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Sat Nov 26, 2011 at 06:31 AM by Dennis Nicholas Human Resource chiefs have inspired to be tactical advisers to industry leaders for no less than a generation. However, this hasn’t been easy for many since it’s so hard to quantify the business value of Human Resource acomplishments. For example, you’d ask your HR executive “Are we getting any ROI from training?” and “What is the best screening practice to capture the top performing recruits?” or “Which target-setting technique will most motivate performance?” Such questions have often been replied with loose answers.
Today, conversely, new tools and techniques for analyzing statistics enable HR to delineate the link between performance and “individual practices” more efficiently. It couldn’t have come at appropriate time, given that CEOs are hunting for value added service. The end result: if you haven’t of late discussed with your HR executive ideas for using data to develop a talent strategy that’s a bit closely connected to business results, it’s not too late.
Does it even make any sense at the moment? Of course it does, well, for starters – the corporate trend to embrace HR information systems and enterprise resource forecasts has made information on business performance, operations, and personnel more standardized and accessible. Besides, the growth of HR information systems has built a society of software and technology third parties that can assist business executives and HR use data to unearth connections between labor productivity and talent management. Lastly, the strengthening and outsourcing of operational HR work has driven most leaders to take a first step in quantifying and detailing HR expenditures and performance.
The Bon-Ton chain of close to 285 department stores in the US, for instance, leveraged its statistics to spot elements that made sales representatives dealing with cosmetics successful. Currently, it’s screening potential representatives by employing test of situational judgment, cognitive ability, initiative taking, including other relevant characteristics. Those who manage to score on the top half have a tendency to sell 10% more products compared to those who tend to love their work more. From 2008, the company has witnessed growth of about $1,400 in sales per rep.
More establishments are emerging, predominantly in businesses where workers are vital to value creation (especially financial sectors, retailing, and health care) and more so where inadequate technical skill governs growth (for example technology and upstream oil exploration). Although specific individual-related practices that put in value will vary by organization—industry dynamics, growth rates, talent scarcity, and corporate customs all shape the answers— most businesses witnessed that obtain additional value from investing in HR data used some variation of these undertakings.
HR focused as a business priority: Most HR staff examines, organize, and quantify their activities through the conventional worker life cycle: beginning with recruiting, hiring, along with “on-boarding” and going on to assessment, training, and
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