Senior executives are increasingly demanding that the talent development function provide actionable insights for driving better business results through targeted improvements in the management and development of people. 

Talent analytics is increasingly expected go far beyond traditional HR reporting on headcount, time-to-fill vacancies, and employee engagement benchmarking. Instead, there is a growing demand for analysis about how to cost-effectively improve:

• sales productivity

• customer service

• managerial effectiveness

• employee well-being

• workforce diversity and inclusion. 

The message is clear: The bar for talent analytics is raising—and raising quickly. So, how do you move your analytics from where they are to where they need to be?

In the end, advanced talent analytics capabilities can't just parachute into your organization. You have to build them. Here’s how. 

• Create organizational and broad-based executive support by producing insightful, succinct reports and analyses. Ensure that data and analysis is presented from the executive's perspective—not the perspective of your department.

• Develop an analytics strategy that's aligned with your organization's overall business strategy. This will help you produce business intelligence and actionable insights that enable leaders at all levels of your organization to drive better business results through focused, targeted, and achievable improvements in the management and development of people.

• Grow the size and skills of your analytics staff (or find a trusted external analytics consultant). Don't focus exclusively on technical skills. Business acumen, collaboration, consulting, and presentation skills are all critical elements as well.

• Expand the scope of your talent analytics initiatives to encompass all essential aspects of people management and development, including:

  • recruiting and onboarding

  • learning and development

  • performance and career management

  • rewards and recognition

  • engagement and retention. 

Where to Start? 

If you're like most talent development leaders, you have limited resources but high expectations and requirements to fulfill. Consequently, you need a plan that enables you to focus on the right things—and to get them done in the right order. Of course, that will be shaped by your organization's current analytics capability.

We've designed a quick (and free!) online assessment tool to objectively measure your current level of analytics maturity, along with recommendations on the most important focus areas, in light of your relative strengths and weaknesses. The assessment takes less than 10 minutes to complete, so why not give it a try right now? Click here to begin the analytics self-assessment. 

We hope you find the self-assessment useful. What’s more, if you'd like to have a quick call to discuss your assessment and feedback and think through next steps, don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].