Redefining HR Decision Making: HR Dashboards
Navigating the Demands of the Economic Landscape: Leveraging HRIS and Embedded Reports for Strategic Decision-Making
In the current economic climate, achieving tangible outcomes, showcasing value, and justifying decisions have become imperative. This presents HR professionals with an opportunity to elevate their role as strategic business partners. However, to truly excel in this capacity, the availability of accurate and pertinent metrics is crucial. These metrics should not only present results but also serve as the initial step in constructing compelling arguments for policies, procedures, and strategies that significantly impact business outcomes, foster change, and cultivate competitive advantages. Practically speaking, HR professionals need to strategically employ measurements to gain deeper insights.
Undoubtedly, an HR Information System (HRIS), particularly with its embedded reporting capabilities, can significantly aid the process of strategic decision-making. This process is further augmented by the availability of “what if” scenarios, historical analyses, and logical reasoning. To facilitate this, data needs to be consolidated, integrated across all HR modules, and delivered with a user-friendly experience.
HR software: The Dashboard
As humans, our ability to absorb and comprehend text-based information is relatively slow. However, we possess a natural inclination to seek patterns and rely on visual perception to uncover hidden meanings. While traditional reports still hold their value, imagine the possibilities if you could effortlessly identify trends, detect anomalies, and use these insights to make effective decisions with just a simple click of a mouse. This is where visualisation comes into play, as it brings clarity and immediacy to the complex data within an HR Information System (HRIS), making it actionable.
Dashboards serve as the perfect solution in this regard. By bridging human perception with data presentation, they provide real-time communication of information, ensuring clarity and usability. Leveraging visual tools such as charts, gauges, and maps, dashboards offer impactful and predictive insights that cater to operational, analytical, and strategic needs.
Typically, dashboards are anchored to performance indicators, goals, or targets, enabling users to interact and switch between different aspects of the data. They facilitate historical analysis, benchmarking, and drill-down analysis to delve into the root causes behind the data.
Data, Data, Data… What Should We Do With It?
To embark on a successful journey with dashboards, it is essential to adopt a holistic approach to your HRIS strategy. This entails ensuring an accurate representation of your organisational structure, competency framework, integrated HR modules, a unified user dataset, robust security profiles, a workflow engine, and a flexible analytical layer equipped with dashboard technology. This comprehensive foundation establishes an operational and transactional framework that captures, validates, and transforms data. Moreover, dashboards should be implemented and configured with a focus on quality over quantity, enabling you to effectively address the most critical workforce-related questions. By adopting this logical approach to decision-making, you empower yourself with strategic insights and analysis.
The context in which data is interpreted also holds great significance. Rather than simply reporting on the aging workforce, for instance, it is more valuable to illustrate what the workforce will look like in the next 5, 10, or 15 years. This “what if” scenario building allows you to explore the consequences of inadequate bench strength. Similarly, conducting “what if” analyses on consolidated remuneration during a review scenario can provide immediate insights into the direct impact of changes in compensation. However, it is crucial not to stop there. Delve into historical data and analyse the interrelationships between other functions such as performance, training, and length of service.
Dashboards can also be configured to provide competitive insights. In many organisations, line managers are responsible for hiring and promotion decisions. Equipping them with accurate talent analysis enhances the quality of their decision-making. For example, understanding the sources and reasons for employee departures, as well as identifying sources of high performers and potential candidates, provides valuable insights for retention and recruitment strategies.
Lastly, it is advisable to include dashboards that showcase both compelling logic, addressing the solution, and compelling financial figures, addressing the return on investment (ROI) of the proposed solution. While there is always pressure to demonstrate ROI and value, it is equally important to highlight the “why and how” behind the business case for the initial investment and how the proposed solution solves a problem. Ultimately, the focus should be on providing information that supports decision-making processes.
For other relevant posts:
- Ask the expert – HR System Integration.
- Where HR Meets Technology.
- The Power Of Communication Skills.
