Human Resource Executive Online, March 14, 2011, Monday

Human Resource Executive Online

March 14, 2011, Monday

Human Resource Executive Online

In Search of an HR Analytics Culture

The second annual Human Resource Executive Forum® got a provocative kick-start Monday night at the Grand Hyatt New York in a pre-conference bonus session designed to do just that: provoke change in the way HR analytics are treated and supported in corporate America.

Let’s face it, said John Hausknecht, assistant professor of HR studies at Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, “HR analytics is still a relatively youthful member of this overall [scientific approach to business metrics].”

Leading off the session, “Breaking Barriers: Creating a Culture for HR Analytics,” Hausknecht cited a study by the ILR School’s Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, the “State of HR Analytics,” that uncovered some pretty crucial barriers to the usefulness and effectiveness of HR analytics for businesses today.

Only 27 percent of the more than 50 study participants from close to 30 CAHRS partner companies felt they had strong teams of analytical talent who could execute HR analytics projects. Only 33 percent agreed with the statement, “Front-line HR generalists understand the value of HR analytics.” Just 13 percent felt they had the necessary technology/systems to facilitate HR analytics, and only one in five respondents strongly agreed that they trusted the reliability and accuracy of their organizational data.

“Clearly, most organizational cultures do not support [the compilation, understanding and predictive applications of] HR analytics,” Hausknecht said.

What Hausknecht and fellow panelists Jonathan A. Ferrar and Craig Hurty offered as takeaways was probably what resonated most with the mostly senior HR practitioners in attendance.

“Be generous with your information [and forget your privacy rules and cultures of suspicion around information sharing],” said Ferrar, vice president of human resources and analytics for IBM. “Also, focus on the data you’ve got. In HR, we have millions and millions of data points. Try not to be tempted to do the next survey. People will be more impressed if you can find new information with old data points.”

Both Ferrar and Hurty, HR head of business operations for Aetna, encouraged listeners to look more closely at the causal relationships of risk, be predictive with the findings instead of reactive, and learn how to show it and trust it.

“I’d like to put my HR people in closer touch with sales,” said Hurty, “because our sales staff have this talent to trust the data and come out with a figure.

“Be provocative, too,” he said, suggesting HR leaders can and should be finding ways to share the type of information that will force challenges, competitiveness between departments and teams, and growth.

“Don’t be afraid to stir the pot,” said Hurty. “Think about ways you might want to break those cultural barriers … and start stirring the pot.”