People Analytics For Dummies

Chapter 2

Making the Business Case for People Analytics

IN THIS CHAPTER

Demonstrating how people analytics can solve a real-life business problem

Benefiting from people analytics decisions and leadership

Presenting the promise of people analytics

The view that people matter to business results is consistent across industries and over large and small companies alike, yet when push comes to shove — when each executive’s annual initiatives and priorities are set — people (along with the HR departments tasked with helping these people succeed) are usually an afterthought. Companies spend fortunes updating their equipment, buying and assimilating other companies, launching new marketing campaigns, extending product lines, and carrying out other miscellaneous strategic initiatives, but when it comes to putting real management time and resources into getting really good at acquiring, activating, and retaining people who are the best in the world at carrying out the stated business strategies, very few companies come up with anything of any noteworthy difference. Why is that?

In large part, the answer to this question lies in the short-term financial view rewarded by Wall Street’s quarterly ...