Human resources (HR) involves matching employees to roles within companies to ensure a good fit as to skills and work culture. In addition to recruiting and staffing, HR professionals, departments, and organizations handle employee training and development, employee relations, and compensation and benefits. This comprehensive job relies heavily on data-driven human resources analytics to navigate these complex areas and to develop solutions to identify conflicts related to human capital. It’s imperative that the HR leaders of tomorrow possess a strong understanding of the various types of HR analytics and know how to apply them in their organizations.
Human resources analytics, also referred to as talent analytics or workforce analytics, offers a means of measuring a company’s human capital investment. It encompasses many different fields:
Each field of human resources analytics relies on data. Consider leadership analytics. An HR professional may gain insights about a leader’s performance by gathering information through surveys, focus groups, and employee interviews (ideally anonymously). For example, employees may be asked to rank how motivated they feel on a scale of 1 to 10. The responses can then be charted using digital tools, and statistical modeling can be used to determine if a leader is successfully inspiring the team. Such information can improve the leader’s future performance. The HR department can identify gaps and organize leadership training sessions to address these gaps and build positive behaviors in leaders.
Human resources analytics is used to improve company performance and profitability in various ways. For example, employee performance analytics determines if individual workers are a good investment, specifically if they’re executing strategic plans and generating revenue while simultaneously minimizing expenses and risks. Meanwhile, recruitment channel analytics helps HR managers determine where to look for highly productive employees. This adds up to a more thoroughly vetted workforce that will better serve the company and meet its needs in terms of performance and profitability.
Human resources analytics doesn’t just encompass various fields, like competency acquisition analytics and employee churn analytics. Different types of human resources analytics can be identified and applied across these different fields. These distinct processes serve different purposes, but they all share one thing: a reliance on data.
The primary types of human resources analytics are:
Human resources analytics will remain essential to successful HR operations in the future. Forbes asserts that the data used for such purposes is an HR organization’s most valuable asset. Companies are taking note of this fact: According to an Economist Intelligence Unit report, 82% of organizations were planning to increase their use of big data in HR departments before the end of 2018. Intelligent HR relies on data. Professionals who know how to collect, store, and analyze such data will be in high demand by employers. In general, the prospects for HR professionals look positive. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that opportunities for HR specialists will grow by 5% between 2018 and 2028. The BLS further reports that the annual median pay of an HR specialist was $60,880 in 2018.
Individuals who are interested in pursuing this rewarding career path should consider the LSU Online Master of Science in Leadership and Human Resource Development. The program enables students to develop organization development skills and gives them the skills they need to lead and develop people. Coursework includes Human Resource Analytics; Introduction to Leadership Development; Training and Development in Organizations; Cultural Competency and Diversity; and Team and Group Dynamics. Students benefit from learning from an award-winning faculty and have the opportunity to connect with an expansive alumni network that can open doors upon graduation. The entire program can be finished in as few as 12 months. Explore a future in HR with LSU Online and embark on an exciting new career.
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