Metrics

This week we discussed analytics and metrics with regards to HR. Many departments such a finance use analytics often but we might not necessarily recognize how valuable these tools can be for HR. This part of the course really fell into place at the right time because we recently had a meeting with the VP of Actuarial and Research Analytics. This meeting really helped me understand how analytics and metrics really help to shape and drive business decisions in an organization. Since HR's goals are best aligned with the business strategy, using analytics can help HR shape and drive business decisions with the strategy in mind. One example that I believe relates to this had to do with some metrics within my own organization. At my company, there is a big push for hiring people who fit within the culture. Having the right employees and highly engaged employees is a big part of the strategy and vision for the company. Since hiring, training, developing and retaining are all aspects in which HR are heavily involved, they are responsible for doing those with the culture in mind. Every employee who goes through the application/interview process is required to take a predictive index. The HR department has researched what specific answers on the rest correspond with the type of employee they want to hire. With this research they have been able to use this test as a big decision factor in the hiring process. In my interview with the Susan Glynn, Director of Talent Development and Communications, she confirmed that hiring was based more on personality/behavior factors than technical skills. In this situation, its clearly seen how analytics are used in HR to shape and drive business decisions and align with the business strategy.