Frank DiBernardino

Review by: Frank DiBernardino
Vienna Human Capital Advisors

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition) defines handbook as: 1 a: a book capable of being conveniently carried as a ready reference: MANUAL b: a concise reference book covering a particular subject.

Having volunteered to review: HR Analytics Handbook – Report of the State of Knowledge a few recurring thoughts had been in my mind: Does this book meet the definition of a handbook? Has it been written whereby the intended audience will get value or new knowledge from reading this book? Is there anything especially noteworthy, or are there gaps or areas that could have been developed more fully? Candidly, when I received the book and saw that it was only 54 pages, exclusive of Endnotes and Appendices, I was alarmed.

Fear not, Laurie Bassi, Rob Carpenter and Dan McMurrer did a masterful job of concisely presenting the
state of knowledge in the human capital analytics field. Even an accomplished practitioner will find value in this short read. Sure, there are areas that could have been more fully developed and some emerging areas (human capital financial metrics) that could have been explored. However, it would have taken away from the charm of this book…a concise, easy read with solid content.

The authors do a superb job of arguing two key points about the state of human capital analytics: The purpose of HR analytics and accountability of the HR function. While the first is obvious: gathering insights to improve individual and organizational performance; the second is not so obvious, yet quite significant: accountability of the HR function. While embraced by many leading-edge HR practitioners today, too many eschew accountability, at their peril. Moreover, accountability brings with it influence, critical to getting the buy-in to the changes in human capital strategy necessary to drive performance.

The section on “Naturally Occurring Experiments” is noteworthy. In my consulting experience, too often companies want to focus on external benchmarks, no matter how invalid they might be. Internal comparisons of homogeneous groups, especially over time, are a far more credible basis of comparison; and the authors make a compelling argument for this method of comparison.
Noteworthy also were the concise examples of how companies have used HR analytics to justify changes in human capital strategy, resulting in improvements in business performance. The point being, there is no cookie cutter approach and the analytic methods should be driven by business issues.

The authors also observed that the HR metrics used most often are not the ones most respondents believe best predict outcomes. This is an issue that has troubled me for some time and is a poor reflection on the state of the art and the HR profession. Some of this is driven by the technology products and what they are capable of producing versus what is needed, unfortunately. Related to this is the proper emphasis that the authors place on identifying the stakeholders and their requirements. Too often, the tail is wagging the dog.
Laurie, Rob and Dan also make the argument persuasively that companies that have gone down this road have performed better than those that haven’t. Sure, there’s the cause and effect argument, but that’s not the point. To this reviewer, this is the convincing argument (business case) for investing in human capital analytics.

A couple of other items are worthy of mention: The need for a continuous, regular process embedded in the culture of the organization, as compared to one-off projects driven by a specific set of issues. The other “reverse causality” and “perfect being the enemy of good.” Yes, there is a legitimate debate about cause and effect, and purity of the scientific method; however, these issues should not stop an organization from actively embracing human capital analytics. This is a journey that includes data, analysis, sound judgment and constructive collaboration among the stakeholders to achieve the greatest effect. As the Nike tagline suggests…”Just do it.”

While lacking an Index, the Endnotes were helpful if one is interested in doing a deeper analysis of the referred material. Although, including an Index would have been helpful.

I could go on with additional comments about the worthiness of this contribution to the body of knowledge on HR analytics, but I’m already at about 800 words, enough already.

In short, Laurie, Rob and Dan met the tests I had in mind. HR Analytics Handbook would be a worthy addition to your HR book shelf.

About the reviewer: Frank DiBernardino is the Founder and Managing Principal of Vienna Human Capital Advisors. Vienna HCA is an HR consultancy that provides human capital strategy and analytic services to private sector employers. Vienna aligns all dimensions of human capital strategy with a client’s business strategy. Vienna has also developed the Vienna Human Capital Index™ to measure the ROI, Productivity and Liquidity of the entire human capital investment. A decision support tool, the Vienna Index™ helps clients identify the most effective human capital strategies to drive improved business performance.