Talent Management Solutions

Perhaps the most significant technological development to hit the HR world in recent years is that of talent analytics - in essence, the identification and utilization of patterns of data in order to maximize efficiency and eliminate pain points.

Implementing analytics within your organization doesn’t have to be a difficult or expensive process. In fact, by following a few simple steps, you can begin working towards a talent analytics strategy and gain a valuable competitive advantage.

In order to get the greatest return on investment for your analytics strategy, it’s important to take the time to develop an implementation strategy that outlines where your organization is now, and what you want analytics to achieve.

Here are three steps that you can take to build a successful implementation strategy.

The human resources industry is currently experiencing a period of rapid change, with new technologies enabling businesses to significantly streamline and improve the process of talent management.

How to implement analytics across your talent management solution

Building an analytics strategy

1 | Understand your current positionFirst, review where you are currently in terms of the maturity of your current analytics systems, and consider how your analytics implementation strategy will fit into the five essential pillars of talent management - namely: workforce planning, recruitment, learning and development, performance management and analytics.

The Bersin Talent Analytics Maturity Model - which classifies businesses into four categories based on how and why they are using analytics - is a useful place to start. Weigh your own business on this scale and determine where you would like to be in the future.

2 | Set goalsWith this information, it will be possible to set firm objectives for your talent analytics implementation strategy. Setting goals - both long and short term - will improve your ability to target your analytics strategy and monitor its progress.

Start with the end in mind, but also have short-term objectives (or “quick wins”) that you can achieve in order to keep the analytics strategy moving forward. This will help get more stakeholders within the organization on board and enthusiastic about the initiative.

3 | Determine leadershipOne of the biggest challenges preventing many organizations from achieving best practice within their HR departments is a lack of strategy and well-defined technology leadership. You can avoid this pain point by making it clear who is in charge of the analytics strategy at an early stage.

The answer to this question will depend on the exact nature of your organization. However, both the HR department and the IT department needs to come to a mutual understanding in order to ensure the analytics strategy is positioned to succeed.

Understand how to act on your findingsIt is one thing to simply assemble an analytics strategy, but it’s quite another to actually take significant, practical steps based on the analytics your organization is gathering. Remember, your analytics will only deliver meaningful value if they are actually acted upon by the relevant departments and individuals.

You can drive greater utilization of analytics by ensuring that individual reports are tailored to a target audience and are measuring areas that actually need to be measured. People are unlikely to engage with analytics that are irrelevant to their role or do not offer usable information. However, if the analytics show a clear next step or solution, they will be seen as valuable and useful.

Another important thing to remember is that your analytics should be used in a proactive rather than reactive manner. For example, rather than hiring or developing employees solely to fit existing gaps, you should use analytics to determine which individuals may offer the greatest long-term return to the wider organization, and how they can be positioned to achieve optimal results.

By helping move your organization away from a tactical approach to talent management and towards a strategic approach, analytics can ensure your organization develops a proper understanding of the true value of candidates and employees.

Take the plungeAt the end of the day, perhaps the most important aspect of implementing an analytics strategy is actually taking the plunge and getting started. Keep in mind that taking the first step with talent analytics does not necessarily require extensive investment.

Often, organizations fail to realize that they can begin an analytics strategy at the grassroots level, using the resources and systems they already have. By leaning on the analytics and assets you have previously invested in, you can begin demonstrating the value of this initiative right away.

For HR departments struggling to get stakeholders on board with analytics implementation, actually getting started and delivering something tangible to the business is often the best way to get individuals enthusiastic and confident about this investment.

Analytics is all about making decisions based on practical information. Begin reinforcing the culture of data driven decision making within your organization early, and you will stand to gain significant benefits in the long run.

Talent Management Solutions

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