
Converting HR Data Into HR Information
Est. Read Time: 3 min.
Collecting data about your HR operational performance is important, but it’s also important to effectively convert your raw data into real insights so you can make smart, informed decisions. It can even be worthwhile to have people on your HR team that are particularly skilled at reading data. When you process your HR data into digestible pieces of information, you’ll have a much more comprehensive understanding of how your HR operations are working, where the bottlenecks are, and how to take strategic action to make continuous improvements.
Why Does Measuring Matter?
Setting up metrics for HR operational performance is crucial for understanding how your service delivery is working. Without measurements, it’s extremely difficult to know what’s working, what needs attention, and if you’re meeting your goals. Determining the right KPIs for your team and then keeping track of them over time can give you data that helps determine inefficiencies. You are then able to convert your data into information that can be used to make pointed decisions about your team, content, and processes so you can continually optimize service delivery.
How To Use HR Information
Using information about your HR operations allows you to take strategic action. For instance, if you’ve acquired data about your employees’ most frequently asked questions, you now have information about what your employees care about and what they are confused by. Knowing these pain points, you can focus on addressing specific employee concerns. Another example could be gathering data on how long your processes take to complete. You can use this information to look for global inconsistencies that need to be fixed and opportunities to streamline. Equipped with a comprehensive understanding of your processes, you can also explain to leadership why certain things take longer to complete than others - with the numbers to back you up.
Using HR information to guide decision-making can have a direct, positive impact on your HR service delivery. It allows you to drill down into trends, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks so that you make targeted, strategic changes. And armed with HR information, you’ll have a better understanding of how to best allocate your time, resources, and staff to make improvements and provide your employees with better support.
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About Nicole Lindenbaum
Nicole Lindenbaum is the Director of Product Marketing at PeopleDoc by Ultimate Software. Nicole leads the global messaging strategy for PeopleDoc by translating technology into business benefits HR can actually understand. With significant experience in HR technology, Nicole writes and speaks about HR service delivery, employee experience, digital transformation, and the future of work. Nicole holds a BFA from Syracuse University and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.