Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

July 4, 2018

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2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CANADIAN HR REPORTER WEEKLY In the world of HR, people analytics is growing in impor- tance as the "digital revolution" rolls on, according to Da- vid Green, an analytics expert in London, U.K. "We're in a period of massive change," he said. "Change has never happened this fast before, and arguably will never be this slow again. Companies now seem to be in perpetual transformation, continually trying to invent new products or services to survive and thrive in the world." In the last two years, humans have collected nine times the amount of data than previously collected in the world's history, said Green. "is is really elevating the role of the CHRO and the HR function to almost become one of the three most important roles within the company, along with the CEO and the CFO," said Green, speaking recently at the HR Tech Summit in Toronto. Automated roles and skills training requires proper preparation and workforce planning, with analytics proving to be a solid tool for navigation, he said. State of analytics "Analytics and data are the centrepiece of a digital agenda for HR," said Green. "It can help us understand: 'What is the shape of the organization we need? What are the skills we need within our companies?'" "Analytics can really help bring all this together, giving organizations some level of certainty in the decisions they need to make." In essence, HR is taking a page from the marketers' book, many who have been using analytics to make decisions for close to 20 years, he said. Analytics can provide up to 13 times return on the dollar, said Green, citing research. "ere's not many HR programs that we can talk about like that." In pursuit of high-performing teams, senior leaders have accepted that people analytics are a vital ingredient to success, spurring further growth in this area, he said. Companies big and small are turning to this data to "support better decision making, improve employee experience, and actually raise the impact of HR." A data-driven culture and foundation comes by communicating the benefits of analytics to all employees — not just human resources, said Green. "Be transparent. Communicate to employees what data you are collecting and why, what the benefit is to them, and the organization." Best practices ere are still challenges with HR data quality and con- sistency, but most employers should have enough to get started, said Green. But data alone isn't enough. Reporting data just for the sake of analytics is not always relevant to the business, he said. "Don't start with the data. Start with the business problem and then you can start to understand what data sources you need to bring together to solve that problem," said Green. "is isn't necessarily about using analytics and data within the confines of HR. We've got to try and break out of the silo mentality and really focus our energy on trying to solve our business problems." "Normally, with every business problem an organization is trying to combat, there is a people element to it." Mining 'people data' central to future of human resources: Expert Solid tool for navigating changing workplaces, career development BY MARCEL VANDER WIER Sign up for the Canadian HR Newswire today for free and enjoy great content from the publishers of Canadian HR Reporter. HR News at Your Fingertips THE LATEST NEWS THE BEST COMMENTARY DELIVERED WEEKLY FOR READING ON ANY DEVICE Visit www.hrreporter.com/ canadian-hr-newswire

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