People Analytics in the Era of Big Data

CHAPTER 2 How to Migrate from Business Analytics to People Analytics

The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.

—Albert Einstein

This quote from Einstein highlights the impact of our everyday thoughts and reasoning, and applies perfectly when it comes to translating traditional business analytics into People Analytics. Like many other disciplines, People Analytics, also called Talent Analytics, simply builds on the principles of traditional analytics—something that we have all grappled with at some level, whether it was in negotiating the price when buying a house or evaluating whether to relocate for a job offer. In fact, analytics forms the basis of our logical reasoning process: It helps us weigh our options and take factors such as cost, commute, happiness, and convenience into account.

To ensure that you have everything you need to smoothly migrate from business analytics to People Analytics, in this chapter we will cover:

• The history of analytics adoption.
• The similarities between marketing and human capital management.
• What predictive analytics and big data mean to the human resources (HR) and staffing industries.
• How business analytics corresponds to People Analytics (and how to bridge the two).
• Best practices for building a People Analytics center of excellence.
• Frontline application: Interview with Mark Berry of CGB Enterprises.

A SHORT HISTORY OF ANALYTICS ADOPTION

In order to best navigate today’s globally connected, competitive ...