The Top 10 Benefits to HR Analytics

As well as assisting leaders in making evidence-based decisions to create better working environments and maximise productivity, HR Analytics – also known as people analytics – empowers HR professionals to make data-driven decisions that improve your organisation’s ability to attract, manage, and retain employees.

While the path to actioning workforce analytics is not always simple, there are many benefits to implementing and using HR analytics to enhance the moving parts of your organisation.

1. HR Analytics Utilises Machine Learning

Most modern HR analytics platforms make use of machine learning to help provide them with the information they need to effectively manage staff and efficiently run their business.

To clarify for those who might be unsure, machine learning is an automated process that uses data and statistics to perform tasks without the need for detailed instructions each time – and it’s changing the HR industry for the better.

The advanced analytical approach of machine learning techniques finds the patterns and makes observations that we – as mere humans – often miss.

HR analytics looks at patterns related to employee behaviour, management performance, excessive commute times, and other factors that may otherwise be difficult to observe consistently, producing comprehensive reports for management to reflect on.

2. HR Analytics Improves Talent Acquisition

Employers often find it difficult to obtain the right people who fit the individual job roles within their company and, as result, they’re at risk of losing a significant amount of money when a new hire doesn’t work out.

Recent studies suggest that hiring poorly can produce up to £15,000 in losses for UK businesses – yikes!

Today’s labour market is a competitive place and having the right tools to help your organisation avoid these kinds of losses has never been more necessary.

The right HR analytics software will look at all the information and skills your candidates provide in their application and throughout the hiring process, compare that with your company listing, and draw up an unbiased shortlist of the best potential candidates using its specific algorithms.

This ultimately saves everyone time and money, making it more likely that you make the right choice for your business the first time.

3. HR Analytics Increases Staff Retention

Attracting the right employees is one thing but keeping them around is another.  

Why employees leave and – more importantly – why employees stay are the vital questions that need to be asked and understood within any organisation.  

HR analytics puts an abrupt end to much of the guesswork that comes with analysing employee retention. So much so, that HR analytics has become a key player in assessing the retention rate of employees within a business and helping employers understand the reason for any decrease in those rates.

HR analytics can even shed a light on those most likely to leave an organisation in the future, pointing out any potential employee losses before they happen – allowing employers the opportunity to turn it around.

4. HR Analytics Improves Employee Experience

Employee experience focuses specifically on employees and how they think about their organisation.

It takes into consideration how employees perceive and feel about every aspect of their employment, ranging from the beginning of the recruitment process right through to their last day at a company.

Using HR analytics to focus on and analyse how strong an employee’s sense of belonging to the company is, where they best perform, and how they can continue to grow will increase their overall morale when that information is used to improve their daily work experiences.

In other words, using HR analytics to create unified employee support will improve company culture and create a better working environment.

5. HR Analytics Uncovers Skills Gaps

With the type and amount of data that HR analytics software has access to, it can use its algorithm to easily determine what kind of skills your organisation is lacking and identify any knowledge gaps.

By looking at current skill sets and performance, education, employee experience – and more – people analytics can identify which employees are most suited to successfully upskill in a particular area.

This is great news for HR, as it means that instead of choosing to recruit new talent right away, your organisation can first look inwards when trying to fill any talent and skills gaps. This leads to lower recruitment costs by optimising your current workforce, driving positive business outcomes.

6. HR Analytics Increases Productivity

Thanks to ever-evolving people analytics, productivity is on the rise now that organisations can measure productivity on a grand scale, enabling employees to deliver their best performance to support business development.

By utilising the available tools, employees (and employers) are better able to manage their time and work. Some HR analytics platforms even give insight to significant interactions among employees and the collaboration between various divisions.

This allows organisations to reflect and improve on future collaboration and employee output.

7. HR Analytics Improves Process Efficiency

Productivity and efficiency tend to be interchangeable, but there’s a critical difference between the two.

Productivity tends to look at the quantity of work completed by an individual or team, whereas efficiency refers to the resources used to finish that work.

HR analytics is perfect for those organisations that look to optimise their internal processes and streamline their employees’ workflows, making processes more efficient.  
 
Tools like SAP User Experience Management, for example, can boost your organisation’s efficiency by providing insights into how employees are interacting with various applications and the impact of their productivity.

This gives important insights into the areas that are working as well as insights into the areas that need improvement within the business.

8. HR Analytics Enhances Financial Insights

While they’ve typically been siloed in the past, predictive analytics breaks the barrier and brings HR and finance departments together under one umbrella.

HR may have one set of data when finance has another, but when an organisation brings in software that streamlines information and updates it across all divisions, it saves individual departments the headache of trying to figure out who has the correct numbers.

This allows for both teams to deliver a consistent and concise view of metrics to business leaders, demonstrating a solid and more cohesive set of analytics concerning ROI numbers, employee salaries, and the like, to make data-based decisions on.

9. HR Analytics Helps Prevent Workplace Misconduct

This may come as a surprise if you’re not already well-versed in a people analytics platform, however, it’s worth noting that a huge benefit to HR analytics software is its ability to identify red flags specific to any misconduct.

Employee behavioural data can hold the information necessary that can help with anticipating and combating issues like workplace harassment and bias.

Key indicators, such as where employee issues are occurring and what’s being reported can be analysed and assessed to predict trends and encourage tactical plans to take preventative action across your organisation.

10. HR Analytics Helps Organisations Perform   

In each workday, there are frequent touchpoints between employees, clients, third parties – the list goes on and on – and HR analytics enables management to tailor those experiences through the platform’s continual feedback.

This recurrent feedback typically results in strategic planning that enables both employers and employees to thrive.

HR analytics allows organisations to be proactive rather than reactive, and while we’ve all heard it before, it’s a powerful notion that can change every business for the better.

When you compare analytics results – past and present – you can better predict the future needs of the business and prepare for them in advance.

People analytics allows organisations to go beyond their typical boundaries and analyse ‘big data’ at an advanced level, making it a game-changer for the HR industry.

With new possibilities promising a wealth of potential from data insights, there’s no better way to get ahead than by getting behind HR analytics.

Are you looking to bring a modern approach to your HR department? Learn how earning a 100% online CIPD qualification can help.