Not just a tech industry buzzword, big data is making an impact across businesses and teams of all stripes. Combining and analyzing massive amounts of gathered data can lead to insights that improve everything from product development to customer relations and beyond. Big data also has the potential to revolutionize how HR teams find new candidates and improve culture and employee satisfaction—and more.
So how have HR professionals embraced and utilized the big data trend? Below, eight leaders from Forbes Human Resources Council talk about the impact big data has made on their work and on their businesses.
Members of Forbes Human Resources Council share ways their businesses make use of big data to improve HR efforts.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Improving DEI Initiatives
We built a dashboard to analyze diversity, equity and inclusion metrics for our clients. Organizations can measure their success with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and create a meaningful, data-driven impact in addressing inequity. Data is key to helping employees understand that DEI efforts are authentic and that leadership is invested in eliminating bias and promoting equity. - Jay Polaki, HR Geckos
2. Determining Time Spent On Skills Development
Data from a learning management system or learning experience platform can provide insight into how much time employees are spending investing in new skills and competency development. Analyzing longitudinal trends in key learning metrics sheds light on the extent to which the organization is upgrading employee skill sets, embracing a learning culture and keeping pace with technological change. - Heide Abelli, Skillsoft
3. Anticipating Employee Support Needs
As a technology company, our culture is to lean into data. Benchmarking is important because it allows us to see the trends that will bring the biggest impact and provides evidence of how and why change is needed. There is also a huge trust barrier that is overcome by being transparent and sharing data openly. By analyzing the information, we can anticipate and support employees where they need it. - Tobin Cookman, ON Semiconductor
4. Indicating Software Usage Patterns And Effectiveness
When HR tech is leveraged correctly, the software should provide data on how employees use it and exactly how effective it is. With real-time ROI on those usage patterns, you can simplify processes to promote further usage. This allows HR professionals to be more strategic while also justifying the cost of new programs to bolster engagement initiatives—all of which ensures a better employee experience. - Jennifer Kraszewski, Paycom
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5. Creating ‘Reliability Ratings’ For Hourly Staff
One of the ways we have been embracing big data is by implementing a “reliability rating” for our hourly employees. With over 20,000 employees working for over 500 clients, we have a ton of data points, and we have been able to use the data to create a reliability rating that helps determine success. We also found this helps discourage cancellations because people don’t want their rating to decrease. - Alex Pantich, Upshift
6. Gaining Visibility Into Employee Sentiment
We use continuous feedback systems, including always-on anonymous employee surveys, to surface data that can improve our HR efforts. Anonymous employee pulse surveys create space for employees to share their feedback and concerns. This data provides meaningful visibility into employee sentiment, insight on critical areas that need improvement and the guidance necessary to take effective action. - Natalie Baumgartner, Achievers
7. Boosting Talent Retention
We have invested a significant amount of time in testing hypotheses that may increase retention numbers. We use these levers to drive “stay conversations” to prevent as many exit interviews as we can. Retention of our talent is imperative to our continued growth. - Paul Phillips, Avanade
8. Enhancing Work Flexibility
Big data is helping organizations reimagine the future of work. It has provided valuable insights into productivity, working hours and the workplace that have changed the mindset on remote working. This has enabled the hybrid model that empowers employees to flexibly work from either home or the office, and it has created a cultural shift in which outcome has become more important than time spent on the job. - Kumar Abhishek, S&P Global
