Having the right HR analytics technology is seen as crucial to the success of data-driven HR. Previous research by the ThinkTank suggests that organisations with good visualisation tools are three times more likely to create strategic value with HR analytics. The question is: is there any criteria and roadmap to select analytics technologies and solutions?
Part of the HR Analytics ThinkTank’s mission is to provide free evidence and insights to HR analytics professionals so that they can make better decisions in their organisations. As part of this, we are launching a study to better understand how HR Analytics professionals select technologies and solutions, and provide a roadmap for them to select tools in the future.
This study will explore the following questions:
- How do organisations decide on HR technologies and solutions?
- To what extent are these decisions conditioned by existing legacy systems or best practices implemented by competitors and recommended by consultants?
- Do certain combinations of technologies and solutions render different HR analytics insights?
If you are an HR analytics professional, we invite you to participate in our research by completing this survey. By taking part you will receive a free copy of the final report in June/July, and access to all exclusive ThinkTank content. More importantly, you will join our global community in the pursuit to further the people and HR analytics industry.
Is there a set of criteria to select analytics technologies and solutions?
Most people like to think they make decisions based on rational criteria, such as pricing, effectiveness, utility and quality. However, life takes the better of us and more often than not, there are other reasons that lead HR analytics professionals to choose their infrastructure.
Prior research has shown that existing legacy systems and the potential dialogue and integration between old and new systems are often the reasons behind a particular technology contract. Some organisations work with vendors associated to their main HRIS. Other times, price can lead a HR Analytics team to select open source and develop their technology in-house. What we do not know is whether there is a pathway to effectively select technology and solutions depending on what we have and what we need as a HR Analytics function.
Are there combined technologies and solutions that provide more effective HR Analytics insights?
Most consulting research has shown different models of HR Analytics maturity. However, these can be somewhat simplistic. As we know, sophisticated analytics is not always correlated to state-of-the-art technological infrastructure or vice versa. There are other issues at play: the priorities of the HR Analytics team, their reputation within the broader HR function, their size and scope, their skillsets, and so on. This research project will uncover different roadmaps of technology selection in context, not only within organisations but across them. In this vein, are certain combinations of technologies and solutions common within a particular industry?
Why participate in this Selection of Analytics Technologies and Solutions research?
By contributing your experiences and perspectives to our research, you will help the HR Analytics ThinkTank team to reveal and confirm myths and hypotheses about the HR analytics industry – made available to our community for free. We anticipate our findings will help study participants benchmark their infrastructure against other HR analytics functions’ and provide insights on how they can improve their technological journey. We also expect our final report will help break misconceptions around HR Analytics maturity and technological sophistication. In addition to this, as with anyone who takes part in our research, you will also gain access to exclusive ThinkTank reports, content and webinars.
Call to Action: Take Part Now
There are many more exciting questions we hope to answer with this study. We are currently looking for people who are willing to provide us data about their HR Analytics function’s technological infrastructure. If you wish to participate, we will ask you to complete a very brief survey. A few people may also be asked for a short interview if they are willing to share further with us. Data will be collected from February to June 2021, and we anticipate sharing our initial findings in July.
Participation for this study has now closed.