In today’s uncertain times, the ability to prevail in the future has become essential for organizations to survive. Now more than ever, setting goals, strategies and actions loses meaning if it is not directly linked to analysis and measurement of results. Moreover, if we bear in mind that people are the most precious asset for business productivity, the need to integrate analytical processes into the HR function becomes more and more necessary for predicting future lines of action successfully. Data analysis in HR Analytics is a key element for managing professionals as it enables data gathering and analysis of the value brought into the business by an employee or a candidate during their recruitment process or by optimizing processes.
However, how can the HR director lever data? The answer is simple: by transforming data into valuable information for better decision making using the right tools. Of the many analyses that an HR director must do for his company, we would like to highlight four which we believe are indispensable to do for setting out the right business strategy.
Labour Relations Analysis
One of the fundamental analyses in the HR field is about employee engagement with the organization. Knowing the reasons why employees leave a company or detecting those employees who demonstrably have the poorest performance, among other issues, will allow the HR director to react to three key indicators or KPIs in a company, such as employee attrition rate, retention rate or absenteeism rate.
To run this analysis, a technological HR technology solution enables data exploitation for reaching conclusions. Such a tool makes it possible to record the movements of both high- and low-performing employees in a unified manner as well as identify the time period to analyse by using this stored data.
Business Culture Analysis
Corporate culture is essential for reinforcing employee engagement and it also serves as a control mechanism for establishing the appropriate professional behaviours. That’s why analysing this KPI is particularly important in providing information on the company’s effectiveness and efficiency by determining its competitive advantage. Thanks to this analysis, we will be able to find out about issues, such as if employees are actually committed to the company, how a lack of commitment affects productivity, if employees feel they identify with the company’s values, what measures can be taken to motivate engagement among those professionals who identify less with these values.
The knowledge gained from this KPI enables the organization to achieve the greatest benefits, as well as greater control over resources. It favours integration and camaraderie between different business units and improves the quality of customer service, or it successfully increases employee motivation and performance.
Business Management Analysis
Compensation, as understood by the remuneration an employee receives for doing his work, plays an important role in organizations, both at the management level and in terms of controlling personnel costs. Similarly, “total compensation” consists of an economic part — fixed and/or variable remuneration along with flexible benefits and remuneration plans — and a more emotional part, to do with time flexibility, teleworking, among other measures on the quality of work.
Do not forget that high-performing professionals are usually more selective when choosing a job, so it is advisable to assess the situation of the labour market to make the right decisions when setting salaries. Analysis using this indicator allows us to find out what the average salary of the workforce is; if it is in line with market salaries, if there are remuneration gaps based on employee positions, if compensation deficiencies for employees affects their productivity, or if my compensation system is efficient. In addition, this KPI makes it possible to identify how to optimize the company’s remuneration plans and policies—be it through flexible pay plans, performance-based pay improvements, or other options.
To facilitate this analysis, using a technology solution enables among others, automatic creation of salary structures and setting specific indicators for salary increases based on configurable options such as merit, compa-ratio or budget.
Talent Management Analysis
When managing talent, it is advisable to consider various factors that interfere with employee productivity and one of which and probably the most notorious one is the possibility of developing professionals within an organization. Carrying out this analysis will allow you to find out aspects, such as if employees have the right training for developing the functions demanded of them, if the lack of internal development affects their productivity, or how the skills gap can be reduced.
The purpose of training employees is to improve their skills, offer them more opportunities for their continuous development within the company and to upskill so that different positions can be taken on. If employees are aligned with the company through motivating training plans, this will lead to increased performance on the job, which will help to bring greater competitive advantage in the market.
At Meta4 A Cegid Company, as specialized providers of cloud solutions for Payroll and HR management, we are firmly believe that for HR professionals to overcome all the challenges they face, by including analytics in their processes and using innovative technology tools the HR function will undeniably play a leading role in their organizations and actively contribute to increasing the value of their companies.
By Julia Huline-Dickens. HR Client Service Manager at Meta4 A Cegid Company