All about the base?
Steve Rockey: Why HR shouldn't let itself get tied up by data
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about those base metrics, and I’m a huge proponent of big data.
Some might even say I’m a bit of a stats freak, loving a good trend and graph way more than most.
For those of us in a people role, particularly in a small business where sometimes the people at the top ‘do HR’ as a box-ticking exercise, analytics allows us to demonstrate the true validity of people strategy.
But for small businesses in particular, we just can’t let data challenges stop us from acting.
Big business, big questions
Last week I was fortunate enough to participate in a round table event held by IBM.
The discussion centred on analytics and data. It particularly concerned big business problems, data clarity, platforms, spreadsheets and tools, but also touched on the challenge of leaders within the business not believing the analytics that were being shared by the people department.
It got me thinking (and speaking rather candidly) about which analytics we, as people professionals, should be talking about and how we offer analysis.
Does data lead the way and people strategy follow? Or do people lead the way with data following up and backing up what we thought beforehand?
From the conversations at the round table, I got the impression that in big business, data leads the way. Directors become its students and set their strategies based on its ‘teachings’.
But in smaller organisations, data is a back-up tool to prove a business case.
Understanding vs. analysis
My argument, which for some was hard to swallow, is that while data and analytics satisfy our CEO and Finance Director’s love for hard, robust numbers, which in turn helps with a persuasive argument for the validity of people strategy, analysis shouldn’t be carried out at the expense of really understanding what’s going on to start with. This is fundamental in organisations of any size.
If the analytics are hard to find, don’t exist, or are there yet don’t correlate with other bits of data then the process, and subsequently the output, will be slow.
And slow doesn’t work. Especially in smaller organisations. Your people decisions end up getting overridden or made on your behalf while you sit and wait for the cogs to churn and the machine to spit out the numbers you think you need.
There has to be a different approach: one that’s quicker, slightly more risky but gets things rolling sooner.
If we, as people professionals, are good at what we do – delivering a great job and knowing what’s happening in our business – then we will have the trust of our senior leader colleagues to make decisions without all of the supporting data.
Most of the time we will be right. Sometimes we’ll get it wrong, but hey, that’s learning.
Just do it
Most importantly, we’ll be able to focus on the things that are critical for successful small business growth, instead of sitting behind a desk in a dark office and crunching numbers. (Let’s leave that to our friends in finance).
As an example, I doubt very much the chaps over at AirBnB had the following conversation:
Bob: “I have an idea. We’ll get a whole bunch of people globally to rent out their houses or rooms to people they have never met, never going to meet and have no idea who they are or what they are doing in your home.”
Geoff: “We need to get lots of data in order to make the decision as to whether that’s a good idea or not but it sounds nuts to me.”
Time passes.
Geoff: “We’re having a hard time trying to get the data together. The platforms aren’t talking to each other and blah blah blah (white noise).
Bob: “You’re right. We shouldn’t do it because we don’t have the supporting data to ensure that it’s the right thing to do. Even though when I ask people and potential users, they love the idea.”
Nope, instead they just went ahead and did it, and it’s awesome.
So let’s get a grip for a minute. Yes, academics and newspapers are telling us that ‘HR must use big data’ or ‘to make it onto the board, People Directors must be able to provide detailed analytics from every avenue’. But slow down – you can’t let the cart drive the horse.
As small business people professionals, we have the luxury of taking a more flexible approach to data. Don’t get sucked into taking a big business approach when you don’t need to.
We know our stuff more than anyone else around the table, so if you know what’s happening but can’t necessarily define everything with a number, then do things for the right reasons.
Crack on. What’s the worst that could happen?
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