People Analytics Part 1

People analytics is being claimed as the next big thing in the HR world. This revolutionary idea is being adopted and implemented by a number of companies like Google. So what is people analytics? People analytics aims to bring “big data” into corporate hiring and promotion. Companies spend a lot of time and money into their hiring process but the subsequent results are often not satisfactory. According to a survey conducted by Arlington based Corporate Executive Board, nearly a quarter of all new hires leave within a year, and majority of those who continue to stay with the organization are not as productive or engaged. Way back in the 1950s many organizations would use psychological and intelligence tests for the purpose of screening applicants while recruiting but with time this process became expensive and proved to be less effective and companies simply started recruiting based on their gut and often the process was seen as being subjective, where the manager would hire an employee for himself and not for the company. This is where people analytics comes into the picture. The process starts with the collection of relevant data which can help us make predictions. In San Francisco, a company called Evolv has helped Xerox and AT&T screen applicants for front line sales and customer service jobs. They based their results on useful data such as how far the applicants have to commute to reach work, whether they use a factory installed browser or download a better one like Chrome or Firefox, or how many social networking sites they use. Evolv has found that in sales creativity and not persuasiveness is the key to success in sales and in call center rapport with customers is of primary importance. This is just one side of people analytics. In the next article the focus will shift to the other ways people analytics is revolutionizing HR.