The phrases "actionable" and "business intelligence" are rarely used together in the same conversation - much less the same sentence - when it comes to the people side of the business. But there is a nascent movement underway to apply business intelligence thinking and tools to "HR stuff." Some argue that analytics - including the people side of the business - will increasingly become a source of competitive advantage for organizations mastering it.
The essence of business intelligence consists of mapping disparate pieces of data together and assessing how they relate to one another. On the people side of the business, this typically includes data from well-designed employee surveys and key performance indicators.
It's a four-step process:
1. Develop smarter measures of the human drivers of performance
This requires going beyond traditional one-size-fits-all notions of employee engagement (one of those "dangerous half-truths"). Engagement (a measurement of what drives an individual's discretionary effort) is necessary, but certainly not sufficient, for driving organizational performance.
2. Focus on the "right" key performance indicators
The right KPIs are those that are critical to a key stakeholder, available on a timely basis, and comparably measured across multiple units.
3. Use appropriate quantitative methods to link these measures to performance
This will be determined primarily by the number of data points available for analysis. The number of data points available is, in turn, determined by the appropriate unit of analysis for the KPI under consideration (e.g., individuals, teams, business units). When the number of units of analysis is small, use simple statistical techniques. If you have a large number of units of analysis, more complex statistical techniques become available.
4. Present your analysis results in a simple, easy-to-understand format
Avoid data dumps. Focus on concise reporting that helps decision makers quickly determine the right course of action.
