Reaping the Benefits of Talent Data Analytics

• Tuesday, July 31st, 2012
• POSTED BY Geoffrey Anthony and Amber Pye-Blacknard

(excerpt from Found in Translation white paper)

To better understand and communicate the impact of increased talent data analysis, consider the following success story from a company, The Vaya Group studied, that has experienced positive changes as a result of leveraging analytics:

A large financial organization analyzed the talent data of its leaders and found that employees who excelled in the area of coaching others were much more likely to be in the top-quartile in regards to performance metrics. As a result, the organization’s L&D department placed greater significance on developing coaching skills among leaders. When talent data was reexamined in the years following the L&D initiative, substantial improvement from coaching leaders was evident across the board—and it still emerged as a key differentiator for separating top-performers.

This scenario illustrates how a company effectively used talent data and analytics to positively impact business outcomes. Further, when data is utilized to its full potential, the impact can be very visible and measurable. For example, Aberdeen Group found that ‘Best-in-Class’ organizations were 41 percent more likely than others to track and analyze exactly which sources of talent produced the best performance results. Because of this analytical rigor, these organizations achieved a six percent annual decrease in the amount of time it took to fill key roles with qualified individuals while their counterparts experienced a three percent increase in this same metric. The impact becomes even more significant when explained monetarily, as it has been shown that companies expend an average of $7000 each day a strategic role remains unfilled:

Financial impact of a vacant strategic role (Sullivan, 2005).

Collectively, examples and findings like these demonstrate how real and positive business outcomes arise by leveraging analytics and talent data. In turn, these examples of success can be used by HR professionals or talent managers to earn the support they need from senior leaders for continued investment in human capital initiatives.

To continue reading and learn more on what to measure and how to present it download the full white paper and the other eight white papers in the Talent Optimization White Paper Series.

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