Whats People Analytics ?
People analytics is a methodology based on the use of data analysis to support the management of people in the workplace. Its application is increasingly present in the reality of companies, since the appropriate use of information facilitates decision-making based on experience, reducing subjectivity and improving the efficiency of managing people.
The application of People Analytics reduces subjectivity and brings greater efficiency to the people management model
Applications
Imagine that a senior analyst position opened up in the accounting area. How do I know if I have potential successors at home? In addition to talking directly with the area manager, potential collaborators can be analyzed through the database, including those from other areas, for replacement or promotion. Analyzing the characteristics of each one, their growth curve, abilities and competencies mapped through people analytics will help to find solutions and make decision-making based on data, and not just on experience.
This is just one example of how the results generated by measuring and analyzing employee performance can transform all people and management processes, from hiring to retaining talent.
recruiting
Recruitment and selection processes can be quite complex, requiring high costs and efforts. Although outsourcing is a common solution seeking to reduce expenses, selecting people is one of the most strategic activities of a company and has increasingly counted on the participation of senior leadership.
To support a selection process with reduced costs and with greater precision, data analysis is a method that provides a series of benefits. When applying for a particular vacancy, the candidate provides some data that will be used to draw up a preliminary profile to be cross-referenced with information on the vacancy requirements and the profile considered to be a good performer for that position. To draw this profile, historical data are essential, taking into account training, performance evaluations, mapping of skills and competencies of each employee, and other characteristics.
In this way, the first filters are performed automatically assisted by quantitative analysis tools, increasing the probability of success and leading to more advanced stages of the process - such as interviews - those candidates who are statistically most recommended for the position.
Development and Performance Assessment
Usually performed biannually or annually, the performance evaluation is responsible for providing feedback on the employee's performance, highlighting their strengths to be explored and scoring those to be developed. Maintaining a reliable history of this information allows the data to be monitored and viewed quickly using tools, supporting the monitoring of individual development, but also allowing comparison with other employees of the company.
This comparative analysis through People Analytics provides a series of benefits:
- It promotes meritocracy, through the rapid comparison of employees, facilitating a fairer promotion process
- It allows the mapping of characteristics in order to identify the most appropriate, or even complementary, profiles necessary for each position or area of activity
- It contributes to a better understanding of the employees' growth curve, supporting the definition of a career plan for each one
- Supports the drafting of a succession plan
- Facilitates the sharing of information and lessons learned among managers, in order to improve employees' Individual Development Plans (PDI's)
Talent Retention
Often, to win the market war in retaining talent, companies offer more money to those who remain, either in the form of a salary or bonus. However, in environments that face a high rate of wear and tear in relationships and employee dissatisfaction, this strategy is generally not effective.
A meritocratic environment, in which employees feel recognized for their work and receive constant monitoring for their development, is a differential that not all companies are able to create.
How are companies in Brazil performing today?
The third edition of the Research on Best Practices in People and Management, applied at the beginning of the second semester of 2017 by Visagio, evaluated, among other topics, how companies are working today with People Analytics. According to the results, only 24% of the 81 responding companies have any initiative on the topic, showing that it is still an incipient topic in the country's organizations. A limiting factor of People Analytics that impacts this result is the availability and quality of data: only 13% of companies reported having the availability of high-quality data.
Regarding its daily use, according to the research, the most practical applications of People Analytics focus on Dashboards and Workforce Planning, showing little use of the tool for career, succession and retention of employees in Brazil.
By monitoring employee performance evaluations and the growth curve, it is possible to identify some typical situations of job abandonment beforehand. Other situations, however, are already the result of the work environment and can be identified by an organizational climate survey. Analyzing the results of this type of research, opportunities for improvement will be identified for the organization, resulting in a climate that stimulates engagement and retains talent.
Application of People Analytics in Brazilian companies
People Analytics is capable of providing a lot of insights to solve people management issues in organizations, and it is important to stress that different types of businesses may require specific mapping.
In addition, contrary to what one might think at first, PPeople Analytics does not appear to mechanize the people and management process, but rather to support and provide information that supports more informed decision-making.
After all, data doesn't create change on its own. Without people to criticize them, translate them into actions, monitor their results, and chart more objective paths, People Analytics becomes just another generator of quantitative metrics.
About the authors
Janaina Jacobs is a Visagio consultant, a specialist in projects focusing on process engineering, organizational restructuring, and the implementation of a shared service center in the real estate, retail, health, financial and telecommunications sectors.
Marcela Figueiredo is a Visagio consultant, a specialist in projects focusing on management models, organizational restructuring and process reengineering in the retail, financial market, public management and other sectors.
