Here is an excerpt from an article written by Sarah Fister Gale for Talent Management magazine. To read the complete article, check out all the resources, and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and/or Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here.
* * *
Workforce analytics has the potential to play a huge role in recruiting — if companies can figure out how to do it.
“We’ve definitely seen a lot of discussion about big data in the recruiting process, but right now it’s mostly just talk,” said Elissa Tucker, research program manager for the American Productivity and Quality Center, a business benchmarking and best practices firm in Houston.
APQC’s recent survey shows that while using workforce data adds value to recruiting decision-making, 29 percent of organizations don’t do it at all, and few look beyond basic measures of productivity. “They are not as far along as you might think.”
It’s not that the technology or the data isn’t available, it’s that companies still haven’t developed the skills, processes and culture to make it work.
For companies that are interested in getting started but don’t know how to begin, Tucker and a few other recruiting analytics experts offer this advice.
[Here are the first two of the six so-called “easy” steps.]
1. Don’t be intimidated. With all the talk in the media and at conferences about the transformative benefits of workforce analytics, it can seem like everyone is doing it but you. “Not true,” Tucker said. “Most organizations are just getting started, and even the most advanced companies are not yet doing predictive analytics.”
She urges talent managers and recruiters to do some research on analytics for recruiting, and to talk to their peers and other department leaders about how they might apply analytics to their recruiting processes.
2. Define your goals before you buy software. “You need to understand what problems you are trying to solve before you jump into technology,” said Tony Marzulli, vice president of product management for talent solutions at payroll company ADP. HR leaders need to identify a business process or problem they want to address — like how to find passive candidates or improve time to productivity, then decide what software will help them do that. “When you start with what you want to accomplish, you will choose a better tool.”
* * *
Here’s a direct link to the complete article.
Sarah Fister Gale is a freelance journalist with more than 20 years experience writing about a wide range of topics, including parenting issues, workforce and talent management strategies, sustainability, clean energy, corporate learning, the pharmaceutical industry, food safety, and more. You can check out a portfolio of her work by clicking here.