I know, in times of GDPR it is kind of daring to think and write about what we can do with HR Data. GDPR has brought a kind of paralysis to many functions when it comes to Data utilisation. But if not we as HR dare to overcome this, who will? We are the ones to dare.
And looking at those data (of course having GDPR in mind, as it is a regulation we need to respect), there are still many interesting and worthwhile applications that would bring HR Services forward. The main theme I want to write today about is actually quite safe in terms of GDPR – and in line with my previous post about being invisible.
What holds true for HR practitioners and our HR function, needs to hold true for our HR Services as well. The best HR Services are those that either are not required or are actually not seen by our end-users of HR Managers and Employees. Only the 3rd option is to have barrier-free and simple, easy to use HR Services. Now, how do we get there? – Data is the key
Operating in HR, we know that every day a massive amount of HR Services is asked for and delivered through whatever mechanism you have in place. In an up-to-date set-up, these are delivered mainly through either BPO or in-house Shared Services. This brings with it a concentration of data. If we only knew what we know… but we do. Ask your Service Center colleagues and they will tell you how much they know and understand by just seeing the meta-data of the Services they deliver every day. What Services are in high demand? What Services are unusually quiet? – They know. But what do they do with it? What do you do with it? – most of the time nothing. Maybe you do volume analysis, maybe the data is utilised to find out which processes should be focused on in terms of user experience and improvement. But there are other key applications for those data.
Proactive Services
Take away all PII from your data, take away all noise (e.g. massive transactions like re-organization efforts) and what will be left is a fantastic set of information that you can explore and utilise without any issues or complications of GDPR. Still, it will bring you massive insight into your own organisation. What are the most transactions used? What are the main Services asked for? Where? By what kind of workforce? When?
Increasing visibility
What you will see is an increasing treasure of knowledge about what is going on in the organization and you can harvest that. You can harvest that to provide increasing visibility of this demand to your organization, e.g. inform your HR Business Partners about this so that they understand the pulse of the organization, but also inform them about any concerns that those data tell you like rising Employee Relations case numbers or similar.
In addition, you can utilise this data to also increase the visibility of the most demanded services. Make it easy on your Knowledge Base to find exactly those topics. Promote them and make it easy to use for the organization. And in your centers, get your workforce ready for exactly these transactions.
This kind of preparation and visibility is important in the moment, but also over time. Knowing beforehand which transactions, which Services are in demand when, and applying this knowledge to your Knowledge Base and to your center workforce will improve the Service level and satisfaction on both sides – Center and People Manager/ Employee.
Offering before demand
A more interesting application for this Data Treasure though is actually “before-demand” Services. Understanding your data tells you that there are specific patterns. The easy ones are that if a People Manager (or employee) is letting go of a person (leaving), the likelihood is high (the exact likelihood is told by your data) that one of the next activities of this manager is to start recruiting, filling the position that is about to be open/ available. So why would you want to wait until the People Manager comes to you with this request? Use your data to start Services before you are asked for them. – in this example, what could you do?
- Understand if you have all required information to start recruiting for this position. If so, go ahead and passively prepare the talent pool.
- Offer Recruiting as the next step to the People Manager – in your Service Desk if you have a conversation, in your written communication (e.g. when confirming the previous Service, make it easy to start the next one via a direct link/ button) or even as part of the workflow
The key is to utilise the treasure of information to enable more seamless interaction and Service to your users. It is as easy as Amazon is doing it with “People who bought this, also bought…” Let’s use this vast, impressive set of data and bring your Service and the organization to the next level.
Chief HR Officer 