Essential HR analytics features to look out for this year

HR analytics can be a powerful foundation for data-driven decision making. Companies have been putting analytics at the forefront of their implementation and improvement lists, and vendors have responded by funding new development of features and functionality. Are you using these essential HR analytics features?

1. The continuing evolution of big data

Big data analytics have been proven to be a powerful tool for decision making, particularly in the financial and supply chain areas. It is only recently that vendors have begun to bring this functionality into their HRMS applications and to approach HRMS data using big data techniques.

While these applications crunch numbers from across your HRMS, there has also been a new trend to deliver insights focused on specific functions. Talent management in particular has been a top priority for many companies in the past year and vendors have delivered big data results in this area through pre-defined reporting templates and other features that provide insight in this particular space.

Recommended Reading: get a complete run-down of analytics features and more with this guide to 52 essential HRMS features 

Applying big data techniques to HR remains in its earliest stages, but you can be sure that you will continue to see developments in this area throughout 2016.

2. Embedded analytics

As managers become stronger users of your HRMS, you’ll find that they are interested in going beyond daily operational transactions and delving into the deep insight that comes from your data and analytics. Analytics should not be seen as a standalone item, like a single report, but rather a source of additional intelligence that adds value to the decision making process.

For example, if a manager is making an off-cycle pay change for an employee, it can be helpful to the decision making process to embed a link to prior off-cycle pay changes for other members of the team or to link a report showing off-cycle and merit increases that the team can use as a point of comparison.

3. Dedicated HR analytics solutions

While big data analytics can churn through large quantities of data from disparate systems to reveal trends and intelligence, we’re also seeing a trend toward HR-focused analytics. For example products that sit on top of common vendor solutions but as well delivered reporting from the HRMS vendors to produce common metrics. These vendor-delivered collaborative solutions go beyond basic headcount, turnover, and time to fill reports and bring more insight to deeper questions such as the source of turnover or why time to fill varies among positions and recruiters.