Essay in HRM (Essay Sample)

Essay in Human Resource Management Part A Introduction Integration of people analytics in HR functions is increasingly becoming a mainstay for many organisations that are leaders in their respective industries. People analytics refers to the collection of candidate or employee data and analysing it to understand their impact on strategic business goals while informing the effectiveness of HR initiatives (Milner & Khan, 2023). BTR is experiencing significant growth with increased demand by businesses for relocation services. Such growth can only be sustained through investing in people analytics to improve business processes, customer satisfaction, and efficient utilisation of talent. Data collection for people analytics involves collection of sensitive data, thus must be governed to prevent unauthorised access. Some of the ethical considerations include confidentiality, anonymity, informed consent, and voluntary participation. Part A of the report assesses some of the methods for collecting data, justification for people analytics, and evaluation of workforce reporting KPIs. Reliable and Ethical Methods of collecting HR Data Performance reviews is one of the most important methods employed by HR when collecting data. To guarantee that sufficient information is generated from performance reviews, HR must ensure they are regular, possess a well-defined evaluation process, and are standardised (Zieglmeier, & Pretschner, 2023). Regular performance reviews guarantees that HR has the latest data to shape HR initiatives. Using a well-defined evaluation criterion for these reviews is crucial at improving reliability of information that is deduced from collecting such data. Data collection can also be in the form of self-reporting. Data collection in the form of self-reporting can be undertaken using questionnaires, surveys, and self-assessment tools (Zieglmeier, & Pretschner, 2023). The method is highly reliable since HR can collect direct information about areas that require improvement across its initiatives. HR data can also be collected from the HRIS system in place within the organisation. Organisations today are investing in Human Resource Information Systems to make the most out of people analytics. BTR can invest in a reliable HRIS that guarantees employee data management. A key advantage of this system is it provides a safe and secure source of HR information that can be retrieved with relative ease (Starbuck, 2023). Apart from streamlining HR processes, a HRIS provides a ready and up-to-date HR information repository. Only authorised personnel should possess access to the system, thus ensuring that employee information remains private and confidential. Industry comparisons through benchmarking can also prove vital in collecting HR data. The criterion here is comparing current HR resources with best practices in the industry (Starbuck, 2023). The method helps identify any gaps within the HR function that could be hindering the effectiveness of business operations. When collecting HR data, there are several best practices that must be adopted by BTR to ensure that the methods are ethical and reliable. Figure 1 is a visual representation of some of the best practices as defined by the AIHR. These best practices include ethical compliance, transparency, conducting data audits, implementing strict data collection privacy guidelines, and guaranteeing data security. Figure 1: Employee Data Collection Best Practices (Taylor, 2023). Evidence of Comparative Data Collection When collecting HR data, various aspects of a data collection method can be gauged to determine the volume and importance of collected data. Some of the variables for comparative data collection include data sources, data collection methods, ethical considerations, and comparison groups (Johnson, Carlson, & Kavanagh, 2021). Providing evidence for this requires identification of two major HR data collection methods and comparing them in line with the metrics mentioned above. The two identified methods that could be used by BTR in this comparison include performance reviews and benchmarking. The first variable that can be assessed is data sources. Employee performance reviews rely heavily on easily available internal information across the HR function. The HR function can collect data independently without any external help. On the other hand, data collected from benchmarking utilises external data from the industry. The HR function through its leaders may need to consult industry experts and bulletins that produce trends and changing HR metrics within the industry. The second variable that may be utilised in comparing these methods is data collection methods. Performance reviews relies heavily on employee performance review reports from previous periods. Benchmarking may utilise various methods including questionnaires to industry experts, market research, and industry reports. Industry reports could be produced from surveys, focus groups, and interviews that were conducted across the industry. Ethical considerations may also defer depending on the data collection method that BTR or an organisation chooses to adopt for people analytics. When utilising data collected through benchmarking from the industry, most of the HR data comprises of information that is easily accessible by anyone ((Johnson, Carlson, & Kavanagh, 2021). Such information is in the form of industry reports detailing trends within the industry. As a result, an organisation must not be concerned about ethical considerations. However, data collected from performance reviews must be handled with care to respect privacy and confidentiality of employee information while adhering to legal requirements. Justification for using People Analytics People analytics has profound impacts on various key workforce reports including talent management, promotion, employee well-being, and employee motivation. Talent management reports gain a lot from information collected in people analytics. One of the main ways is through workforce planning. An organisation can utilise HR data to determine future talent needs of an organisation. Such information can be produced by determining current HR resources compared to demand in the future (Wiblen & Charlwood, 2019). Any gaps may mean that the HR function would have to recruit more talent to meet future increased workforce demand. Doing this guarantees that the organisation the right talent to meet changing strategic goals. Promotion reports gain useful insights from people analytics. The main data collection method that can be effectively utilised for promotion reports in the workforce are employee performance reviews. These performance reviews reveal the most productive employees in their respective departments. Additionally, the HR function can also collect data on employee training and professional development. Employees who showcase the most impressive performance in conjunction with a desire to gain new skills should always be considered for promotion. Employee motivation reports can gain from data analytics by collecting information on employee engagement and satisfaction (Marr, 2018). Such employee feedback can be collected using surveys that assess employee satisfaction. These surveys are often anonymous to ensure unbiased data from the workforce. Data collected by an organisation specifically employee-centric information is also crucial at enhancing employee well-being. Various factors at the workplace can be analysed including employee workload, stress levels, work-life balance, and effectiveness of employee support initiatives (Marr, 2018). Such information is crucial at identifying areas where employees deem to be affecting their well-being. Additionally, people analytics utilises several well-being metrics that can improve HR initiatives. Figure 2 is an illustration of some of the main metrics that are assessed including utilisation and program uptake, communication and awareness, employee turnover, employee satisfaction, and changes in absenteeism rates. Figure 2: Employee Well-being Metrics (Perkins, 2023). Key Performance Indicators on Workforce Reporting As earlier stated, people analytics collects HR data by utilising various methods. Such information is crucial in workforce reporting including employee well-being, communication, workforce planning, and performance management. A HR department has several KPIs to determine the effectiveness of HR data. These KPIs must be tracked on a periodical basis to promote various HR initiatives. One of the main KPIs that can be monitored is employee turnover rates. According to Allen & Vardaman (2021), employee turnover rate refers to the percentage of employees who left the organisation or their positions within a specified period. A high employee turnover rate would be an indication that there exist issues in the workplace that compel employees to look for opportunities in other organisations. High employee turnover is expensive to an organisation due to increased training and redundancy costs that are incurred when a position falls vacant. The second KPI that can be utilised at BTR is assessing the employee absenteeism levels at the workplace. Absenteeism rates determine the percentage of time that employees are away from work during working hours or days. High absenteeism rates are undesirable for any organisation since they affect productivity and can reduce the overall employee morale and motivation in the workplace. Monitoring the KPI is crucial for HR professionals to identify any trends and patterns in the workplace that could be influencing the behaviour. Increasing levels of absenteeism could signal decreased employee well-being. An example is where employees are given a lot of work and suffer burnout. These employees are more likely to call in sick than a workplace where the HR function maintains a balanced workload across the workforce. The...