Traditionally, data and analytics have been the domain of departments like accounting, marketing and sales, but this is changing. Increasingly, data drives all aspects of a business, including HR. Executives know this; a Gallup survey found 86% of corporate leaders said data science and analytics skills will be required of “some” or “all” HR managers in the next three years.

Despite a widespread understanding of the importance of data for HR, one study found that only 10% of large companies performed any significant analysis of employee data. This means that if your company is part of that 10% you won’t only make hiring easier and more efficient — you’ll also have a competitive advantage over your competitors.

Data collection and storage can shape your recruitment strategies, help you find the right candidates, and automate workflows for the recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes. Here’s everything you need to know about what data to collect, how to evaluate the data's value, and how to gain actionable insights from this data that can be used to improve processes.

Getting Started With HR Data

If you’re concerned that your HR department doesn’t have the time or resources to dig into data and analytics, you may be surprised. Most companies don’t have hundreds or thousands of employees, which means that in relative terms, the amount of HR data is manageable. Likely, the hardest step will be the first one — identifying which data to collect, cleaning up your data, and establishing a process to collect it going forward.

When the data’s been cleaned up, it’s easy to use software to track and analyze it. As you start to use data in your hiring process, note that:

• It’s important to keep the end in mind. You’ll get bogged down if you try to track and analyze every piece of data in your hiring process.
  Prioritize the areas of the hiring process you most want to strengthen, and align your data analysis with broader organizational strategy.

• Legislation concerning employee data varies by jurisdiction. Not all states have the same legislation surrounding employee data, For example,
  Massachusetts requires most companies to write and adopt a security policy to protect customer and employee data.

• Analyzing HR data can reveal information that will require legal and/or management responses. For instance, if female employees in a department are paid less than male employees performing the same job function, your legal team may need to get involved.

With these three things in mind, you’re ready to begin collecting data, analyzing it, and using that data to improve every aspect of your hiring process from posting your job ad to welcoming new employees on their first day.

Using Data for Recruiting and Hiring

Recruiting and hiring are serious challenges for many employers. With low unemployment rates, it can be difficult to find skilled candidates, and a whopping 93% of employers say the availability of candidates in the labor market makes it difficult to fill an open job. Further, 91% say it’s challenging to maintain a pool of candidates.

Data can help you meet these challenges. As we’ve previously explained, examining metrics can help you improve your hiring process. Data and the use of talent management systems can also make it simple to:

• Filter resumes by keywords. No more spending hours sifting through hundreds of resumes. If you’re looking for certain skills, it takes only an instant to call up resumes  featuring those skills. If you prefer to interview candidates with a specific qualification, pull up resumes of those with that qualification. It’s so simple.

•  Score and rank candidates. If going through hundreds of resumes once wasn’t bad enough, deciding who to interview often requires going through them multiple times to compare candidates to each other. Data can automate this process, providing you a ranked list of applicants.

• Make recruiting decisions. After onboarding new employees, evaluate how well your recruiting efforts were: assign a “Quality of Hire” score to each candidate and look for trends in the data. Who are your highest-quality hires? What do they have in common?

• Ensure workplace diversity. When people are responsible for determining who gets an interview, unconscious bias will slip in. Examining the characteristics of who gets interviewed and ultimately hired will show if your company has a bias towards a certain type of person. Stripping demographic information from resumes and filtering them by skills and qualifications will help reduce the bias in your hiring process. In these ways, data can make your workplace more diverse.

• Build a talent bench. You can go back to previous applicants’ resumes to search for keywords relevant to new open positions. Ideally, this will reduce the number of open hiring processes your company goes through, as you are able to go directly back to previous candidates and find other positions for which they may be the right fit.

Using Data for Onboarding

Data is useful beyond the hiring process. Consider these ways it can make onboarding better for new employees by making it easier to:

• Respond to new employee questions. Salesforce examined the service tickets of new hires to determine what kind of information they were looking for soon after starting their new jobs. With this information, the company developed an email journey for new hires, delivering the information they needed at the right time. The result? A 30% drop in help tickets from new employees, who had more of the information they needed.

•  Identify mentors for new employees. Mentoring can improve staff retention, and data can help you identify the best mentors for new employees. Salesforce gleans data from its collaboration tools that reflect individual employees’ skills and interests. From this data, they are able to suggest people who may be good mentors to younger and newer employees.

When it comes to your company’s hiring process, data is your friend. Use it to make your hiring, recruiting and onboarding more efficient, more inclusive, and more tailored to your the needs of your company and your employees.

About the Author

 Chris Lennon is Vice President of Product Management at BirdDogHR. Chris is an active participant in the talent management community bringing over 18 years of experience to BirdDogHR. He has presented at numerous industry events and has been quoted as an industry expert in leading publications like Talent Management magazine, CLO magazine, New Talent Times, TLNT and HR Bartender.

** Contributed by Julio Martinez, Executive Director, ScholarShare Investment Board **

As an HR professional, you are probably always on the lookout for new, competitive benefits to help retain your employees and attract the best talent. With college costs exponentially rising, today’s parents are looking for the best ways to save for future higher education expenses. There’s a growing trend in HR that addresses both of these important goals...

Read this article on Next Concept HR Magazine.

 ScolarShare529 is a NCHRA Platinum Sponsor

** Contributed by: Ingrid Stabb, Head of Marketing, NCHRA *** 

It’s been well documented that employees quit managers, not companies. A recent article in Harvard Business Review, Why People Really Quit Their Jobs, extends this common wisdom to say it is the responsibility of managers to design jobs that meet employees’ critical needs. Managers have to represent HR on the front line to tailor engagement programs to each employee because the cost of losing a star performer can be devastating. For example, some studies predict that for every employee you replace, it costs the company 6 to 9 months' salary on average. For a high-potential Millennial making $50,000 a year, that's $25,000 to $37,500 in recruiting and training expenses. That doesn’t even begin to account for the momentum you lose on your initiatives or disruption to your team’s culture and morale. And often times the effort required to retain a star employee can be quite small.

I remember early in my career the VP of Marketing stopped by my cubicle and discreetly handed me a certificate of achievement. He whispered that I was receiving some big company award for excellent performance and that I would see a cash bonus in my paycheck. He requested that I please keep this information on the down low so that others would not feel left out that they didn’t get the award. I didn’t know whether to feel honored or sad or to just laugh. In my heart I felt the company could better retain me, and save itself a nice chunk of change, by just calling me forward at an assembly and letting everyone clap. The competitor firm who later recruited me over to them did just that—gave me a big award at a lunch reception that involved no money, just a few kind words and a plaque. I was pleased as punch and still have that plaque at home.

Of course, many people would have the opposite response. They would prefer to skip the pomp and circumstance and just get the cash. Everyone is different. Years later I was impressed to see how my employer, Great Place to Work®, handled this. During onboarding, every new employee was given a questionnaire about what types of small gifts they liked and how they most feel appreciated. The company did a good job, not only of onboarding, but also of recognizing employees in unique and creative ways.

In your organization the key to retaining your wide range of star performers is to personalize how you treat them and show them appreciation. A little effort can go a long way in keeping them performing and preventing them from jumping ship to your rivals.

Here is a cheat sheet I created of what to offer, based on the strengths you observe in your talent. You can also use this list with them as a conversation starter. Let your prized employees tell you in their own words what they need and value. I’ve mapped out nine different types of high performers that you may encounter on your team. You may find that these predictions, of what to offer, turn out to be uncanny in how well they capture what you need to do.

Employee Retention Map© by Ingrid Stabb

1.       If your star performer shines most because she makes improvements and brings order to your processes or products, most likely, she wants:

• To be respected
• To get things right
• To feel the workplace is fair
• To see that others are working hard, too
• To release stress

2.       If your star performer shines most because he attends resourcefully to others’ needs, most likely, he wants:

• To be appreciated
• To be treated well
• To fit in socially
• To make a difference
• To work in a place with a pleasant appearance

3.       If your star performer shines most because she achieves a successful image and wins for your organization, most likely, she wants:

• A sophisticated reputation
• Competition & big goals
• Distinguished recognition
• To mentor and be mentored
• Forced stress reduction (like the office closing for everyone—she might not reduce stress on her own, otherwise)

4.       If your star performer shines most because he lends authenticity, creativity or originality to your organization, most likely, he wants:

• Authenticity to be honored as a guiding principle
• Beauty in the office or products and creative outlets
• Idealism in the work you do
• Openness for expressing emotions
• Time apart from others to re-charge

5.       If your star performer shines most because she understands complexity and acquires knowledge for your organization, most likely, she wants:

• Extensive independence
• Intellectual stimulation
• Plenty of work time alone, office doors shut or possibly WFH
• Opportunities to share expertise or give lectures
• Self-satisfaction with good work vs. big shows of recognition

6.       If your star performer shines most because he manages risk or fights for a cause for your organization, most likely, he wants:

• Certainty
• Intellectual and physical stimulation—to burn off energy
• Physical security
• Reassurance from his boss and others
• A cause to fight for

7.       If your star performer shines most because she explores possibilities or develops new ventures for your organization, most likely, she wants:

• Being liked and getting to socialize with co-workers
• To tell entertaining stories
• Fun and excitement
• Lack of limitations
• Idealism and optimism

8.       If your star performer shines most because he clarifies boundaries or masterfully negotiates for your organization, most likely, he wants:

• Autonomy
• Challenge
• To be in control of his universe
• To have his energy matched
• Truth and directness

9.       If your star performer shines most because she maintains harmony or dependably repeats tasks in your organization, most likely, she wants:

• Comfort
• Fairness
• Not too much distraction
• Lack of conflict
• Connection

I’d love to hear feedback on how this “cheat sheet” works for you. Feel free contact me at istabb@nchra.org or on Twitter @IngridHRWest.

Ingrid Stabb is Head of Marketing at Next Concept HR Association, HarperCollins author of The Career Within You, and Co-Host with Adrienne McCue of Podcast, Enneagram Life.