Guest Post by Nora Murphy, Aquire Workforce Planning Analyst

 Have you ever noticed that there seems to be a great deal of confusion on the basic terminology involved in workforce analytics?  What is a measure and how is it different from pure data?  Is an indicator equivalent to a metric?  And finally, how do these tie into analytics in the world of human capital?

We have all heard these terms being used interchangeably.  While the differences between them can seem negligible, you have to apply the terminology appropriately if you want to confidently engage in discussions related to any organizational activity.

So, how does data become an integral part of analytics?  Below is a brief discussion on understanding its progress. read more »

Oh the joy of measuring headcount.  Sadly, it is one of the hottest contested HR metrics to be trusted in companies without a concentrated analytics initiative. (Source: Thousands of conversations with HR and HRIT professionals around the world).  Interestingly, the disputes are often around the definition of head to count.  In most cases, once attention has been given to the matter, a head is counted if they are an employee of the company at the time the data being evaluated is measured.  Any other definition of a head should likely require a qualifier be attached to the term headcount.

Qualifiers such as the following may be needed

• Full time vs. Part-time headcount
• Full-Time Equivalency (where a fraction is assigned to the head counted based on the percentage of a work week typically assigned as this person’s work responsibility)
• Contractor vs. Employee
• Seasonal vs. Permanent read more »

Just in time for baseball’s post-season, the film version of the book Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman, is due in theaters next month.  Moneyball is based on the true story of Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics and his attempt to use analytics to build a winning baseball team with limited resources.

If you are in HR, when you see the movie (and you will, it’s Brad Pitt), you won’t be able to get the comparisons to business world workforce planning and analytics out of your head.  Moneyball, written by Michael Lewis, articulates the challenges faced by Oakland Athletics GM, Billy Bean:

1. Through experimentation, find those factors that can be used to reliably predict success.
2. With this new ability to predict success, go recruit/procure/develop those success factors in the most affordable way possible.
3. Put the pieces together to form a winning team.

Aren’t these some of the same challenges we seek to solve in workforce planning and analytics?  Of course they are!

Save some money for your company by skipping that leadership development course and take your team out for a movie and popcorn.  What will they learn from Moneyball?

1. Challenge established thinking.  You can’t create a competitive advantage if you do things the same way everybody else does.
2. Use the scientific method to test what works best.  The time for gut-feel management has passed.
3. If you are successful, others will copy you.  But when you build your competitive advantage through people, it is much harder to copy.

I remember playing baseball as a kid and hearing teammates encourage a batter’s discretion by shouting “a walk is as good as a hit.”  Well, no kid thinks getting a walk is as good as a hit. Individual players have always been measured on their ability to hit the ball and reach base safely (batting average).  The point is that THE TEAM benefits as much from a walk as from a hit.  The result is a runner on first base, either way you accomplish it.  Billy Beane was one of the first to recognize and reward contributions to TEAM metrics above individual metrics in order to achieve team goals.

This is just another example of analytics changing the game.  Enjoy the movie!

Cheers,

Andrew Courtois

November 1 is a momentous occasion for anyone applying for a federal job. Why? Because for the first time an applicant can submit just a cover letter and a resume to the Office of Personnel Management to apply for a federal position. Crazy, right? Finally someone can apply for a government position without submitting as many as 40 pages of paperwork, including multiple KSA essays detailing knowledge, skills and abilities.

That’s not to say that qualified candidates won’t eventually have to provide that information, but why put every single applicant through that time-intensive process when most are going to be ruled out based on their resume anyway?

Here’s the deeper question, though – read more »

As I was doing research for a client regarding their corporate organizational structure, we started finding nationalistic extremes which gave a good case study discussion points.  Even as we translated the organizational design to American or multi-national companies, the issues stuck with the design structure.  I realize most, if not all, stereo types can be dangerous, but they help put the stories in context.

When looking at companies with VERY flat organizations, some of the highest concentrations of flat, yet large companies appeared to be read more »