplaces podcast, Richard Rosenow joins hosts Maddie Grant and Sanja Licina, Ph.D. to talk about The Three Channels of Workforce Information: conversations (“what people say”), surveys (“what people say they do”) and systems (“what people do”) as a way to build a comprehensive understanding of your workforce.
McKINSEY - The shape of talent in 2023 and 2024 - In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Bryan Hancock, Brooke Weddle and host Lucia Rahilly highlight the trends that shaped last year’s talent landscape—and those poised to ‘redefine its contours’ yet again in 2024.
MATTHEW BIDWELL AND DAN LONEY – Forecasting 2024 Workplace Trends – Wharton Professor and convenor of the Wharton People Analytics Conference, Matthew Bidwell, joins host of the Wharton Business Daily Dan Loney to look at the year ahead in the workplace.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
CHRIS LOUIE, TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC, TERRI HORTON, AND LINDSEY SHINTANI - Power a dynamic workforce by embracing AI
An enlightening panel discussion from the recent LinkedIn Talent Connect where Chris Louie, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR, and Lindsey Shintani discuss how AI is changing learning and career paths. They provide guidance on how to overcome AI anxiety and empower impactful futures.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
KEVIN WHEELER AND BAS VAN DE HATERD – Talent Acquisition Excellence
An excellent new book published by Kogan Page and authored by Kevin Wheeler and Bas van de Haterd (He/His/Him). It provides an insightful and detailed analysis of how technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning in combination with analytics can improve talent acquisition and recruitment.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
YUYE DING AND MARK (SHUAI) MA - Return-to-Office Mandates
A huge thank you to Nick Bloom for bringing my attention to this paper from Yuye Ding and Mark Ma, which studied the impact of 137 Return to Office mandates on the performance of S&P500 firms from 2020-2023. The key findings, as summarised by Nick, are illuminating: (1) RTO mandates are more likely in firms with poor recent stock performance, and in those with powerful male CEOs. (2) Glassdoor data finds RTO mandates significantly reduce employee ratings for job satisfaction, work-life balance, and senior management. (3) There is no significant impact of RTO mandates on either firm profitability or firm stock-returns.
FIG 21: Distribution of firms’ RTO mandates (Source: Yuye Ding and Mark Ma)
FROM MY DESK
January saw the first three episodes of Series 36 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by our friends at ScreenCloud. Thank you to Luke Farrugia.
DAVID GREEN - The best 60 HR & People Analytics articles of 2023 Part 1 | Part 2 – My tenth annual collection of HR and people analytics resources is spread across two articles and ten themes. Part 1 covers i) the future of work and people strategy, ii) workplace design and strategy, iii) AI and the world of work, iv) people analytics, and v) employee experience, listening and wellbeing. Part 2 covers: vi) the evolution of HR, HR operating models and the CHRO, vii) building a data driven culture in HR, viii) workforce planning, skills, and talent marketplace, ix) leadership and culture, and x) diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
THOMAS RASMUSSEN, DAWN KLINGHOFFER, AND JEREMY SHAPIRO - HR in 2024: The Impact of People Analytics, AI & ML – In a special episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast to kick off 2024, I was joined by Thomas Rasmussen, Dawn Klinghoffer, and Jeremy Shapiro to discuss the outlook for HR and people analytics in the coming 12 months.
SERENA HUANG - How to Enhance Your Career in People Analytics - Serena H. Huang, Ph.D., who has led people analytics functions at companies including GE, PayPal and Kraft Heinz, joins me to discuss the common career paths observed in the people analytics field and how they have evolved over the years.
KAZ HASSAN AND LUKE FARUGGIA - How to Bridge the Gap Between Customer and Employee Experience - What can HR learn from marketing's journey in using data, analytics and technology to understand and personalise the customer experience? How can we leverage these insights in HR to boost our employee experience initiatives? Kaz Hassan and Luke Faruggia join me to discuss these topics and more.
THANK YOU
Finally, this month I’d like to thank:
Recruit CRM for nominating me as ‘The People Analytics Pioneer’ in their list of 50 Recruitment Influencers to Follow in 2024
Likewise, a huge thank you to 365Talents for including me as one of the Top 50 HR Influencers to Follow in 2024
Similarly, thanks to HRCap, Inc. for including me in their list of 10 HR Influencers who Provide Remarkable Insights
The Social Craft (here) and The Talent Games (here) for also including me in their lists of HR and HR Tech leaders to follow.
HRDConnect for quoting me in their article Data Literacy: A must-have for HR professionals in 2024.
Gianni Giacomelli for including the Data Driven HR monthly in his list of seven must-read newsletters.
HR Geckos for including Excellence in People Analytics as a book recommendation in their HR Bytes Newsletter for January 2024.
Sebastian Szachnowski for including Excellence in People Analytics in his list of books to get better at people analytics.
Leapsome for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of its Top 10 HR Podcasts for 2024.
Similarly, Alexandre Darbois for also including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of his 5 HR Podcasts.
Melissa Meredith for using my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article to highlight the importance of the HR-Finance partnership in building a thriving company.
Bill Brown for also highlighting my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article in his Eleven Trends Transforming the Future of Work in 2024.
Mirro.io for including me as a contributor in their list of 15 HR Trends for 2024.
Dhanesh K for including as one of his 10 Top HR Leaders to Follow.
Lanteria HR for recommending me as one of their HR Experts to Follow in 2024.
Semos Cloud for including my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 as part of their round-up of HR insights.
Thomas Kohler for including my Best HR and People Analytics Articles of 2023 in their collection of HR resources to read.
Thinkers360 for including me in their Top Voices EMEA 2023.
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:
Feb 21 - Discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact (Webinar)
Feb 28 - People Analytics World 2024: Exploring the Potential of Analytics and AI in Employee Experience (Zurich)
March 4-6 - Gloat Live! (New York)
March 14-15 - Wharton People Analytics Conference (Philadelphia)
April 24-25 - People Analytics World (London)
May 7-9 - UNLEASH America (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)
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
People Analytics
2024年02月01日
People Analytics
How Will AI Impact People Analytics in 2024 and Beyond(Podcast)2024年,人员分析将面临一个转折点。这个转折点集中在AIML上,以及它如何为组织创造优势,以及 HR 中的大量活动和工作,HR内部的数据科学分析团队有一个独特的位置可以研究。
将人员分析从洞察转变为影响需要什么?人员分析和人力资源专业人员如何影响企业领导者?人工智能和机器学习对现在和未来的人员分析有何影响?
这些只是我们本周在数字人力资源领导者播客从寒假回归时讨论的三个主题。与我一起参加会议的还有三位嘉宾,他们都亲自启发了我,还有无数其他人,他们在人员分析领域拥有超过40年的经验:
Dawn Klinghoffer,Microsoft人员分析全球主管和 Insight222 的董事会顾问,他在过去20年中一直在 Microsoft 建立和领导人员分析功能。
杰里米·夏皮罗(Jeremy Shapiro),默克公司(Merck & Co)劳动力分析全球主管,纽约战略人力资源分析会议小组的联合召集人。
Thomas Hedegaard Rasmussen,壳牌组织发展和学习副总裁,曾在澳大利亚国民银行、壳牌和马士基建立并领导人员分析职能。
您可以通过单击下面的图片或访问播客网站来收听。
在对话中,我们探讨了如何通过人员分析来推动业务价值,重点介绍了 Thomas 最近与 Mike Ulrich 和 Dave Ulrich 合著的论文(将人员分析从洞察力转移到影响力)中的发现,以及 Insight222的2023 年人员分析趋势报告中确定的领先公司的八个特征。
如果您能够访问企业中的战略对话,则更容易受到它们的影响。而且,如果你有高层领导的支持,以试图一次做太多事情为代价来追求那些相对较少的高价值项目,那么确定优先级也更容易。
Dawn、Jeremy、Thomas 和我还讨论了:
人员分析的三个“I”:洞察力、影响力和影响力
确定人员分析工作的优先级并将其与业务需求保持一致的技术
如何在人员分析和财务之
间建立成功的关系
人工智能和机器学习如何支持人员分析工作
人工智能将如何在未来12个月和几年内改变工作世界。
我希望人工智能能够真正帮助人力资源部门充满活力,并有能力去做有意义的工作,消除今天人力资源部门发生的许多任务的苦差事。
资源
以下是本集讨论的一些材料的链接:
托马斯与迈克·乌尔里希(Mike Ulrich)和戴夫·乌尔里希(Dave Ulrich)共同发表的论文:将人员分析从洞察力转移到影响
Insight222 的 2023 年人员分析趋势研究:投资交付——人员分析的新模型
Dawn 关于蓬勃发展的文章:为什么 Microsoft 衡量员工的发展,而不是敬业度
杰里米与汤姆·达文波特(Tom Davenport)和珍妮·哈里斯(Jeanne Harris)合著的开创性文章《哈佛商业评论》:在人才分析上竞争
Source Linkedin
The best HR & People Analytics articles of 2023 (Part 2 of 2)Last week, I published Part 1 of the 10th annual compilation of my 60 best resources on people analytics and HR of 2022. Thanks to all of those who shared, commented on and reposted Part 1. It is much appreciated.
Part 2, herein, covers resources on the following five topics: vi) the evolution of HR, HR operating models and the CHRO, vii) building a data driven culture in HR, viii) workforce planning, skills, and talent marketplace, ix) leadership and culture, and x) diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
To recap, Part 1 covered five topics: i) the future of work and people strategy, ii) workplace design and strategy, iii) AI and the world of work, iv) people analytics, and v) employee experience, listening and wellbeing. You can also catch up with previous editions for the last decade: 2014, 2015, 2016 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 (Part 1 and Part 2).
I hope you enjoy reading the selections for 2023. If you do, please subscribe to my weekly Digital HR Leaders newsletter, which is published every Tuesday via Insight222, and tune in to the Digital HR Leaders podcast, which returns on January 16 with a special episode featuring Dawn Klinghoffer, Thomas Hedegaard Rasmussen, and Jeremy Shapiro on the outlook for people analytics in 2024.
vi) THE EVOLUTION OF HR, HR OPERATING MODELS AND THE CHRO ROLE
DAVE ULRICH, JOE GROCHOWSKI, NORM SMALLWOOD, JOE HANSON, AND ERNESTO USCHER - What Makes an Effective HR Function? An HR Value Logic
A glut of research was published in 2023 on the evolution of the HR operating model from the likes of McKinsey, Deloitte and Mercer. Most lean on the pioneering work of Dave Ulrich and his colleagues back in 1995, in what is now commonly referred to as the ‘Ulrich model’. As such, this immensely insightful article by Dave and his colleagues at RBL: Joe Grochowski, Norm Smallwood, Joseph Hanson, and Ernesto Uscher is a must-read for anyone reviewing their HR operating model. The article defines the value HR provides to stakeholders, analyses some of the recent research on HR operating models, couples this with The RBL Group’s own research, and provides guidance on steps to a more effective HR function (see FIG 24) and a diagnostic of ten dimensions of HR effectiveness (see FIG 25) to improve the value HR can create. A tour de force.
HR is not about HR but about the value HR creates for stakeholders
FIG 24: Steps To An Effective HR Function? (Source: The RBL Group)
FIG 25: Assessment of Ten Dimensions of HR Effectiveness (Source: The RBL Group)
SANDRA DURTH, NEEL GANDHI, ASMUS KOMM, AND FLORIAN POLLNER – HR’S new operating model: A new approach to human resources
Excellent analysis from McKinsey based on qualitative interviews with over 100 chief human resources officers on how the HR operating model is changing to drive value in today’s volatile business environment. In the article the team of Sandra Durth, Neel Gandhi, Asmus Komm, and Florian Pollner identify and describe five HR operating model archetypes (see FIG 26). The authors explain how these operating models are premised on eight innovation shifts, with each archetype typically based on one major innovation shift and supported by a few minor ones.
In large, diversified organizations, CHROs may find that different archetypes fit the differentiated needs of specific businesses better and may adopt a combination of HR operating models.
FIG 26: Five emerging HR operating models (Source: McKinsey)
MARC EFFRON | TALENT STRATEGY GROUP – HR Operating Model Report 2023
There is a wealth of insights from Marc Effron and his team at The Talent Strategy Group in their report on how more than 200 companies are structuring and operationalising HR. Insights include: (1) 86% of CHROs report to the CEO, which certainly helps answer the perennial ‘seat at the table’ question, (2) HR is growing across all parts of the function - for example, the support ratio for HRBPs to employees has decreased, (3) From a people analytics perspective, the study finds that 35% of people analytics leaders report to the CHRO, which mirrors the rise we have seen in our Insight222 People Analytics Trends researchyear on year since 2020, and (4) However, as the report states:
The fact that People Analytics reports more frequently to Shared Services and Other HR Functions than to the CHRO or Talent Management suggests a potential misunderstanding of the strategic role of the function. It may also, however, suggest that the COE is providing more reporting and less true analytics in many organizations.
FIG 27: CoE reporting lines to the CHRO (Source: Talent Strategy Group, HR Operating Model Report 2023)
KATHI ENDERES - Building the Dynamic Organization: Critical for the Post-Industrial Era
Kathi Enderes breaks down findings from research she and Josh Bersin have conducted with Gloat. It highlights that instead of designing a company around jobs, Dynamic Organizations instead organise around people and skills. Kathi’s article provides a framework (see FIG 28), a maturity model, and data on the impact of Dynamic Organizations. I recommend reading this alongside the subsequent research published by Josh and Kathi on Systemic HR, which Josh summarises in this podcast.
FIG 28: A framework for a Dynamic Organization (Source: Josh Bersin Company)
ELLYN SHOOK, YUSUF TAYOB, AND LAURIE HENNEBORN - The CHRO as a growth executive Article | Full Report
Research by Accenture finds that by unlocking the growth combination of data, technology and people, companies can generate a premium of up to 11% on top-line productivity, with the people element making up 7% of that alone. However, the study also finds that just 5% of large, global organisations are realising this. The spearhead of the companies that are is a new breed of CHRO – the ‘high-res CHRO’ - one that is stepping up to lead their C-suite peers in connecting data, technology and people and cultivating collaboration. The report details how to spot and support High-Res CHROs, how they effect change, and provides guidance on the way forward. The report is co-authored by Ellyn Shook, Yusuf Tayob, and Laurie Henneborn, MSLIS, and features contributions from a number of CHROs including Giuseppe Addezio, Christine Deputy , Kerry Dryburgh, Lauren Rusckowski Duprey, Darrell Ford, Francine Katsoudas, and Donna Morris.
FIG 29: Three things High-Res CHROs do differently to put the forces of change to work (Source: Accenture)
JONATHAN GORDIN, SHARI CHERNACK, KAREN SHELLENBACK, AND YAMILE BRUZZA | MERCER - Evolving the CHRO role in a rapidly changing world of work
41 percent of CHROs wish they had had a greater depth of knowledge in people analytics before stepping into their roles. That is a standout finding from Mercer’s 2023 CHRO report. Many CHROs also conceded that they wish they had assumed the role with a greater understanding of business and strategy. The report, by Jonathan Gordin, Shari Chernack, Karen Shellenback, and Yamile Bruzza, also digs into the growing importance of technology and analytics including the need for CHROs and their leadership teams to upskill themselves and act as role-models in areas such as data literacy, how the CHRO role will evolve (see also FIG 30), actions to develop HR leaders, and key attributes of CHROs.
The ability to understand the business you are in is critical to success as a CHRO — the people strategy must be an extension of the business strategy
FIG 30: How the CHRO role will evolve (Source: Mercer)
ROB BRINER - Aligning HR with the business through the evidence-based HR process
Rob Briner makes the case for evidence-based practice and how it applies to HR, explaining what it is and why it is effective. Rob breaks down six key steps in the evidence-based HR process (see FIG 31). He then applies the evidence-based approach to a case study to understand and solve high employee turnover.
FIG 31: The Evidence-Based HR Process (Source: Rob Briner)
vii) BUILDING A DATA-DRIVEN CULTURE IN HR
NAOMI VERGHESE AND JONATHAN FERRAR - Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale Article | Full Report
In conversations I have with chief human resources officers, people analytics leaders and other senior human resources executives, improving the data literacy of HR professionals continues to be a challenge. A study by my Insight222 colleagues Naomi Verghese and Jonathan Ferrar, highlights four key findings to support organisations seeking to build data literacy in HR at scale: (1) Role-modelling by the CHRO and HRLT is essential (see FIG 32), (2) responsibility for upskilling should sit with the people analytics leader, (3) Five skills form the core of data literacy for HR, and (4) Companies should invest appropriately for a multi-year upskilling programme of between $600 and $800 per HR full-time equivalent. Download the full report here.
FIG 32: Source: Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale (Source: Insight222)
MADHURA CHAKRABARTI AND TAMARA MCBRIDE - The analytics escape room game: On being fast followers
As Madhura Chakrabarti, PhD and Tamara McBride state: “Upskilling HR in data fluency was always an important part of our People Insights and Analytics roadmap at Syngenta.” Their article outlines the journey Syngenta has taken over the last three years, which has seen over 200 participants complete their ‘analysis paralysis’ simulation. Madhura and Tamara share their three key lessons in relation to building a data driven culture in HR: (1) Go beyond HR (“our non-HR colleagues did a wonderful job in spreading the word internally whereby demand started accelerating within and outside HR”), (2) Make it part of a bigger journey (see FIG 33), and (3) Shift to a virtual experience but keep the in-person offering alive when needed. For more from Madhura on how Syngenta is building a data driven culture in HR, I recommend listening to her discussion with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How Syngenta Successfully Upskilled Their HR Function Into Data-Literacy.
FIG 33: Building data fluency in HR at Syngenta (Source: Madhura Chakrabarti and Tamara McBride)
JAAP VELDKAMP AND HELEEN GOET - How to determine your success KPIs in HR
Jaap Veldkamp and Heleen Goet describe the process followed at ABN Amro for establishing a link between each HR service and its impact on business outcomes. It outlines a ‘define your success’ workshop conducted between the people analytics team and HR at the bank to align each service to output and outcomes (see example in FIG 34). The article also highlights two benefits of this approach: (1) It leads to better collaboration between various teams in HR. (2) It magnifies the broader advisory role of people analytics.
FIG 34: Source: Jaap Veldkamp and Heleen Goet
RJ MILNOR - 10 Metrics to Unlock Value in Your Organization | ERIC LESSER AND CHARIS CHAMBERS - Key HR metrics for chief human resources officers
Two insightful articles highlighting progressive HR metrics. (1) RJ Milnor presents ten people metrics focused on help companies and HR leaders to unlock value (rather than cut costs). (2) Eric Lesser and Charis Chambers highlight five critical areas where CHROs need access to key HR metrics, data, and insights on demand to provide a snapshot of the current state of the work, workforce, and workplace (see FIG 35).
FIG 35: Five key areas of insights and metrics for CHROs (Source: Deloitte)
BRENT DYKES - Elephant In The Room: Data Storytelling Is More Than Just Data Visualization
Brent Dykes uses the Buddhist parable of the Elephant and the Blind Men to highlight the overemphasis typically placed on the visualisation element of data storytelling at the expense of the two other key components: facts (from data) and a storyline (narrative) – see FIG 36. Brent’s article breaks down each of these three elements, their relationship to each other, and provides guidance on how to shift from a ‘visualization-centric view’ to a ‘balanced view’. A must-read for anyone in the people analytics field, as well as HR professionals looking to hone their data storytelling skills.
FIG 36: What is data storytelling (Top), How to shift data storytelling from a visualization-centric to a balanced view (Bottom) (Source: Brent Dykes)
viii) WORKFORCE PLANNING, SKILLS, AND TALENT MARKETPLACE
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM - The Future of Jobs Report 2023
The fourth edition of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report is an absolute treasure trove of data, insights, and visualisations based on data from 803 companies and 11.3m workers. The report explores how jobs and skills will evolve over the next five years, and how the Fourth Industrial Revolution will continue to shape the world of work. There are too many highlights to list them all here are some standout ones for me: (1) 23% of jobs are expected to change by 2027, with 69 million new jobs created and 83 million eliminated (see FIG 37), (2) 44% of individual worker skills will need to be updated by 2027, (3) The three key drivers of job change are the green transition (driving growth), technology (driving growth and decline), and the economic outlook (driving decline), and (4) Analytical thinking and creative thinking are regarded as the top two in-demand skills of 2023. Kudos to the authors of the report: Attilio Di Battista, Sam Grayling, Elselot Hasselaar, Till Alexander Leopold, Ricky LI, Mark Rayner and Saadia Zahidi.
FIG 37: 23% of today’s jobs will change by 2027 (Source: World Economic Forum)
AMY WEBB - How to Prepare for a GenAI Future You Can’t Predict
Futurist Amy Webb outlines a framework to help leaders anticipate how — and when — their workforce will need to change in order to leverage AI (see FIG 38). The framework should help those involved in workforce planning partner with leaders to develop scenarios for the future of the business. Moreover, Amy also provides a three-step guide for leaders to navigate the current uncertainty: (1) Temper expectations about what generative AI can and will do for your business. (2) Evaluate what data your company is generating and how it would today, and in the future, be used by generative AI. (3) When it comes to AI, leaders must shift their focus from the bottom line to top line.
FIG 38: The IDEA Framework (Source: Amy Webb)
DELOITTE - Managing workforce risk in an era of unpredictability and disruption
A hugely insightful collaboration between Deloitte and Harvard Professor Joe Fuller, which breaks down the increasing number of risks facing organisations in our disruptive world, the impact these have on the workforce, and what some leading companies are doing to help mitigate these risks. The article presents a framework for workforce risk (see FIG 39) as well as findings from a survey of 875 C-suite leaders, executives, and independent board members to explore how senior leaders view and address workforce risk. Findings include that most companies don’t have a definition nor expertise on workforce risk, those companies that do address workforce risk focus on short-term objectives rather than strategically planning for tomorrow’s challenges, and boards and C-suites provide limited oversight over workforce risk. The research does identify Pioneers – around one in ten leaders that view workforce risk factors more holistically and spread responsibility for effectively measuring and managing these risks throughout the organisation. (Authors: Joseph Fuller, Michael Griffiths, Reem J., Michael Stephan, Carey Oven, Keri Calagna, Robin Jones, Susan Cantrell, Zac Shaw, and George Fackler).
To perform at their best and meet evolving business needs, organizations should have a workforce planning process that helps establish the right people in the right place at the right time, for the right cost. To accomplish that, they should plan for succession, cultivate new talent pipelines, and deploy workers against emerging business priorities fluidly.
FIG 39: A framework for workforce risk (Source: Deloitte)
ROBERT MOTION AND COLE NAPPER - What’s Old is New: The Quest for Excellence in Workforce Planning
As Robert Motion and Cole Napper highlight in their treatise on the topic, workforce planning is both an art and a science that has its root in data and strategy. Their article offers six lessons on the topic: (1). Strategy is hard, but that doesn’t make WFP impossible. (2) Workforce planning can both help fight and respond to the Wall Street earnings cycle pressure. (3) Process is necessary, but don’t overdo it. (4) Analytics is and will continue to be king. (5) Winning the war for talent requires Talent Intelligence. (6) We can’t fall in love with our own ideas.
As WFP practitioners, influencing with data is THE key to gaining credibility with the business. It shows that WFP is not “touchy-freely HR”, but data-driven and quantified.
RICHARD ROSENOW - The SOAPI Framework - A New Lens for Modern Workforce Planning
Richard Rosenow is one of the best thinkers in our field and demonstrates it with his paper for One Model introducing his SOAPI framework for workforce planning. As he explains, it is a methodology that offers a structured method to break workforce planning into component parts. Each component represents a pillar, collectively forming the discipline of workforce planning. These are: (1) Strategy, (2) Operations (3) Analytics, (4) Planning, and (5) Intelligence. The paper breaks each of these down, and details what happens if one of these pillars is missing (see FIG 40).
FIG 40: Source - Richard Rosenow, One Model
MERCER – Building and sustaining a thriving Talent Marketplace
The Talent Marketplace is one of the hottest topics in the field of talent management, which makes this report by Mercer as timely as it is important. The report is informed by a survey, interviews with early adopters, and best practices for realising the vast potential of a talent marketplace. The report covers: (1) The business case, (2) How companies can use and launch talent marketplaces, (3) Outcomes and ROI realised by early adopters including Unilever, (4) Guidance on the change management required to achieve stakeholder alignment, and (5) Tips to get started and sustain momentum. Kudos to the authors: Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, Rupali Gupta, Chitralekha Singh, Brian Fisher, Marcus Downing, Paul Habgood, Nicole Peichl, Lewis Garrad, and Wan Yee Choo. For more on talent marketplace, I recommend listening to two 2023 episodes of the Digital HR Leaders podcast with Tanuj Kapilashrami (How Standard Chartered is Unlocking the Power of Skills in the Workplace) as well as Jeff Schwartz and Jeroen Wels (Navigating the Talent Marketplace of the Future).
Implementing a talent marketplace requires a radical rethink of work itself and involves far more than implementing a new technology.
FIG 41: Finding the sweet spot for success with talent marketplaces
BO COWGILL, JONATHAN M.V. DAVIS, B. PABLO MONTAGNES, PATRYK PERKOWSKI, AND BETTINA HAMMER - How to Design an Internal Talent Marketplace
Between them Bo Cowgill, Jonathan Davis, Pablo Montagnes, Patryk Perkowski, and Bettina Hammer have designed, implemented, and evaluated internal talent marketplaces (ITMs) for more than a decade in the private, non-profit, and public sectors, with partners across the globe. In their article for Harvard Business Review, they break down the four key benefits of ITMs: (1) Reduced replacement costs with examples from Teach for America and Schneider Electric, (2) Better placement within a large workforce with an example from the US Department of Defense, (3) More opportunities for generalists, and (4) Better aggregation of insights – with both the latter two documenting examples from Google. The authors explain how to build (e.g. technology, change, culture and data) and optimise (e.g. nudges, incentives and executive oversight) ITMs, connect their successful adoption to best practices and recommend ways to align employees’ preferences with the company’s needs.
Companies that fare the best with internal talent marketplaces are in industries with high worker-replacement costs and have employees who tend to be generalists.
ix) LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
GEORGE WESTERMAN AND ABBIE LUNDBERG - Why Companies Should Help Every Employee Chart a Career Path
Multiple studies find that lack of career advancement is the top reason employees provide for leaving their employers. Perhaps not surprisingly George Westerman and Abbie Lundberg found in their previous research a gap between the career development support many companies claim to provide and the lived experience of the typical worker. In their new article, the authors highlight two false narratives of career development that they find are prominent in many companies: “managers are responsible to develop their employees’ careers” and “we empower employees to own their career development.” While these ideals sound good, the reality is somewhat different. The authors then outline a career development process comprised of three elements designed to work for employees at all levels of the organisation and bring these to life with a number of case studies. The three elements are: (1) Make opportunities and pathways visible, (2) Provide opportunities to learn and practice, and (3) Deliver rich feedback and coaching.
Leaders must do much more to help employees see a future with the company and a path to advance toward that future.
McKINSEY - Performance through people: Transforming human capital into competitive advantage
When organisations invest in employees, the returns are not always quantifiable. Yet some firms are much more effective than others at turning human capital into a tangible competitive advantage, according to research by McKinsey. The study finds that the best companies – ‘People + Performance (P&P) Winners’ – are good at developing their workforce and delivering outstanding financial performance. The report details how P+P Winners possess a distinctive organisational signature (see FIG 42): they are more resilient, better at attracting, developing and retaining talent, have more effective leadership and more inclusive cultures. The report has a litany of insights across its 40 pages, including a blueprint on how companies can transform their organisational capital. (Authors: Anu Madgavkar, Bill Schaninger, Dana Maor, Olivia White, Sven Smit, Hamid H. Samandari, Jonathan Woetzel, Davis Carlin, and Kanmani Chockalingam.)
P+P Winners deliver a better workplace experience, and they are engines of upward mobility for the employees who pass through them
FIG 42: P&P Winners possess a distinctive organisational signature (Source: McKinsey Global Institute)
CONSTANCE NOONAN HADLEY, MARK MORTENSEN, AND AMY EDMONDSON - Make It Safe for Employees to Speak Up — Especially in Risky Times
In their article for Harvard Business Review, Connie Noonan Hadley, Mark Mortensen, and Amy Edmondson emphasise the importance of fostering a culture of psychological safety within organisations. They argue that during challenging and uncertain times, such as crises or periods of change, employees need an environment where they feel comfortable expressing their concerns, ideas, and dissenting opinions. The article provides practical steps for leaders to create psychological safety, such as encouraging open dialogue, actively listening, and addressing biases that may inhibit honest communication. Constance, Mark and Amy highlight the benefits of fostering a culture where employees feel safe to speak up, including improved decision-making, innovation, and employee well-being.
Psychological safety — the belief that one can speak up without risk of punishment or humiliation — is what enables employees to use their voices, and it’s more important than ever that leaders build it.
FIG 43: Why employees are reluctant to use their voices (Source: Constance Noonan Hadley, Mark Mortensen, and Amy Edmondson)
PER HUGANDER - Take a Skills-Based Approach to Culture Change
A persuasive article on how taking a skills-based approach to culture change can lead to lasting positive changes in behaviour and organisational performance. Drawing from a Harvard case study of SEB, a Nordic bank, Hugander Per highlights the successful application of the late, great Edgar Schein's Organizational Culture Model (see FIG 44). By emphasising the development of specific skills like active listening, coaching, and empathetic communication among its leaders, SEB achieved a cultural transformation characterised by collaboration and openness. This approach aligns culture change efforts with tangible behaviours, ensuring more effective and enduring transformations within organisations.
FIG 44: Edgar Schein’s Organizational Culture Model (Source: MIT Sloan Management Review)
TRACY THURKOW AND ADÉLAÏDE HUBERT - Organizations Don't Change Behavior, People Do
Tracy Thurkow and Adélaïde Hubert-Verley write about the role behavioural science can play in any successful transformation or change management initiative: “Behavioral science can help you create a change-embracing environment through nudges, feedback loops, and reinforcement.” Their article provides a timely reminder that organisations cannot change behaviour; only people can. To achieve successful behaviour change they argue, individuals need to be motivated and equipped with the necessary skills and resources. Organisations should focus on creating a culture that supports and encourages the desired behaviour change, providing clear guidance and incentives for individuals, and enabling them to practice and refine their new behaviours over time (see FIG 45).
Behavioral science helps to inspire and engage people in embracing change
FIG 45: Making the behaviour possible requires removing frictions and implementing enablers, signals, and reinforcers (Source: Bain & Company)
JONATHAN KNOWLES, B. TOM HUNSAKER, AND MELANIE HUGHES – The Role of Culture in Enabling Change
While culture is often described as “how we do things around here”, Jonathan Knowles, Dr. Tom Hunsaker, and Melanie Hughes posit in their article that “It’s more helpful to think of culture as the nervous system of an organization.” They highlight that one of the most important responsibilities of HR is to analyse the aspects of culture that are enabling or hindering performance. They proceed to explain that the first step is to investigate the type of change the team, business unit or organisation requires, and then document three approaches to making such changes: (1) Reinforce magnitude. (2) Reimagine activity. (3) Rethink direction (see also FIG 46)
FIG 46: Effective Cultures are Context Adaptive (Source: Knowles et al)
TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC - How to Strengthen Your Curiosity Muscle
The opening keynote at the recent Workday Rising EMEA event in Barcelona by Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic was based on his recently published book, I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique, which I highly recommend. Tomas is a prolific writer, and in one of his recent articles, for Harvard Business Review, he writes about one of the most critical and sought after dimensions of talent: curiosity – a skill that is vital for leadership effectiveness, learning, and career development. In the article, Tomas shares five recommendations to develop our curiosity muscle: (1) Ditch all excuses. (2) Find the right angle. (3) Change your routine. (4) Experiment. (5) When bored, just switch. For more from Tomas, please tune in to his recent conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How AI Can Unlock Human Potential and Make Work More Meaningful.
While we may not know what tomorrow’s jobs will be, employees’ motivation and ability to upskill and reskill for those jobs will significantly increase if they are curious.
STACIA GARR AND PRIYANKA MEHROTRA - What’s Holding Back Manager Effectiveness, and How to Fix It
While manager effectiveness is a top priority for leaders and HR teams, research by Stacia Sherman Garr and Priyanka Mehrotra for RedThread Research finds that organisational support for managers is on the wane. Based on analysis of a survey of more than 700 employees across a wide range of industries, Stacia and Priyanka identified seven practices that are most important in driving manager effectiveness (see FIG 47) – four practices under the control of managers themselves, and three under the auspices of senior leaders and HR. The article also details three key actions organisations — particularly senior leaders and HR teams — can take to address gaps in support and develop more effective managers.
FIG 47: Seven factors driving manager effectiveness (Source: RedThread Research)
EMILY FIELD, BRYAN HANCOCK, AND BILL SCHANINGER - Don’t Eliminate Your Middle Managers | EMILY FIELD, BRYAN HANCOCK, STEPHANIE SMALLETS, AND BROOKE WEDDLE - Investing in middle managers pays off—literally
Two articles featuring insights from one of the best books of 2023: Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work authored by Bill Schaninger, Ph.D., Bryan Hancock. The first provides a clarion call to organisations that rather than viewing middle management as ripe for cutting in turbulent times they should instead reimagine the role of the middle manager, helping them to fully understand their value, and then train, coach, and inspire them to realise their potential as organisational linchpins. The second article, co-authored with Stephanie Smallets, Ph.D. and Brooke Weddle, provides data highlighting that organisations with more top-performing middle managers have much better financial outcomes (see FIG 48). The article also provides five steps to strengthening middle manager performance: (1) Optimising organisational ‘spans’, (2) Resetting manager roles, (3) Pivoting to capability building, (4) Drilling down into manager experience, and (5) Building in accountability mechanisms.
Human capital is at least as important as financial capital, and middle managers, who recruit and develop an organization’s employees, are the most important asset of all—essential to navigating rapid, complex change. They can make work more meaningful, interesting, and productive, and they’re crucial for true organizational transformation.
FIG 48: Organisations whose managers exhibit strong behaviours realise better bottom-line performance (Source: McKinsey)
x) DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING
McKINSEY - Diversity matters even more: The case for holistic impact
The fourth report in a McKinsey series stretching back to 2015, investigating the business case for diversity. The main takeaway is that the 2023 study finds that the business case is the strongest it has been yet with leadership diversity being convincingly associated with business performance, societal impact and employee experience (see FIG 49). The full 52 page report details case studies from the likes of IHG Hotels & Resorts, DHL Group, and Air New Zealand, as well as presenting five levers for change for moving from commitment to action. (Authors: Dame Vivian Hunt, Sundiatu Dixon-Fyle, Celia Huber, Maria del Mar Martinez, Sara Prince, and Ashley Thomas.)
FIG 49: The business case for diversity on executive teams and financial outperformance (Source: McKinsey)
DONALD SULL AND CHARLES SULL - The Toxic Culture Gap Shows Companies Are Failing Women
Donald Sull and Charlie Sull continue their fascinating work on toxic culture (see previous articles here) by this time focusing on research that finds women are 41% more likely to experience toxic workplace culture than men (see FIG 50). The article provides a number of cuts, powerful visualisations and analysis of the data including possible reasons why women are more likely to cite toxic culture, the elements that drive the toxic culture gender gap, and how the gap varies by industry and occupation.
FIG 50: Toxic Culture Is the Largest Culture Gap Between Women and Men (Source: Culture X)
JAMES ROOT, ANDREW SCHWEDEL, MIKE HASLETT, AND NICOLE BITLER - Better with Age: The Rising Importance of Older Workers
Compelling research from Bain & Company highlighting that in the G7 group of countries, older workers will exceed a quarter of the workforce by 2031 (see FIG 20). Despite this shift, the study also finds that only a small number of organisations have programs in place to integrate older workers into their talent systems. As well as providing compelling data and visualisations on this trend, the authors (James Root, Andrew Schwedel, Mike Haslett, and Nicole Bitler Kuehnle) provide guidance on three steps to empower older workers: (1) Retain and recruit older workers by understanding what motivates them at work. (2) Reskill them for your next 10 years of capability needs. (3) Respect their strengths and allow them to do what they do best.
Creating roles that benefit both older workers and the company is not just the right thing to do, it’s also a business imperative.
FIG 51: Share of workers age 55 and older in 2011, 2021 and 2031 (Source: Bain & Company)
LILY ZHENG - To Make Lasting Progress on DEI, Measure Outcomes
Organisations that are generating value through diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) understand the importance of metrics and KPIs, but even some of these struggle to identify the right ones. The objective of Lily Zheng’s article in Harvard Business Review is to provide guidance to companies seeking to make tangible and lasting progress on DEI goals. Three actions are recommended related to tracking metrics. (1) Recognise the importance of outcome metrics beyond demographics. (2) For each category that you choose to measure, develop a theory of change to identify tailored proxy metrics. (3) To ensure that these findings result in lasting outcomes, create a plan in advance for using data to follow up and take action. Thanks to Frances Frei for highlighting Lily’s excellent article.
EDWARD CHANG, ERIKA KIRGIOS, JAMES ELFER, KATRYN WRIGHT, AND GUUSJE LINDEMANN - Why You Should Start A/B Testing Your DEI Initiatives
In their article, Edward Chang, Erika Kirgios, James Elfer, Katryn Wright, and Guusje Lindemann draw on their experience as academics and consultants who have studied the issue extensively, to present the benefits of targeted A/B testing for DEI initiatives. The authors cite company examples that they’ve been involved with, including one with Ericsson to improve internal mobility amongst female employees. They also offer practical guidance for companies interested in doing testing of their own.
The more DEI experiments you conduct, the more you’ll learn about what works and what doesn’t, and the faster you’ll make progress on equality at work.
FROM MY DESK
Below are another selection of six articles I penned or co-penned in 2023. Part 1 contains seven other articles I authored in 2023.
12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 – As the title suggests, this article draws on our research at Insight222 and other studies to document 12 opportunities for HR to continue its progress from support function to strategic partner in 2024 (see also FIG 52).
FIG 52: 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 (Source: David Green)
Exploring the Future of Skill-based Organisations - Andreas De Neve ?, CEO at TechWolf, shares insights with me on how HR leaders can make an impact on their business by addressing skill shortages and creating the foundation of a skill-based organisation.
10 Key Learnings from the Wharton People Analytics Conference 2023 - In this article, I share ten key learnings from the 2023 Wharton People Analytics Conference. For more on this event, I recommend listening to this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, which was recored at Wharton PAC and features Prasad Setty and Dawn Klinghoffer as well as contributions from: Tanu Dixit, Matthew Malter Cohen, Sandy Zou, Jessica Smith, Ayanna Matlock, and Garima Khator: People Analytics, Now and the Future: Insights from Wharton PAC.
Data democratization: David Green on upskilling HR to become data-driven - An interview with Benjamin Broomfield of HRD Connect where I shared Insight222 research on leading practices for data-driven HR, from communities of practice to data literacy, interpretation, and storytelling.
What’s Wrong with People Data? - An interview with Jennifer E. Sigler, PhD, author of TI PEOPLE’s and FOUNT Global, Inc.’s 2022 The State of Employee Experience report to discuss the issues identified in the study in relation to people data. These centred on two key findings: HR is using data that isn’t really suited to improving EX, and they’re taking too much responsibility for EX.
The Importance of Ethics in People Analytics for Leading Companies - Naomi Verghese and I explore the critical topic of ethics, which is one of the eight characteristics of Leading Companies in People Analytics identified in the 2023 Insight222 People Analytics Trends study. In the article, Naomi and I outline three key practices on ethics adopted by Leading Companies in their people analytics work. (1) Strong Ethical Principles - including the development of an Ethics Charter. (2) Open Communication – including the ‘Fair Exchange of Value’. (3) Ethics Oversight – including the institution of an ethics and privacy council.
The “Fair Exchange of Value” is a key mantra for people analytics teams. If employees understand how their data will be used and see the benefit, it is far more likely that they will contribute data.
THE DIGITAL HR LEADERS PODCAST
In addition, we published 40 episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast in 2023! A huge thank you to all the guest and sponsors, who in order of appearance were: Diane Gherson Dave Ulrich Ian Bailie Susan Cantrell Michael Griffiths Tanuj Kapilashrami Amy Gallo Jeroen Wels Jeff Schwartz Gloat Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Carmen Whitney Orr Phil Willburn Daniela Seabrook Caroline O'Reilly Workday Lauren Guthrie Christina Norris-Watts Doug Shagam Oliver Shaw Alexis Fink Don Miller Jesse Jacks Orgvue Aashish Sharma Dr. Ella F. Washington Ian White Aaron Falcione Prasad Setty Dawn Klinghoffer ChartHop Heather E. McGowan ?️??️⚧️ Karen Dillon Rob Cross Philip Arkcoll Ian OKeefe Elizabeth J. Altman Robin Jones Worklytics Lexy Martin Yves Van Durme Paul Rubenstein Ashish Pant Wendy Cunningham Peter Meyler Visier Inc. Nick Dalton Piyush Mehta Alicia Roach Chris Hare Nick Bloom Alex Browne eQ8 Jacob Morgan Madeline Laurano Sarah Reynolds Paulo Pisano Hebba Youssef and HiBob.
THANK YOU
Thanks to all the authors and contributors featured here in Part 2, and also in Part 1 (available on January 14) as well as across the monthly collections from 2023 – see January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December - your passion, knowledge and expertise continues to inspire. Thanks also to my colleagues at Insight222, the guests and sponsors of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast in 2023 and the great many of you that share and engage with the content I share. It’s much appreciated. I wish you all well for a happy, healthy, and successful 2024.
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:
Jan 25 - The Strategic Agenda for HR in 2025 (webinar - register here)
Feb 28 - People Analytics World 2024: Exploring the Potential of Analytics and AI in Employee Experience (Zurich)
March 4-6 - Gloat Live! (New York)
March 14-15 - Wharton People Analytics Conference (Philadelphia)
April 19-20 - People Analytics World (London)
May 7-9 - UNLEASH America (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)
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
People Analytics
2024年01月14日
People Analytics
The best HR & People Analytics articles of 2023 (Part 1 of 2)
Ten years ago, I stumbled upon an idea of collating a year-end compendium of 20 people analytics and data-driven HR articles from the previous 12 months and publishing it on LinkedIn.
Back then it was a challenge to find 20 articles. Today, it is an even bigger challenge to limit myself to 60 articles - such has been the growth of people analytics in the last decade. Indeed, as I reminisced by reading the nine collections to date for 2014, 2015, 2016 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 (Part 1 and Part 2), it became abundantly clear that the development in the field has been staggering.
The progress of people analytics has been mirrored by the human resources field in general as it transforms from a support function to a strategic partner. As I wrote in my article, 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024, the field has a huge opportunity to lead the way to a more productive, inclusive, healthier, and humane future of work. People analytics needs to play a pivotal role in this mission.
The 60 articles are assembled into two instalments: Part 1, which follows here has the first five sections: i) the future of work and people strategy, ii) workplace design and strategy, iii) AI and the world of work, iv) people analytics, and v) employee experience, listening and wellbeing. Part 2 has the second group of five topics: vi) the evolution of HR, HR operating models and the CHRO, vii) building a data driven culture in HR, viii) workforce planning, skills, and talent marketplace, ix) leadership and culture, and x) diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
I hope you enjoy reading the selections for 2023. If you do, please subscribe to my weekly Digital HR Leaders newsletter, which is published every Tuesday via Insight222, and tune in to the Digital HR Leaders podcast.
(i) FUTURE OF WORK AND PEOPLE STRATEGY
MCKINSEY - The State of Organizations 2023: Ten shifts transforming organizations
Let’s start with what’s on the mind of CEOs and business leaders. Research from McKinsey identified ten of the most important organisational shifts that businesses need to address today (see FIG 1), which are likely to shape business and people strategy in the coming years. A significant takeaway is how many of the ten shifts are either primarily a talent topic or one where talent is a significant element. This reinforces the importance of an effective HR function that is focused on employee experience, premised on developing a thriving, inclusive and healthy culture, and powered by people data and analytics. (Authors: Dr. Patrick Guggenberger, Dana Maor, Michael Park, and Dr. Patrick Simon).
Getting organizations right is not just about individual companies and institutions; it’s about the broader well-being of society.
FIG 1: Ten shifts transforming organisations (Source: McKinsey)
DIANE GHERSON – The New Deal of Work | SHRM PEOPLE + STRATEGY - Rethinking Work and the Workplace
Diane Gherson guest edits the fall edition of People + Strategy magazine, articulating in her editor’s preface that: “New work models, new business requirements and new employee expectations are coming together at full speed, putting at risk our status quo arrangements in the organization—and even the role and scope of HR.” These themes flow through all of the articles in the edition including: (1) David Rock on what neuroscience can teach us about the tug of war between employers and employees on the return to office debate. (2) Josh Bersin examining the implications of “blowing up” the traditional model for full-time long-term employees (see FIG 2). (3) RJ Milnor presents four questions for CHROs about the growth of fractional work and its impact on talent strategy. (4) Judith Wiese explaining how Siemens replaced performance reviews with a new concept built on dialogues focused on growth.
New work models, new business requirements and new employee expectations are coming together at full speed, putting at risk our status quo arrangements in the organization—and even the role and scope of HR.
FIG 2: Creating a Strategic Workforce Plan (Source: Josh Bersin)
BCG AND THE WORLD FEDERATION OF PEOPLE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATIONS - Creating People Advantage 2023: Set the Right People Priorities for Challenging Times Article | Full Report
BCG’s bi-annual Creating People Advantage is consistently one of the best studies in our field. Two findings that stand out from the 2023 report are: (1) Only 35% of HR professionals agree that their company’s people management function is using relevant digital technologies. (2) Just 30% say that HR is using data and analytics to anticipate people challenges. This is despite People and HR strategy, planning, and analytics, being ranked as the #1 future people management topic (see FIG 3). The report also outlines five recommendations for people management leaders: (1) Leverage data to accurately plan for talent supply and demand. (2) Get better at talent acquisition. (3) Invest in upskilling and reskilling the current workforce. (4) Unlock value through AI. (5) Focus on change management and organizational development. (Authors: Jens Stefan Baier, Vinciane Beauchene, Julie Bedard, Jean-Michel Caye, Dr. Philipp Kolo, Fang Ruan, Alexander Alonso, PhD SHRM-SCP, Anthony Ariganello, Kai H. Helfritz, Bob Morton, Chartered CCIPD, Lucas van Wees, and Wilson Wong.)
FIG 3: Ranking of future importance of nine people management topics (Source: BCG)
ADAM GRANT AND TE-PING CHEN - What CEOs Are Getting Wrong About the Future of Work—and How to Make It Right
In an interview with Te-Ping Chen of The Wall Street Journal, Adam Grant cites research on how employee performance and retention improves in a hybrid environment to urge leaders to experiment more when it comes to testing new ways of working. Grant advises leaders to think like scientists when making decisions: “Every opinion you hold at work is a hypothesis waiting to be tested. And every decision you make is an experiment waiting to be run.” He also explains how employees can catalyse change from within and highlights the promise of the four-day week - a concept Grant has long championed: “Every experiment I have seen on reducing work hours suggests that people are as productive, if not more productive. I’d much rather have people do six focused hours a day or four focused days a week than eight distracted hours or five unmotivated days.”
So many leaders just implement decisions. It is like life is an A/B test, but they just ran with the A, and didn’t even realize that there was a possible B, C, D, and E. Too many leaders feel like their decisions are permanent. As opposed to saying, “We’re going to test and learn.”
ELIZABETH J. ALTMAN, DAVID KIRON, JEFF SCHWARTZ, AND ROBIN JONES - Manage Your Workforce Ecosystem, Not Just Your Employees
In their article based on their book – Workforce Ecosystems, Elizabeth J. Altman, David Kiron, Jeff Schwartz, and Robin Jones, introduce the concept of an integrated workforce ecosystem. They highlight the three types of issues that need to be resolved: (1) Structural design (concerned with the division of labour, goals, and incentives). (2) Politics (relating to resources, power, and status). (3) Culture (affecting individuals’ search for identity and meaning). They then present a four phased approach to effectively orchestrate a workforce ecosystem (see FIG 4) and provide additional guidance on each phase. For more on this topic, tune in to Elizabeth and Robin on an episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Build a Thriving Workforce Ecosystem.
FIG 4: Four Phases of Orchestrating an Integrated Workforce Ecosystem (Source: Elizabeth J. Altman, David Kiron, Jeff Schwartz, and Robin Jones)
DELOITTE - Beyond productivity: The journey to the quantified organization
A quantified organization takes a strategic approach to measuring what it should, not just what it can. It takes a responsible approach to using new data sources and AI tools to create value for stakeholders across the organization, improving workforce trust and driving the organization forward to new levels of financial, reputational, and operational performance.
This Deloitte report is divided into three sections: (1) New data, New Opportunities (2) Creating Shared Value with Data (based around four levels of shared value for individuals, teams, the organisation, and society - see FIG 5), and (3) Trust (based on four principles of responsibility). (Authors Arthur Mazor, Steve Hatfield, Philippe Burger, Simona Spelman, Nicole Scoble-Williams, and Robin Jones)
FIG 5: Four levels of Shared Value (Source: Deloitte)
PLACID JOVER - The Future of Work is Flexible
Placid Jover presents three innovations Unilever is making to embrace a move from owning to accessing talent. (1) The Skills Passport (“As companies jostle to build a complete picture of what they need and how to get there, we’re fast learning that the real currency is skills”). (2) The Internal Talent Marketplace (“We have already seen a 40% increase in productivity and a significant reduction in attrition directly linked to Flex Experiences”). (3) The Pixelated Workforce (“Breaking down work into its core elements or “pixels”, then dividing those up between permanent staff and contractors, with the AI recommending teams or individuals for missions based on how they work with others as well as how they perform”). For more from Placid, I recommend listening to: How Unilever is Creating New Ways of Working for Its Employees.
As companies jostle to build a complete picture of what they need and how to get there, we’re fast learning that the real currency is skills
ii) HYBRID WORK AND WORKPLACE DESIGN
PETER JOHN LAMBERT, NICHOLAS BLOOM, STEVEN DAVIS, STEPHEN HANSEN, YABRA MUVDI, RAFFAELLA SADUN, AND BLEDI TASKA - Research: The Growing Inequality of Who Gets to Work from Home
Data increasingly shows a growing divide in terms of who gets to work from home. In their HBR article, Peter John Lambert, Nick Bloom, Steven J. Davis, Stephen Hansen, Yabra Muvdi, Raffaella Sadun, and Bledi Taska, Ph.D. present research on job postings, which finds remote work is far more common for higher paid roles, those that require more experience, are full-time, and require more education. Managers should be aware of this divide, as it has the potential to create toxic dynamics within teams and to sap morale. For more from Nick Bloom, tune in to his conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: Unmasking Common Myths Around Remote Work, and check out the latest monthly data at WFH Research.
FIG 6: Work-from-home opportunities are more common for highly-paid jobs (Source: Lambert, Bloom et al)
LYNDA GRATTON - Redesigning How We Work
In the follow-up to her seminal How to Do Hybrid Right article, Lynda Gratton cautions that the post-pandemic transition to new structures, practices and processes for hybrid work will take years. Indeed, the changes to workplace practices and norms will likely be more significant than anything that has happened in generations. Lynda offers four fundamental questions to guide organisations into this new phase of redesigning how we work: (1) What are our overarching values and principles? (2) What is special about the people we employ, the job we do, and the customers we serve? (3) What isn’t working, and what are the problems we’re trying to solve? (4) What experiments have we tried that we can share with others, and what are other companies doing that we can learn from?
Now that we know the transition to hybrid work will require a long period of constant experimentation and learning, companies should gather and analyze high-quality data if they want to understand what they’re learning, how work is getting done, and how employees are feeling.
MICHAEL ARENA - Effective Strategies for Intentional Collaboration in the New World of Work
Michael Arena discusses effective strategies for intentional collaboration in the modern workplace. He introduces the concept of Adaptive Teaming, which involves dynamically forming and restructuring teams to meet specific project needs. Four intentional collaboration modes are identified. (1) Discovery encourages knowledge exploration and idea generation. (2) Development focuses on individual and collective skill growth. (3) Diffusion promotes effective communication and knowledge sharing. (4) Delivery ensures efficient project execution. By incorporating these modes, Michael articulates how organisations can enhance adaptive teaming practices and succeed in the evolving world of work.
Adaptive teaming is a collaborative approach in which teams intentionally come together, shift, and reform based on the specific needs and challenges of a project or task.
MICROSOFT - In the Changing Role of the Office, It’s All about Moments That Matter
When does in-person matter? That was one of the key research questions Dawn Klinghoffer told me that her team was helping Microsoft to answer when she appeared on the Digital HR Leaders podcast towards the end of 2022 (see How Microsoft Created A Thriving Workforce By Going Beyond Employee Engagement). A few months on, the research highlighted three key times when bringing employees and teams together in person creates lasting connection at Microsoft: (1) Strengthening team cohesion. (2) Onboarding to a new role, team, or company (see FIG 7). (3) Kicking off a project. The article provides data points and examples of each with contributions from Karen Kocher, Jared Spataro and Maryleen Emeric Leal, with the latter providing a memorable analogy on the power of in-person time:
You have to think of your social capital like a battery. The longer you go without having in-person interaction, the lower the charge gets on your battery. These moments that matter—like a team week—allow us to recharge the battery.
FIG 7: Meeting In-Person Has Clear Benefits for New Hires
iii) AI, MACHINE LEARNING, GENERATIVE AI AND THE WORLD OF WORK
MICROSOFT WORK TREND INDEX – Will AI Fix Work? | KATHLEEN HOGAN - Microsoft’s Chief People Officer shares how AI will impact workers
Microsoft presents three key findings related to the question: ‘Will AI Fix Work?’ (1) Digital debt is hindering innovation, with organisations struggling to fully leverage AI technologies due to outdated systems and processes e.g. the study finds workers spend two full days a week on email and in meetings. (2) There is a shift towards a new AI-employee alliance, where employees see AI as a tool for augmentation rather than replacement. (3) Every employee needs AI aptitude, highlighting the importance of upskilling and fostering a culture of AI literacy to empower employees to effectively collaborate with AI technologies. Kathleen Hogan distils this into three elements to realise the benefits of AI for employees quickly: fostering an agility-based culture, reimagining how we work, and investing in deeper human skills.
AI is the defining technology of our time, creating a massive paradigm that will transform the way we work with even greater impact than the introduction of the PC
FIG 8: AI’s Productivity Promise (Source: Microsoft Work Trends)
BCG - How Generative AI Will Transform HR
“Generative AI has done what no other technology trend has: accelerate HR’s engagement with artificial intelligence.” BCG highlights three key areas for HR in relation to generative AI: (1) How GAI can transform HR into a more strategic function through increased self-service, enhancements to employee productivity and experience, personalisation of HR programs, and using skills data to power the talent ecosystem. (2) Its potential to deliver a 30% increase in productivity across the employee lifecycle (see FIG 9). (3), The dual role for HR leaders in driving generative AI transformation – for the enterprise and for the HR function itself. (Authors: Julie Bedard, Katie Lavoie, Renée Laverdière, Allison Bailey, Vinciane Beauchene, and Jens Stefan Baier.
Executive teams are looking to HR to be a deeper, more insightful partner throughout the business.
FIG 9: The potential of Generative AI to deliver productivity gains across the employee lifecycle (Source: BCG)
MERCER - Generative AI will transform three key HR roles
Generative AI (GAI) is set to reshape the HR function with a study by Mercer finding that 58% of firms plan to use GAI in HR by 2024. The article reimagines three HR roles – HRBPs, the L&D specialist and the Total Rewards leader - to highlight the impact of GAI. The study estimates that 36% of the HRBP role could be augmented or replaced - generating potential savings of $30,000 per annum. The authors debate the broader opportunity for GAI (see FIG 10) and makes the critical point that instead of seeing GAI as a tool to reduce headcount, HR leaders should instead look to develop an optimal blend of human and tech to reimagine the HR function of the future. (Authors: Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, Helen White, Kate Bravery, Jason Averbook, and Todd Lambrugo).
Generative AI may not cause job reductions, but there is no doubt that HR professionals who use it will be more in demand than those who don’t.
FIG 10: The changing nature of work and the transformative role of generative AI (Source: Mercer)
ANDREW MARRITT AND DAVID GREEN - The Impact of GPT and Generative AI Models on People Analytics | ANDREW MARRITT - GPT for People Analytics: Four concepts you need to know
Two articles featuring Andrew Marritt on the role of generative AI in people analytics. In the first article, Andrew and I explore what GPT models are, where they will be used in people analytics, the importance of training data, the weaknesses of LLMs, and more. While in the second article, Andrew highlights four concepts people analytics professionals need to know: i) Prompting (“the best way of finding a good prompt is by experimentation”), ii) Context Windows, iii) Fine Tuning, and iv) Embeddings.
The big shift for most PA teams is that using these large language models really requires engineering skills over traditional data science skills
iv) PEOPLE ANALYTICS
INSIGHT222 - Investing to Deliver Value: A New Model for People Analytics | Article | Full Report | Diagnostic
The key findings of the fourth annual Insight222 People Analytics Trends study, which was informed by a survey of 271 global companies were: (1) People analytics continues to grow despite a challenging global economy. (2) Measuring and delivering value, from people analytics efforts, is key for the impact of the function. (3) Developing relationships with C-suite and senior stakeholders is essential to deliver on key business priorities. (4) There are eight defined characteristics that Leading Companies display to create impact (see FIG 11). Kudos to my colleagues and authors of the report: Jonathan Ferrar, Naomi Verghese, and Heidi Binder-Matsuo, as well as the practitioners who contributed case studies: Jane Puckey, James Reynolds, Sharon Doherty (she/her), Alan Susi, Jaesun HA, Laura Wright Shubert, and Eden Britt.
FIG 11: The eight characteristics of Leading Companies. Source: Insight222 People Analytics Trends Report 2023
THOMAS RASMUSSEN, MIKE ULRICH, AND DAVE ULRICH - Moving People Analytics From Insight to Impact
While I wouldn’t normally include a resource that isn’t open access in this compendium, I’m making an exception for this must-read paper by Thomas Hedegaard Rasmussen, Mike Ulrich and Dave Ulrich, which can be accessed for a very worthwhile fee of £29.00. The abstract to the paper (see below), which can be considered a follow up to the seminal paper, authored by Thomas and Dave, which was published in 2015: How HR analytics avoids being a management fad, provides a compelling narrative.
HEIN KNAPPEN - Boosting Growth: How People Analytics Elevates Enterprise Value
Hein J.M. Knaapen, formerly chief human resources officer at ING and now Managing Partner, Europe at CEO.works, provides a compelling narrative on the profound impact of people analytics on business success. Hein sets out that when used effectively, people analytics (1) Uncovers strategic opportunities driven by effective people management. (2) Provides actionable insights into performance challenges. (3) Enhances employee engagement and productivity. (4) Establishes a robust link between business needs and HR solutions.
People analytics helps build a more solid bridge between business needs and HR interventions. It values evidence over assumptions. It moves HR professionals from supporting the overall business to providing specific, data-driven solutions to true business challenges.
PATRICK COOLEN - Establishing people analytics as a common practice (part I)
Patrick Coolen presents his model for people analytics (see FIG 12), which is based on his ten-year career as Head of People Analytics at ABN Amro and his recent Ph.D. research (see first paper). In the article, Patrick provides a deeper dive on the first component of his model - People Analytics FIT, where he emphasises that “To be successful in people analytics, having strategic fit or alignment is not enough.” As such, Patrick outlines three other areas in addition to Strategic FIT: Internal FIT, Organisational FIT, and Environmental FIT. You can also read Part 2, where Patrick discusses the benefits of integrating evidence-based HR services as an important step in establishing people analytics as a common practice.
To be successful in people analytics, having strategic fit or alignment is not enough
FIG 12: Establishing People Analytics as a common practice (Source: Patrick Coolen)
ANGUS BAUER - Human capital management research: how people are our greatest asset ARTICLE | FULL REPORT
A fascinating study by Schroders, the Saïd Business School, and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), which sets out the case that: “human capital can act as a clear driver of company productivity and profitability and that companies with durable management frameworks create stronger returns and value for investors.” Angus Bauer lays out the key findings in his article, including the top one: “Human capital is a critical source of competitive advantage and fundamental resilience.” The full report provides evidence, models, and visualisations to answer four key questions: (1) What is human capital and why should investors care? (2) How can we measure human capital and its effects on performance? (see FIG 13) (3) Can we assess the financial materiality of human capital? (4) How can organisations drive positive change in human capital management?
FIG 13: Source - Schroders
LEXY MARTIN – How People Analytics Unlocks Manager Effectiveness: The Next Driver of Value
A compelling report from Visier Inc. written by the incomparable Lexy Martin, which finds that data makes people managers more effective and more human while supporting them to deliver productivity and profitability. The report clocks in at 33 pages and is crammed full of insights and examples from several leaders including Dawn Klinghoffer, Eden Britt, Melissa Arronte, Matthew Hamilton, Anna Lena Fritzsche, and Michael Salva, Intriguingly, the report also provides a worked example of a 10k person organisation and the value that can be realised by successfully democratising people data to managers. The study finds that this amounts to $400 million in cost savings, and almost $200 million in revenue expansion (see FIG 14). For more, tune in to Lexy in discussion with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Democratise Data for People Manager Effectiveness.
Data makes people managers more effective and more human while supporting them to deliver productivity and profitability.
FIG 14: Value table of savings and revenue (Source: Visier)
TINA PEETERS, KARINA VAN DE VOORDE, AND JAAP PAAUWE - The effects of working agile on team performance and engagement
Tina Peeters, PhD, Karina Van De Voorde, and Jaap Paauwe present their paper on agile ways of working, which won the outstanding paper award in the 2023 Emerald Literati Awards. The paper found that working agile improves psychological safety, which consequently increased engagement and performance.
MAX BLUMBERG - What to Avoid When Choosing a People Analytics Operating Model
A short but instructive article by Max Blumberg (JA) ?? on the key areas to consider when evaluating whether to implement a people analytics model including trust, investment and the extent of change management required.
Regulations continue to evolve - models that appear compliant today may not be tomorrow.
PEOPLE ANALYTICS PRACTITIONER COLLECTION: BEN TEUSCH - An incomplete starter's guide to attrition metrics | LAURA STEVENS - Playtime is over. Moving People Analytics beyond the hype. | AMIT MOHINDRA - Shapely Values: Game Theory in People Analytics | LYDIA WU - Seven Lessons I Learned About People Analytics | ADAM MCKINNON AND MARTHA CURIONI - Using AI to Make Better Promotion Decisions | STEVEN COMINGDEER – Integrating Data Science into Your People Analytics Function | GIOVANNA CONSTANT - - Can Synthetic Data Be the Ethical Game-Changer for People Analytics? | SCOTT REIDA - Zero-based workforce planning with ChatGPT in Tableau
2023 saw a growing number of people analytics leaders and practitioners writing about their work, which is to be celebrated as they typically act as a spur and inspiration for others in the field. Eight are showcased here: (1) Ben Teusch, part of Meta’s people analytics team, provides a helpful to attrition metrics (see FIG 15). (2) Laura Stevens PhD distils three critical abilities that provide the foundation to help people analytics teams establish credibility and enhance their impact including the ability to focus on the right problem (Does it relate to company strategy? Can we scale it?). (3) Amit Mohindra explores how people analytics can benefit from the connection between cooperative game theory and machine learning (4) As part of her excellent 'Oops, did I think that out loud' series of articles, Lydia Wu documents seven lessons she has learned from working in the people analytics field – my favourite is: “Stakeholders are more important than numbers”. (5) Adam McKinnon, PhD. and Martha Curioni outline how people data together with machine learning can play an important role in enhancing the conditions for minimising bias in decision making at all stages of the employee lifecycle. (6) Steven Comingdeer explains how Accenture has fully integrated data science skills and talent into its people analytics function, and the benefits it has provided. (7) Giovanna Constant discusses the practical advantages of applying synthetic data in People Analytics. (8) Scott Reida, provides a practical and open-source guide on zero-based workforce planning with inputs from ChatGPT and outputs in Tableau.
FIG 15: A guide to attrition metrics (Source: Ben Teusch)
v) EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, LISTENING AND WELLBEING
AARON DE SMET, MARINO MUGAYAR-BALDOCCHI, ANGELIKA REICH, AND BILL SCHANINGER - Some employees are destroying value. Others are building it. Do you know the difference?
According to McKinsey, employee disengagement and attrition could cost a median-size S&P 500 company between $228 million and $355 million a year in lost productivity (see FIG 16). The authors (Aaron De Smet, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, Angelika Reich, and Bill Schaninger, Ph.D.) then demonstrate how by segmenting employees into six archetypes across a spectrum of satisfaction, engagement, performance, and well-being, companies can re-engage workers, improve productivity, and amplify the impact of top performers.
FIG 16: The cost of employee attrition and disengagement (Source: McKinsey)
MICHAEL MANKINS, ERIC GARTON, AND DAN SCHWARTZ - Purposeful Work: The Secret Weapon in the New War for Talent
Writing for Bain, Michael C. Mankins, Eric Garton, and Dan Schwartz explain that the primary reason why employee attrition remains high and most employee retention strategies fail is because of a fundamental misunderstanding of what motivates most of us to work – namely meaning, purpose and engagement in what we do (see FIG 17). The authors outline three keys to purposeful work: (1) Make work interesting, (2) Connect jobs to the company’s mission, and (3) Build learning into work, and then describe each of these highlighting examples from Walmart, USAA and Shopify.
FIG 17: The Employee Value Pyramid (Source: Bain & Company)
TI PEOPLE - The APEX model: How organizations can systemically improve employee experience Website | Summary Report
I always learn from TI PEOPLE’s research and analysis on employee experience ever since the company was formed by Volker Jacobs in 2016. In their 2023 study, Stephanie Denino, André Fortange, Timo Tischer and Maris García, present the APEX (Activities driving the Practice of EX) model, which is comprised of 3 focus areas, 6 goals and 28 activities (see FIG 18). The model is designed to identify what it takes to improve EX in ways that are sustainable and replicable. Two important threads run through the model: being data-driven and human-centred. The report also covers big questions like “Is an EX leader essential?” and explains that guided by this model, EX leaders can bring about an EX-centric operating system in their organisations.
FIG 18: The APEX model for Employee Experience (Source: TI People)
NICK LYNN – Listening Strategies and Conversation
The ever-thoughtful Nick Lynn presents a framework to support organisations looking to establish conversation as a key component of their culture and employee listening strategy (see FIG 19). As Nick explains, the issue leaders are trying to address when looking to adopt a continuous employee listening strategy is: “How do we build trust and encourage employee voice?” Nick’s model and article breaks this down and highlights how to reach the upper right ‘Conversation’ quadrant through focusing on the Why, the What, the When and the How, and by involving people to the max. I also recommend subscribing to Nick’s EX Leadership Newsletter.
FIG 19: Source: Nick Lynn
PHIL ARKCOLL - The Importance of Passive Listening
Philip Arkcoll of Worklytics extols the virtues of combining active listening (via surveys) with passive listening tools that allow forward-thinking organisations utilising both to understand the real-time behavioural drivers of employee attitudes. For more from Phil, tune in to his discussion with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Successfully Lead the Return to Office.
FIG 20: A model for continuous employee listening (Source: Worklytics)
EMILY KILLHAM - The State of Employee Listening 2023 Article | Full Report
Emily Killham presents the second annual State of Employee Listening report by Perceptyx. Findings include: (1) Over 3 out of 5 leaders place a higher value on listening during a recession. (2) 70% of organisations studied now do some type of listening event at least once a quarter. (3) 7 in 10 organisations plan to further accelerate their listening over the next year. The report also presents the employee listening maturity model (see FIG 21), which has four types of approaches: Episodic listeners (20% of companies surveyed), Topical listeners (30%), Strategic listeners (27%), and Continuous conversationalists (23%).
FIG 21: Employee Listening Maturity (Source: Perceptyx)
ROB CROSS AND KAREN DILLON – The Hidden Toll of Microstress
Reading this article by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon gave me a real a-ha moment. It’s all about ‘microstress’ – small moments of stress that seem manageable on their own but compound over time. In this taster from their book, The Microstress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems — and What to Do About It, Cross and Dillon outline the science behind why microstress can be so debilitating and induce a ripple effect (see FIG 22), introduce 14 key microstresses that hold us back, and offer solutions and guidance for reducing microstresses in your life while maintaining your relationships. For more on this topic, listen to Rob and Karen on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: Empowering HR and People Analytics Leaders in Managing Microstress.
Microstresses may be hard to spot individually, but cumulatively they pack an enormous punch
FIG 22: The Ripple Effect of Microstress (Source: Rob Cross and Karen Dillon)
THOMAS ROULET AND KIRAN BHATTI - Well-Being Intelligence: A Skill Set for the New World of Work
According to data cited by Thomas Roulet and Kiran B. from the University of Cambridge, absence and mental health issues continue to rise in the workplace. They contend that this requires a greater focus on well-being and present their concept of well-being intelligence for managers as a skill set and tool to understand and improve their own and employees’ well-being (see FIG 23). The model summarises the core skill sets of well-being intelligence: (1) Identifying core mental health challenges, such as stress and anxiety; (2) Acknowledging their root causes; and (3) Designing approaches to address them at the individual, team, and organisational levels.
Organizations that promote well-being intelligence don’t just create a healthier and more productive workforce; they build a competitive advantage for the future.
FIG 23: The Overlapping Circles of Well-being Intelligence (Source: Thomas Roulet, Kiran Bhatti, MIT Sloan Management Review)
DAWN KLINGHOFFER AND KATIE KIRKPATRICK HUSK - More Than 50% of Managers Feel Burned Out
Following on from their companion piece With Burnout on the Rise, What Can Companies Do About It?, Dawn Klinghoffer and Katie Kirkpatrick-Husk PhD turn their attention to manager burnout. With more than 50% of managers experiencing burnout, this is a significant challenge that requires fixing. Dawn and Katie highlight some of the causes of manager burnout, the different ways it can be harmful and the impact of the three burnout dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy. The article also presents five ways to mitigate manager burnout: meaning, learning and career development, flexible work, psychological safety and support, and self-care.
When a manager is experiencing all three dimensions (exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy), they are 5.3 times more likely to leave the company compared to a manager experiencing none.
FROM MY DESK
Below is a selection of seven articles I penned or co-penned in 2023:
Four Elements to Building Data Literacy in HR at Scale - Data literacy is set to be the most in-demand skill in the workplace by 2030, with 85% of C-suite executives believing that being data-literate will be as important in the future as the ability to use a computer is today. This applies just as much for HR practitioners as it does to other business professionals. This article presents the key findings of research by Insight222 on four elements to building data literacy in HR at scale – plus links to access the full report.
Why the future of HR is rooted in skills and people analytics - In an article developed in partnership with Gloat, we investigate how people data and analytics is reshaping talent management and the world of work. A big thank you to Ruslan Tovbulatov, Nicole Schreiber-Shearer, and Maya Finkelstein for collaborating on this.
52% of the companies we surveyed are using talent marketplaces and skills inference technologies to bring skills, learning, and careers together to create better mobility for employees and bridge talent gaps.
How to Ensure AI in HR is Fair, Effective and Explainable - Guru Sethupathy, CEO at Fairnow, explains to me why it is vital that the use of AI in HR is fair, effective, and explainable. We also examine the implications of ChatGPT on HR, people analytics and the future of work and how HR is already using machine learning and AI – for example in recruitment.
HR organisations that use AI well will have an advantage in the battle for talent. But to realise this potential, you will need to be well-managed and invest in governance.
5 common people analytics challenges (and how to overcome them) - An interview I did with Kat Boogaard for Culture Amp, on the challenges today’s HR teams face in leveraging people analytics – as well as how they can effectively overcome them.
The History of People Analytics and Its Impact on The Future of Work - This was fun. I joined my old friend Ian Cook at Visier for an episode of The Human Touch podcast for a rich conversation on the past, present and future of people analytics, which was partly inspired by this article: A History of People Analytics in Five Ages.
Influencing the World of Work: Key learnings from The Insight222 Global Executive Retreat 2023 - My round-up of the key learnings from the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat in Colorado, which was held in September 2023 and attended by 60 people analytics leaders and senior HR executives from global organisations.
How ONA and Leadership Development Can Support Businesses in a Recession - Francisco Marin, CEO at Cognitive Talent Solutions, and I discuss how ONA can support organisations during periods of economic uncertainty. Francisco also shares two examples on how ONA: (1) Supported a private network of hospitals to identify and leverage the knowledge of informal leaders during the pandemic. (2) Helped a technology company identify that a new manager had not been accepted by their team.
READ PART 2
Part 2 of my 60 best people analytics and HR articles of 2023 will be published as part of this newsletter next week (on January 14).
THANK YOU
Thanks to all the authors and contributors featured here in Part 1, and also in Part 2 (available on January 14) as well as across the monthly collections from 2023 – see January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December - your passion, knowledge and expertise continues to inspire. Thanks also to my colleagues at Insight222, the guests and sponsors of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast in 2023 and the great many of you that share and engage with the content I share. It’s much appreciated. I wish you all well for a happy, healthy, and successful 2024.
People Analytics
2024年01月12日
People Analytics
The best HR & People Analytics articles of December 2023
The December edition of my monthly compendium is an opportunity to reflect on the year that has nearly passed and look forward to what lies ahead. 2023 has proved to be another challenging year full of geopolitical tension, economic uncertainty, and climate inaction. For HR and people analytics professionals, it has been a year dominated by generative AI, skills, and the continuing journey of HR from support function to strategic partner.
HR’s elevation to being a strategic partner is the underlying theme of my recently published 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article (see FIG 1). If you’d like to contribute suggestions for opportunities 11 and 12, please click here and add your suggestion in the comments.
FIG 1: 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 (Source: David Green)
Despite managing to catch Covid on the flight home, I thoroughly enjoyed my recent trip to India, at the end of November, where I spoke at the Indeed FutureWorks event in Bangalore. A huge thank you to Aarti Deoskar, Jessie Paul, Rittik Mondal, Rohan Sylvester, and the Indeed team for inviting me.
Looking for a new role in people analytics or HR tech?
Before we get to this month’s collection of resources, I’d like to once again highlight the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers nearly 500 roles.
Happy Holidays!
I wish all readers who are taking a break over the festive season Happy Holidays, and a prosperous and healthy 2024. Thank you to everyone who has supported Insight222, myHRfuture and the Digital HR Leaders Podcast in 2023. It’s much appreciated.
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Enjoy reading the collection of resources for December 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 November’s compendium (including those in the Comments below).
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2023 HR RETROSPECTIVES AND 2024 PREDICTIONS
DAVE ULRICH - The State of HR: Looking Back and Envisioning Forward | McKINSEY - What matters most? Eight CEO priorities for 2024 | CULTURE AMP - 7 trends that will define HR in 2024 | KEN OEHLER - RADICL People Predictions for 2024 | VISIER – The New Rules of HR: 10 Workforce Trends for 2024 | i4CP – 2024 Priorities and Predictions
Putting my own 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 to one side, there are a plethora of other trends and predictions being published. Six resources that I recommend digging deeper into come from Dave Ulrich, McKinsey, Culture Amp, RADICL, Visier Inc. and Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). (1) Dave Ulrich looks back on the main themes in HR in 2023, declares “Now is the time for HR,” and outlines four areas where his firm, The RBL Group, will be conducting think tanks in 2024. (2) Homayoun Hatami and Liz Hilton Segel of McKinsey present eight CEO priorities for 2024 including Learn to love your middle managers. (3) Didier Elzinga and Damon Klotz co-opt contributions from Stacia Sherman Garr, Justin Angsuwat, Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM, and Hung Lee for their thoughtful seven trends that will define HR in 2024 including greater pay transparency, staying human as intelligent tech evolves, and regaining trust. (4) RADICL’s Ken Oehler presents five people predictions for 2024, with my favourite being #4 Attention Shifts to Solving Distributed Team Effectiveness (see FIG 2 for RADICL’s model of distributed team effectiveness: Coordination, Connection and Competence). (5) Visier collect trends from a number of industry luminaries and practitioners including Wendy Evesque, Michael Salva, Melissa Arronte, and Eric Bokelberg, with the lead trend being: The CHRO Leads From the Outside-In. (6) Last but not least, in his Foreword to i4CP’s annual look at priorities and predictions, Kevin Oakes highlights the dominance of AI and provides an illuminating insight on the direct correlation between the adoption of AI and business performance: “AI Innovators are more likely to have higher market performance, increased levels of innovation and productivity, and healthier cultures than those that have been slower to adopt AI.”
Now is the time for HR
FIG 2: The Collaboration Opportunity for distributed team effectiveness (Source: RADICL)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
ROB BRINER - Evidence-based HR and people analytics are the same, right? Afraid not
Rob Briner examines the relationship between people analytics and evidence-based HR, explaining each of them, outlining the differences (see FIG 3) and concluding that: “While people analytics is a welcome and necessary development within the HR profession and certainly goes some way to helping HR become more effective, it is not, on its own, enough.” Rob also highlights the three key principles of evidence-based HR: (1) Incorporate multiple sources and types of evidence and information. (2) Adopt a structured and explicit process of gathering and using evidence. (3) Focus on the most trustworthy and relevant evidence.
FIG 3: Differences between people analytics and evidence-based HR (Source: Rob Briner)
PATRICK COOLEN - Establishing people analytics as a common practice (part II)
This article by Patrick Coolen, which follows up Part 1 where he presented his People Analytics FIT model, dovetails nicely with Rob Briner’s article as it focuses on the evidence-based HR services provided by people analytics functions. In the article, Patrick recommends that to establish people analytics as a common practice companies should not only focus on becoming more mature in the evidence-based HR services but in integrating these services too. Patrick provides a roadmap to achieving this (see FIG 4) as well as outlining three reasons for integration: (1) Integration leads to faster and higher-quality delivery. (2) Integration attracts experienced people analytics leaders. (3) Integration supports being a strategic advisor.
High impact people analytics practices integrate various evidence-based HR services
FIG 4: Road map strategies for people analytics practices (Source: Patrick Coolen)
JAAP VELDKAMP AND HELEEN GOET - How to determine your success KPIs in HR
This is a great article by Patrick Coolen’s erstwhile colleague and successor as Head of People Analytics at ABN Amro, Jaap Veldkamp. In the article, Jaap – together with Heleen Goet – outline the process followed at ABN Amro for establishing a clear link between each HR service and its impact on business outcomes. It outlines a ‘define your success’ workshop conducted between the people analytics team and HR at the bank to link each service to output and outcomes (see example in FIG 5). The article also outlines two benefits of this approach: (1) It leads to better collaboration between various teams in HR. (2) It magnifies the broader advisory role of people analytics.
FIG 5: Source: Jaap Veldkamp and Heleen Goet
NAOMI VERGHESE AND DAVID GREEN - The Importance of Ethics in People Analytics for Leading Companies
Naomi Verghese and I explore the critical topic of ethics, which is one of the eight characteristics of Leading Companies in People Analytics identified in the recently published Insight222 People Analytics Trends study. In the article, Naomi and I outline three key practices on ethics adopted by Leading Companies in their people analytics work. (1) Strong Ethical Principles - including the development of an Ethics Charter, with an example from Jaap Veldkamp of ABN AMRO. (2) Open Communication – including the ‘Fair Exchange of Value’, with a contribution from Dawn Klinghoffer on the importance of communicating value to employees. (3) Ethics Oversight – including the institution of an ethics and privacy council (see FIG 6).
The “Fair Exchange of Value” is a key mantra for people analytics teams. If employees understand how their data will be used and see the benefit, it is far more likely that they will contribute data.
FIG 6: Ethics and Privacy council for people analytics (Source: Excellence in People Analytics by Jonathan Ferrar and David Green)
TOM REDMAN AND TOM DAVENPORT - The Rise of Connector Roles in Data Science
In our research at Insight222, one of the characteristics of Leading Companies is that they invest in three key skills in their people analytics team: consultants, data scientists and behavioural scientists. In their article, Tom Redman and Tom Davenport outline the role of connectors, who bridge the organisational gaps that often thwart success with data science projects, and whose key responsibilities mirror many of those attributed to the people analytics consultant in the Insight222 Operating Model. These include: (1) Framing the problem to be solved. (2) Translating between business and technical people. (3) Communicating requirements, progress, and issues within the team. (4) Keeping track of progress toward the overall goal of deployment and organisational change when nobody else sees the big picture. The article outlines how connectors close the gap, provides guidance on how to manage connectors, and provides examples of what companies are trying in this area.
Connectors help senior business leaders understand both the potential and challenges of data science, help data science leaders understand the top problems facing the business, and establish a portfolio of data science projects that aligns with business needs.
BEN TEUSCH - An incomplete starter's guide to attrition metrics | SARA TIEW - Thriving Together: A Year on UOB's Culture Transformation Journey | JACKSON ROATCH – Lessons from Sports Analytics | LYDIA WU - HR in 2024: A Practitioner’s View | MATTHEW HAMILTON - How data quality is like a DIY haircut
November has seen a number of articles written by current and recent people analytics leaders, which typically act as a spur and inspiration for the field. Five are highlighted here: (1) Ben Teusch, part of Meta’s people analytics team, provides a helpful to attrition metrics (see FIG 7). (2) Sara Tiew provides insights from UOB’s culture transformation journey over the last 12 months. (3) Jackson Roatch draws four lessons from sports analytics that we could look to apply in the “less perfect world” of people analytics. (4) Lydia Wu continues her prolific ‘Oops, did I think that out loud’ series by looking into her crystal ball to see what is in store for HR and people analytics in 2024. (5) The nearly as prolific Matthew Hamilton explains why the maxim of people assuming that the better the data quality, the better the analysis is often not correct.
FIG 7: Source: Ben Teusch
GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
PLACID JOVER - The Future of Work is Flexible
In this article, Placid Jover, Chief Talent and Reward Officer, presents three innovations Unilever is making to embrace a move from owning to accessing talent. (1) The Skills Passport (“As companies jostle to build a complete picture of what they need and how to get there, we’re fast learning that the real currency is skills”). (2) The Internal Talent Marketplace (“We have already seen a 40% increase in productivity and a significant reduction in attrition directly linked to Flex Experiences”). (3) The Pixelated Workforce (“Breaking down work into its core elements or “pixels”, then dividing those up between permanent staff and contractors, with the AI recommending teams or individuals for missions based on how they work with others as well as how they perform”). For more from Placid, I recommend listening to this episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How Unilever is Creating New Ways of Working for Its Employees.
As companies jostle to build a complete picture of what they need and how to get there, we’re fast learning that the real currency is skills
RICHARD FLORIDA, VLADISLAV BOUTENKO, ANTOINE VERTRANO, AND SARA SALOO – Rethinking Corporate Location Strategy: The Rise of the Meta City
In their Harvard Business Review article, Richard Florida, Vladislav Boutenko, Antoine Vetrano, and Sara Nasir Saloo outline the structure and logic in where and how businesses locate their offices and compete for talent. Their research identifies the rise of a new type of city, the ‘Meta City,’ which combines elements of physical clustering with digital connectivity (see FIG 8). They argue that this makes location strategy even more important including corporate headquarters, innovation centres, and satellite offices — and more significantly, talent attraction and retention. A must-read for those involved in talent intelligence, hybrid work strategy and strategic workforce planning.
FIG 8: Ranking the world’s Meta Cities (Source: Florida et al)
PETER JOHN LAMBERT, NICHOLAS BLOOM, STEVEN DAVIS, STEPHEN HANSEN, YABRA MUVDI, RAFFAELLA SADUN, AND BLEDI TASKA - Research: The Growing Inequality of Who Gets to Work from Home
Data is increasingly showing that there is a large and growing divide in terms of who gets to work from home. In their Harvard Business Review article, Peter John Lambert, Nick Bloom, Steven J. Davis, Stephen Hansen, Yabra Muvdi, Raffaella Sadun, and Bledi Taska, Ph.D. present research on job postings, which finds that remote work is far more common for higher paid roles, for roles that require more experience, for full-time work, and for roles that require more education. Managers should be aware of this divide, as it has the potential to create toxic dynamics within teams and to sap morale. For more from Nick Bloom, tune in to his conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: Unmasking Common Myths Around Remote Work.
FIG 9: Work-from-home opportunities are more common for highly-paid jobs (Source: Lambert, Bloom et al)
RYAN ROSLANSKY - Talent Management in the Age of AI | GIANNI GIACOMELLI - Learning and Talent Management in the Age of AI | TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC - 4 science-backed reasons AI is better at predicting your potential in a job | DAVID L. SHRIER, JULIAN EMANUEL, AND, MARC HARRIS – Is Your Job AI Resilient? | NADA R. SANDERS AND JOHN D. WOOD - The Skills Your Employees Need to Work Effectively with AI
A key opportunity for HR in 2024 will be to prepare the organisation and HR for the age of AI. Here are five articles that support this imperative. (1) LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky highlights three big shifts to support success a) redefine jobs as a collection of a skills and tasks, not titles, b) bring skills and workforce learning to the centre of talent management, and c) embrace AI to focus teams on human-to-human collaboration, and shares examples from IBM, Genpact, Unilever as well as LinkedIn. (2) Gianni Giacomelli provides more detail on the Genpact example cited by Ryan in his article explaining how they have connected internal mobility, learning, engagement and collaboration (see FIG 10). (3) The brilliant Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic digs into the science to present four ways that AI is better at predicting potential including how AI can increase fairness and diversity. (4) David Shrier, Julian Emanuel, and Marc Harris outline their research on which jobs will be most affected by AI, including which stand to benefit the most from augmentation by AI (see FIG 11). (5) Nada Sanders and John Wood present findings from their research, which highlights two key areas of investment in skills related to AI: a) effective interpersonal skills, and 2) domain knowledge that can help workers get the most — and make the best decisions — when working with AI tools.
FIG 10: Source – Gianni Giacomelli, Genpact
FIG 11: AI Proficiency relative to human by cognitive task (Source: Shrier et al)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
MARIE NEICU, JOAN BEETS, FRANK VAN DEN BRINK, BEAU HOES, AND EDIS PAJIC – Humanized Growth and Multistakeholder Value Creation: Perspectives from Chief Human Resources Officers| McKINSEY - How is the CHRO role changing?
Two resources exploring perspectives from chief human resource officers and how the role is changing. Firstly, the KennedyFitch team of Maria Neicu, Joan Beets, Frank van den Brink, Beau Hoes, and Edis Pajic share the findings from structured interviews with 30 CHROs including Janine Vos, Katarina Berg, Paulo Pisano (also see episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast with Paulo below), Mala S., and Loren I. Shuster. The report is framed around the concept of humanised growth, which is defined as: “Humanized Growth addresses the needs of all shareholders, consumers, colleagues, community and the capital Markets.” It explores the role of the people function as a strategic partner, how to harness technology for impact, how to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, and why humanised growth starts with the employee experience. The second article from McKinsey examines the evolution of the HR operating model, how CHROs are putting the ‘human’ back into human resources, how GenAI will affect the HR function, and how CHROs can build the leadership capabilities required for an agile transformation.
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
RICHARD ROSENOW - The SOAPI Framework - A New Lens for Modern Workforce Planning
Richard Rosenow is one of the best thinkers in our field and demonstrates it with his paper for One Model introducing his SOAPI framework for workforce planning. As he explains, it is a methodology that offers a structured method to break workforce planning into component parts. Each component represents a pillar, collectively forming the discipline of workforce planning. These are: (1) Strategy, (2) Operations (3) Analytics, (4) Planning, and (5) Intelligence. The paper breaks each of these down, and details what happens if one of these pillars is missing (see FIG 12).
FIG 12: Source: Richard Rosenow, One Model
SCOTT REIDA - Zero-based workforce planning with ChatGPT in Tableau
A brilliant, practical, and open-source guide on zero-based workforce planning with inputs from ChatGPT and outputs in Tableau, which has been created by Scott Reida, a workforce strategist at AWS. Scott defines zero-based workforce planning as “A methodology that can shape how businesses align their human capital with organizational goals and enable a more cost-effective solution that gets closer to having the right people at the right time.” His article provides a step by step guide to creating a dashboard (available here) that utilises outputs from ChatGPT for demand and aligns them with the supply of FTEs, facilitating the understanding of capability gaps.
FIG 13: Source: Scott Reida
JEFF WILLIAMSON AND DONNCHA CARROLL - How to Start Smart With a Talent Marketplace
Despite some of the hype, launching an internal talent marketplace can be a significant challenge for organisations. In this article, Jeffrey Williamson and Donncha Carroll share the journey to implementing a talent marketplace at Booz Allen and the key lessons learned with regards to user adoption and change management. The article outlines four lessons: (1) Bring on the gamification (gamifying learning and offering recognition and rewards to employees who invested in their own development). (2) Data goals must be relevant to individual career goals. (3) Even change management needs to change (see FIG 14). (4) Momentum, motivation, and measurement matter a great deal.
FIG 14: Four Culture Challenges to Conquer with a Talent Marketplace (Source: Jeff Williamson and Donncha Carroll)
BRIAN FISHER, MELBA GANT, VASILIS HATZOPOULOS, KATIE JENKINS, HEATHER RYAN, AND PETER STEVENSON - 2023/2024 skills snapshot survey report: Skills-powered practices, future pay and effectiveness
Mercer’s fourth annual Skills Snapshot Survey has a wealth of insights and guidance that highlight the progress many companies are making to embrace platforms and data to action skills-based strategies. In the paper, the authors (Brian Fisher, Melba Gant, Vasilis Hatzopoulos, Katie Jenkins, ?Heather Ryan , and Peter Stevenson) outline the benefits of skills-based practices (see FIG 15), how to build a skills foundation, how to determine the frequency of skill assessment, how to tackle skills-based rewards programs, and provide five steps to building a skills-based talent strategy: (1) Build the business case. (2) Align the key performance indicators. (3) Design with the end in mind. (4) Prioritise change management. (5) Drive and sustain. Also features contributions from Amy Baxendale and Anshul Sheopuri.
FIG 15: The benefits of skills-based practices (Source: Mercer)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
NICK LYNN - Can you have high employee engagement and high turnover?
Nick Lynn reveals that nearly 20% of companies have both high employee engagement and high turnover; and then provides a wealth of guidance on what you can do about it if that’s the case for your company. He breaks down employee engagement and although it can be related to retention, why it is different. Nick shares insightful research from the CIPD on the and WTW on the drivers of employee engagement and experience, with the latter providing analysis and guidance on the links between engagement, performance, and retention. The article highlights WTW research by angela paul and Stephen Young, where they segmented 350 companies according to both the level of employee engagement and the level of retention, comparing each to their respective industry average (see FIG 16), and how companies in the top right quadrant (‘Value Drive’) also have a performance advantage, delivering the best profits and growth (also see FIG 16). Finally, Nick outlines a three-step approach for companies in the Value Risk category: Understand — Prioritise — Spark Change. I also recommend subscribing to Nick’s equally insightful EX Leadership Newsletter.
FIG 16: Source – WTW
INDRANEEL BANERJEE, AVINASH CHANDRA DAS, JATIN PANT, AND SHIKHA SHARMA - Employee experience still matters: Talent retention at GCCs
While focused on ways to improve employee retention at Global Capability Centres, the five actions to improve employee experience outlined by Indraneel 'Indy' Banerjee, Avinash Chandra Das, Jatin Pant, and Shikha Sharma in their article for McKinsey could be implemented in other business areas. The five actions are (1) Use personas and journeys to customise EX. (2) Reimagine the role of manager to emphasise coaching and mentorship (see FIG 17). (3) Find new ways to embed culture and values for a hybrid work environment. (4) Redesign the office for collaboration and connection. (5) Rethink the traditional workday.
Executives should treat EX as seriously as CX by being more scientific and more tailored in their approach.
FIG 17: The roles of manager need to be redesigned to focus more on coaching and mentoring (Source: McKinsey)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
RAINER STRACK, SUSANNE DYRCHS, AND ALLISON BAILEY - Use Strategic Thinking to Create the Life You Want
How can we apply the learnings from corporate strategy projects to our own lives? That’s the unlikely – but ultimately captivating – exam question tackled by BCG’s Rainer Strack, Dr. Susanne Dyrchs, and Allison Bailey in their absorbing Harvard Business Review article. The authors present the seven steps they typically use to conduct a corporate strategy project and show how these can be adapted to an individual (see FIG 18). They then describe each of the seven steps with insights and powerful visualisations, as well as demonstrating how to develop a personal life strategy and summarise it on a single page. File under must-read.
FIG 18: From corporate strategy to life strategy (Source: Strack et al)
MCKINSEY HEALTH INSTITUTE - Reframing employee health: Moving beyond burnout to holistic health
Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN (née Schouten), Brad Herbig, Barbara Jeffery, and Drew Ungerman present the key findings from a recent McKinsey Health Institute study that offers insights into how leaders can help create a workplace that prioritises physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. Three standout findings are (1) Employees who had positive work experiences reported better holistic health, are more innovative at work, and have improved job performance. (2) For employees, good holistic health is most strongly predicted by workplace enablers, while burnout is strongly predicted by workplace demands (see FIG 19). (3) Organisational, team, job, and individual interventions that address demands and enablers can boost employee holistic health.
FIG 19: Source: McKinsey Health Institute
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
McKINSEY - Diversity matters even more: The case for holistic impact
The fourth report in a McKinsey series stretching back to 2015, investigating the business case for diversity. The main takeaway is that the 2023 study finds that the business case is the strongest it has been yet with leadership diversity being convincingly associated with business performance, societal impact and employee experience (see FIG 20). The full 52 page report details case studies from the likes of IHG Hotels & Resorts, DHL Group, and Air New Zealand, as well as presenting five levers for change for moving from commitment to action. Kudos to the authors: Dame Vivian Hunt, Sundiatu Dixon-Fyle, Celia Huber, Maria del Mar Martinez, Sara Prince, and Ashley Thomas.
FIG 20: The business case for diversity on executive teams and financial outperformance (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 December that I recommend readers delve into:
ERNEST NG - What Matters Now: Embracing the New Era of Disclosures for All HR Technology Stakeholders – Ernest Ng, PhD of HiredScore explains why disclosure is a critical tool to maintain trust and legitimacy across four areas (1) Employer Disclosure with Candidates/Employees. (2) Solution Provider Disclosures to the Buyer. (3) Organisational Disclosures to the Government. (4) Industry Analysts with Consumers – the latter is one, I’d personally like to see more of us talking about as we head into 2024.
JAMAL MAZYCK - How Employee Resource Groups help build a culture of belonging - Jamal Evan Mazyck, Ed.D provides insights from Atlassian’s journey in building Employee Resource Groups, and how they engender a sense of belonging: “It’s not enough to recruit talent from underrepresented groups and give them equal access to opportunities; once they’re in the door, these employees need to feel that they belong.”
STEVE HUNT - The Skills Management Revolution: one-year, two-year, and three-year predictions – SAP’s Steve Hunt breaks down skills management in his article, which covers what it is, why it’s important, the three ontologies companies are building with skills management solutions (labour market, organisational and employee/candidate/contractor), and a one, two, and three year outlook on how these solutions will reshape the nature of work and organisations.
FIG 21: Source – Steve Hunt
FRANCISCO MARIN - Reducing Employee Attrition with ONA: A Case Study from a European IT Company - Francisco Marin from Cognitive Talent Solutions presents a case study of a European IT company to showcase how ONA can be used to help predict and mitigate attrition, ultimately leading to a more stable and productive workforce.
PHIL ARKCOLL - Developer Experience: The Developer Centric Approach to Productivity - Another great read from Philip Arkcoll of Worklytics. This time Phil outlines how by using active and passive listening with the objective of working to improve the developer experience, organisations can get developer buy in, boost productivity and attract top technical talent.
FIG 22: Source – Phil Arkcoll, Worklytics
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):
JASON AVERBOOK - Generative AI: Revolutionizing the Employee Experience - In this episode of the Mercer | Leapgen AI-volution: Redefining HR podcast, Jason Averbook explores the transformative power of generative AI in shaping the future of employee experience.
AARON DE SMET, ANGELIKA REICH, ROBERTA FUSARO, AND LUCIA RAHILLY - Who is productive, and who isn’t? Here’s how to tell - In an episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Aaron De Smet and Angelika Reich talk to hosts Roberta Fusaro and Lucia Rahilly about their latest research on employee productivity.
KAYE SLAY, VANDANA BHAGTANI, STACIA GARR, AND DANI JOHNSON - Narrowing Scope & Purpose to Ease the Transition to a Skills-Based Organization – Another great episode of RedThread Research’s Workplace Stories podcast where Vandana Bhagtani and Kaye Slay-Pruitt, UXC share with Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson how they’ve worked together to develop a strategy for transitioning Hewlett Packard Enterprise to a skills-based organisation.
DOUG SHAGAM, COLE NAPPER, AND SCOTT HINES - People Analytics at J&J & Playing Drums – Doug Shagam joins Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on the Directionally Correct podcast to discuss some of the great work the J&J team is doing in people analytics.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
AMY EDMONDSON, ADAM GRANT, AND DES DEARLOVE - Decoding failure, debunking feedback, & harnessing learning for success
A fascinating conversation with Amy Edmondson and Adam Grant, who have just been recognised as #1 and #2 respectively on the prestigious Thinkers50 list of management thinkers. In the discussion with Des Dearlove, Amy and Adam discuss how to manage (and maximise learning from) failure and how to unlock hidden potential (it’s not about where you start; it's how far you can go).
BOOK OF THE MONTH
KATE BRAVERY, ILYA BONIC, AND KAI ANDERSON - Work Different: 10 Truths for Winning in the People Age
I'm currently reading the recently published book by Kate Bravery, Ilya Bonic, and Kai Anderson, which is based around 10 'truths' that are shaping the world of work. Three of the truths are: (1) Purpose rules and empathy wins. (2) Intelligence is getting amplified. (3) Skills are the real currency of work. Packed with insights, guidance, and examples, the book should be an indispensable resource for executives, managers, board members, human resources professionals, and other business leaders.
FROM MY DESK
December saw the final four episodes of Series 35 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by our friends at HiBob . Thank you to Louis Gordon .
MADELINE LAURANO - How to Buy HR Tech and Use It Effectively – Top industry analyst Madeline Laurano joins me to discuss the key themes on HR Tech in 2023, and what lies ahead in 2024 (see video below).
SARAH REYNOLDS - A CMO's Approach to Mastering Pay Transparency – HiBob’s Sarah Reynolds joins me to discuss the intersection of HR and marketing, the business benefits of pay transparency and its importance for DEIB.
PAULO PISANO - Booking.com’s 360-Degree View of Employee Experience – In our conversation, Paulo Pisano, Chief People Officer, outlines how Booking leverages data to enhance employee experience, streamline talent management across its international operations, and ensure that its workforce strategies are both effective and adaptable in a constantly changing business environment.
HEBBA YOUSSEF - Navigating HR Tech Triumphs & Avoiding Failures – Hebba Youssef, Chief People Officer at Workweek joins me to discuss the common pitfalls of implementing HR technology and strategies for success.
THANK YOU
Finally, this month I’d like to thank:
Abhilash Bodanapu for hosting me for lunch during my trip to Bangalore (see here) – it was wonderful to learn more about the people analytics journey bat Capgemini
Raja Sengupta (see here) for such a wonderful discussion on people analytics in Bangalore. It was wonderful to finally meet in person!
Geraldine Woloch-Addamine for including me in her list of Four Inspiring Voices on LinkedIn – it is humbling to be included in the same list as Amy, Adam, and Dave
Teamflect for including me in their list of 18 HR Influencers to Follow
Lanteria HR for including in their list of 10 favourite HR leaders of 2023
Dariush Franczak for including the November edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly in his list of HR resources
Thinkers360 for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in their comprehensive list of 125 Podcasts from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders
CollectiveHR for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast with Nick Dalton in one of their Content of the Week collections
The prolific Esther Abraas for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Laura Wright Shubert in her collection of resources on strategic workforce planning
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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.
People Analytics
2023年12月24日
People Analytics
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