Turn spreadsheets into strategy

The first step to turn people data into people strategy
Understand the Data > Define the Problem

The story I think of here.. you are a carpenter about to go to a job site. You don’t want to show up to an important first meeting with your client without having prepared a bit first. You have read the site map, you know generally what the client is hoping to do - get insight to help them make an informed decision - and you have brought the tools you think will be necessary. You know how to use the tools in different scenarios. The scope of the work may change as you get to understand the problem, but you are prepared to answer questions and dig into the problem that needs solving.

HR data and process is everything when it comes to repeatable, scalable operations. Understanding the data creation points, the process that put them there, the reliability of the information and the accessibility of information. These are things that will be very useful in your first discussion with the client. Here are 3 things you need to know about the data that will lead to the 3 steps to understand the problem.

Understand the Data

HR data and process is everything when it comes to repeatable, scalable operations. Understanding the data creation points, the process that put them there, the reliability of the information and the accessibility of information. These are things that will be very useful in your first discussion with the client.

Here are 3 things you need to know about the data when you begin to scope the project with stakeholders: what is the applications and processes that create the data, when is the data updated and how reliable is it? What is the structure of the data that may need to be sorted - geography, business unit, job type, currency.. there are hundreds of them.

Day to day a HR Operations & Analytics professional will be asked ‘what is the headcount (define xyz filter - a point in time, by country, for ‘my’ team.. ). Then we will need to be able to connect information across systems.. did they (name your program - complete their training? start yesterday? receive their laptop?). This requires a clear understanding of how to connect dots across multiple applications with a sense of process flow and what needs to happen when for the information to be up to date.

Define the Problem

The value that a People Professional will bring to any situation is their understanding of the stakeholder requirements and ability to shape People Programs to help achieve business results - for example, we need to hire the ‘right’ talent for the business, but keep in pace with the natural ebbs and flows of a public company that issues financial reporting. Because of that reporting, the accuracy and scrutiny of people operations will increase, so we may need to demonstrate compliance training completions for an internal audit. These are all things that People Professionals may be asked to do, and their ability to do it well ties directly with the business performance.

Therefore, each problem is unique. Each set of answers and the resources we bring to answering them are all in the bucket of ‘strategic’ choices. Speaking from experience.. there is nothing worse than building a ‘great’ solution for an audience that did not expect it, and probably does not see the need for it. Make sure you are working on the ‘right’ problem.. how will your stakeholder measure success? Make sure your analysis will incorporate that - or make sure to clarify for the stakeholder the effort involved in getting it.. perhaps a more bootstrap version of the analysis is enough.

Summary

• People Data is complex - You need to understand your data first

• Understand your People Applications and Global Process Flow

• Have a strategy to scope the problem and agree deliverables