Organizations know that finding and keeping top talent is key to success. Nowhere is this more at the core than in Talent Management. And it’s important in Talent Management to be able to optimize and demonstrate the ROI of efforts and activities. One way Talent Management can do this is by advancing analytics capabilities to make connections that matter across people and business data. The Talent Management team at Softchoice offers a powerful example of a group making use of workforce analytics to elevate its game. With access to core metrics and connected data, the team has the ability to identify areas of success and areas that need work, as well as quickly, confidently and credibly demonstrate the contribution and impact of talent activities to business outcomes.
Early in 2014, the Talent Management group at Softchoice was looking at ways to better track, measure, and report on key people data. They wanted to expand analytics beyond efficiency measures to begin connecting their activities to business outcomes. Despite an abundance of data, the team faced challenges generating valuable insights. Too much time was spent gathering data to fill basic reports, with little time left for analysis and building strategy. At monthly meetings with Senior Leadership it was clear that the current level of insight was insufficient. Faced with questions about the data, the team required days and weeks to re-cut the numbers and respond. The lack of meaningful business insight and the inability to quickly respond to queries was having a negative impact on the overall credibility of the Talent Management function. Leadership within the Talent group knew they needed a better way. They wanted to move beyond the basics and tackle outcome-related areas, including Quality of Hire. They needed an analytics solution that would enable the team to elevate above the tasks of gathering and compiling data, and allow them to spend time on value-add activities of analysis, building recommendations, taking action and delivering on business outcomes.
The Talent Management team partnered with a cloud-based workforce analytics solution to help connect their disparate data, and provide guidance and expertise in evolving analytics as their needs changed. With a new analytics solution in place, the Talent Management team at Softchoice had immediate access to out-of-the-box core recruiting metrics that previously required days of effort to pull together. In addition, the ability to filter on-the-fly made answering queries – directly in monthly meetings – possible. Immediately, Senior Leadership became more engaged and were asking for more, which was exactly what the Talent group wanted.
Very quickly, it became clear that more could be done in terms of connecting data sources, generating deeper business insight and delivering on outcomes. With Quality of Hire as a priority area, a new automated survey approach was introduced to gather feedback from new hires and their managers at different points in time over the first year. By connecting this survey data to HRIS, ATS and performance data, a powerful new dimension of First Year Outcomes emerged. The ability to connect source with quality and performance led to the identification of employee referrals as the top source of hire. With this information, the team could direct its focus to areas where it was needed.
Within less than a year of partnering with their workforce analytics provider, the profile and credibility of Talent Management has been raised within the organization. They have realized benefits of:
- Out-of-the-box core metrics and the ability to filter on-the-fly solved the pain of time-consuming and cumbersome spreadsheets and the inability to answer ad-hoc questions from the business quickly and confidently.
- Connected data across sources enabled an evolution from basic metrics to outcome measures that have an impact on the business and resonate with Leadership.
- Connections across HRIS, ATS, Performance and Survey data led to deep insight into Quality of Hire and triggered actions to enhance the referral program.
- Simple and visually appealing analytics, ensure communications are on-point, relevant and engaging for leaders in the business.
Moving forward the Talent Management group at Softchoice is continuing to use data to connect talent activities to business outcomes, and as such is contributing to the overall success of the organization.
For more examples of organizations and HR/Talent groups accelerating their capabilities with workforce analytics click here. Read stories about LoyaltyOne, Innovapost, JOEY Restaurant Group, the National Gallery of Canada, and more.
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