SIX MONTHS INTO THE PANDEMIC AND EXPERTS SUGGESTED TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION WAS THREE-TO-FOUR YEARS AHEAD OF WHERE IT HAD BEEN EXPECTED1 AND NOW IT FEELS AS THOUGH 2030 HAS ARRIVED EARLY. THE WORLD OF WORK HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS MONUMENTAL SHIFT, WITH THE ADVENT OF NEW COLLABORATIVE AND INNOVATIVE TOOLS.

SIX MONTHS INTO THE PANDEMIC AND EXPERTS SUGGESTED TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION WAS THREE-TO-FOUR YEARS AHEAD OF WHERE IT HAD BEEN EXPECTED(1) AND NOW IT FEELS AS THOUGH 2030 HAS ARRIVED EARLY. THE WORLD OF WORK HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS MONUMENTAL SHIFT, WITH THE ADVENT OF NEW COLLABORATIVE AND INNOVATIVE TOOLS.

While there are pockets of excellence, data science, analytics and the use of AI are not where they need to be in the HR profession. It’s seen as something other departments do and has been long neglected. In fact, looking at some of the top HR degrees in the UK, not many have data as a focus. One course mentioned “managing data” just once among nearly 40 modules(2) . Furthermore, if you scrape under the surface of HR leaders’ motivations, it’s about relationships(3). In short, the sector prefers soft skills to analytical ones. The CIPD is all too aware of this(4) . It says that too few organisations use HR data and analytics to help inform strategic decisions about how they invest in, manage and develop their workforce to deliver.

The fact is, we’re now in a world where we create data merely by being alive. As a result, the attitude towards data in HR needs to change and it needs to be at the table with those decision makers that value data. The reality is, all this information provides insight and insight provides understanding, understanding prompts solutions and solutions achieve results. There are quick wins, simply by looking in the obvious places, for example, the Microsoft suite of tools. Most businesses have Outlook and Teams and the programme for HR teams to focus on is Viva Insights. Employees can use this to help plan time more effectively, but it can also offer managers insight about work patterns that might lead to burnout and stress, such as regular after[1]hours work, meeting overload, or too little focus time. Leaders can use this to help teams strike a balance between productivity and wellbeing and HR teams can use it to answer critical questions about organisational resilience and work culture. Importantly, it doesn’t just present raw data, it benchmarks it against other businesses in similar industries and gives scores and suggested actions. This is vital as it takes away the need to become an expert in data analysis and does the heavy lifting before the data reaches a human.

With the basics in place, HR teams will find themselves becoming more strategically valuable and able to present real-time information to the board and show improving metrics. This will go beyond simple and generic stats such as; retention rates and staff satisfaction. At this point, HR can begin to widen its use of data, looking for useful pools of information that can inform strategies. This can be found in any number of places, for example, there are new tools that integrate Microsoft with LinkedIn, to listen to how staff are communicating and acting. This can illustrate how they feel; are they stressed or happily challenged, facing burnout or ‘boreout’, considering a new role or being advocates for the business? It’s all aggregated and de-identified, to ensure privacy, but this level of data can help HR teams identify problems and strengths, allowing them to act and offer recommendations to the board. It’s like constantly having a finger on the pulse of the workforce.

HR teams need to able to answer the toughest questions they’ve ever been asked about a workforce in flux. They must harness the huge volumes of data available to them, make sense of it and take action. Considering every single person now creates about 1.7 MB of data every second(5), HR needs to put data skills at the heart of what it does and quickly.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/how-covid-19-has-pushed-companies-over-the-technology-tipping-point-and-transformed-business-forever
2. www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/ug-business-and-management-hr/
3. www.sage.com/en-gb/blog/hr-why-love-sector-career-tips/
4. www.cipd.co.uk/news-views/viewpoint/people-analytics
5. techjury.net/blog/how-much-data-is-created-every-day/#gref

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