Unlocking The Power Of People Data: The Untold DEI&B Story

Four reasons to adopt people analytics

There is no more precious data than people data. We must anonymize it. We must protect it. And, well, we must use it. 

Today’s predictive people analytics solutions – particularly when part of an intelligently connected human capital management (HCM) platform can do all three. Using people data is not exclusive to anonymizing it and protecting it – all three can happen at once to ensure proper use of people data. 

When this happens, we can dig into the data to reveal our organization’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B) story. So often, and through no fault of their own, HR leaders do not know what they do not know. 

Here are four ways to uncover that information for the betterment of DEI&B for that it never is an excuse again.

The employee journey starts before a person’s first day on the job – so do your company’s DEI&B efforts. Candidate experience is an often overlooked, yet fundamental way, to improve diversity from the way the job descriptions are written to the sources from which HR recruits. 

When it comes to using people data, it is critical for organizations to understand candidate trends. While this is often self-identified information, HR leaders can analyze candidate trends, such as if there are under-represented groups applying for their open positions. If an HR leader sees that 75 percent of candidates for one position are of a certain group, for example, they can work with managers to optimize job descriptions for all groups. Perhaps the language or requirements included is not inclusive or recruiting efforts are not reaching more diverse candidates. Knowing these gaps is half the challenge and people data can help. 

Once an employee, people need to have a sense of belonging – that the work they do matters, that people around them care and that they have people they can connect with. This can be difficult if you’re an “only” or a “double only” as in the only female or maybe the only female and the only person of color. 

But how can HR leaders use data to measure a sense of belonging? It is tough but churn patterns can reveal a company’s DEI&B story. If certain groups – be it those with neurodiversity, those of a certain gender or race, you name it – have higher churn rates than others, there could be a problem. What about the culture is not helping people equally? Predictive people analytics can help uncover this story based on churn rates and demographics. 

What is important, however, is someone with experience in understanding data and culture being the one to read and analyze it. The beauty of analytics platforms today is it does not take a data scientist to gather data and see predictions and suggestions. The challenge is how people react to what they see. Data training is critical when people data is unlocked and decisions are based on it.  

Is a business diverse? This question is the fundamental DEI&B question to ask but many HR leaders do not really know the answer. People analytics can more accurately define diversity in a business to identify gaps, where companies may not be equal or fair. While this may sound basic, sometimes it is the basic data that companies do not have access to. Some systems leverage conversational virtual assistants to help as well: Hey, how many female VPs do I have compared to males? Well, that is just an audible ask away. 

A hot topic, rightfully, is that of pay equality. Whether it is the commonly stated men make more per dollar than women or the less-commonly stated stats around people of color earning less, it is an issue that should be rectified. Even those with the best of intentions, however, may not realize they are offering people less because it is based on what they asked for, their previous salary history, or other challenges that have kept people back in the past. 

Predictive people analytics can give HR leaders a more automated way of looking at salary discrepancies. Does a female VP make less than a male VP in the same role? Are those with neurodiversity making less? Being able to surface this data with a few clicks or even ask a virtual assistant, is available now. Predictive people analytics can also take it a step further: if I rectified gender pay gap by 5% what does that do to retention rates? These are questions systems have answers for. 

While there is a lot that data can not tell us, a company’s DEI&B practices are a story that data can tell. Investing in people analytics that can do good for a company, for communities and for people, is something worth investing in and a story to be told. 

Author Bio

Amy Mosher is the Chief People Officer at isolved. With more than 20 years of global human resources experience, Amy has contributed to the success of multiple public and private companies across various industries, including software, biotechnology and hardware. For the last decade, she has served as the Head of Human Resources with Accel-KKR SaaS software portfolio companies, including HighWire Press, Inc., KANA Software, Inc. and, now, isolved – enhancing cultures and building positive employee experiences at each.   Connect Amy Mosher Follow @isolvedHCM