15. November 2024 9 minutes reading time

HR Data & Me

The Relationship Between an HR Professional and Data

Beitragsbild Innovation Blog: HR-Daten & Ich: Die Beziehung zwischen einer HR-Fachkraft und Daten

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HR Data & Me

“All this is to say: change is coming, and it’s best to get a head start.” This quote comes from an article in the Harvard Business Review entitled “21 HR Jobs of the Future” by Jeanne C. Meister and Robert H. Brown, published in August 2020.

It sums up the growing importance of data for the HR function of the future. This is not to say that HR data is not important today – it has been and continues to be of great importance. My point is that HR data will be critically important in the future. Research shows that it will fundamentally change the role of HR professionals. We will explore this in detail in the following blog post.

What is Meant by HR Data?

HR data encompasses a wide range of information about people in an organization. It includes both quantitative and qualitative data that is collected, managed and analyzed by HR departments to support informed decisions. HR data can be found in HR, IT and other departmental systems as well as external sources such as salary surveys or labor market reports. Common types of HR data include:

HR data needs to be analyzed to gain insights into the workforce – for example, to identify patterns and trends that lead to actionable recommendations, such as forecasting future staffing needs. In recent years, technology has developed tools that enable HR functions to analyze their data and become more strategic. However, analyzing HR data requires skills in statistical analysis, interpretation and presenting data in a meaningful way. This development represents a challenge for the HR profession. Does the HR function have the necessary skills and competencies to analyze data? Can the typical HR professional step into the role of a data analyst, or should the HR department hire data analysts or data scientists?

The Emerging HR Roles with a Focus on Data

The Cognizant Center for Future of Work and Future Workplace have launched a joint initiative to explore what the future of the HR function will look like. As part of this initiative, a network of nearly 100 CHROs, CLOs and VPs of Talent and Workforce Transformation were brought together to consider how the role of HR might evolve over the next ten years (Meister J.C. and Brown R.H., 21 HR Jobs of the Future, Harvard Business Review, 2020). The 21 identified HR jobs of the future were assessed according to their organizational impact. Some of these roles are completely new positions, others include new responsibilities that are becoming increasingly important. All 21 jobs embody five key themes:

Individual and organizational resilience
Trust and security in organizations
Creativity and innovation
Data competence
Partnerships between man and machine

The 21 HR jobs of the future were arranged in a 2×2 grid (see Figure 1); the X-axis represents time and the order in which the roles are expected to occur over the next 10 years, while the Y-axis represents ‘technology centricity’.

Let’s take a closer look at one of the five core topics – data literacy. As an HR professional or department, to what extent do you analyze HR data to solve employee problems? I was surprised to see “data literacy” on the list, but I think HR will increasingly adopt data analytics – provided the HR function makes the shift to a data-driven way of working. This will give HR a “seat at the table”, to use an often-used phrase. This means that HR will not only be involved in high-level decision-making processes, but its contribution will also be valued and appreciated.

21 identified HR professions of the future — Figure 1: 21 HR Jobs of the Future (hbr.org)

HR Data Detective

How does this role sound to you? The title may seem unusual at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Analyzing HR data will require greater data literacy skills in the HR function. The HR Data Detective – one of the 21 HR jobs of the future – could drive this change. This person would be responsible for bringing together disparate data streams to solve business problems. An HR Data Detective is equally comfortable diving deep into data as they are in identifying and explaining the ‘big picture’. They gather and analyze insights to improve employee performance and drive better results for the entire organization (Meister J.C., and Brown R.H., 21 HR Jobs of the Future, Harvard Business Review, 2020).

The HR Data Detective role is a natural progression from the HR Management Information role. This person also uses employee data to highlight issues, but does not necessarily investigate the root cause of the problem.

The Role of HR Data

Marler and Boudreau define HR data analytics as “a set of processes enabled by technology that use descriptive, visual and statistical methods to interpret HR data and HR processes” (International Journal of Human Resource Management, An evidence-based review of HR Analytics, 2016). These processes include:

Level 1

Descriptive Analyses

Describes a specific period or a historical trend. Examples: Fluctuation rate, absenteeism rate, number of new employees and departures as well as “lost time” due to absences.

Level 2

Descriptive Analyses with Multidimensional Data

Combines different types of data to investigate a specific question. Example: Linking data on leadership competence with engagement values to measure leadership effectiveness.

Level 3

Predictive Analyses

Uses data to predict what might happen. Example: Analysis of historical workforce data and external labor market trends to create a model that predicts the organization’s future workforce needs.

Level 4

Prescriptive analyses

Uses the results of descriptive and predictive analyses to make immediate recommendations for action.

Where does your HR data analysis process stand? Are you operating at level 1, 2, 3 or 4? To be a true HR data detective, you need to be operating at level 3 and 4.

The Relationship Between HR Professionals and Data

HR professionals and data have a complicated relationship. The HR profession encompasses a wide range of tasks and expertise, but ultimately HR is about creating good work and good working conditions within organizations. I started my career in HR because I was interested in the psychology and behavior of people in the workplace. I think many people who work in this field do so for similar reasons. The HR industry often attracts people who want to create successful organizations and really improve people’s lives. This gives HR professionals a strong sense of purpose and meaning.

It is therefore not immediately obvious that data plays an important role in the HR function. For many HR departments, data collection and reporting remains at Level 1 of Marler and Boudreau’s HR data analytics maturity model, an area where most HR departments feel comfortable.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel (CIPD) Profession Map classifies HR data analytics as one of the “specialized knowledge areas” in the HR profession, on a par with typical HR activities such as learning and development, employee relations and resource management.

HR data analysis as a specialized field of knowledge — Figure 2: CIPD Profession Map

Data Quality Self Assessment

How is the quality of HR data in your organization?

A solid reporting foundation relies on accurate HR data. With our Data Quality Self-Assessment, you can find out how your HR data measures up – and receive initial recommendations for action if there is room for improvement.

The standards for specialized knowledge describe what knowledge an HR professional needs to be an expert in handling data about people and the organization in order to make informed decisions. I call this knowledge the HR data detective persona. This person understands the following:

Data: How to use HR data responsibly to gain insights about people.

Data technology and platforms: How to integrate HR data from multiple data sources and automate the flow of data between sources.

Analytical consulting: How to process HR data to provide strategic advice and develop solutions to employee problems.

Research design: How to conduct research designs and apply qualitative and quantitative techniques to solve problems.

Data analysis: How to recognize complex patterns in HR data to gain insights.

Data science: How to interpret complex HR data models and apply them to employee problems.

Data visualization: How to use HR data visualization to influence decisions related to employee issues.

But how easy is it for an HR professional to move into HR data analytics? It’s definitely a big change for HR professionals, but it is possible. It’s likely that the talent pool of HR data detectives will include people with advanced data skills, for example in data science or AI. HR could also draw data skills from entry-level talent pools such as interns, apprentices and graduates.

I think HR professionals can move into this role, but need to upskill in data analytics, data science and data visualization – specifically how to influence and shape business strategy through insights from HR data, interpret business requirements and deliver data models via self-service dashboards, and apply leading data visualization methods to influence decision-making processes.

There are many new roles in the HR industry, as shown in the 21 HR jobs of the future. There is always the possibility that the HR professional and the HR data detective will work together instead and share their mutual expertise.

Use of Ingentis org.manager as a Tool for Data Verification

Do you see yourself as an HR data detective? Why not start with Ingentis’ Data Quality Screening extension? It is important that HR data is accurate and reliable in order to create precise reports and meaningful dashboards. The Data Quality Screening extension is a useful tool that helps an HR data detective quickly identify errors or gaps in the data and systematically improve data quality and integrity across the organization.

Click here to learn more about the Ingentis Data Quality Screening tool.

About the author

Nicholas Toko is a freelance HR and organizational effectiveness consultant and Jungian Psychoanalyst-in-training at #JungianBitsofInformation www.nicholastoko.com.

He is an expert on the bridge between organizational strategy, structure, culture, people, process and technology including artificial intelligence (AI), and the application of analytical psychology in a psychosocial context including the workplace, specifically to analyze individuals, teams and organizations in-depth and as the basis for personal and organizational transformation