Today’s HR departments have their hands on some of their companies’ most valuable data. While the top executives may understand in theory the importance of best practices, when it comes to attracting, hiring, and retaining talent, HR is in a position to show the results of all people management initiatives with the cold, hard, data-driven facts. This has serious significance for every organization’s strategic planning.
No longer relegated to the kids’ table
For this reason, more companies (and more successful companies) are embracing the idea of HR as an important strategic partner. Considering what HR brings to the table in terms of workforce analytics and talent management as drivers for business growth, it is no real surprise that a study of Fortune 500 companies confirmed the benefits of CHROs in the C-Suite (see Forbes article). For example, companies reviewed in the study used the insights from their analytics to recruit and retain higher performers and showed overall gains in financial and market performance, return on assets, and EPS growth and PE ratios.
Taking this a step further, organizations with a strong working connection between CHROs and CFOs had better business results. According to one recent article, CHROs and CFOs, The Perfect Marriage?: “On average, high performers were found to spend 50% more time on the CHRO-CFO relationship, reporting better integration between finance and HR in the areas of processes, teams, technologies and systems.”
So if we all agree that HR needs to come to the table with the analytics to support their contribution to business growth, many HR professionals will struggle with the ‘how’ to pull meaningful data. There are some great tools and some great people out there that can help you with this but first ask yourself the following questions:
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Do we currently capture the detailed data that I need to produce the required analytics?
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If we don’t, is it possible to capture and where would that capture take place?
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Do I have an appropriate system to store this data?
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Do I have a tool (report writer, dashboard etc.) that can pull this data out in a meaningful way?
Once you have these answers in hand, you will be in a better position to seek the tools or help you may need.
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