What is talent analytics?
Talent analytics is a method of utilizing employee data to promote intelligent workforce planning and business decisions. As an evolving field, talent analytics enables HR professionals to collect, analyze, and report data concerning employees and candidates to improve HR functions. Organizations rely on HR software to assist in the various forms of talent analytics, such as
- Algorithm-based candidate screening to source new hires
- Automated pulse surveys to gauge employee engagement
- Prediction of the likelihood of employee turnover
Why should HR leaders care about talent analytics?
With AI tech permeating every corner of the business world, HR professionals need expertise in talent analytics. By employing talent analytics, HR can uncover trends in the workplace and the incentives that drive employees and job candidates. Ultimately, talent analytics enables HR departments to dramatically improve recruitment and hiring practices and boost retention and engagement strategies.
What can HR leaders do to implement talent analytics?
HR leaders can incorporate the following practices to build an effective talent analytics program:
Take a strategic approach
Developing a game plan is essential when it comes to talent analytics. Each organization can create a strategy that fits its specific goals and needs. MIT Sloan School of Management shares a basic four-step process for developing thoughtful and comprehensive talent analytics strategy:
- Generate important people-related questions and problems to address.
- Plan a project to gather and analyze relevant data to tackle questions and problems.
- Report the results.
- Use the results to drive company improvement for all.
Create a policy that ensures ethical practices
Talent analytics can provide powerful insights regarding employee patterns and motivations. Yet, analytics can lead to many privacy violations and legal issues. Before jumping into implementation, it’s advisable to create a policy that supports transparent, honest practices. Josh Bersin highlights four areas to focus on when building an ethical talent analytics policy: privacy, security, bias, and people impact.
Ensure that HR professionals have the necessary data skills
If HR professionals lack basic data analytical skills, it’s time to upskill. Providing learning and development opportunities to help HR professionals acquire and hone their data analytics skills can reduce the talent gap between their current competency levels and the required levels.
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Encourage collaboration between data analysts and HR professionals
Cooperation between data analyst teams and HR can facilitate evidence-based decisions. The numbers alone can’t tell a story. But, by applying the data to a specific agenda, HR leaders can more likely garner the executive support they need to make impactful changes in recruitment, hiring, and retention practices.
Why should talent analytics be a part of modern HR strategy?
With the rapid growth of data analytics, talent analytics has become an essential component of talent management. Incorporating talent analytics into the HR strategy enables HR leaders to maintain a robust strategy that can adapt to the constant tech and job market changes rocking the world of work.