By Antonio Zivanovic

Over the past few years, the words ‘big data’ have become commonplace across myriad sectors, but not necessarily better understood—or as widely utilized as might benefit any organizations. In short, information has always been equated with power, and in the modern context, we have access to exponentially ever greater volumes of information.

Finding the focus and filtering out the flotsam becomes essential in this context, which of course is why we have the multitude of workforce analytic system providers that we do; Visier, SAP and Bit Stew Systems are just a few in our own backyard.

Translating Information Into Actionable Insight
Alex Clark, chief technical officer and founder of Bit Stew Systems, is an industry-leading data architect. “With an ever-increasing number of connected devices, sensors and network systems, companies often have millions of unstructured data streams from disparate sources, trapped in siloed legacy systems, all in different formats,” shared Clark in a recent white paper. “The data can be a valuable resource for driving operational efficiency and coping with transformational changes, but only if it can be transformed into actionable insights and meaningful intelligence.”

Indeed, with access to useful data in a usable form, the larger question of big data leadership remains. How can we as HR professionals combine this our years of experience and great intuition to help us make sound decisions that improve our corporate culture and impact the bottom line?

Transforming HR for Competitive Advantage
This is one of the greatest challenges in moving our profession forward, as the largest gap in HR knowledge lies in understanding the numbers behind the success of a business—along with what levers to pull in order to make a financial impact for the company. Arguably, this was not the job of HR in the early years of the profession, but as is known, times have changed and will continue to do so.

In this light, the HR profession has become an key strategic partner, as integral to culture creation, engagement and productivity as it is accountable for its more traditional duties. As a result, greater numbers of HR professionals risen to meet the challenge, while greater numbers yet will be required to stretch beyond prior comfort zones to make a larger impact in their organizations.

What this requires from HR is the ability to respect and reflect the organization’s business strategy, while aligning and substantiating its efforts with the key data now widely available. Herein, trust is built and such trust with key decision-makers is contingent to any organizational success.

An Oracle of Opportunity
However, despite leadership placing a great trust and value in their HR professionals, further contention remains. A recent study of 235 senior executives in Western Europe—conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of software firm Oracle—relates an uneasy balance of expectation and delivery.

While 69 per cent relate a “close and trustful” relationship with HR, and 63 per cent describe their relationship with senior HR as “highly valued,” only 38 per cent believe their head of HR is a key player in strategic planning.  More concerning: only one in ten believe HR is extremely key.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 42 percent believe the head of HR is too focused on process and is not a “big picture” person, and 36 percent are convinced HR doesn’t understand the business well enough.

Of Numbers and Narrative
While from across the Atlantic, this confirms what many contend with in the here and now—too many HR professionals are still struggling to be viewed as strategic business partners. This is where numbers can speak volumes, and big data can provide the crucial leverage needed to change the dialogue with senior leaders.

So where does this leave HR professionals? Equipped with a demonstrably clear understanding of how they can use data to better serve the business, we stand to redefine the HR profession’s greater impact—and the sooner the better. The July 2015 Harvard Business Review was titled ‘It’s Time to Blow Up HR and Build Something New.’ Although the title was explosive to some, the three articles within were just as atomic as the click-bait luring title and worthy reads for all HR professionals.

HR For Tough Times (and Good)
In the first of those HBR papers, Wharton University professor Peter Cappelli explained how HR profession could better serve the the bigger picture—and the profession itself:

“Business leaders tend to see HR as a valuable asset during talent crunches but as a mere nuisance when times are better… In order to get out of this rut, HR leaders need to set the agenda. HR leaders must strongly advocate for excellence in every process the function touches (or should touch), from layoffs to recruiting to performance management. HR leaders also need to either deepen their own knowledge of analytics or partner with those who are experts in order to help companies make sense of all their employee data and get the most from their human capital.”

Rather than feeling a sense of entitlement that HR should have a seat at the table or feeling left out from the “party,” HR and leadership need to be working together to advance people and cultures to foster the development of optimal workplaces. Whether or not HR will experience challenges in accessing and utilizing the workforce analytic tools available to do so is, of course, dependent upon their relationship with and the perspective of senior leadership.

Potential of Data Greater Than Current Sums
According to the SHL Global Assessment Report published in February 2015, “fewer than 50 per cent of global firms utilize objective data as the basis for managing their workforce decisions; furthermore, 77 per cent of HR professionals worldwide do not know how its workforce potential is affecting the company’s bottom line (41 per cent of respondents were unsure and 36 per cent did not have a clear understanding of their workforce’s potential and how it impacts the bottom line.)”

In spite of such eye-opening statistics, we know that when HR Professionals empower themselves and others with great data, the potentials become actionable: to improve efficiencies, implement cost-containment strategies, identify new revenue potentials and generate more industry leading solutions.

At the end of the day, HR leaders have a fiduciary duty to the business and a responsibility to move the culture forward in order to co-create greatness within every aspect of an organization. In order to do so, we need to be using the best data available, both to speak to the business at hand, and help drive that business forward to the betterment of all involved.

This is where big data—in the hands and heads of HR—can truly help to humanize the workplace. Our analytics need to be relevant, valid and reliable, and tell a story which leads to transformational change. Speaking the language of leadership with a strong data to support HR’s counsel is language that necessitates a seat at the table and

In the sense that numbers are a universal language, a stronger grasp of their utility allows HR professionals to communicate their own self-leadership, while allowing us to continually build trust with senior leadership and our teams. Big data does not justify the role of HR, but instead provides the profession with ever greater opportunities to play a key strategic role.

As one of Canada’s top employee health, benefits and pension strategists, Antonio Zivanovic’s personal mission is to inform, inspire and equip people so that they can be freed from the obstacles that prevent them from realizing their full potential.

(PeopleTalk Winter 2015)