Too much Analytics?

What is the biggest hype in HR today? – ok, truth is, there are a few, but HR & Workforce analytics are at the top of almost every HR Pro these days. And not only there – look at the leading HR software providers of Oracle, Workday and SAP SuccessFactors. What are they telling us as top of the line innovation and differentiation? – Analytics.
I am an HR Pro for some time already and I have to say that a few years back I would have been grateful fur such armadas of analytics, was actually craving for them. Today I am in a different place – why? I am worried that Analytics alienate us from our function and that it alienates people manager from their workforces even more than before. What are the issues?
Analytics everywhere – where is the human?
We are driving into a direction where it is easy to lose the individual employee in the ocean of analytics. Loose what a single employee cares about, feels, needs, etc. – We will know more about our workforce, but less about our colleague “next door” because we rely on the numbers we have at our fingertips rather than just “ask” our colleagues.

Do you speak Analytics?
Analytics is not just a report or a few numbers. It requires a lot of understanding, of education to really be able to interpret them. The issue with analytics is that on first sight they seem to be easy to understand and you can act – it is mathematical right? A simple equation. – actually, no. It is not. Who in your organization speaks “Analytics”? Truly everyone who has or will have access to them? Most likely not – in fact, it is a new skill to learn, a new language to speak.

Are you taking your own decisions? Or do you let the numbers decide?
The danger is high that managers and HR hide behind numbers and analytics to decide and defend decisions – even if the outcome is wrong. The tendency to go down this route is easy. Analytics and numbers bring you a black on white picture of the world, what was successful in the past and what wasn’t – why shouldn’t we blindly follow? Because any number, any analytic is based only on the facts of yesterday – and on predictions from someone for the future. This someone can be wrong – or right. But in any case it needs judgement to follow or not follow what the numbers are telling.
Tell me for yourself? Are Analytics a threat or an opportunity? – I believe its both, but it needs to be learned and implemented with care. It is a new concept, a new language to learn. Check your thinking here at HBR.