The major difference between traditional and next generation HR technology solutions is what they measure. In terms of measuring an organization’s talent, technology solutions on the market have traditionally measured “what happened” – and stopped there. Next generation HR technology adds “why it happened”. Both technologies provide valuable insights for business leaders in terms of talent strategy development – just in different ways. When combined, they provide a holistic talent picture twice as powerful.
Here’s an example.
Greta Roberts, CEO, Talent Analytics Corp was describing Advisor 3.6 the other night to a roomful of Boston-area innovative business leaders and VC’s. While articulating the value proposition of Advisor, a VC interrupted: ”But WHAT does Advisor measure? Skills? Competencies? When I want to hire a C++ programmer I want someone with C++ programming skills! It’s that simple.”
Greta smiled and replied, “Ok. What type of C++ programmer do you need? A creative programmer. One that follows preset rules, one that loves loves solving really difficult programming challenges.”
The VC muttered “ah, ok,”. We think he understood.
Think about this situation in terms of talent data captured through HR technology:
Talent Management Prompts What Questions
A Talent Management solution would tell you:
- Attrition: 3 programmers left the organization, and you need to hire 3 more.
- Headcount: team consists of 15 programmers.
- Compensation: median salary of the programming team is $60,000.
If all programmers were created equal this perhaps would be fine. But they’re not. Companies seeking to leverage their talent strategically need to go beyond “their skills” and seek to answer “what their talent is driven to do” in order to more effectively address a talent issue (such as attrition).
Talent Analytics Prompts Why Questions
When used in conjunction with the above data, Talent Analytics enables you to compare at a glance how the three programmers who left compared with the overall makeup of the programming team. A Team at a Glance generated in seconds would provide insight on the following questions:
- The three programmers who left were naturally creative thinkers. Business value of knowing this: Is the team looking for naturally creative programmers to replace them?
- There are lots of projects coming up. Would results-driven programmers add the most value to the team?
This is an example from team formation. Now imagine this data in the aggregate for the entire IT department or even the entire company. Instead of comparing attrition data at face value, a next generation HR technology solution would allow executives to spot trends (are highly creative employees leaving the sales department too?) and plan their hiring initiatives accordingly.
When considering HR Technology solutions, take the next step towards why – it won’t take long to see why you’ll be happy you did.
##
Mike Kennedy is a Technical Evangelist at Talent Analytics, Corp. He can be reached via mike@talentanalytics.com .
