Quantifying Human Resources

1From the Statisticalization of Labor to Human Resources Algorithms: The Different Uses of Quantification

Quantification can be used in many HR processes, such as recruitment, evaluation and remuneration (with job classification, for example). In fact, human resources management gives rise to a very wide variety of uses of figures. The first use refers to decision-making concerning individuals (section 1.1), i.e. using quantified information to inform or justify decisions concerning specific individuals, for example, candidates for recruitment, employees for career management or remuneration. The second use corresponds to a general increase in the adoption of figures and their adoption at the collective level, no longer at the individual level (section 1.2). Historically, this use involved legal reporting and dashboards. It is therefore a question of defining relatively basic indicators and metrics, but aimed at monitoring or steering a situation (e.g. number of employees) or phenomenon (e.g. absenteeism). However, these basic indicators are not always sufficient, particularly because of the complexity of certain HR phenomena. The phenomenon of absenteeism can certainly be measured and monitored by basic bivariate indicators, but these will not be sufficient to identify the determinants of absenteeism, and therefore to define appropriate policies to reduce it. As a result, more sophisticated statistical methods have gradually been introduced in the HR field, both on the HR ...