Using these findings, the company decided to reverse the measures taken

to reduce workload and only focused on the people who experienced their
work as physically challenging. These people’s jobs were analyzed and the
physically intensive elements were eliminated as far as possible. By analyz-
ing and easing their work conditions case-by-case, the company provided a
much better solution for the group of seniors who needed it, at the same
time-saving money overall.

Why isn’t people analytics already mainstream?

Only a small minority of companies has fully developed their analytical ca-
pabilities. We have already listed a large number of benefits that people
analytics provide. Why don’t all organizations have a fully developed ana-
lytics department?

The answer to this question is complex. There are a number of reasons why
HR lags behind the rest of the organization in terms of analytical capabili-
ties. The next few paragraphs will give an overview of the constraints hold-
ing back HR. These constraints are also likely to limit the adoption of peo-
ple analytics within the company you work in.

Lack of skill

The first reason why HR is slow to adopt an analytics approach is a lack of

skills. Traditionally, HR has been regarded as a people business. HR profes-
sionals have been trained to support the workforce, be a contact point for
workers, and keep the paperwork in check.

That being said, the skills needed to run an effective HR department have
changed over time. Analytical capabilities require knowledge of data ex-
traction, aggregation, and data structuring. Since the traditional HR de-

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 HR IS HITTING THE WALL OF BOUDREAU

HR often struggles to get past the wall of Boudreau. This is because, on one hand, data
from multiple systems need to be combined in order to be properly analyzed while, on the
other hand, more advanced data analytics methods are required do the actual analysis.

partments lack the IT and data analytics skills to adopt an analytical ap-
proach, a lot of organizations struggle to apply people analytics.

Additionally, HR has been unable to capitalize on the statistical background

of its workers. A lot of HR workers have a background in psychology or so-
ciology. These social sciences are rooted in quantitative research, which
involves a fair amount of data analysis skills. However, these analytic skills
have been applied primarily for academic purposes, not to solve people
problems within organizations. The value of applying the same techniques
on company data is something that graduates are not trained for in univer-

The Basic Principles of People Analytics Copyright © AIHR Page 39