To enable the HR function to be more effective and incisive, dialogue with business functions must be improved through a Data-Driven approach. We explored how to do this in our digital aperitif!
With about thirty “enthusiasts,” including business managers, executives, and members of the HR function, we took the opportunity to delve into this topic, and some interesting considerations emerged.
Real Cases
First, we delved into two real cases.
In the first case, Maria Rosaria Brunetti, Director of Human Resources, Organization and People Development in Gruppo CAP, guided us through the strategic reflections on human capital that the group is making: looking ahead 5 years, the organization, which already has a high age, risks ageing if the phenomenon of balancing the average age is not managed with a great effort of attraction and retention of Generation Z. And to do this, it is necessary to change several elements of the so-called “company culture” that is, the corporate culture.
To date, this issue has remained unheard of by businesses and has become the subject of a presentation to the entire management line, supported by numbers, evidence, and projections. Talking through numbers, even about “soft” issues, made the conversation with business leaders authoritative and a priority.
In the second case, Marta Moscato, Group Talent Management and People Development Manager Luxottica illustrated how HR Analytics skills transferred to HR Business Partners in a pilot training program “enabled” in HR colleagues a new and more effective way of dialoguing with the business, one that identifies strategic business questions, seeks solutions by including a data analysis phase, and arrives at shared decisions based on data, facts, evidence, and consequent insights.
The Workshop
Finally, we decided to explore -working in subgroups- some of the most relevant questions the HRs present would like to have answered to improve the dialogue with the business. Key themes emerged from the workgroup activities, including:
- What are the “human” factors that influence an organization’s ability to be innovative? How do we read them? How do we target them?
- When faced with the phenomenon of Great Resignation what are the indicators that help us intercept it early, understand it and manage it?
- When the recruiting challenge is about Z-generation and “scarce” skills, what are the “indicators” that help us read the effectiveness and efficiency of the recruiting process? Mostly it is about technological development, skill shortage of digital skills
- In a world where the reskilling / upskilling chapter has become central. Training modalities have been profoundly changed by the pandemic: the question of how to measure the impact of training on performance (and the resulting ROI) is back and renewed, including with respect to new training modalities
- What characterizes managers capable of retaining and developing resources? Is there such a thing as “profiling”?
- And finally: how to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the HR function? With what parameters does business read this function and assess its relevance, effectiveness, strategicness, added value?
A new approach to the dialogue between HR and business
As we explored these topics, we realized that essential chapters open up to which a Data-Driven HR approach can and should provide answers.
Through this approach, we can also open and make effective value-driven dialogue between line managers and the human resources function, contributing to generating value for business and people in a delicate and virtuous win-win approach.
This digital “aperitif” was very generative and made us want to have more and more opportunities for discussion in the coming months. Keep following us to learn about the calendar of HRI 2022 events!