18 Insights from the 2019 Human Capital Analytics Conference

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18 Insights from the 2019 Human Capital Analytics Conference

November 18, 2019 | Brief

“I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes

Better Decisions, Better Organizations, Better Results

Human resources is being transformed by data and analytics. What used to be led by best practices and guesswork can now be quantified. While that’s been valuable in establishing the importance and effectiveness of various HR policies, the transition comes with challenges. When hundreds of leaders met to talk about HCA, we took notes. Here are the highlights:

Having the data is not enough; companies today need to turn that data into insights.

Analytics can't just predict the future; they also need to offer actionable insights. For instance, knowing that attrition is high in a region or department is not particularly useful. But knowing that lateral promotions can significantly reduce attrition is an actionable insight.
Companies are starting to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyze and sort data–whether it’s finding trends or insights from employee surveys or identifying top candidates from a pile of resumes. The difficulty is that even when machine learning or artificial intelligence gets it right, it doesn’t always know why. Explaining why is important to garnering support. Also, be aware that using AI to automate hiring has revealed some inherent, learned biases. Algorithms can be tweaked, but teams need to know what factors