Whether you are in a small company or a large multinational, you have to deal with HR data – to fulfill regulatory reporting requirements or respond to an employee question about benefits or advise management on ways to address a high turnover problem.
Let’s face it. Data is here and it’s here to stay. Nonetheless, data is just data – numbers, words, statistics. It’s the answer to the question: “What’s so?” But that’s only half of the picture. The other half is the answer to the next question: “So what?”
Coming up with data or generating a report is only half of the picture. It represents only the early stages of a broad understanding of where the business stands. It requires analysis and exploration that answers questions such as “why”, “what is going on?”, or “what can we do to fix this”?
What managers need is information they can act upon — the answer to the question “so what?”
What’s needed is meaningful analysis that will lead to an actionable conclusion. Here’s an example: HRIS data shows that the company has an unusually high turnover rate. (That’s the “what’s so”.)
The HR Manager attempts to identify the cause/s of the high turnover rate. Further analysis of HR data can provide clues: Where is the turnover highest? Is the problem isolated to one department or geographic location? Is the high turnover a natural consequence of poor hiring decisions? Is it from lack of employee development and training? Is there a problem with the manager of that department? (Don’t skip those exit interviews!)
The problem is when the HR department does not have the right tools to provide such HR intelligence. How can a solution to a problem be found, when the problem has not been well-defined? How can turnover be addressed when there is no data to show where it’s happening, who’s affected — areas where more detailed investigation can lead to possible corrective action?
Some employee data might be in spreadsheets, some in your payroll system, some in multiple databases, or even paper files. I spoke recently with an HR Manager whose HR data is stored in a large, complex enterprise-wide system. But she finds it too complex and difficult to use for practical day-to-day HR data retrieval, analysis and reporting.
It’s time for HR Managers to do something more with your valuable HR data. With employee-related costs bearing the brunt of a company’s expense budget (e.g. salaries, benefits, legal compliance), it behooves HR Managers to be close to their HR data. They should understand what data they track, how it is stored, and how to quickly retrieve, analyze and summarize it.
For effective and efficient analysis, that data is best moved to a single HR database: a true HR information system (HRIS) like HRSource that covers all the functional areas important to your organization and supports your needs as an HR Professional. This makes you more effective while eliminating duplicate data entry, data errors, and time wasted wading through disparate data sources.
With the right tools, HR Managers can advise management on where to reduce costs, how to improve operations, ways to enhance productivity. With a good understanding of HR data, HR Business Partners can be major contributors as they bring the intelligence that helps the organization achieve its goals.